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    Palestinians: no talks without settlement freeze

    By MOHAMMED DARAGHMEH - Associated Press | AP – Thu, Sep 29, 2011

    RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) โ€” The Palestinians can't resume negotiations with Israel under current conditions and will pursue their bid to win U.N. recognition, a top Palestinian official said Thursday, after President Mahmoud Abbas and senior officials reviewed the latest appeal from Mideast mediators to restart talks and reach a deal within a year.

    Last week, Abbas asked the U.N. to grant full membership to a state of Palestine in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, lands Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war. In a turning point for Palestinian diplomacy, Abbas overrode strong objections by the U.S. which, like Israel, argues that a state must arise from negotiations.

    Since returning from the U.N., both Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have tried to avoid being blamed for the deepening impasse.

    The Palestinians say they can't be expected to negotiate while Israel keeps expanding settlements, thus pre-empting the outcome of a deal. They say they suspect Netanyahu wants talks as a diplomatic shield, but is not interested in reaching a deal.

    Netanyahu alleges the Palestinians are not serious about peace and says he is ready to negotiate at any time. However, the Israeli leader refuses to halt settlement construction or recognize the pre-1967 frontier as a baseline, rejecting internationally backed positions and Palestinian demands.

    After the Palestinians' U.N. bid, the Quartet of Mideast mediators โ€” the U.S., the U.N., the European Union and Russia โ€” called for the resumption of talks and a deal within a year. The Quartet statement did not specifically refer to the two Palestinian demands but listed a number of speeches, U.N. resolutions and other documents that contain them.

    "Members of the Security Council who want to see the peace process move forward and the early resumption of direct talks between Israel and Palestinians should not be supporting this Palestinian unilateral act," Netanyahu spokesman Mark Regev said.

    On Thursday, Abbas consulted with officials from the Palestine Liberation Organization and his Fatah movement on what to do next.

    Yasser Abed Rabbo, the secretary general of the PLO, said after the meeting that the Quartet statement contained encouraging elements, but that this is not enough to resume negotiations. The Palestinians are eager to restart talks, but Israel first has to commit to all references in the Quartet statement, "especially concerning the borders of 1967 and stopping settlement activity," he said.

    Abed Rabbo also said the Palestinians will keep pursuing U.N. recognition. Currently, the 15-member U.N. Security Council is reviewing the issue. The U.S. has already said it would veto the request should the Palestinians muster the required nine votes.

    Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki told reporters Thursday that the Palestinians have secured eight votes so far, and that they are lobbying for more support, including from Bosnia and Colombia.

    Despite the certain U.S. veto, the Palestinians are pushing for a majority in the council, in part to show that their statehood bid has international support. Malki told reporters that eight council members โ€” Russia, China, India, South Africa, Brazil, Lebanon, Nigeria and Gabon โ€” are expected to vote for Palestinian membership.

    He said Nigeria and Gabon were initially considered undecided, but that senior officials from both countries have assured him of their support. Several others listed by Malki, including China and South Africa, already publicly announced their support for the membership bid.

    The Palestinians also retain the option of seeking recognition as a non-member observer state from the General Assembly.

    Also Thursday, the Palestinian Economics Ministry said that without Israel's occupation, the Palestinian economy would be almost double in size and entirely independent of foreign aid.

    The ministry said losses due to Israeli restrictions amount to nearly $7 billion a year, or 85 percent of the Palestinian nominal gross domestic product. This includes nearly $2 billion in losses due to Israel's blockade of Hamas-ruled Gaza, water use restrictions and restrictions on natural resources respectively, said Economics Minister Hassan Abu Libdeh.

    Without the occupation, the Palestinian Authority could end its dependence on foreign aid, the minister said. Abbas' Palestinian Authority receives hundreds of millions of dollars of aid every year.

    The International Monetary Fund concluded in a separate report this year that the Palestinian per capita GDP would have been 88 percent higher if growth had continued at about the same rate as during the years 1968-1987 when borders with Israel were more open.

