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'We've done our part.' Abbas
Photo: AP

Abbas: Forget temporary state, begin final-status talks

During Fatah Revolutionary Council meeting, Palestinian president says Israel must choose between peace, settlements; compares 'occupation' to apartheid

While special US Mideast envoy George Mitchell tours the region in hopes of jumpstarting the peace process, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas reiterated his objection to Israel's purported offer to establish a Palestinian state with temporary borders on 60% of the West Bank.

 

"I hope the Israelis forget about the whole temporary state issue," he said Saturday during a meeting of Fatah's Revolutionary Council."

 

"I call on the Israeli government to make a responsible decision and halt its settlement activities entirely – in Jerusalem and the rest of the occupied territories - so that we may begin substantial negotiations on a final-status agreement according to a clear timetable; (the talks) should not exceed two years," he said.

 

Abbas also called on Israel to "invest in peace, because it will yield political and security-relate results that are much more certain than the real estate investment in settlements that were confiscated from Palestinians."

 

During the meeting, the Palestinian leader compared the Israeli "occupation" to the apartheid regime in South Africa and said a "bold" Israeli leadership was needed to bring it down.

 

"The interesting thing is that the international community refers to apartheid as (something that has passed from the world), while this regime is being bolstered daily by the Israeli occupation," Abbas told the Fatah meeting.

 

He rejected Israel's claim that the Palestinian Authority (PA) had set new conditions for the resumption of peace talks. "The interim agreement we signed with Israel in September 1995 forbids any unilateral action that may hinder the permanent agreement," Abbas said, while stressing that the PA "has lived up to its obligations as specified by the (US-backed) Roadmap for peace initiative, while Israel has not lived up to its obligations."

 

'Peace or settlements' 

Abbas called for the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, and said there was no alternative to the two-state solution. "We and the Israelis must decide on a path – peace or settlements. I call on the Israelis to agree to the choice made by the Palestinian nation and the entire world – because we, as Palestinians, want independence," he said.

 

Alluding to Syria and Iran, Abbas said some regional forces were obstructing efforts to reconcile Fatah and Hamas.

 

On Friday, Mitchell met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after talks with Abbas in Ramallah. Netanyahu and the American envoy agreed to meet once again on Sunday.

 

Speaking to reporters on Friday, US State Department Spokesman Philip Crowley said, "Are we expecting a breakthrough result of this visit? Probably not."

 

"The immediate objective is to bring (the Israelis and Palestinians) to a formal indirect dialogue, during which they will address the substance of things, and we hope to announce this in the near future," said Crowley, adding: "I doubt it will be this weekend."

 


פרסום ראשון: 04.24.10, 19:02
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