The Israeli government makes six obstacles ahead of Annapolis conference

Tuesday November 20, 2007 17:20 by Rasheed Hilal - IMEMC News

Hanna Abu Amerah, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization executive committee, said that there will be 30 different countries that will take part in the American Annapolis conference for middle east peace, adding that it is good for the Palestinian case to have international solidarity working for it and the attempts to overcome the Israeli unilateral moves aimed at enforcing facts on the ground.

Abu Amerah also stated that due to the announced and continuous Israeli actions on the ground the Israeli government holds the responsibility for the failure of all effort to start the negotiation process that could lead to ending the occupation and give the Palestinians the right of freedom.

He pointed out that Israel has put six major obstacles in front of the negotiations which may prevent their success.  These are; the demands of the Israeli government that the Palestinian recognize Israel as a Jewish state, the refusal of talking about the Palestinian refugees, the refusal of freezing the settlement activity in the Palestinian areas, the refusal to implement the first stage of the US brokered Road Map Peace plan, and the refusal of the Arabic Peace Initiative.

On the Arab front the Palestinian official called upon the Arab Foreign Ministers that will convene later this week in the Egyptian capital Cairo city, to take a firm and collective stance toward the participation in the Annapolis conference and the elements needed for its success. He added that the Arab ministers should take into consideration international resolutions and the Arab Peace initiative to counter the Israeli unilateral moves.

At the end of his statement, Abu Amerah called upon all Palestinians to focus on unifying the Palestinian front internally and end what he called the coup in Gaza, in order to empower the Palestinian stance in the negotiations that will follow Annapolis conference.

Translated by Ghassan Bannoura – IMEMC.org

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