Palestinians to UN: Israel sabotaging peace

Senior Palestinian source estimates PA leadership will accept Quartet call to resume peace talks. Meanwhile, PLO circulates booklet among UN members ahead of Security Council meeting

Elior Levy|Published: 09.26.11 , 09:17

Many Palestinian senior officials believe the Quartet's proposal for the resumption of peace talks is positive, particularly if "Israel pledges to stop settlement construction," London-based al-Quds al-Arabi reported Monday.

The newspaper was quoting a Palestinian senior official who estimated that the Palestinian leadership will accept the call to restart negotiations at its next meeting.

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Fatah official Saeb Erekat told the newspaper that Palestinian leaders will convene in the next two days to consider the proposal. The International Quartet of Mideast mediators – the US, EU, UN and Russia – has called on Israel and the Palestinians to convene within one month and set a timetable for direct talks.

Abbas gets warm welcome in Ramallah (Photo: Reuters)

The Quartet is seeking comprehensive proposals on the issues of borders and security to be submitted within three months and will convene an international peace summit in Moscow. The parties were urged to achieve meaningful progress within six months. A final agreement is meant to be signed by the end of 2012.

The UN Security Council is set to start discussing the Palestinian bid for statehood later on Monday. The Palestine Liberation Organization has distributed a 35-page booklet among UN members ahead of the meeting titled "Recognizing Palestine – An Investment in Peace."

The booklet consists of four chapters:

Israeli Unilateralism – Undermining Peace

The chapter discussing the Oslo Accords states that "Israel has repeatedly undermined the Middle East peace process towards a just and lasting peace by failing to implement many of its obligations under previous agreements reached with the PLO. Israel's failure to honor previous agreements also calls into question its seriousness and commitment to the Two-State Solution, the internationally agreed-formula for peace."

International Responsibility towards the Question of Palestine

The PLO mentions US president Barack Obama's September 2010 UN address saying "Obama declared that true security for Israel can only be achieved with the creation of an independent Paletine, one that allows Palestinian people to live with dignity and opportunity. He also stated that if the parties act in good faith and commit to a peaceful resolution 'when we come back here next year we can have an agreement that can lead to a new member of the United Nations – an independent sovereign state of Palestine, living in peace with Israel.'"

Israel's Settlement Regime – Destroying the Two-State Solution

The Palestinians claim that "the illegality of all Israeli settlement activities in occupied Palestine is not subject to dispute. International Law and Humanitarian Law consider them illegal. This position has been repeatedly reaffirmed and embodied in various UN resolutions." The PLO also claims "there is international consensus that Israel's settlement activities constitute a grave violation of the 1949 Geneva Convention Relevant to the Protection of Civilians in Times of War."

Isolation, Disconnection – Israel's Policies in Occupied East Jerusalem

The Palestinians state that Arab residents of east Jerusalem received permanent resident status after the 1967 but that more than 14,000 Jerusalem IDs were revoked between 1967 and 2009 "affecting well over 20% of Palestinian families. "

"Israel's policy of revocation in Occupied East Jerusalem violates its obligation as an occupying power, as outlined in the Fourth Geneva Convention."

It is further claimed that "Israel has unilaterally and illegally expanded the municipal boundaries of Arab East Jerusalem from the original 6.5 square kilometers before 1967 to 72 square kilometers."