Mahmoud Abbas Resists U.S. Pressure To Resume Peace Talks

Reuters:

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - The Palestinian president on Wednesday resisted U.S. pressure for a resumption of peace talks with Israel, repeating his demand for a complete halt to West Bank settlement building before negotiations.

Read the whole story: Reuters

Comments

[blutigeroo]

He is trying to win back the Palestinian people who are angry at him for dropping his support of the Goldstone report (as America and Israel wanted him to) and can still remember Clinton's comments.

[FHTB]

Hillary really blew it with her initial statements about settlements...but one must remember she didn't say anything that wasn't run by Obama, you can be assured of that.

That being said, Abbas is probably feeling like he has been dissed bigtime by US, and certainly must be annoyed that after trying to pull the rug from underneath him and emasculate his bargaining position, now the Obama Admin. is trying to double back and get him to the table...I think it would be unwise for Abbas to let the settlement issue go.

[vascopyjama]

He is sick of being stabbed in the back.

[Macready]

don't blame him one bit . . . I agree with him . . israel must stop building illegal settlements before the peace talks can resume . . . . the continued building of illegal settlements undermines the peace process

[FHTB]

We and Israel considered him the only legitimate bargaining voice for Palestinians, since we and Israel don't want to deal with Hamas...therefore undercutting and undermining Abbas is most definitely a foolish maneuver, because it will only increase Hamas' power and support among the people in the West Bank...

[Progressneeded]

pressure for peace talks or bullying to concede to Isre@l's wishes?

[causewayy]

I have to congratulate Abbas on this........it's 100% clear that Israel is NOT interested in negotiations and the US is NOT an honest broker

the US wants phony talks to distract attention from the screw up they've gotten themselves in in Afghanistan

[Macready]

well said causeayy . . . the Us also wants to continue to play coward vis a vis israel

[FHTB]

You hit the nail on the head...Abbas could have caved and would have essentially doomed his position of any authority (which has been weakened considerably) for good... Where early in the Obama Admin. it looked like Israel was going to be finally told that it can't continue with its "my way or the highway" approach...yet when Bibi decided to defy Obama on settlements, it seemed after that point Obama had fallen for Bibi's bluff. Israel CANNOT and MUST NOT be allowed to build one more settlement, anywhere...if peace talks are ever going to be serious or productive, the settlements have to stop or be dismantled­...otherwi­se as you so rightly point out, we are acting as dishonest brokers.

[murphy80]

all these people claim to be so smart.

what is so hard about peace that it takes a hundred years
?

[BiggerBiggerPicture]

It is a good move. One needs to understand the US follows Israel but wants pretend working for peace for the sake of publicity. This way, Abbas would not give US publicity it needs. The US knows clearly that it can put presure on Israel by refusing to give Israel $3 billion a year. Palestinians should rely more on the UN resolutions than on the US because the US is biased.

Also, it does not make sense when Palestinians are divided. They should have a democratic elected unity government first before negotiating for peace. If the Palestinians wants the US to help, the first goal is to try to get Hamas of the terrorist list. It has to show the world it can run an independent state before it becomes an independent state. The power transfer has to be peaceful.

The Palestinians should look for South African reconciliation as their model. Just note that Mandela was classified as a terrorist before. Mandela's strategy was better than Hamas' strategy because Mandela would not target civilians and when he bombed a building, he made sure there is no one in it. This strategy is between Gandhi and Hamas. It is definitely better than Hamas' suicide bombing.

The Palestinians will figure out something. What they are doing now is not working.

[KIVPossum]

Good for him. Seems far too often Israel only wants to talk peace when world opinion begins shifting too far away from them, which gives them time to steal more land.

[LAThinker]

I am not at all sure it is good for Paletsinians if they really want to have a state. It will be just like with Arafat who has never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity

[KIVPossum]

What an opportunity. An opportunity to talk about a process that might lead to talks about a peace process that might lead to peace if the Palestinians let the Israelis have their way on every issue.

