This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service - if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at http://ift.tt/jcXqJW.
Thursday 01 Oct 2015 - 19:32 Makkah mean time-18-12-1436
 New York (IINA) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has warned that the Palestinian Authority (PA) can no longer be bound by agreements with Israel, so long as the latter refuses to commit to them.
Speaking on Wednesday at the UN General Assembly in New York, Abbas declared that "as long as Israel refuses to commit to the agreements signed with us, they leave us no choice but to insist that we will not remain the only ones committed to the implementation of these agreements". Calling the status quo in the occupied Palestinian territory unsustainable, he also said that Israel must assume its full responsibility as an occupying power under international law. More of a warning than a declaration, Abbas, who has headed the PA since 2005, ostensibly left himself wiggle room by using vague wording and adding a number of caveats.
Although he did not provide a timeline for severing the PA's many agreements with Israel, Abbas said he would start implementing by "peaceful and legal means". Created as a result of the 1993 Oslo Accords agreement between the Palestine Liberation Organization and Israel, the PA will continue to function and work toward forging a unity government with the Gaza-based Hamas authority, Abbas said. Abbas concluded with a plea for the Israelis to reach a peaceful solution, which he said would benefit both peoples.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned Abbas' speech, claiming it "was deceitful and encourages incitement and lawlessness in the Middle East". "We expect and call on the [Palestinian] Authority and its leader to act responsibly and accede to the proposal of the prime minister of Israel and enter into direct negotiations with Israel without preconditions," Netanyahu said in a statement. Some observers said that previous warnings issued by Abbas reflected desperation on his part, especially in light of a new survey that found that a majority of Palestinians wanted the president to resign and dissolve the PA.
Published by the Palestinian Centre for Policy and Survey Research, the poll also found that 51 percent of Palestinians no longer believed in the two-state solution, which Abbas has clung on to – with the belief that only negotiations with the Israelis can yield a Palestinian state. Approximately 65 percent said the notion of two states living side-by-side was impractical as Israeli settlements continue to mushroom across the West Bank. "The chasm between ordinary Palestinians and the president, and also [the ruling party] Fatah, has widened and that's reflected in these polls," Hani al-Masri, a Ramallah-based political analyst, told Al Jazeera. "This has been exacerbated by recent revelations of financial corruption within the PA, and the failure of the Palestinian National Council [the Palestinian parliament in exile] to convene."
Three years ago, Palestinians applauded Abbas' call at the UNGA for Palestine's recognition as a non-member observer state. His speech on Wednesday, however, was eclipsed by growing concerns of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant's growing power in parts of the Middle East and the refugee crisis in Europe. Palestinian officials made it clear they were dismayed that US President Barack Obama failed to mention the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in his speech before the annual gathering of world leaders on Monday. “Does Obama think he can defeat Islamic State and terrorism, or achieve security and stability in the Middle East by ignoring the continued Israeli occupation?” lead Palestinian negotiator Sa'eb Erekat said in a statement published by the official news agency WAFA.
The US' apparent lack of interest in pushing for another round of peace talks has also left Palestinians feeling abandoned, especially at a time of increasing tension in the Holy Land, with clashes at the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East Jerusalem taking place on a near daily basis.
HA/IINA
|
No comments:
Post a Comment