Abbas Optimistic About Achieving Peace, Protests in Ramallah Against Talks Under Israeli Conditions

Abbas: It is time to achieve peace

Published today (updated) 02/09/2010 20:27

WASHINGTON (Ma'an) --

"It is time to make peace, it is time to end the occupation that began in 1967, and for the Palestinian people to achieve their freedom, independence and justice," President Mahmoud Abbas said from the White House moments after a second shooting attack against settlers in the West Bank.

"We condemned what happened today. We do not want any drop of blood to be shed neither from Palestinians nor Israelis. We want peace between our two peoples. We want to live as partners and neighbors. Let us sign a final peace agreement and end, forever, a long era of conflict," Abbas said.

"It is time to end the conflict in the Middle East region permanently,” the Palestinian leader continued at a news conference following a working dinner where he met face to face with Israeli Prime Benjamin Netanyahu for the first time, alongside leaders from Jordan and Egypt as well as Middle East Quartet envoy Tony Blair and US envoy George Mitchell.

Condemning the two attacks, which killed four Israeli settlers near Hebron on Tuesday night and injured two others near Ramallah the day after, Abbas reaffirmed, “We come to the negotiations fully determined, sincere and serious to ensure their success.”

Following Abbas' statement, Obama commented, "We have a long road ahead, but I appreciate very much the leaders who are represented here for giving us such an excellent start."

On Thursday, officials will gather for a news conference at 10 a.m. EST ahead of the first round of direct talks.

US President Barack Obama is expected to deliver his first update to the progress of the talks on Thursday evening.

Protests against talks continue in Ramallah

Published yesterday (updated) 02/09/2010 16:49

RAMALLAH (Ma'an) --

"What happened in Hebron proved our point; we need a unified Palestinian position," Palestinian National Initiative leader Mustafa Barghouthi said following a mass rally in Ramallah on Wednesday.

The protest, planned immediately after PA forces quashed a news conference on 25 August, was coordinated by leftist Palestinian factions, independent parties and several prominent philanthropists and business people involved with recent attempts to restore unity.

The parties demonstrated against the return to peace talks under the conditions set out by Israel. "There were no conditions set out for the success of these talks," Barghouthi said. "There were no terms of reference and Israel has been given a veto."

Barghouthi explained that in going forward with direct talks without guarantees, like a promised halt to settlement construction in the West Bank, the Palestinian government was going in without the confidence of the Palestinian people and without their support.

"These talks will fail, and the risks are higher than ever for Palestinians," Barghouthi said. "The international community has used peace talks as a cover for peace and it is not working."

Hamas' armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, said it carried out a shooting attack that killed four Israeli settlers in the West Bank on Tuesday night, saying in a statement that the incident was in response to the PLO's decision to negotiate with Israel.

Stressing that being against the talks is not the same as being against peace, Barghouthi said the protest had a "peaceful message" and noted that many independents taking part in the event had participated in earlier talks, particularly in Madrid in 1991.

Hundreds in Ramallah took to the streets and demonstrated the start of talks set to be launched in Washington. "President of Palestine, we are not with you," protesters chanted, and "The PNA leaders put us in danger."

"What is needed is a unified stance in rejecting Israel's terms for these negotiations," Barghouthi added, calling the shooting deaths in Hebron proof of the dangers of heading into talks with a fragmented Palestinian position, and an absence of trust in the leadership in Washington.

Hopeful sign: More talks for Israel, Palestinians

Sep 2, 2010, 5:36 PM EDT

By MATTHEW LEE and ROBERT BURNS Associated Press Writers

WASHINGTON (AP) --

In an early sign of promise, Israeli and Palestinian leaders pledged Thursday in a cordial first round of talks to keep meeting at regular intervals, aiming to nail down a framework for overcoming deep disputes and achieving lasting peace within a year.

As their facilitator-in-chief, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to rise above the suspicion and skepticism that has blocked peace efforts for decades. "By being here today, you each have taken an important step toward freeing your peoples from the shackles of a history we cannot change," she said.

The eventual aim is the creation of a sovereign Palestinian state beside a secure Israel.

Thursday's results, in the first face-to-face peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians in nearly two years, were modest - and acknowledged as such by all sides. There was no detailed negotiation on any substantive issue, according to George Mitchell, the administration's special envoy for Mideast peace, who held months of preparatory talks and was a participant in most of the day's discussions.

