Last week, Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas spoke with the Wall Street Journal’s Charles Levinson about a wide range of issues including : the future of peace talks with Israel and the Obama Administration’s role; Israeli settlements; boycotts; the possibility of a third Intifada; alleged CIA links to Palestinian “torture”; and the Goldstone Report on Gaza.
Abbas’ message in the interview was that he was siding with a “wait and see” approach following his re-election as the head of the Palestinian Liberation Organization. Abbas indicated that, with the international community supporting the Palestinian Authority on the status of the settlements and Jerusalem, there was no need for a call to a third Intifada – although he would like to see more pressure from Washington on Tel Aviv.
Q – A recent opinion poll shows that 57% of Palestinians support you over Hamas, which got just 37% support, a big change over polls from just two months ago. The Fatah and PLO leaderships have similarly asked you to remain in office. So can you start by explaining why you decided not to run for reelection?
On Friday, both the European Union and the United Nations criticized Israel for its settlement policy. The EU condemned the government’s decision to include West Bank settlements in the the National Priority Map as a contradiction of its pledge for a 10-month moratorium. The Israeli Cabinet had voted on Sunday to include 120,000 settlers, living in 86 out of the 121 settlements, in the Map; many of the settlements are outside the security barrier being constructed by Israel in the occupied West Bank territory.
The Swedish Presidency of the EU declared, “This decision runs counter to the spirit of the settlement freeze. It also prevents the creation of an atmosphere conducive to resuming negotiations on a two-state solution.” In response, Israel’s Foreign Ministry said the EU’s position was exacerbating the disagreement between the two sides, instead of promoting peace and working towards the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
This was not the end of a bad day for the officials in Israel. Robert Serry, the UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, criticised the 10-month moratorium, claiming the temporary freeze in the settlements undermined Israel’s commitments in the 2003 Road Map. He added: Read the rest of this entry »
On Tuesday, following the eviction of a Palestinian family from their home in East Jerusalem which sparked tension between the family and rioting settlers over the ownership of the house, the United Nations stepped in.
The Secretary-General is dismayed at continued Israeli actions in occupied East Jerusalem, including the demolition of Palestinian homes, the eviction of Palestinian families and the insertion of settlers into Palestinian neighbourhoods. The eviction today of a Palestinian family in East Jerusalem is just the most recent incident.
These actions stoke tensions, causing suffering and further undermining trust. He calls on Israel to cease such provocative actions. He further reiterates his call on Israel to implement its “Road Map” commitments by freezing all settlement activity, including natural growth; dismantling outposts; and reopening Palestinian institutions in East Jerusalem.
The tripartite meeting between Israeli, Palestinian, and American delegations took place in New York on Tuesday, with the leaders of the three groups participating. This was the picture which signals a shift in the US apparoach towards the Palestinian-Israeli conflict , from a step-by-step Road Map to an edited Washington version of a 2002 Saudi initiative based on wider issues and a regional context.
Yet Washington’s “middle way” between the demands of Palestinians and Israelis is not new. The steps taken in the Obama Administration’s Middle East foreign policy since last January were supposed to be clearer when the leaders of Israelis and Palestinians shook hands on Tuesday. But even this picture is incomplete, since the failure to include regional actors such as Syria, Iran, Lebanon and Iraq will undermine any effort on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
According to Washington, the final status agreement must come with continuing negotiations on other issues, especially on the Israeli halt of settlements in the West Bank. The formula is clear: the reassurance of the Palestinian side with the promised withdrawal of Israelis to pre-1967 war borders while reducing pressure on the Israeli side by moving the discourse of “total settlement freeze” to that of “restraining settlements activity” as the Israeli concede a nine-month freeze.
We have decided to be proactive, to expedite the end of the occupation by working very hard to build positive facts on the ground, consistent with having our state emerge as a fact that cannot be ignored. This is our agenda, and we want to pursue it doggedly.
Fayyad added that if a functioning de facto state existed — with or without Israeli co-operation — including competent security forces, functioning public services and a thriving economy, it would force Israel to put its cards on the table as to whether it was serious about ending the 42-year occupation of the West Bank.
Yet this is far from a declaration of resistance to the current Israeli line. Fayyad’s reference to “security forces” indicates he is ready for a de-militarized West Bank, and “a thriving economy” implies a blank cheque for Israeli investment and a welcome for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s economic improvement plan. Read the rest of this entry »
The Durban II Conference, also known as the Second World Conference against Racism, is going to commence on April 20. Since the articles of draft documents were being discussed and shaped during the preparatory meetings, the Israeli Foreign Minister, Tzip Livni, has warned the UN that Israel would not attend to the upcoming conference if the Israeli politics labeled as “Zionism” were considered as racist again. Read the rest of this entry »
Last week, Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas spoke with the Wall Street Journal’s Charles Levinson about a wide range of issues including : the future of peace talks with Israel and the Obama Administration’s role; Israeli settlements; boycotts; the possibility of a third Intifada; alleged CIA links to Palestinian “torture”; and the Goldstone Report on Gaza.
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On Friday, both the European Union and the United Nations criticized Israel for its settlement policy. The EU condemned the government’s decision to include West Bank settlements in the the National Priority Map as 
On Tuesday, following the eviction of a Palestinian family from their home in East Jerusalem which sparked tension between the family and rioting settlers over the ownership of the house, the United Nations stepped in.
The tripartite meeting between Israeli, Palestinian, and American delegations took place in New York on Tuesday, with the leaders of the three groups participating. This was the picture which signals a shift in the US apparoach towards the Palestinian-Israeli conflict , from a step-by-step Road Map to an edited Washington version of a 2002 Saudi initiative based on wider issues and a regional context.
After Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said that there would be no Palestinian state in the next 16 years, Palestinian (West Bank) Prime Minister Salam Fayyad talked to the Times on Tuesday and declared that 
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