Gaza 'closer than ever' to splitting from 'Palestinian Authority'
In a Tuesday speech, PLO Secretary General Yasser Abed-Rabbo whined that Gaza is 'closer than ever' to splitting from the 'Palestinian Authority' and of course he
blamed Israel.
Referring to the ongoing dispute between Fatah and Hamas, PLO
Secretary-General Yasser Abed Rabbo said that the “danger of the split
between the Gaza Strip and West Bank has increased in light of failure
to end the dispute.”
Speaking at a seminar in Ramallah organized
by the Palestinian Peace Coalition group, Abed Rabbo claimed that
Israel has for many years been seeking to separate the West Bank from
the Gaza Strip “by sowing seeds of division” among Palestinians.
“Israel is today close to achieving its goal,” Abed Rabbo said.
And I thought they split in 2007 when Hamas kicked Fatah and the 'Palestinian Authority' out of Gaza.... Silly me....
Labels: Gaza, Hamas-Fatah reconciliation, Palestinian Authority, PLO, Yasser Abed Rabbo
Oh well... Hamas denies agreeing to 72-hour cease fire
Earlier this afternoon, the 'Palestinian Authority's Yasser Abd Rabbo (one of the sponsors of the '
Geneva Initiative') announced that Hamas and Islamic Jihad would unilaterally cease fire for 24 hours and that if Israel went along it would be
extended to 72 hours. The cease fire was to go into effect immediately.
"After extensive calls and consultations with the brothers in Hamas
and Islamic Jihad, the Palestinian leadership announces on behalf of
everyone the willingness for a ceasefire and humanitarian truce for 24
hours," said Yasser Abed Rabbo, Secretary General of the Palestine
Liberation Organisation.
"We call on all Arab and international parties to support this ...
and hold Israel fully responsible for the consequences of refusing it,"
he said, reading out a statement.
He added that "there is also a suggestion from the United Nations to
extend this truce for 72 hours and we are dealing positively with this
suggestion."
The Israeli media fell all over itself to take the 'offer' seriously.
Israeli Channel 2's veteran Arab affairs analyst Ehud
Yaari said that Abed Rabbo is "a serious person" and that an
announcement of this nature probably has substance behind it.
There was just one small catch....
There has been no cessation of the fire from Gaza into Israel and
from Israel into Gaza so far, however. The IDF has been targeting the
Rimal neighborhood of Gaza for the first time and telling residents of
the eastern side of Khan Younis to evacuate their homes.
It turns out there was a
good reason for that.
However, Hamas spokespersons have denied these reports and said they do not agree with this announcement and that a cease-fire cannot exist when Israeli forces are inside Gaza.
Israel did not immediately respond to the remarks.
Let's just forget the cease fire talk (we've had three and Hamas violated every one - including yesterday's) and finish the job. We never know when we will have another opportunity like this.
Labels: cease fire, Gaza, Hamas, IDF, Islamic Jihad, Operation Protective Edge, Yasser Abed Rabbo
'Palestinians' criticize Kerry proposals as 'Israeli ideas'
The 'Palestinian' leadership has gone ballistic over the ideas presented by US Secretary of State Kerry, dismissing them as '
Israeli ideas.'
US Secretary of State John Kerry’s proposals are Israeli ideas that
the Palestinian Authority cannot accept, PLO Secretary-General Yasser
Abed Rabbo said on Thursday.
Abed Rabbo said he cannot accept the
proposals mainly because it remains unclear when Israel would pull out
of the West Bank and east Jerusalem.
Kerry’s proposals offer the Palestinians “general and vague”
formulas about the fate of Jerusalem, Abed Rabbo said in a broadcast on
the Voice of Palestine radio station.
The proposals also call for
“slicing” parts of the Jordan Valley and making them part of Israel,
and scrapping the “right of return” for Palestinian refugees, the PLO
official said.
Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the PLO Executive
Committee, denied reports that the PA leadership had agreed to a
gradual Israeli withdrawal over a period of three years.
These reports were untrue and hurt the higher interests of the Palestinians, Ashrawi said.
Tawfik
Tirawi, a top Fatah official and former PA security commander, said
that Kerry’s proposals were completely unacceptable to the
Palestinians.
“We don’t want framework agreements, but a final solution,” Tirawi told reporters in Ramallah.
He criticized Kerry for offering the Palestinians a capital in the villages of Abu Dis and al-Ram, and not in Jerusalem.
Tirawi said that Kerrry’s proposals do not offer a solution to the issue of the refugees.
“This means that we cannot accept these ideas,” he said. “We will pay a heavy price.”
At what point will Kerry figure out that the only thing that's acceptable to the 'Palestinians' is for Israel to dismantle itself?
