Is dit een dreigement? In plaats van Israël op deze manier onder druk proberen te zetten, zou het beter zijn als Abbas kijkt naar wat binnen zijn eigen bereik ligt. Wat kan hij doen om de kans op een vredesakkoord te vergroten? Vasthouden aan een onbeperkt 'recht op terugkeer' voor de vluchtelingen, en fel uithalen naar Israëlische kritiek daarop, vergroot de kans op het bereiken van een overeenkomst niet. Het opeisen van geheel Oost-Jeruzalem, inclusief Klaagmuur en Joodse begraafplaats, helpt ook niet echt. Israël beschuldigen van het plegen van een Holocaust op de Palestijnen zal de sfeer evenmin ten goede komen. En op Israëls 60ste verjaardag had Abbas misschien iets hartelijker kunnen zijn, en kunnen toegeven dat de 'katastrofe', zoals de Palestijnen Israëls stichting noemen, mede door henzelf is veroorzaakt. Abbas zou het recht van het Joodse volk op zelfbeschikking kunnen erkennen, en kunnen beloven wat aan de antisemitische haatpropaganda te doen. Al deze zaken zouden de kansen op een overeenkomst aanzienlijk vergroten, en daarmee, naar eigen zeggen, zijn kansen om aan de macht te blijven.
In plaats daarvan valt hij uit naar Bush vanwege zijn lovende woorden tijdens Israëls onafhankelijkheidsviering. Bush had het toen uiteraard over de Nakba moeten hebben, over de bezetting, en Israël moeten veroordelen voor de bouw van de nederzettingen, en zijn medeleven uiten met het lijden van de Palestijnen. Het is niet genoeg dat de VN, de Arabische wereld, de EU, allerhande hulp- en humanitaire organisaties en het State Department het daar al continu over hebben. Israël mag nooit geprezen worden, zelfs niet op haar 60ste verjaardag, en het Palestijnse lijden moet altijd in het middelpunt staan. Zo bouw je geen staat op, en geen fatsoenlijke relatie met Israël.
Ratna
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| Last update - 20:59 18/05/2008 |  | | |
Abbas: I'll quit if peace deal not reached in six months
By Haaretz Service
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas warned Sunday that he would resign from his position if a peace settlement is not reached with Israel within six months.
During talks with former Meretz chairman MK Yossi Beilin, as part of the economic forum in Sharm el-Sheikh, Abbas defined the next six months as critical for the peace process and added that there would be no point for him to proceed in his post if a settlement was not reached.
"I didn't take the presidency upon myself simply for the role, but to fulfil a mission," Beilin's office quoted Abbas as saying. "There is no point in continuing in that capacity if it becomes clear there is no chance of achieving peace."
During talks with former Meretz chairman MK Yossi Beilin, as part of the economic forum in Sharm el-Sheikh, Abbas defined the next six months as critical for the peace process and added that there would be no point for him to proceed in his post if a settlement was not reached.
"I didn't take the presidency upon myself simply for the role, but to fulfil a mission," Beilin's office quoted Abbas as saying. "There is no point in continuing in that capacity if it becomes clear there is no chance of achieving peace."
When asked about Beilin's comments, senior Abbas aide Saeb Erekat that Abbas was determined to reach an agreement with Israel by the end of the year.
"In case of failure to achieve this goal, he will weigh his options then, not now," Erekat said.
Earlier Sunday, Abbas said that the address given by U.S. President George Bush to the Knesset last week had angered the Palestinians.
Abbas said he conveyed his disappointment to Bush when they met at the World Economic Forum on the Mideast, a meeting of 1,500 global policymakers and business leaders in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheik.
"In principle, the Bush speech at the Knesset angered us, and we were not happy with it," Abbas told reporters Sunday on the sidelines of the conference.
"This is our position and we have a lot of remarks (about the speech) and I frankly, clearly and transparently asked him that the American position should be balanced," Abbas said. He had dinner with Bush on Saturday but it was unclear when he confronted the U.S. leader about his comments.
Arab commentators have said the speech, marking the 60th anniversary of Israel's founding showed strong support for Israel while barely mentioning Palestinian aspirations. The speech caused an outcry in Arab media, which called it offensive.
In that speech, Bush showered Israel with praise, strongly reiterated its right to defend itself and only gently urged leaders to make the hard choices necessary, without mention of concrete steps. He did not mention the Palestinians' plight; he spoke of them only in one sentence saying that Israel's 120th anniversary - in 2068 - would see it neighboring an independent Palestinian state.
Abbas told Bush directly about his concerns with the Knesset speech when the two met on Saturday at the Egyptian resort, according to Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat.
"We said that it was disappointing, and a missed opportunity, because you [Bush] could have said that the Palestinian people should have their freedom and independence in order to achieve peace in the entire area," he said.
On Saturday, in efforts to reassure Palestinians wary of his dedication to their side in the Mideast peace dispute, Bush said he was "absolutely committed" to getting an Israeli-Palestinian accord by the end of the year.
"It breaks my heart to see the vast potential of the Palestinian people, really, wasted," Bush said at the side of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. He spoke of a peace deal after the two leaders met in the president's villa at the Red Sea beach resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh.
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