White bigots in the 1930s deep south gave blacks more 'rights' than Israel gives the Palestinians.

[duxguts]

Problem is that Israel wins whatever Abbas does. If he refuses to continue peace talks that have achieved absolutely nothing, Israel gets more time to build illegal settlements.

[lightningbolt]

The Palestinians will never be happy with any deal they are offered. In 1948, they were offered most of the land of Israel, and they refused and attacked Israel and lost. More recently, when Barak was Prime Minister, they were offered the West Bank and Gaza, and they refused and attacked Israel with an intifada and they lost once again. Every time they refuse a deal and attack Israel, they reduce their chances of obtaining a state. The Palestinians have not learned that violence is not the answer. Israel will defeat them every time and they will lose more of their land.

[jwcmass]

lightning,

It wasn't the Palestinians who attacked Israelin 1948, -- they didn't have an army. It was OTHER Arab nations that involved themselves in the conflict.

I have yet to see a FAIR deal offered to the Palestinians. From anyone.

And what sparked the second intifada was two things (and the Barak deal had little to do with it.)

first, the underlying cause was the fact that under Netanyahu, Israel failed to turn over land as scheduled by Oslo. Also, there was the corruption rife within the PA. Finally, and most importantly, the daily life for the AVERAGE Palestinian actually got WORSE during this time period. (1993-2000).

THe proximate cause was Ariel Sharon, then leader of the opposition, with his highly provocative and "in your face" visit to the Temple Mount / Noble Sanctuary.

now i don't know what you know of Sharon's history, but I guarantee you that he didn't go up there to pray or to make a gesture of respect to the Palestinian Muslim community.

(You may not be aware of this, but Teddy Kollek (longtime mayor of Jerusalem-- and one who earned the respect of the Palestinian community when the city was re-united in 1967 by his even-handedness with both Israeli and Palestinian communities) used to visit the Church of the Nativity every Christmas Eve for midnight Mass. He visited as a guest and was treated with a respect that was mutual. There was NEVER any problem with his visit.)

[gra8whit]

I don't blame him. Hillary's b.s. praise for Israel's "restraint" for only building 3000 settlement homes in the occupied zone was really the final straw. Why should he bother if we're (United States) merely going to praise the oppressor for merely pushing in the knife and refraining from pushing in and twisting the knife?

[FHTB]

Shameful of her to have done...up to now, I have been happy with her performanceas SOS, and am not a Hillary basher by any means...but it is clear that pro-Israeli factions are getting the upper hand in Obama Admin. and this will only serve to alienate those Palestinians who were hoping maybe Obama was going to end the one-sided support we have given Israel versus their side.

Things once again go nowhere in the Mideast...what a shocker!

[TheLonelyGod]

And if it was *Netanyahu* who was "resisting pressure" to resume talks, I have no doubt a lynch mob would have gathered on this thread by now. Of course, it probably would have made front and center of the world section with 24-pt font, so that would have helped.

[CigarGod]

Shed your persecution complex and you might gain a little credibility.

btw, Where is the mysterious arms ship Israel captured and says is full of "civilian specific" arms for Hizbollah? You know, the box and crates that the ships crew says were not opened and inspected on the ship...so there would be witnesses to what if anything was actually in the boxes?

Hmmmmm.....
The Israeli propaganda Factory has gone strangely silent.....for supposedly catching the "enemy" red-handed.

[StCuthbert]

Here you go:

http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/The+Iranian+Threat/Support+of+terror/Proof_Iranian_arms_smuggling_to_terrorists_Nov+2009.htm

[jwcmass]

Netanyahu is too smart to outright avoid any peace talks. He'll just make sure they don't ever amount to anything.

He's had practice at this before, I remember what he did with Oslo.

I just don't believe the man is honest.

[FHTB]

I am no Israeli basher/anti-Semite who populate this site like vermin, but Netanhayu was the one who was resisting pressure when he was told that he had to curtail settlements and he told Obama to shove it.