Abbas Assures US No Contradiction Between Palestinian Reconciliation and Peace Talks, Netanyahu Angry

Abbas To Hale: “No Contradiction Between Peace, Palestinian Reconciliation”

Thursday February 09, 2012 02:08 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, told US Middle-East Envoy, David Hale, on Thursday, that there is no contradiction between internal Palestinian reconciliation, and the peace process with Israel.

The meeting was also attended by Palestinian Liberation Organization Executive Committee member, Dr. Saeb Erekat, President spokesperson, Nabil Abu Rodeina, and the American Consul General Daniel Rubinstein.

Abbas stated that peace is a strategic choice that the Palestinians are determined to achieve, and that internal unity and reconciliation are national necessities and interests that have nothing to do with peace talks.

The Palestinian President called on the Israeli government to openly accept the two-state solution based on the boundaries of the 1967 six-day war, and to stop all of its settlement activities, in addition to the release of all political prisoners, including those imprisoned since before 1993.

He said that these principles are not, in any way, preconditions, but are commitments that Israel must abide by, and that implementing these commitments would enable the resumption of the peace process and the final-status peace talks.

Efforts to resume Palestinian-Israeli peace talks have been facing numerous obstacles due to Israel’s ongoing violations, mainly due to its ongoing illegal settlement activities in the occupied territories, including in occupied East Jerusalem, and its ongoing assaults.

Netanyahu Slams Abbas For Doha Agreement

Tuesday February 07, 2012 05:32 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

Israeli occupation government prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, slammed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas over the reconciliation agreement with Hamas, singed on Monday at the Qatari Capital, Doha. The deal between Fat'h and Hamas parties states that Abbas would become the Prime Minister of the Unity Government until new elections are held.

During a meeting with his Likud right-wing party, Netanyahu stated that “Abbas must choose between peace with Israel or coalition with the Hamas movement," Israeli Haaretz reported.

Netanyahu claimed that Israel “conducted extensive efforts to advance the peace process," and added that “should Abbas implement the agreement that was signed in Doha, he will be departing the path of peace to join Hamas that ignores the International Community."

The Doha agreement is considered a major advancement in unity talks between Hamas and Fat'h, and if implemented, could mean the actual implementation of Palestinian national unity, especially since one of the major issues that obstructed this implementation was the post of the Prime Minister.

Palestinian media sources reported that Fayyad and Ismail Haniyya of Hamas will likely be serving deputies to Abbas, as Haniyya will be running the affairs of the Gaza Strip while Fayyad will be responsible for West Bank affairs.

The government is intended to be a government of technocrats, and will have several major tasks headed by the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip and for preparing for the new presidential and legislative elections.

Israel and the United States believe that any agreement with Hamas is a deviation from the stalled peace process, and another “setback”.

Netanyahu’s statements regarding international law and international community come despite the fact that Israel’s occupation of Palestine is a direct violation to international Law, and disregards the fact that Israel’s settlements in the occupied West Bank, including in occupied East Jerusalem, violate the Fourth Geneva Convention to which Israel is a signatory.

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