     

    398 comments

    • Jeff
      Jeff  •  7 mths ago
      That's right. At list money wouldn' be wasted..
      How many billions of dollars were stolen by Arafat, Abbas and their cronies?..
    • Jeff
      Jeff  •  7 mths ago
      If there is a "Palestinian Spring" the first thing that will happen will be impassioned calls for the dismissal and trial of Abbas and his cronies, who have spent decades enriching themselves and their families on the aid that was supposed to flow to help the average Palestinian.
    • Jeff
      Jeff  •  7 mths ago
      "The Palestinian Authority received unprecedented financial support from the international community. $929 million was given by the international community to the PNA in 2001, $891 million in 2003 and $1.1 billion in 2005.
      In 2003, the US funded $224 million, the EU $187 million, the Arab League $124 million, Norway $53 million, the World Bank $50 million, the United Kingdom $43 million, Italy $40 million, and the last $170 million by others"

      "Annual funding for UNRWA comes from donor countries and the European Commission. In 2008, the biggest donors here the European Commission and United States with $190 million and $185 million respectively, together with Sweden ($51,6 million), United Kingdom ($37,5 million) and Norway ($35,1 million)"

      What a waste.
    • bobby
      bobby  •  8 mths ago
      need 2 run UN away quit givin money there not for USA
    • Runy
      Runy  •  7 mths ago
      Can someone tell me why the Arab world dont take in the refugees themselves? they could easily do it, but they chose not to and let Israel deal with these "festering sore" they now call Palestinians. Palestinians by the way hasnt seen that land long enough to make any historical claim to this biblical piece of land. Every artifacts found does nothing but point that jews has been living there for 3000 years. you say jews are from europe and are fake? yea recent DNA analysis proves these jews living there right now have biological connection to those ancient jews. Palestinians are nothing but squatters that cries and whines after losing a war they started. PREACH!!!
    • Marc
      Marc  •  8 mths ago
      The 3000 years of Jewish presence in what became Palestine merely establishes that when Jews began to Return to Zion, as LEGAL IMMIGRANTS, they were not colonists, as the Arabs delude themselves into believing (another case of Arab liars believing their own lies).
      • Big Al
        Big Al 8 mths ago
        Yes, the jews got their immigration going, but behind the backs of the Palestinians, and when the Palestinians finally began to figure out this immigration policy was in effect without any input from the local population, that's when all hell started breaking loose.
      • Marc
        Marc 8 mths ago
        Al, so what? An indigenous people who, with the consent of the legal government, are allowed to return as legal immigrants to their ancestral homeland and legally buy land in their ancestral homeland, have all the permission they need.
    • LonnieB
      LonnieB  •  8 mths ago
      Really who cares? The same people will still have teh same #$%$ demands long after our generation is dead...that is unless they go to war to settle the land dispute...which will be the end of this decades long issue. Thats how they deal with everything over there...kill it, threaten to kill it, or hire someone to kill it. Why would anything be any different now. Supposedly civilization began in the middle east...hard to believe...not much civilization.
    • Marc
      Marc  •  8 mths ago
      The reason there's no peace is that the Palestinian Arab Murderers and Terrorists try to convince the civilized world that they "occupation" refers to only the Gaza Strip (which isn't occupied) and the West Bank, but what those lying Arab Murders and Terrorists really refer to is the entire former Palestine Trusteeship, including what's pre-1967 Israel.

      Israel is a Jewish nation with the right to control its immigration and citizenship. Arab Murderers and Terrorists- live with it.
      • Keno E
        Keno E 7 mths ago
        Murderers?? Go & read your fiking bible !! There you see the real murders of your
        motfiker king david's murders !!!
    • Eugene
      Eugene  •  7 mths ago
      WะขF is a "settlement"?

