Abbas calls for 3 month-settlement freeze to return to talks

Published today (updated) 01/02/2010 10:57

Bethlehem - Ma'an/Agencies -

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said that Israel's continued illegal settlement activities in the Palestinian territory of the West Bank is leading to a one-state solution, and called for a three month settlement freeze to resume direct peace talks, British media reported on Sunday evening.

Abbas' comments followed a meeting with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Foreign Secretary David Miliband, the British daily The Guardian wrote.

Abbas said that he would be prepared to resume direct talks if Israel halted all settlement construction for three months and accepted June 1967 borders. "These are not preconditions, they are requirements in the road map. If they are not prepared to do that, it means they don't want a political solution," he said in an interview with the British daily.

Continued settlement expansion and building, he said, "leading to the one-state solution, which we reject," he told the Guardian.

On Friday, the Fatah leader told London reporters that the PA was not interested in US guarantees and denied reports that Arab ministers exerted pressure on him in Washington to resume negotiations with Israel.

"The US continued to contact us and the Israelis, and they intended to give what they call 'guarantees,' but we said frankly that we didn’t want guarantees," he said on Friday.

Reportedly, Abbas also said that US President Barack Obama proposed a freeze to settlement construction, yet failed to convince Israel to halt settlement activity completely. Obama's suggestion, he said, was a moratorium which is unacceptable, being only a partial standstill for 10 months, excluding Jerusalem and parts of the West Bank.

He added that he would consult with Arab allies before responding on Thursday to the US Middle East envoy George Mitchell's call for proximity talks, according to the Guardian, which said Abbas indicated that he may be prepared to accept.

"If there is any substance in the response from the Israeli side – for example, if they accept the framework of a two-state solution based on the 1967 borders and an end to occupation, with timelines and mechanisms – then there will be progress," Abbas said.

Ma'an learned on Monday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Defense Minister Ehud Barak are at odds over who will head indirect talks with the PA. The prime minister intends to appoint Uzi Arad, foreign affairs advisor to the Knesset and member of the defense committee, while Barak is insistent that someone from his entourage lead the proximity talks.

The PA leader supported the security forces' crackdown on Hamas supporters in the West Bank, saying "we don't want to imprison any political members of Hamas, but only people who provoke the security situation, even from Fatah." The Islamist movement has repeatedly accused the PA of arbitrarily detaining its supports, which it says, reveals a growing lack of freedom of political expression in the West Bank.

Moreover, Abbas defended Egypt's construction of its subterranean steel wall, aimed at curbing the use of smuggling tunnels in and out of Gaza's southern border with Egypt. "I support the wall ... It is the Egyptians' sovereign right in their own country. Legitimate supplies should be brought through the legal crossings."

While Abbas' term as president expired last year, and presidential and legislative elections expected this month have been delayed, he said that general elections would be held when Hamas signs the Egyptian-backed reconciliation document, which calls for elections by June 2010, the daily reported.

He reiterated his earlier assertion that there would be no call to a return to violence, which would only endanger Palestinians.

Abbas Hints Indirect Talks With Israel After 3 Months Settlement Freeze

Monday February 01, 2010 12:26 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, hinted on Monday that he might accept holding indirect peace talks with the Israeli occupation government, mediated by US Envoy, George Mitchell. He added that direct talks cannot resume before Israel freezes its illegal settlement activities for three months.

His statements regarding the three months freeze are considered a backtrack on a previous demand that Israel should fully halt its settlement activities before peace talks are resumed.

He made his statement during an interview with British newspaper, The Guardian .

He said that he was close to signing an agreement with former Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, and added that Olmert presented “better offers than those offered to late president, Yasser Arafat”.

The Palestinian President added that the offers of Olmert included borders, Jerusalem, and a limited return of the refugees.

“But the government of Benjamin Netanyahu did not recognize the understandings reached with Olmert as basis for renewed peace talks”, Abbas stated.

In an interview with Israeli paper, Haaretz, conducted before the end of last year, Abbas said that the talks with Olmert were never completed, with the Arabs48 news website reporting that they were mainly focused on borders.

He also said that no understandings were made on the refugees, Jerusalem or water.

Abbas confirmed during his Guardian interview that he will not accept any return to what he described as “violent resistance”, and proposed direct talks with Israel after a three-month settlement freeze.

Following a meeting with British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, Abbas said that he does not know why the American government retracted its demand for a full settlement freeze, and added that he intends to consult with Arab leaders before responding to a proposal by US Middle East Envoy, George Mitchell, regarding holding indirect talks with Israel.

He further stated that should the Israeli response be positive, and “should they accept to the two-state solution based on full withdrawal from the territories occupied in 1967, and ending the occupation within a set timeframe, then a progress could be made”.

Abbas added that Israel should implement what it agreed to under the Road Map peace plan.

“If they are not willing to freeze settlement activities, then they are not interested in achieving a peaceful solution”, the Palestinian president concluded.

Hebron governor warns of severe reaction to new settlement

Published today (updated) 01/02/2010 14:57

Hebron – Ma'an –

Governor of Hebron Hussein Al-Araj warned that renewed illegal Israeli settlement building in the area "are pushing Palestinians to react seriously," he said on Sunday evening.

Israel is not offering Palestinians motivation to return to negotiations by continuing settlement construction in the West Bank, Al-Araj said, which justifies President Mahmoud Abbas' refusal to return to negotiations while building of settlements and the separation wall is ongoing.

"Let everyone know that Israeli settlement construction is still in place, contrary to Israeli allegations," he said.

Al-Araj's comments follow the laying of the foundations of a new block to the Beit Hagai settlement, south of Hebron City.

More Homes For Illegal Israeli Settlers In Hebron

Monday February 01, 2010 09:31 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

On Sunday, the Israeli occupation government Minister without portfolio, Benni Begin, placed the corner stone of ten new homes for Jewish settlers in the illegal settlement of Beit Hagai, south of Hebron in the southern part of the occupied West Bank.

During the ceremony, Begin said that this issue is part of what he described as “The country’s right to build in the Land of Israel”. “There is nothing out of the ordinary here”, he added.

Begin also said that his presence here means that Israel will continue to build settlements, and that there is no difference between a smaller settlement and a settlement bloc, “they will all expand, they will all thrive,” he stated.

He further claimed that the constructions do not contradict the temporary settlement freeze in the occupied West Bank, and that the new constructions in Beit Hagai were approved by the government more than three months ago, and that the government also approved the construction of 3000 more homes for Jewish settlers in the West Bank.

The Israeli government declared a ten-month settlement freeze in November of last year, but also decided that this freeze does not include Jerusalem or public structures in West Bank settlements.

The Palestinian Authority in Ramallah is demanding that Israel stop all of its settlement activities in the West Bank and in occupied East Jerusalem as a condition to resume the stalled peace talks.

By constructing settlements in the occupied territories, Israel is committing direct violations to international law and the Fourth Geneva Conventions.