Oh my: Abu Mazen's spokesman denies he condemned Hebron terror attack
In an earlier post, I reported on a claim by Leftist Knesset members that 'moderate' 'Palestinian' President Mahmoud AbbasAbu Mazen had condemned Monday's pre-Passover terror attack outside of Hebron. At the end of that post, I wrote:
Horowitz is a useful idiot. The only way for 'Abbas' to condemn
terrorism is publicly, speaking in Arabic, by himself and not through
others. So much time has elapsed at this point that even that sort of
condemnation is tainted at best.
Abbas spokesman Nabil Abu Ruaineh said the PA president opposed violence but did not speak out against the attack.
“We are against violence and a return to violence,” Abu Ruaineh quoted
him as saying, adding the Abbas “is committed to a total condemnation
of violence from any party.”
Nitzan Horowitz (Meretz), who was part of the delegation, told The Jerusalem Post that Abbas denounced all terror including the killing of Baruch Mizrachi in Monday evening's terror attack.
"Abu
Mazen [Abbas] said this specifically, he emphasized his disgust from
bloodshed and terrorism. He said he's willing to participate in the
investigation of the attack and to bring those accountable to justice,"
Horowitz said.
Horowitz expressed optimism on Wednesday that
Abbas was a genuine partner in the peace talks. He also said that only a
Center-Left oriented government could bring about the end to the
conflict with the Palestinians.
"Today there is a majority in
the Knesset and the public to reach an agreement. (Prime Minister
Binyamin) Netanyahu's manipulations harm the trust between the parties,
between Israel and the US, and also endanger the stability in the
region," he added.
...
In addition to what Horowitz said Abbas told the Israeli delegation, a
Palestinian official also reported Wednesday that Abbas had condemned
the violence.
At the meeting with the Israeli lawmakers, Abbas
"condemned violence and the killing of Palestinians and Israelis", said
Mohammed Al-Madani, a member of the Central Committee of Abbas's Fatah
party.
Nabil Abu Rdainah, a spokesman for Abbas, told a news
conference in Ramallah: "We are against violence and against a return to
violence."
Horowitz is a useful idiot. The only way for 'Abbas' to condemn terrorism is publicly, speaking in Arabic, by himself and not through others. So much time has elapsed at this point that even that sort of condemnation is tainted at best.
And again: 'Palestinians' accuse Israel of killing 'peace process'
With the current round of talks due for inevitable failure, the 'Palestinians' are preparing to lay the blame on Israel. After all, the most important part of this 'process' is not to be blamed for its failure!
Two 'Palestinians' were killed a few hours apart today in violent anti-Israel demonstrations. The 'Palestinians' are accusing Israel of targeting 'Palestinians' to ensure that the 'peace process' fails... and that Israel gets blamed.
Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesman for Palestinian Authority President
Mahmoud Abbas, said that "dangerous Israeli escalation aims to foil the
US and international efforst exerted to advance the peace process and
aims to lead the negotiations to a dead end."
Abu Rudeineh, in comments carried by official PA news agency WAFA,
also requested the international community's assistance in dispelling
IDF measures, which are "aimed to keep us locked in a circle of tensions
and violence."
Shortly after the PA released the statement, Abbas met in his office in Ramallah with US peace envoy Martin Indyk.
The two discussed the latest developments surrounding the current peace talks between the PA and Israel.
Prime Minister Netanyahu accepted the Middle East Quartet's proposal for unconditional talks. The 'Palestinians' have responded by demanding that Israel suspend building in 'settlements' and accept the '1967 borders' before returning to the negotiating table.
"Israel welcomes the Quartet's call for direct negotiations without pre-conditions with the Palestinian Authority, which was already suggested by US president Barack Obama and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, even though Israel has a number of reservations which it will bring up in the negotiations."
...
Netanyahu has in the past objected to the idea – as presented in the Quartet proposal – of isolating security and territories from the other core issues of Jerusalem and refugees, saying that if an agreement on the territorial issue was reached, the Palestinians would have no incentive to compromise later on the issues of refugees and Jerusalem. Rather, his position in the past was that all issues should be discussed simultaneously.
Over the weekend, the Palestinians expressed opposition to the Quartet's "vague statement" and stressed they will not accept lengthy negotiations. Fatah official Nabil Shaath said: "The international community must take harsh and clear steps to point out the terms of negotiations and take harsh steps against those who violate them; but we, the Palestinians, are the only ones being punished when we break the terms. "
The Palestinian Authority will return to the negotiating table with Israel only if it stops building in the settlements and accepts the pre-1967 lines as the basis for a two-state solution, Nabil Abu Rudaineh, a spokesman for PA President Mahmoud Abbas, said on Sunday.
In response to Israel's acceptance of the most recent Quartet proposal for resuming the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, Abu Rudaineh said: "If Israel is serious, it must abide, without reservations, by international legitimacy as mentioned in the Road Map, UN resolutions and the Arab peace initiative."
