Palestijnen willen nu niet onderhandelen met Israel

 

Abbas had in 2008 een redelijk voordelig vredesakkoord kunnen sluiten met Olmert, waarschijnlijk beter dan het laatste aanbod van Barak aan Arafat. Dat beide Israelische premiers op dat moment hun steun van een meerderheid in de Knesset al kwijt waren, en zeer de vraag is of die ermee akkoord zou zijn gaan, is een tweede; de bal zou dan bij Israel liggen.

Het probleem is dat Arafat en Abbas zo'n akkoord niet aan de Palestijnse achterban zouden hebben kunnen verkopen, zoals de 'Palileaks' ook aantoonden. Ze presenteerden zich immers altijd als standvastig vasthoudend aan de "onvervreemdbare Palestijnse rechten" in plaats van de achterban rijp te maken voor een historisch compromis. Dus in plaats van 'ja' te zeggen, keek men liever of men de druk verder kon opvoeren: Arafat door de Tweede Intifada te orkestreren, Abbas door Obama te bewerken en bij de VN te lobbyen voor erkenning. Met de vorig jaar onverwacht uitgebroken Arabische Lente erbij zal Abbas zeker liever tijd rekken, in de hoop dat de druk op Israel verder toeneemt. De overwinning van de islamisten in Egypte lijkt hem daarin gelijk te geven.

 

Wouter

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"Palestinians trying to derail peace talks with Israel" (The Telegraph)

http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2012/01/palestinians-trying-to-derail-peace.html

 

From Con Coughlin in The Telegraph:

 

Most people in the West believe the main reason the talks are not going anywhere is because of Israel's refusal to compromise on its settlement building programme. But while the Netanyahu government's insistence on building settlements is certainly an obstacle, I am told by Western diplomats close to the exploratory talks that are currently taking place in Jordan between the two sides that the real reason they are running into difficulty is because the Palestinian delegation, led by the veteran Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, is refusing to take the talks seriously.

For example, I am told by a Western diplomat working for the Quartet that when the Israeli delegation arrived for a meeting last weekend in Amman, the Jordanian capital, to present their latest security proposals, Mr Erekat simply refused to enter the room.

My man in the Jordan conference room says that he was surprised at Mr Erekat's behaviour, especially as the topic under discussion was supposed to be one of the two main topics the Palestinian delegation wanted on the agenda for the Jordan talks, which are a precursor for the more formal talks that are supposed to take place once both sides have agreed a negotiating framework.

Mr Erekat's refusal to enter the negotiating room and hear what the Israelis had to say does not bode well for the Quartet's attempts to get the two sides to resume full negotiations, and raises questions about just how serious the Palestinians are about getting a peace deal. With Israel feeling increasingly isolated as world attention focuses on the fall-out from the recent revolts in Libya, Egypt and Syria, there is a growing suspicion among Western diplomats that the Palestinians are working on the basis that, if they draw out the process, they will be able to strike a better deal with Israel.

If that is the case, then they are badly mistaken. The real enemy in the Middle East today is Iran, not Israel, and by playing into the hands of Islamist militants who seek Israel's destruction, the Palestinians could see their cause being overtaken by a far greater regional conflict.

I have previously shown that the Arabic press is saying the same thing, that the Palestinian Arabs never had any intent to negotiate seriously with Israel during this round of talks in Amman and instead have been planning their diplomatic and legal offensive against Israel.

Their lack of good faith has been clear from even before the start of these current talks, as they fought against the Quartet to even do these cosmetic negotiations since September.

(h/t P)

UPDATE: Abbas just said that he does not want to continue the Amman talks, trying (as usual) to blame Israel.