Abbas Cannot Make Concessions on Any Core Issue

Khaled Abu Toameh March 10, 2014

http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/4204/abbas-concessions

"The dispute with Israel is not only over recognizing Israel as a Jewish state.The dispute is over Jerusalem, settlements, refugees and borders." — Mohamed Shtayyeh, Member of Fatah Central Committee.

Abbas is not authorized to make concessions on any of these issues. Today it is clear that the Palestinian Authority is preparing to hold Israel responsible for the failure of the peace talks because of its refusal to comply with all of the Palestinians' demands.

Even if the Palestinian Authority recognizes Israel as a Jewish state, the gap between the two parties remains as wide as ever over most of the core issues.

As the Americans and Israelis continue to demand Palestinian recognition of Israel as a Jewish state, a senior Palestinian Authority official revealed that this issue was no longer the main obstacle to reaching a peace agreement between the Palestinians and Israel.

Mohamed Shtayyeh, member of the Fatah Central Committee and former member of the Palestinian negotiating team, said that gap between the two parties now remains wide over major issues such as settlements, Jerusalem, borders and refugees.

Shtayyeh and other senior Palestinian officials insist that the only way to move forward with the peace process is by forcing Israel to accept the Palestinian demands regarding these major issues.

"The dispute with Israel is not only over recognizing Israel as a Jewish state," Shtayyeh said. "The dispute is over Jerusalem, settlements, refugees and borders."

The Palestinians say that the real problem facing the peace process is the refusal of President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry to accept the fact that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is not authorized to make any concessions on any of these core issues.

"The Americans are behaving as if this is a personal dispute between President Abbas and [Prime Minister Binyamin] Netanyahu," said a senior advisor to Abbas in Ramallah. "Obama and Kerry think that once Abbas signs an agreement or accepts Israeli and American demands, all the Palestinians would take to the streets to support the peace process."

"Abu Mazen [Abbas] remains fully committed to the Palestinian national rights and he will not succumb under any form of pressure," explained Palestinian political analyst Hani Habib.

Habib said that despite their weakness, the Palestinians are determined to go to the United Nations to seek recognition of a Palestinian state once the talks fail. He also said that the Palestinian Authority has plans to file complaints against Israel with the International Criminal Court.

Abbas, who is expected to meet with Obama in Washington on March 17, will once again make it clear that without accepting all Palestinian demands on the core issues there would be no agreement with Israel.

Abbas's position on the core issues was relayed to Obama and Kerry on a number of occasions over the past few months.

On the issue of Jerusalem, Abbas continues to insist on a full Israeli withdrawal from east Jerusalem, including the Old City, and turning it into the capital of a future Palestinian state.
As for the borders, Abbas has made it clear that the pre-1967 lines would become the borders of a Palestinian state, with "minor" amendments that take into consideration new facts created on the ground over the past four decades.

With regards to the settlements, the Palestinian position is also very clear: Israel must remove all settlements and settlers from the West Bank.

And on the explosive issue of the refugees, Abbas continues to insist on the "right of return" for those Palestinians who wish to move to Israel. True, Abbas recently declared that he does not wish to "flood" Israel with millions of refugees. However, this is out of the conviction that most of the refugees would agree to accept financial compensation or resettlement in Arab and Western countries. Representatives of the refugees have responded by criticizing Abbas, arguing that he is not authorized to make any concessions on the "sacred right of return."

Nabil Sha'ath, a senior Palestinian official, reaffirmed the Palestinian position this week when he accused Israel of rejecting the "foundations for peace."

Sha'ath stressed that Israel's refusal to accept the Palestinian demands regarding the core issues would lead to the failure of the peace talks.

Today it is clear that the Palestinian Authority is preparing to hold Israel responsible for the failure of the peace talks because of its refusal to comply with all of the Palestinians' demands.

The peace talks are scheduled to end in late April in accordance with Kerry's nine-month deadline. But the Palestinian Authority leadership has no plans to wait until then to declare the failure of the peace process.

Palestinian officials in Ramallah say that the talks with Israel have already failed, but Obama and Kerry continue to live in denial. There are no direct talks between the Palestinian Authority and Israel. Rather, each side is conducting separate negotiations with Obama and Kerry.