Labels: Abu Mazen, Hanan Ashrawi, Israel is a Jewish state, Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, John Kerry, Palestinian refugees, Palestinians, Tawfik Tirawi, Yasser Abed Rabbo
More popcorn needed: 'Palestinians' accuse Kerry of 'appeasing Israel' over Iran
I don't think we're going to see John Kerry hugging Saeb Erekat or Yasser Abed Rabbo any time soon. Abed Rabbo attacked Kerry on Monday for
seeking to appease Israel over Iran by his positions in the 'negotiations' with the 'Palestinians.'
But Abed Rabbo
told Voice of Palestine radio that Kerry had plunged the process into
crisis by seeking to "appease Israel through agreeing to its expansion
demands in the (Jordan) Valley under the pretext of security."
US
acquiescence to Israel's security demands was aimed at "silencing the
Israelis over the deal with Iran and achieving a fake progress in the
Palestinian-Israeli track at our expense", he said.
Abed Rabbo
was referring to the Nov. 24 interim accord reached in Geneva between
world powers and Iran, whereby it agreed to some curbs on its disputed
nuclear program in exchange for the easing of international sanctions.
Dan Shapiro, the US ambassador to Israel, said on Monday there was no quid pro quo between the Iran and Palestine talks.
"These
two issues concern both Israel's security and our security and the
interests of all the Middle East, that it be a more quiet and stable
region. But we do not see any linkage in which we seek to give on one
issue and receive on the other," Shapiro told Israel's Army Radio.
Shapiro's comment is pretty ironic given that the Obama administration has tried for the last five years to link Iran to the 'Palestinians,' claiming that Israel would never get the support of the Arab countries for an attack on Iran without their first being a 'Palestinian state.'
Israel
has not commented on the US proposals but cabinet minister Yaakov Peri
said on Sunday the government had not yet agreed to them.
That may well be true. But it's clear that the US position on the security proposals is
closer to Israel's than to the 'Palestinians.'
Labels: Barack Hussein Obama, borders and security, Dan Shapiro, John Kerry, Jordan Valley, linkage, Yasser Abed Rabbo
Pass the popcorn: 'Palestinians' seethe over month-long delay in terrorist release
The 'Palestinians' are
seething over a report that US Secretary of State John FN Kerry wants to
delay the release of the third group of 'Palestinian' terrorists by a month in order to work out an arrangement involving an Israeli presence in the Jordan Valley after a 'peace treaty.'
However, PA officials who spoke to NRG/Maariv on Sunday said
that the PA negotiating team has received an unexpected message from
Kerry, according to which the next release - scheduled for the end of
December - will be postponed by one month.
According to these officials, Kerry is using the terrorist release as a means of pressuring Abbas, after the PA Chairman rejected all of Kerry’s offers regarding security in the Jordan Valley.
The officials added that Kerry is determined make progress in the
peace talks by January, and as such is planning to postpone the third
phase of the release of the prisoners, as a way of “persuading” the PA
to accept his proposed security arrangements.
Wow. That's the first time that anyone has pressured the 'Palestinians' to do anything since... wait for it...
George W. Bush on June 24, 2002. (Don't tell Obama that or he'll make Kerry take it back).
Peace requires a new and different
Palestinian leadership, so that a Palestinian state can be born.
I call on the Palestinian people to elect new leaders, leaders not
compromised by terror. I call upon them to build a practicing
democracy, based on tolerance and liberty. If the Palestinian people
actively pursue these goals, America and the world will actively
support their efforts. If the Palestinian people meet these goals,
they will be able to reach agreement with Israel and Egypt and Jordan
on security and other arrangements for independence.
And when the Palestinian people have new leaders, new institutions
and new security arrangements with their neighbors, the United States
of America will support the creation of a Palestinian state whose
borders and certain aspects of its sovereignty will be provisional
until resolved as part of a final settlement in the Middle East.
...
Today, Palestinian authorities are encouraging, not opposing,
terrorism. This is unacceptable. And the United States will not
support the establishment of a Palestinian state until its leaders
engage in a sustained fight against the terrorists and dismantle their
infrastructure. This will require an externally supervised effort to
rebuild and reform the Palestinian security services. The security
system must have clear lines of authority and accountability and a
unified chain of command.
From the
'Palestinian' reaction, Kerry really is pressuring them.
Issa Karaka, PA Minister of Prisoner Affairs, said that while an
official confirmation of the postponement has yet to be made, there are
definite American pressures in that direction. Karaka added that Abbas
told Kerry in their meeting last week that he refuses the proposed
postponement, saying the matter could negatively impact peace talks with
Israel.
