Moebarak, Hamas en PA afwijzend over speech Netanjahoe

 

De reacties uit de Arabische landen en de Palestijnse Autoriteit zeggen meer over hen dan over Netanjahoe. Ik was het niet met ieder woord eens, maar het was een speech die openingen en compromissen bevatte, en een verzoenende toon aansloeg.

Het is chutzpa dat Erekat nu aan Obama vraagt om Israel tot de orde te roepen en te dwingen tot meer concessies. Obama heeft de afgelopen weken niks anders gedaan!

 

On Sunday, an aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said that the speech "sabotages" regional peace efforts, due to Netanyahu's refusal to accept an influx of Palestinian refugees into Israel and his unwillingness to compromise on the status of Jerusalem.

 

Juist het zogenaamde 'recht op terugkeer' saboteert het vredesproces en is een van de grootste obstakels tot vrede. Het druist lijnrecht in tegen een tweestatenoplossing. Hopelijk gaat Obama daar net zo'n punt van maken als van de nederzettingen.

 

RP

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Last update - 14:47 15/06/2009       
Mubarak: Netanyahu speech 'scuttles chances for peace'
By Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondent, Haaretz Service and News Agencies
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1093063.html

 

 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's demand in a key speech Sunday that Palestinians recognize Israel as the state of the Jewish people "scuttles the chances for peace," Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said Monday.

 

Mubarak made the comments in a speech to Egyptian army commandos, the state-run MENA news agency reported.

 

The president said he had informed Netanyahu of his position, according to which Israeli-Palestinian peace talks must be renewed from the point at which they were broken off, and that the call for recognition of Israel as a Jewish state would only complicate matters.

 

"You won't find anyone to answer that call in Egypt, or in any other place," Mubarak was quoted as telling the troops.

 

In Netanyahu's speech, the premier conditioned the establishment of a Palestinian state on that recognition.

 

Mubarak added that the problems in the Middle East would not be solved until the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was resolved. "The solution to the crises in the Arab and Muslim world lies in Jerusalem," he said.

 

Hamas, meanwhile, has dismissed Netanyahu's speech as a "racist" attempt to deny Palestinian national rights.

 

"[Netanyahu wants] to recognize Palestine as pure Jewish land, denying the Palestinian people any rights in their land," the Palestinian news agency Ma'an on Monday quoted the Islamist group as saying in a statement.

 

In the address, Netanyahu also vowed that Israel would not build any new West Bank settlements, or expand existing ones, but refused to stop accommodating for their natural growth.

 

According to Ma'an, the Hamas statement added: "Netanyahu attempted to play with words in order to mislead people, claiming he wants peace.

 

"However, his racial attitudes when he stipulates that the Palestinians recognize Palestine as land for the Jews, indicate that Netanyahu is a liar when he talks about peace. This speech increased hatred and spitefulness."

 

PA: Netanyahu 'sabotaging' peace efforts

 

On Sunday, an aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said that the speech "sabotages" regional peace efforts, due to Netanyahu's refusal to accept an influx of Palestinian refugees into Israel and his unwillingness to compromise on the status of Jerusalem.

 

"Netanyahu's remarks have sabotaged all initiatives, paralyzed all efforts being made and challenges the Palestinian, Arab and American positions," said Nabil Abu Rudeinah.

 

Netanyahu pledged in the address that Jerusalem be the undivided capital of Israel and that Palestinian refugees not be allowed into Israel.

 

"This will not lead to complete and just peace," Abu Rudeinah said. "His remarks are not enough and will not lead to a solution."

 

"Our main demand is the end of the occupation and finding a fair solution for Palestinian refugees and halting settlements," Abu Rudeinah said. "Other details should be resolved in negotiations."

 

A senior Palestinian negotiator, meanwhile, called on U.S. President Barack Obama to intervene to force Israel to abide by previous interim agreements that include freezing settlement activity in the West Bank. The alternative, he said, was violence.

 

"President Obama, the ball is in your court tonight," Saeb Erekat said. "You have the choice tonight. You can treat Netanyahu as a prime minister above the law and ... close off the path of peace tonight and set the whole region on the path of violence, chaos, extremism and bloodletting.

 

"The alternative is to make Netanyahu abide by the road map," he said, referring to a U.S.-sponsored document under which Israel agreed to freeze settlement activity and Palestinians agreed to rein in militants hostile to Israel.

 

"The peace process has been moving at the speed of a tortoise," Erekat added. "Tonight, Netanyahu has flipped it over on its back."