The latest statements from Palestinian Authority officials show that the issue of Israel's Jewishness is only a secondary issue compared with the sensitive issues of Jerusalem, refugees, borders and settlements.


Palestinian recognition of Israel as a Jewish state is not going to bring the two sides closer to reaching agreement on any of these core issues. This is what Obama needs to take into consideration when he meets with Abbas. He also needs to take into consideration what many Palestinians are saying – that Abbas is not authorized to make concessions on any of these issues.

PA Depicts a World Without Israel

Israel is constantly being depicted as reluctant to enter negotiations with the Palestinians. The so called “peace partner” Mahmoud Abbas is touted as being the “best” partner possible. If we look at the way the Palestinian Authority are “preparing” their people for peace, then one has to wonder whether this partner is just an illusion or wishful thinking.

In the article we have chosen below, from Palestinian Media Watch http://www.pmw.org.il/main.aspx?fi=433 we see that the PA depicts a world without Israel.

Further, with the uncertainty surrounding our region, who is to say that Hamas will not take over Judea and Samaria in the foreseeable future.
Only last week Hamas in Gaza stated ‘Palestine means Palestine in its entirety, and Israel cannot exist in our midst’ . For the full report see http://tinyurl.com/3cy9u3b


PA depicts a world without Israel

The Palestinian Authority makes no attempt to educate its people towards peace and coexistence with Israel. On the contrary, from every possible platform it repeatedly rejects Israel's right to exist, presents the conflict as a religious battle for Islam, depicts the establishment of Israel as an act of imperialism, and perpetuates a picture of the Middle East, both verbally and visually, in which Israel does not exist at all. Israel's destruction is said to be both inevitable and a Palestinian obligation.

The following description of Israel's founding in a Palestinian schoolbook represents the dominant dogma about Israel:

"Palestine’s war ended with a catastrophe that is unprecedented in history, when the Zionist gangs stole Palestine … and established the State of Israel."
[Arabic Language, Analysis, Literature and Criticism, grade 12, p. 104]

The official PA map of "Palestine,” depicting Palestinian rule over all of Israel, was used in an official PA TV public service ad that ran daily for 3 months, Oct. – Dec. 2007. Similar maps presenting all of Israel as "Palestine" appear in Palestinian schoolbooks and are shown regularly on PATV.

Denying Israel's right to exist

The Palestinian Authority adamantly rejects Israel’s right to exist and rewrites history to deny the 3,000-year-old connection of Jews to the Land Israel. [See "Rewriting History" section.] The essential message of the PA to its people is that Jews have no historical connection to the land, and that the State of Israel was created by the colonial powers for two reasons: to rid their countries of Jews, and to establish a colonial bridgehead in order to control the region. One particularly horrific expression of this ideology appeared in the official PA daily as far back as 1998:

“The difference between Hitler and [British Foreign Minister] Balfour was simple: the former [Hitler] did not have colonies to send the Jews to, so he destroyed them, whereas Balfour ...[turned] Palestine into his colony and sent the Jews. Balfour is Hitler with colonies, while Hitler is Balfour without colonies. They both wanted to get rid of the Jews...Zionism was crucial to the defense of the West, [by] ridding Europe of the burden of the Jews.”
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Dec. 6, 1998]

The Palestinian Ambassador to Lebanon, Abbas Zaki, shows how this distortion continues to be expressed:

"We must understand why Israel was established … [The Europeans] wanted to get rid of the Jews. … At that same time, energy [oil] was discovered in the Arab region … Then, they solved the [Jewish] problem by exporting [the Jews] to Israel [and at same time] they imposed their hegemony on the region’s natural resources. The [purpose of the] State of Israel is not for the Jews but it is an ongoing [colonial] project, an outpost for Imperialism.”
[PA TV, May 14, 2008]

PA TV for children: Israel is "the Interior" and the "the '48 interior"
Source: Palestinian TV (Fatah), July 1, 2011
On PA TV children’s program The Best Home, TV host Walaa talks about the summer vacation, which has begun for PA schools:
“Our friends, children, some of the schools in the Interior, the ’48 interior (i.e., Israel), have not yet finished their examinations, and today we received a letter that some have completed their studies.”