Kerry's delay is seen as meant to pressure the PA into accepting
Kerry's proposed Jordan Valley security arrangements made last week,
which PA officials say Abbas rejected as they would not have prevented Israelis from living in the area.
Meanwhile Yasser Abed Rabbo, a top Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) official, told AFP that Kerry's Jordan Valley proposals "will drive Kerry's efforts to an impasse and to total failure."
To date 52 of the 104 terrorists slated for release in "gestures" to
keep peace talks going have gone free. The third batch of terrorist
releases was set to occur in three weeks, although the new reports leave
the timing unclear.
In late November a senior Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) official revealed that the PA is remaining in peace talks only to free all 104 terrorists.
On the flip side of Kerry's pressure on the PA, there are concerns
that the US may pressure Israel to concede to Jordan Valley arrangements
lessening or removing Israeli presence in the region.
I'm hoping that the 'Palestinians' walk away. I don't believe that the Obama administration will suddenly have an epiphany and support Israel if the 'Palestinians' walk away, but I do believe that it will at least force them to take time to regroup - time that could bring us to the end of the Obama administration.
What could go wrong?
Labels: Abu Mazen, Barack Hussein Obama, Issa Qaraqi, John Kerry, Jordan Valley, Palestinian state RIGHT NOW syndrome, Palestinian terrorists, Yasser Abed Rabbo
'Palestinians' looking for new patron?
This is rich. Elliott Abrams writes that the 'Palestinians' are so convinced that Obama has failed them that
they are looking for a patron other than the United States.
Here’s the thread: No three men were closer to the United States during the years of negotiations under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush than Fayyad, Abed Rabbo, and Dahlan. Developments in Palestinian politics appear to be reducing, not enhancing, their influence. Dahlan has been pushed to the sidelines, and it seems that Abed Rabbo will be next. Fayyad is, for now, protected by his reputation among donors: “Donor countries have warned Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas against trying to replace Prime Minister Salam Fayyad or confiscate his control over the PA Finance Ministry,” the Jerusalem Post reported last week. But over time, it is likely that politics with the PLO and the Fatah party will turn against Fayyad, who is an official of neither organization. And it is unlikely that the successors to officials like Fayyad and Abed Rabbo will have ties to the United States like they do now or the respect among American officials that they have earned over the years.
Hmmm. Good riddance.
Labels: Mahmoud Abbas, Mohamed Dahlan, Salam Fayyad, Yasser Abed Rabbo
'Palestinian' reactions to Palileaks
There are some fascinating 'Palestinian' reactions to the Palileaks documents
here. The bottom line is that they all deny the truth of the documents, and some of them even go after the Emir of Qatar for authorizing what they see as an attack on the 'Palestinian Authority.'
Maybe Qatar has tired of the 'Palestinians'? Heh.
Labels: Abu Ala, al-Jazeera, Emir of Qatar, Maan News, Mahmoud Abbas, Palileaks, Saeb Erekat, Yasser Abed Rabbo
Obama loses another friend
There's a premium on friends in Washington these days, and Barack Obama has apparently
lost another one.
The meetings are being held amid deep disappointment in Ramallah with the US administration for failing to pressure Israel to halt construction in West Bank settlements and east Jerusalem.
A PA official said that Abbas informed the Fatah committee that he would reject the American call for holding indirect talks with Israel.
Abbas is also expected to seek the backing of Arab League foreign ministers for his position. The ministers have decided to hold a meeting on Wednesday at the request of Abbas to discuss the repercussions of Washington’s failure to convince Israel to renew a moratorium on settlement construction.
Mohammed Shtayyeh, member of the PA negotiating team with Israel, was quoted by AFP as saying that Washington has suggested that the Palestinians resume indirect negotiations with Israel – an indication that the Americans have “nothing to offer.” He also ruled out the possibility that such negotiations would succeed.
Yasser Abed Rabbo, a senior PLO official and close adviser to Abbas, said he expected the PA leadership to reject Washington’s demand to resume the peace talks.
“We don’t want to return to indirect talks to once again discuss agendas for the negotiations because we will then waste another year,” he said.
Abed Rabbo warned that the interests of the superpowers in the region would be affected if an independent Palestinian state is not established. He added that Washington’s credibility has already been undermined as a result of its announcement that it has failed to stop settlement construction.
“This is the first time since the Vietnam War that the US declares its failure,” Abed Rabbo told the London-based Al-Hayat newspaper.
I can't recall the US ever committing itself to do something when it was so obvious at the outset that it would be incapable of doing it.
Labels: Barack Obama, Mahmoud Abbas, settlement freeze extension, Yasser Abed Rabbo