Netanyahu and Abbas will meet again on Sept. 14 and 15 in the Middle East, probably at the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheik, with Clinton and Mitchell attending. The two also agreed to meet roughly every two weeks after that - sometimes with U.S. officials present, other times not.

Mitchell offered no timeline for agreeing on the initial framework, which he said was to be "less than a full-fledged treaty" but more detailed than a statement of principles.

A major obstacle is looming: Israel's moratorium on Jewish settlement construction in the disputed West Bank is due to expire Sept. 26. The Palestinians have said that unless the freeze is extended, the fledgling peace talks will collapse in short order.

In his public remarks Thursday, Netanyahu made no reference to an extension; Abbas called for an end to settlement expansion, but he raised the matter in the context of both sides living up to commitments, including a Palestinian pledge to end all incitement of violence against Israelis.

That's not entirely under Abbas' control.

Gunmen from the militant Palestinian Hamas movement killed four Israeli residents of a West Bank settlement on Tuesday. And, on Wednesday, hours before the leaders had dinner with President Barack Obama and Clinton at the White House, Hamas gunmen wounded two Israelis as they drove in another part of the West Bank.

Hamas rejected the talks and stepped up its rhetoric as the ceremony in Washington began.

"These talks are not legitimate because the Palestinian people did not give any mandate to Mahmoud Abbas and his team to negotiate on behalf of our people," said Sami Abu Zuhri, a spokesman. "Therefore, any result and outcome of these talks does not commit us and does not commit our people, it only commits Abbas himself."

In Washington, the atmosphere was mostly upbeat.

In his opening remarks, Netanyahu at one point turned to Abbas and said, "I see in you a partner for peace. Together, we can lead our people to a historic future that can put an end to claims and to conflict."

Abbas struck an optimistic tone, too. "We're not starting from scratch," he said, noting that all the central issues in dispute are well known.

Both cautioned, however, that hard decisions lay ahead.

When the two leaders had finished their introductory remarks, they shook hands, a smiling Clinton seated between them.

In a plea for both sides to compromise, Clinton said the Obama administration has no illusions about a quick breakthrough.

"We've been here before, and we know how difficult the road ahead will be," she said. "There undoubtedly will be obstacles and setbacks. Those who oppose the cause of peace will try in every way possible to sabotage this process, as we have already seen this week."

Mitchell declined to detail exactly what the framework agreement would include but said it would lay out the main compromises necessary to get to a full peace treaty.

"Our goal is to resolve all of the core issues within one year, and the parties themselves have suggested and agreed that the logical way to proceed, to tackle them, is to try to reach a framework agreement first," he told reporters as Abbas and Netanyahu remained in a one-on-one session that completed the day's talks. On Wednesday, Abbas and Netanyahu met separately with Obama at the White House.

The compromises the two sides seek would involve the thorniest issues that have dogged the parties for decades: the borders of an eventual Palestinian state, the political status of Jerusalem, West Bank settlements, the fate of Palestinian refugees and security.

"I know the decision to sit at this table was not easy," said Clinton, who with Mitchell has been working to relaunch talks stalled for 20 months. "We understand the suspicion and skepticism that so many feel borne out of years of conflict and frustrated hopes."

Flanked by Abbas and Netanyahu at the head of a U-shaped table in the State Department's ornate Benjamin Franklin room, Clinton said the Obama administration was committed to an agreement. She stressed, though, that the heavy lifting must be done by Netanyahu and Abbas with support from the international community, particularly the Arab and Israeli publics.

Netanyahu and Abbas vowed to work together but each outlined concessions required from the other.

Netanyahu said to Abbas: "Together we can lead our people to a historic future that can put an end to claims and to conflict. Now this will not be easy. A true peace, a lasting peace would be achieved only with mutual and painful concessions from both sides."

Abbas called on Israel to end Jewish settlements in the West Bank and other areas that the Palestinians want to be part off their own state. Netanyahu insisted that any agreement must ensure Israel's security as a Jewish state.

"We do know how hard are the hurdles and obstacles we face during these negotiations - negotiations that within a year should result in an agreement that will bring peace," Abbas said.

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Associated Press Writers Matti Friedman and Abed Arnaout contributed to this story.

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