Het lijkt erop dat de VS hun positie hebben bijgesteld en nu geen totale bevriezing van de nederzettingen meer eisen. Voor de Palestijnen is het wennen dat zij eens geen gelijk krijgen van de nieuwe Amerikaanse regering.
Ondanks al het gekrakeel is de situatie op de Westbank rustig, en de Palestijnse economie zit flink in de lift. Wat dat betreft is dit een geschikt moment om serieuze onderhandelingen te starten. De grote olifant in de kamer is natuurlijk Hamas, waarmee de besprekingen over een eenheidsregering zijn vastgelopen.
RP
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Haaretz - Last update - 09:31 01/11/2009
PA scoffs at Clinton for praising 'unprecedented' Israeli concessions
By Haaretz Service and Agencies
Haaretz - Last update - 09:31 01/11/2009
PA scoffs at Clinton for praising 'unprecedented' Israeli concessions
By Haaretz Service and Agencies
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1125026.html
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' spokesman on Saturday scoffed at U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's statement that Israel is making "unprecedented" concessions on West Bank settlement construction.
"There can be no excuse for the continuation of settlements, which is really the main obstacle in the way of any credible peace process," said Nabil Abu Rdainah.
During a press conference on Saturday night with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, Clinton said: "What the Prime Minister has offered in specifics of a restraint on the policy of settlements which he has just described - no new starts for example, is unprecedented in the context of prior-to negotiations."
She also said a freeze in settlement building had not been a condition for peace talks in the past and urged both sides to resume talks now.
But Abu Rdainah said: "A settlement freeze and acknowledging the terms of reference is the only way towards peace negotiations. Settlement is illegitimate and it is not possible to accept any justification for the continuation of the settlement activity or to defend it in the lands occupied in 1967, including Jerusalem."
Meanwhile, the spokesman for the Palestinian militant group Hamas, Sami Abu Zuhri, said Saturday the U.S. could not effectively engage in peacemaking while ignoring Hamas, and said Clinton's visit was "destined to fail."
During the press conference, Netanyahu said Israel was ready to start talks right away and that the Palestinians could bring their objections about settlements to the negotiating table.
"What we should do on the path to peace is get on it and get with it," he said.
The prime minister also blasted the Palestinian demand for a settlement freeze.
"But this is a new demand, it's a change of policy - of the Palestinian policy and it doesn't do much for peace - it doesn't work to advance negotiations," Netanyahu said. "It actually is used as a pretext... as an obstacle that prevents the re-establishment of negotiations."
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' spokesman on Saturday scoffed at U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's statement that Israel is making "unprecedented" concessions on West Bank settlement construction.
"There can be no excuse for the continuation of settlements, which is really the main obstacle in the way of any credible peace process," said Nabil Abu Rdainah.
During a press conference on Saturday night with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, Clinton said: "What the Prime Minister has offered in specifics of a restraint on the policy of settlements which he has just described - no new starts for example, is unprecedented in the context of prior-to negotiations."
She also said a freeze in settlement building had not been a condition for peace talks in the past and urged both sides to resume talks now.
But Abu Rdainah said: "A settlement freeze and acknowledging the terms of reference is the only way towards peace negotiations. Settlement is illegitimate and it is not possible to accept any justification for the continuation of the settlement activity or to defend it in the lands occupied in 1967, including Jerusalem."
Meanwhile, the spokesman for the Palestinian militant group Hamas, Sami Abu Zuhri, said Saturday the U.S. could not effectively engage in peacemaking while ignoring Hamas, and said Clinton's visit was "destined to fail."
During the press conference, Netanyahu said Israel was ready to start talks right away and that the Palestinians could bring their objections about settlements to the negotiating table.
"What we should do on the path to peace is get on it and get with it," he said.
The prime minister also blasted the Palestinian demand for a settlement freeze.
"But this is a new demand, it's a change of policy - of the Palestinian policy and it doesn't do much for peace - it doesn't work to advance negotiations," Netanyahu said. "It actually is used as a pretext... as an obstacle that prevents the re-establishment of negotiations."
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