Israeli Supreme Court is the "so-called Israeli Supreme Court," says PA TV
Source: Palestinian TV (Fatah), June 22, 2011
As part of report on commencement of work to change the route of the security fence in the Bil’in area, in compliance with the ruling of the Israeli Supreme Court:
PA TV reporter: “Since early this morning, the occupation authorities have begun removing sections of the fence, in accordance with the decision of the so-called Israeli Supreme Court from 2007.”

Israeli Arabs adopt PA language of non-recognition of Israel
Source: Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, June 21, 2011
Headline: “Families of ’48 (i.e., Arab-Israeli) prisoners: Non-inclusion of our sons in the [prisoner] exchange deal is like sentencing them to execution”
“The families of the ’48 prisoners (i.e., Israeli Arabs imprisoned for terror related crimes) said yesterday that the exclusion of their sons in any prisoner exchange deal between Israel and Hamas would be like sentencing them to execution, especially with regard to 20 of them who have sat in the occupation’s prisons for between 20 and 29 years. The families of the prisoners added, in a letter which they sent to the Hamas leadership, a copy of which reached the office of MP Ibrahim Sarsour of the Islamic Party and was passed on to the media: ‘If recent media reports concerning the finalizing of an exchange deal that does not include the prisoners of ’48, are true, then this represents a precedent in the history of our Palestinian people and a deviation from its religious and national principles.’

They wrote in their letter: ‘This decision by the Hamas leadership will lead to the deaths of these prisoners in the gloom of the prisons, and to the deaths of their families from sorrow and terrible lack of hope.’ They demanded of Hamas ‘to engage in profound soul-searching and to retract immediately this unfair decision, which buries our sons and our progeny under the monument of oblivion, only because they adhered to their identity and their people, struggled and fought for… Jerusalem and for Palestine, the land, and the people.’

The Dangers of Premature Recognition of a Palestinian State

8 Jun 2011
A unilateral declaration harms true peace, challenging the most basic principles of Mideast peacemaking, and undermines all internationally accepted frameworks for peace. All call for a mutually-negotiated and agreed resolution of the conflict. All reject unilateral actions.

Agreements should be respected. They certainly should be respected in the United Nations. Yet in just a few months time, the Palestinian Authority (PA) is expected to violate its agreements with Israel and all the international frameworks for Mideast peace by seeking premature recognition of a Palestinian state in the UN in September.

Israel remains dedicated to direct negotiations as the only method of resolving the conflict. Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority has long abandoned peace negotiations. Instead, the Palestinian leadership has embarked on the path of unilateral action, preferring to attempt to force their will on Israel through international pressure. It has long been the dream of the Palestinians to bypass a negotiated settlement, bypass the need for necessary compromises through the application of international coercion on Israel.

A unilateral declaration harms true peace, challenging the most basic principles of Mideast peacemaking. It undermines all internationally accepted frameworks for peace, including UN Security Council Resolutions 242, 338, 1850 and the Roadmap for peace. All call for a mutually-negotiated and agreed resolution of the conflict. All reject unilateral actions.

The declaration of Palestinian statehood outside the context of a negotiated settlement would violate existing bilateral Palestinian-Israeli peace agreements. The important Interim Agreement from 1995, which expressly prohibits unilateral action by either side to change the status of the West Bank and Gaza, would be breached.

A unilateral declaration of Palestinian statehood will do nothing to solve the conflict. Indeed, it would intensify rather than end it. The Palestinians would no longer have any incentive to negotiate and compromise. Unilateral measures will not settle any of the key permanent status issues, such as borders, Jerusalem and refugees. As has been agreed previously between the sides - and supported by the international community - these complicated issues can only be resolved in direct negotiations between the parties.

Premature recognition would ignore Israel’s legitimate concerns, especially regarding security issues. It would also allow the Palestinians to continue to avoid the important step of mutual recognition, which includes Israel’s right to exist as the nation-state of the Jewish people. This issue lies at the core of the conflict and its avoidance will harm efforts to reach a genuine peace.

Moreover, recognition of Palestinian statehood at this time is an untenable move as the Palestinian Authority currently fails to meet the established legal tests for statehood. In particular, the PA does not pass the test of effective government: it does not rule the territory in question. According to existing agreements, the PA exercises varying degrees of control only over relatively small areas of the West Bank. Furthermore, the PA does not have effective control over the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, despite the recent reconciliation agreement among Palestinian factions.

