Tuesday 7 September 2010

Masri slams Abbas for giving talks with Israel priority over reconciliation andNetanyahu Says No Guarantee Peace Talks Will Succeed

[ 07/09/2010 - 12:18 PM ]
RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- Head of the Palestinian reconciliation committee Munib Al-Masri criticized de facto president Mahmoud Abbas for panting after negotiations with Israelis and not showing any concern about reaching reconciliation with Hamas.

"It would be better if president Abbas gave the reconciliation file priority over the negotiations because the success of the Palestinian reconciliation is more important at the current stage," Masri said in a press statement to Islam Times website.

He also said that the reconciliation file is completely inactive and there are no prospects for progress, although some parties have sincere intentions to end the internal division.

He expressed his belief that the direct talks do not give any cause for optimism because of Israel's intransigent attitude and its persistence in its Judaization and settlement activities.

For his part, senior Hamas official and lawmaker Mushir Al-Masri denied that his Movement has intention to derail the Palestinian Authority's direct talks with Israelis, stressing that the negotiations are already a failed policy and do not need anyone to thwart it.

In a press statement, Masri underlined that the talks about the intention of Hamas to abort the negotiations are attempts by the PA negotiator to justify his failure and laying the blame on the resistance factions instead of holding the Israeli occupation responsible for this failure because of its declared insistence on not stopping its settlement and Judaization activities in the West Bank and occupied Jerusalem.

The Hamas official pointed out that the majority of the Palestinian people agree that Abbas's talks with Israel are pointless and would not restore their usurped rights.

In the same context, 21 Palestinian institutions in Europe stated in a joint petition that Washington talks are illegitimate aimed to cover Israel's criminal acts, its blockade on Gaza, the mass displacement of Palestinians from their homes and the Judaization of Jerusalem.

Their petition warned the PA negotiator of recognizing the Israeli occupation as a Jewish state, saying this would undermine the inalienable right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and threaten the Palestinian presence in the 1948 occupied lands.

The petition emphasized that the Palestinian people at home and abroad are not bound by any agreement that includes concessions on the Palestinian rights and constants.

Netanyahu Says No Guarantee Peace Talks Will Succeed

07/09/2010 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admitted on Tuesday that there was no guarantee negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians would succeed, but vowed to aim for a so-called peace agreement by the end of the year.

"This year, after many efforts, direct talks with the Palestinians have begun," Netanyahu said, in a video circulated by his bureau ahead of the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah. "This is an important step in our attempt to advance a peace agreement between us and them,” he claimed.

"I say this is an attempt, because it is not certain that it will succeed. Certainly there are many obstacles, many skeptics and many reasons to doubt, but we must try to reach peace," he said. "We are trying in good faith, but not naivety, to reach a peace agreement. Any arrangement between us and the Palestinians will be based on two criteria: security and recognition of Israel as a Jewish state," Netanyahu added.

"Security, because no peace will last without a strong anchor of actual security on the ground, not on paper and not as a hazy international commitment," he said. "The second thing is the recognition that Israel is the national state of the Jewish people. If we are asked to recognize a Palestinian state, it is both natural and appropriate that the Palestinians recognize the state of the Israeli people as a Jewish state."

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

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