Palestinian foreign minister: Israeli settlement expansion makes peace process impossible

Sunday October 05, 2008 21:32 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC News

In a statement to the press on Sunday afternoon, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki stated that Israel has thus far failed to uphold its end of the agreements made in Annapolis in October 2007, and settlements on Palestinian land have expanded, thus rendering peace impossible.

"In Annapolis it was promised that by 2008 we would have an independent state and that we would have a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians," said al-Maliki at the press conference, adding, “There are three more months left until the end of the year, we'll wait and see but for now all we can see is a flagrant violation of the Annapolis agreements, which we believed would end the suffering of both peoples."

Al-Maliki stated that the Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank and East Jerusalem are the primary problems, as the prevention of settlement expansion was Israel's first and only commitment to the Palestinians during the Annapolis talks. The Palestinians, an occupied people, on the other hand, were forced to make dozens of concessions and have made every effort to carry out these obligations (taking over security in a number of West Bank cities, preventing attacks against Israeli civilians, disarming a number of Palestinian armed groups, etc.).

He said, “The settlements are a ticking bomb and they damage the negotiations. We are committed to the two-state solution. Obviously there are those who object and those who call for a different direction (within the Palestinian community), but [President] Mahmoud Abbas responded to those voices firmly – making it clear that our policy is the two-state solution. The continued existence of the settlements impairs this solution. We must work towards strengthening the Palestinian leadership, not weakening it. What is the alternative? Look at Hamas in Gaza. Hamas objects to the negotiations (with Israel) and is using their stagnation as an excuse to the return to violence. We are under immense pressure from the Arab League, that wants to see us moving ahead with the peace deal, but right now there is no process in motion."

The Israeli Prime Minister's response was that things should continue as they are going, that there will be no change in Israeli policy, and that Israel will not budge in its demands on the Palestinian Authority. Tzipi Livni, the new Prime Minister, chose not to address the question of Israeli settlement expansion.

palestine | peace process | news report saed at imemc dot org