Recognition at this time would constitute recognition of a terrorist entity. Hamas seeks Israel’s destruction and rejects the most basic conditions of the international community for recognition as a legitimate actor in the region (recognition of Israel’s right to exist, acceptance of existing agreements and an end to violence). In preparation for the unilateral declaration of a state, the Palestinian Authority has signed a reconciliation agreement with the Hamas. Supporting this agreement without any change in position by Hamas would serve as de facto international recognition of Hamas' legitimacy. It should be remembered that Hamas continues to be recognized as a terrorist organization, outlawed in numerous states throughout the world, including the UK and the US.

On the other hand, Israel has a long proven track record of making strategic concessions for peace. It has proved its willingness to negotiate land transfers, abandoning Sinai for peace with Egypt and leaving the Gaza Strip and South Lebanon. The fact that Israeli peace steps in the last two instances were answered with rockets and violent attacks should be a sobering warning about the risks Israel takes for peace and the importance of reaching a solution that serves the interest of all sides to the conflict.

Clearly, premature recognition of a Palestinian state would render the negotiating process and the ideals of compromise and dialogue meaningless. All who desire true peace in this region should reject Palestinian efforts to act unilaterally and forsake the negotiating process. Only through direct negotiations can a lasting peace agreement be reached.

The illusion of the Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians

Our fast on the most religious day of the year is at an end. Switching on my computer I received the following heartfelt letter from a friend living on the border with Gaza.

I think his thoughts, though not his actions, are common to those of a large majority of Israelis who feel we are living in an unfair world, a world of double standards, of anti Semitism, a lack of willingness to see the other side of the story and of shutting ones eyes to the realities of life.

From the times of the mandated borders, the area for Israel has been reduced and reduced to almost indefensible borders by a world either ridden with guilt over its colonial past or by countries openly stating the need to eliminate the State completely.

"37 years ago, on Yom Kippur, I was praying in a synagogue, when Israel was attacked by Syria, Egypt and Jordan and my world crashed on me very hard. Since that Yom Kippur day in 1973, I began my little rebellion, since that date, I have never been back in a Synagogue or fasted on Yom Kippur.

In 1977, Sadat of Egypt broke the ice and came to Israel to make a peace deal. My thoughts were, at last there will be peace and my rebellion will stop. Jordan also made peace with Israel. Today we still have peace, (a very cold one) with them but today, Israelis’ are not very welcome in both places, hate still comes out through the media, still bloodletting etc.

After Sadat and Begin sat together, Rabin and Arafat talked about peace and all Israel got back were many terrorist attacks. After Rabin, who was assassinated by an extremist Jew, Barack, Bibi, the first time he was PM and the new Kadima party and all we got was, the same as before.

So now through Obama and Clinton, we are again at the peace talks. The problem is Fatah is not in power in Gaza, Hammas is, so for a start, that dooms the talks. Hammas is in power in Gaza and they will not make peace with Israel, they want to destroy us. They threatened Fatah if they make peace with Israel and they are much stronger than Fatah.

Now since the talks began, the rocket attacks have been fired into Israel, way more than before the talks and more are sure to come.

One Kassam landed in the hydro where a gym room is for handicapped children, luck was with us because it happened at night and no one was there,
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3951525,00.html


Wednesday morning at 7 on the day before Rosh Hashana a rocket fell on my Kibbutz, between two children’s home, a ½ hour before the children were to go there, and the day after one fell near our front gate, we were very lucky, but one day, well I don’t want to go into that.

I lost count of how many rockets have hit Israel, since the talks began, but all I hear from Obama and Clinton is to freeze settlements. No matter what I think about the settlements, why is the world silent, when the Palestinians say no Jews allowed in our state, many Muslim countries do not allow Jews or for that matter many only allow Muslims to live in their state?

I hope that peace will come one day; I hope that day will come at least for the Grandchildren of my grandchildren.

Today, Hammas teaches their 5 year olds and up, on how to kill Jews and fee Palestine, how the Jews are pigs, on TV there, they showed on a children’s show, that a Jew has killed their Arab Mickey mouse, so please tell, how do you make peace, when their children hate you for kill their hero?

In Israel now the fast day has ended, and I hope you are all be subscribed in G-ds book with nothing but health and happiness"