Although the PA last week said that proposal contained "encouraging elements," a top PA official in Ramallah told The Jerusalem Post that the plan was biased in favor of Israel. The official said that the timing of the publication of the proposal was "suspicious" because it coincided with Abbas's request for membership in the UN.
"The Quartet has lost its credibility, mainly because of its failure to force Israel to stop building in the settlements," the official told the Post.
The official also condemned Quartet envoy Tony Blair as a "servant of the Israeli government" and hinted that the former British prime minister was "no longer welcome in Ramallah. We prefer not to see him here again."
Chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat also announced that the PA would not return to the peace talks without the two pre-conditions - cessation of settlement construction and acceptance of the pre-1967 lines as the basis for a two-state solution.
Erekat told reporters in Cairo after meeting with Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elarabi that when the PA talks about a settlement freeze, it is also referring to natural growth in these communities and the construction of new housing projects in east Jerusalem.
Erekat said that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's response to the Quartet proposal has been "1,100 No's" by approving tenders for building 1,000 housing units in Jerusalem's Gilo neighborhood last week.
Noting that the Quartet proposal talks about freezing settlement construction [as part of the Road Map], Erekat criticized the Americans and Europeans for "only condemning" Israel's actions.
Still waiting for the Democrats to criticize the 'Palestinians' for defying Obama....
But we should all point out that Netanyahu has abided by Obama's wishes and that he should now smell clean as a rose on Pennsylvania Avenue.... What could go wrong?
Priorities: As world economy collapses, Obama worries about having to exercise a UN veto
Priorities, priorities.
As the World economy collapses, with the Dow falling over 500 points on Thursday (Hat Tip: Memeorandum), President Obama has his real priorities straight. He is going to spend a good chunk of next week meeting with chief 'Palestinian' negotiatorbottle washer Saeb Erekat, and Erekat's colleague Nabil Abu Rudeineh, to convince them to drop the 'Palestinians' unilateral bid for 'statehood' at the UN in September so that Obama won't have to exercise an American veto in the Security Council.
PA sources said that Chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat and Nabil Abu Rudaineh, a spokesman for PA President Mahmoud Abbas, will travel to Washington shortly for talks with US government officials on the statehood plan.
The London-based Al-Hayat newspaper quoted a PA official as saying that the US Administration was searching for a formula that would allow the two sides to resume the peace negotiations so that the Palestinians could abandon their statehood plan.
The US has so far failed to come up with such a formula, the official said.
What's worse is that Prime Minister Netanyahu is apparently playing along with this game.
Israeli officials said that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has indicated that he would agree to a formula based on entering the negotiations using the 1967 lines, with mutual agreed swaps, as the baseline, as long as the Palestinians would agree in turn to spelling out that the goal of the negotiations would be two states: a Palestinian state alongside the Jewish state of Israel.
The officials said that intensive discussions on this matter have been held involving Israeli, Palestinian, US, EU and Russian officials. So far the Palestinians have given no sign of a willingness to accept a formula that recognizes Israel as a Jewish state, the officials said.
So is Netanyahu bluffing the 'Palestinians' because he knows that they will never agree that Israel is a Jewish state? Or is he really dumb enough to enter 'negotiations' where the default position is that we go back to the 1967 lines1949 armistice lines unless the 'Palestinians' agree otherwise?
In light of this earlier post, it's not surprising to hear that the 'Palestinians' are reconsidering the unilateral approach to the United Nations.
Among those opposed to the United Nations declaration are senior officials, including PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, former Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia and the former Palestinian UN envoy Nasser al-Qudwa. The latter's opposition is particularly significant because he is considered the most experienced Palestinian official when it comes to dealing with the United Nations. He is also considered likely to run for PA president after Abbas retires.
"More and more senior Palestinians are beginning to reconsider the approach to the United Nations," said a senior European diplomat who met about a week ago with two Palestinian ministers.
An Israeli official who met with senior Palestinians and who disagrees with the move said, "Some of them are beginning to understand that approaching the United Nations might hurt Israel, but it won't help the Palestinians."
Opponents say a declaration of statehood in the United Nations could negatively impact relations with the United States, especially with the U.S. Congress. Six months ago, Congress passed a resolution, albeit a declarative one only, stating that it would oppose a unilateral declaration of Palestinian statehood in the United Nations.
Opponents also say that even if the resolution passes in the General Assembly, there would be no change on the ground, which could mean escalation to a new intifada. They also say that such a declaration could provide the Palestinians a state within provisional borders, taking issues like East Jerusalem and refugees off the table.
Senior PA figures Saeb Erekat and Nabil Abu Rudaineh met on Monday in Washington with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. They conveyed a message from Abbas to Clinton and other senior U.S. officials that the PA was ready to return to the negotiating table on the basis of President Barack Obama's May 19 speech - supporting a two-state solution based on 1967 borders with agreed swaps of territory - but only if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly expresses similar willingness.
And apparently only if Netanyahu agrees to an officially renewed 'settlement freeze.' Don't hold your breaths waiting for that to happen.
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