      Are they still in ancient times?
    • Native
      Native  •  7 mths ago
      I wonder why the European nations expelled the euroepan jews to the middle east? What about their lands and properties? Where they compensated? Why didn't european nations take the european zionists?
    • Dude Guy
      Dude Guy  •  7 mths ago
      Israel has the right to do whatever it wants on it's land. Let's not forget how Israel obtained this land, wanting nothing but peace and coexistence it got attacked by it's belligerent anti semitic raging muslim neighbors buoyed by superior number but then Israel, as if by a divine miracle, managed to not only hold the assailants of but crushingly defeat them and occupy some land. Besides this land and much more used to belong to them in ancient times, that's ancient I hear some people say, well the clock hasn't stopped ticking and soon the "palestinians" claims are ancient too, except that they were bogus in the first place. Speaking of ancient what's not ancient is the palestinians, history shows there never were any "palestine", so it's all false claims made by soar losers of an ugly anti semitic war. Besides, even if you did want peace with arabs or muslims concessions is not the right way to go because they just interpret it as a sign of weakness ripe for further exploit, the only order these wile vermin will ever understand is oppression. Eventually there will be order, you choose whether you want to be in jail or to be set free when the order arrives.
      • Shuvonn
        Shuvonn 7 mths ago
        The United Nations Security Council. the United Nations General Assembly, the United States, the EU, the International Court of Justice, and the International Committee of the Red Cross refer to it as Palestinian territory occupied by Israel. General Assembly resolution 58/292 (17 May 2004) affirmed that the Palestinian people have the right to sovereignty over the area.
        The argument presented by israel is not accepted by the international community and international lawmaking bodies, virtually all of whom regard Israel's activities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip as an occupation that denies the fundamental principle of self-determination found in the Article One of the United Nations Charter, and in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Further, UN Security Council Resolution 242 notes the "inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war" regardless of whether the war in which the territory was acquired was offensive or defensive. It is Palestinian land, so yes israel has the right to do whatever it wants in israel, but the WB and e.jerusalem is NOT israel....
        ps its a bit hypocritical to PICK where you pitch your tent and then complain about the neighbors....
      • Dude Guy
        Dude Guy 7 mths ago
        Your retort is not even an argument, it's merely an enumeration of those who support your side of the story. You also misunderstood me, by Israel's neighbors I of course was talking about the neighboring countries, not next door neighbors, how could stupid dimwit misinterpret it in that way?
      • Shuvonn
        Shuvonn 7 mths ago
        Your name speaks volumes about yourself there DUDE.
        I post facts and you call names.....
        Your comprehension is also sadly lacking since I was referring to israel's neighbors, since many of the first aliyahs could not be absorbed into israeli society right away, many newly immigrating israelis lived in tents in israel when they first arrived, many for years, but I can see you do not allow facts to get in your way.
        As for claiming that I was merely listing countries or organizations that support my argument, they represent the ENTIRE world, since not ONE country in the entire world sees the WB and or e.jerusalem as part of israel, NOT ONE. Not one country in the world recognizes jerusalem as the capital of israel, NOT ONE! .
        Perhaps it is projection on your part to refer to me as the dimwit....
        If you want to think that the US,UN,EU, Amnesty International, Red Cross, the International Court of Justice, as unimportant that is your prerogative, but it does not change the facts, and it is indeed a powerful argument that NO twisting of facts or lies from israel and or their rabid supporters have the power to change.
    • Jeff
      Jeff  •  7 mths ago
      By 1948, the Arabs had still not yet discovered their ancient nation of Falastin.
      When they were offered half of Palestine west of the Jordan River for a state, the offer was violently rejected. Six Arab states launched a war of annihilation against the nascent State of Israel.
      Their purpose was not to establish an independent Falastin. Their aim was to partition western Palestine amongst themselves.
    • momarchist
      momarchist  •  7 mths ago
      Rezwan Ferdaus, another "loyal" American Muslim, arrested for plotting to bomb Pentagon.
      • myob
        myob 7 mths ago
        They are Muslim first and from what ever country 2nd or 3rd or 4th, just not first. Islam would kill them if they tried to be citizens first and Muslim 2nd.
    • Marc
      Marc  •  8 mths ago
      For Freedom, you're making that all up.

      There isn't supposed to be war in the first place, and nations are supposed to play the cards they're dealt, but the Arabs don't feel these moral laws apply to them. If the Arabs didn't want to lose control of the West Bank, they should have thought about it before Jordan invaded Israel on June 5, 1967.
    • Marc
      Marc  •  8 mths ago
      Salexpo, the international border, established in 1923, put the entire Sea of Galilee inside the Palestine Trusteeship. That border corresponded to the armistice line agreed to by Syria and Israel; yet Syria continued to occupy positions west of that line.
    • Kotsyamama
      Kotsyamama  •  7 mths ago
      The International Court of Justice and the international community say these settlements are illegal, and no foreign government supports Israel's settlements. Israel disputes the position of the international community. The United Nations has repeatedly upheld the view that Israel's construction of settlements constitutes violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention. Israel dismantled 18 settlements in the Sinai Peninsula in 1982, and all 21 in the Gaza Strip and 4 in the West bank in 2005. They are purposely stalling, calculating that if Palestine ever achieves statehood, it will be impossible to dismantle these huge colonies.
    • vistavision2
      vistavision2  •  7 mths ago
      cahsmere, From the nation of the Hitities, the words heathen, cheat, & chat originate. They had their capital at Avarice Egypt with one of their proxies as Pharaoh of which Joseph was minister. Abraham was a shot-caller under in the Hittite kingdom.

      The Israelis are trying to cheat Palestinians out of their UNGA 181 National Rights through their war criminal settlements and NOT the Palestinians occupying State of Israel.

      So know we know who the HEATHEN are: Its the Israeli Ashkenazi pretender Jews!

