PA fears East Jerusalem building will make it look weak
Abbas: No talks with Israel unless construction in settlements, including East Jerusalem, frozen.
By Avi Issacharoff Tags: Mahmoud Abbas Middle East peace Israel news PalestiniansThe Palestinian Authority will not begin indirect talks with Israel unless construction in the settlements, including in East Jerusalem, is completely frozen, PA President Mahmoud Abbas told the Arab League on Thursday.
Abbas' statement was reported by both chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat and Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa.
On Wednesday, the league's committee on the Arab peace initiative met in Cairo and urged the league to withdraw its support for indirect Israeli-Palestinian talks until Israel ends construction in East Jerusalem.
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, who is visiting the region this week, had urged the Palestinians to begin the talks despite their anger over Israel's approval of plans to build 1,600 new apartments in Ramat Shlomo, an ultra-Orthodox neighborhood over the Green Line.
But Abbas and other PA leaders are apparently more concerned by the damage the construction plans - which were approved just as the talks were about to start - have caused them in the eyes of the Palestinian public.
In one sense, PA leaders benefited from the construction plans: They scored a clear victory over Israel in the diplomatic arena. But they are also very aware of the long-term harm this incident could cause them among the Palestinian public: While most Palestinians are deeply skeptical that peace talks with Israel will produce any results, Fatah, the PA's ruling party, has made the peace process its signature policy.
Thus they fear the new construction will further weaken Fatah's status among the Palestinian public, to the benefit of the rival Hamas party, which opposes peace talks.
Even before the Ramat Shlomo imbroglio erupted, the PA was already facing public criticism over its decision, in honor of Biden's visit, to cancel a ceremony at which a square in Ramallah was to have been named for Dalal al-Mughrabi, a terrorist who killed 38 Israelis in the so-called Coastal Road massacre of 1978.
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PA President Mahmoud Abbas and U.S. Vice President Joe Biden. |
| Photo by: (Reuters) |
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CJ, WHAT *rightfully* belongs to the Palestinians ??? In many opinions on the Arab street, Tel Aviv, Haifa, Netanya... RIGHTFULLY belong to the Palestinians. Many believe, outside Jordan, NOTHING RIGHTFULLY belongs to the Palestinians. Who are these Johnny come latelies, that they think *something* rightfully is theirs. We have heard ALL their doublespeak over the decades, here's a question for ya, CJ. Why was it necessary for Arafat to create the Palestine LIBERATION Org. in 1964, three years before the so-called Occupation. WHAT was necessary for the Arch-terrorist to liberate, three years before there was ANYTHING to liberate. What was *rightfully belong to them* in 1964 ????
Is there anyone so void of intelligence as someone who lives in Mexico's rightful territory lecturing Israeli's about giving up their own ancestral homeland to squatters who never had a state? Nope. The message is: Negotiate or we'll keep building. And no, you ain't getting Jerusalem, even if the whole world comes against us. Get it goy from Texas?
If the Palestinian Authority is going to honor a savage who hijacked a bus and killed 38 innocent civilians, then the Palestinians don't deserve a state. Let them continue to make excuses for refusing to negotiate, and let them fail.
The settlements don't need fingers. Tunnels can be built and the city walls can abut the buildings so no more Palestinian farmland is stolen. And the trade is fingers of pre67 land including part of the Kinneret to compensate for the water the settlements draw from Palestine. But that would mean Abbas shows up, which the Yishai move was calculated to avoid. It also assumes George Mitchell can virtually walk on water and pull off a miracle after Bibi's and Yishai's stunt. The US should be preparing to recognize Palestine in the borders it declares. And Israel can negotiate borders if it wants to trade. Palestine should be demilitarized to the extent Israel is. Israeli politicians cannot be trusted, not a single inch. They don't even keep their word to an ally.
The settlements don't need fingers. Tunnels can be built and the city walls can abut the buildings so no more Palestinian farmland is stolen. And the trade is fingers of pre67 land including part of the Kinneret to compensate for the water the settlements draw from Palestine. But that would mean Abbas shows up, which the Yishai move was calculated to avoid. It also assumes George Mitchell can virtually walk on water and pull off a miracle after Bibi's and Yishai's stunt. The US should be preparing to recognize Palestine in the borders it declares. And Israel can negotiate borders if it wants to trade. Palestine should be demilitarized to the extent Israel is. Israeli politicians cannot be trusted, not a single inch. They don't even keep their word to allies'.
"Draw a red line sort of along the old green line.." An armistice line is not a border unless it was a border before the armistice. "except for little fingers of land etc etc etc...take take take...You have done something monumental for your people" Er no. It'd be giving away what rightfully belongs to the Palestinians.
I don't believe Mahmoud Abbas - sorry. He's not a real leader. He only cares about himself and his sons, Tareq and Yasser. I think Israel should not trust him. OK?
Is there anyone so void of intelligence that they do not understand that Israel sought to send simple signals to the USA and the PA? The message to the USA was simple, Israel holds you contemptible, and will humiliate you with both contempt and glee. The message to the PA was clear. There will never be a Palestinian State. What OTHER possible explanation can there be?
bullying never made to many friends
Want to look strong? Sit down with Bibi, take out a map. Draw a red line sort of along the old green line, except for little fingers of land bridging Ariel and other cities to Israel. Put a big star on Ramallah as your capital. Forget RoR. Give up weaponry except small caliber for your police. Bingo. You have done something monumental for your people. You become big. Strong.