Palestinian political parties warn against the upcoming US-sponsored peace summit

Special report: Parties of the left warn against November peace conference

Monday October 08, 2007 13:27 by Ghassan Bannoura - IMEMC & agencies johnsmithimemc at gmail dot com

The leadership of the PFLP, DFLP, PPP, PNI and FIDA on Monday warned of the risks surrounding the upcoming U.S.-sponsored peace summit, arguing that the conference is doomed to achieve little, if anything at all.

In a joint statement, the leadership warned that the summit would fail to achieve a just and lasting solution, and would instead leave the political horizon trapped in the vicious circle of a partial and unclear settlement.

The leaders warned also of a perceived American-Israeli agenda underlying the summit, warning that the real aim is not to engage with Palestinian demands, but to distort the rights of the Palestinian people and the Arab world in general, adding that the American administration is seeking a way out of the quagmire of its military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The statement further warned of the conference's seeming attempt to formulate the solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict as lying in the creation of a Palestinian state with temporary borders, and with no commitment to the right of return or the future status of Jerusalem, arguing that the pursuit of such a solution is contrary to all U.N. resolutions on the issue.

The leaders of the factions warned Palestinian and Arab participants that the summit would lead to the intensification of internal Palestinian conflict, as conference attendees are willing only to negotiate with one political faction. Accordingly, the statement calls for the participation of all factions, under the management of the PLO Executive committee, in any future peace negotiations.

As opposed to the upcoming summit, the statement requests that the international community redouble its efforts to bring an end to Israeli hostility against the Palestinian people, as witnessed in extrajudicial assassinations, daily kidnapping of Palestinian civilians, the continued presence of checkpoints throughout the West Bank, an estimated 12,000 Palestinian political prisoners held on Israeli detention centers, and the continued economic, political and military siege imposed upon the Gaza Strip.

The statement concludes that for any peace summit to be successful, it must be conducted with the participation of all Arab countries with lands occupied by Israel, and must deal with final status concerns, continued settlement activity, security and water rights in a fashion that moves negotiations away from partial and temporary solutions. In light of this, there must, therefore, be an intensified Palestinian-Arab front to push for a solution based on realistic, political processes that would lead to an Israeli withdrawal of lands occupied in 1967, and would circumvent all Israeli and American attempts to bypass the Arab Peace Initiative and U.N. resolutions pertaining to the Palestinian cause.

Olmert denies existence of agreement with the Palestinian Authority

Monday October 08, 2007 10:44 by John Smith - IMEMC & agencies johnsmithimemc at gmail dot com

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday moved to quash rumors that he had reached a deal with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during last week's meeting between the two leaders.

Speaking at an Israeli Cabinet meeting on Sunday, Olmert said that while he and Abbas "surveyed the central issues," "there were no agreements or understandings."

Olmert sought also to downplay both expectations for the outcome of the conference and the actual purpose of the summit itself, arguing that it should not be viewed as a negotiating platform for any kind of final status talks.

"The peace conference […] needs to give backing and encouragement to the process, but it is by no means a substitute for direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians," Olmert said.

Olmert's comments come a day before Israeli and Palestinian negotiating teams are due to begin formulating a joint statement to be presented at the upcoming conference.

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