      Judaism is defined as JUSTICE and NOT malevolence.
    • OetG
      OetG  •  7 mths ago
      The steadfastness of bigotry and ignorance is amazing, not least in the last two comments of Jeff and Cashmere. Jeff ignores the "imperative" of israel to conquer as much of the middle east as they can get away with and Cashmere ignores the "gimmegimmegimme" of israel. I could go on, but i prefer to leave fanaticism with the likes of Jeff, Cash' and co.
    • vistavision2
      vistavision2  •  7 mths ago
      Chuck G, It shall be the Israelis "who never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity" and not the Palestinians. Self-evident by the Netanyahu UN speech where he's trying to revise the course of human history to fit his delusions of HOW the peace process should work: NEWSFLASH- Israeli leadership have had 24 years to implement their "two-state settlement" if that is what it was.

      The Israelis vision for the Palestinian Authority was modeled after the NAZI "Jewish Authority" where the targeted leadership in fact assist the occupation forces with their ethnic cleansing.
      • Veritas Anon
        Veritas Anon 7 mths ago
        Vista only reivsionism is done by Muslims.
        1) Arafat is an Egyptian not a Palestinian.
        2) Palestine included both Jordan and Israel not just Israel (including West Bank)
        3) Jordan was to be totally an Arab nation for all Arabs of Palestine.
        4) Israel including the West Bank is far smaller than Jordan and was for Jews
        5) U.N. Unconditionally accept this plan presented by the League of Nations
        6) 90 percent of Palestinians are squatters that came mostly during British rule
        7) Mark Twain in 1800's remarked how EMPTY the land was of Arabs
        should I go on ? The list is long.

        If Arabs embraced the original plan, Palestinians would have had far more land and be thriving as would the Jews. Perhaps even work together and both be far further along in the world. Instead we see land grabbing vicious Muslim garbage being slung around and present as victims. They are not victims to Israel but to their neighboring Muslim masters who use them as pawns and as well, their own greed.
      • Shuvonn
        Shuvonn 7 mths ago
        Veritas Absence spouts tripe again.
        Arafat was born to Palestinian parents in Egypt.
        Israel does not include the WB, no country in the world recognizes the WB as part of israel.
        Jordan was not to be for arabs, a peek at the map of the British Mandate of Palestine included PALESTINE and Trans-Jordan.
        The U.N did not
        Mark Twain wrote FICTION.
        The Palestinians according to the UN, EU, US, have land Israel is illegally holding.
        And truth is NEVER anonymous.
        Ps that line about Arafat means NOTHING compared to the lists of israeli prime ministers and presidents....
      • Shuvonn
        Shuvonn 7 mths ago
        Formerand current presidents of israel.....
        Chaim Weizmann was born in the village of Motal near Pinsk in Belarus (at that time part of the Russian Empire).
        Yitzhak Born in Poltava in the Russian Empire (today in Ukraine) and a member of the jew terrorist organization haganah.
        Zalman Shazar (Shneur Zalman Rubashov) was born to a Hasidic family of the Chabad-Lubavitch denomination in Mir, near Minsk, in the Russian Empire
        Ephraim Katzir was born Efraim Katchalski, son of Yehuda and Tzila Katchalski, in Kiev, in the Russian Empire. In 1925 (several publications cite 1922) Member of the jew terrorist group Haganah.
        Yitzhak Navon He was the first Israeli president to be born in Jerusalem, then within the British Mandate for Palestine, and therfore a PALESTINIAN, and the first not to have been born in and made aliyah from the Russian Empire. Also member of haganah the JEWISH TERRORIST organization.
        Herzog was born at Clifton Park Avenue in Belfast, the son of notable Rabbi Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog, who wasChief Rabbi of Ireland from 1919 to 1937 (and later, of Palestine and Israel). Also a member of Haganah the jew terrorist organization.
        Ezer Weizman was born in Tel Aviv as Ezer Weizmann on 15 June 1924. His father, Yechiel, was an agronomist. He grew up in Haifa, and attended the Hebrew Reali School, and therefore a PALESTINIAN. He was a member of the jew terrorist organization the Irgun that blew up the king david hotel.
        Moshe Katsav was born in Yazd, Iran as Musa Qasab, an Iranian.
        Shimon Peres was born Szymon Perski on 2 August 1923 in Wiszniewo, Poland also a member of the jew terrorist group haganah.
    • Striver
      Striver  •  8 mths ago
      No talks? I hope Israel won't lose any sleep over Palestinian refusal to hold talks.
     Post a comment
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