{"id":59358,"date":"2018-02-21T05:33:39","date_gmt":"2018-02-21T05:33:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=59358"},"modified":"2018-02-21T05:33:39","modified_gmt":"2018-02-21T05:33:39","slug":"palestinian-leader-calls-for-peace-conference-by-mid-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/world-news\/palestinian-leader-calls-for-peace-conference-by-mid-2018.html","title":{"rendered":"Palestinian leader calls for peace conference by mid-2018"},"content":{"rendered":"

Palestinian leader calls for peace conference by mid-2018<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas ruled out the United States as a broker for peace with Israel on Tuesday, calling for an international peace conference by mid-2018 with the key goals of full U.N. membership for the state of Palestine and a timeframe for a two-state solution.<\/span><\/p>\n

Abbas spoke as the Trump administration\u2019s two key Mideast negotiators who are working on a U.S. peace proposal \u2014 the president\u2019s son-in-law Jared Kushner and special representative Jason Greenblatt \u2014 sat in the Security Council chamber listening. But he left without speaking to them or listening to U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley say that \u201cthe United States stands ready to work with the Palestinian leadership,\u201d and the two envoys are \u201cready to talk.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Palestinians are furious at President Donald Trump for overturning decades of U.S. policy and recognizing Jerusalem as Israel\u2019s capital, ignoring that east Jerusalem is Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since the 1967 war that the Palestinians want as the capital of their independent state. Abbas called Trump\u2019s pro-Israeli action \u201cdangerous\u201d and has said the president\u2019s action destroyed his credibility as a Mideast peace broker.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt has become impossible today for one country alone to solve a regional or international conflict without the participation of other international partners,\u201d the Palestinian leader said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Abbas presented the Palestinians \u201cpeace plan\u201d to the council. It calls for mutual recognition by the states of Israel and Palestine based on 1967 borders, and formation of \u201can international multilateral mechanism\u201d to assist the two parties in resolving all final status issues and implementing them \u201cwithin a set time frame.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He said the peace conference should include the Israelis and Palestinians, the five permanent Security Council members and key regional and international governments, noting that 74 countries attended a Mideast peace conference in Paris in January 2017.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Palestinians want to set up a state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem, lands Israel captured in the 1967 war. But there have been no serious negotiations since gaps widened following the 2009 election of Benjamin Netanyahu as Israel\u2019s prime minister. He rejects the 1967 frontier as a baseline for border talks, has expanded settlements which the U.N. call illegal, and rules out a partition of Jerusalem.<\/span><\/p>\n

Abbas accused Israel of \u201cacting as a State above the law.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt has transformed the occupation from a temporary situation … into a situation of permanent settlement colonization,\u201d he said. \u201cHow can this happen? Israel shut the door on the two-state solution on the basis of the 1967 borders.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Palestinian leader added into his prepared remarks: \u201cWe are employees for the occupation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Abbas said the principle of two-states living side-by-side with full sovereignty must be preserved, but he said the U.S. has not clarified whether it is for a two-state or a one-state solution.<\/span><\/p>\n

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stressed that \u201cthere is no Plan B\u201d to a two-state solution. But he warned that \u201cafter decades of support, the global consensus for a two-state solution could be eroding.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The U.N. chief voiced opposition to a one-state solution saying: \u201cIt is simply impossible to square the circle of a one-state reality with the legitimate national, historic and democratic aspirations of both Israelis and Palestinians.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Abbas was the last to arrive in the Security Council, and he left immediately after his speech to attend a reception hosted by the Palestinians, avoiding any direct contact with the Americans or Israelis.<\/span><\/p>\n

Israel\u2019s U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon accused Abbas of \u201conce again running away,\u201d and refusing to meet Netanyahu for 7 1\/2 years \u201cto negotiate peace.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Netanyahu\u2019s office issued a statement saying: \u201cAbbas didn\u2019t say anything new. He continues to run away from peace, and continues to pay terrorists and their families $347 million.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Danon accused Abbas of using \u201chateful speech\u201d and glorifying violence instead of improving the lives of Palestinians.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMr. Abbas, you have made it clear with your words and with your actions that you are no longer part of the solution,\u201d he said. \u201cYou are the problem.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Haley disagreed, saying the Trump administration was offering \u201can outstretched hand\u201d to the Palestinian people and their leaders.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBut we will not chase after you,\u201d Haley said. \u201cThe choice, Mr. president, is yours.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

She said the U.S. will not change its decision on Dec. 6 to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, a move that has frozen U.S.-Palestinian relations.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Palestinian leadership has a choice of two paths \u2014 \u201cabsolutist demands, hateful rhetoric, and incitement to violence\u201d which will only lead to hardship for the Palestinian people or \u201cnegotiation and compromise\u201d that holds the promise of peace, Haley said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Though Kushner and Greenblatt didn\u2019t meet Abbas, they did meet informally behind closed doors with Security Council members.<\/span><\/p>\n

Equatorial Guinea\u2019s U.N. Ambassador Anatolio Ndong Mba called the fact that they came to the council \u201cvery, very important\u201d and \u201ca good sign.\u201d But he said council members \u201chaven\u2019t received any details\u201d of the U.S. proposal for Palestinian-Israeli peace.<\/span><\/p>\n

France\u2019s U.N. Ambassador Francois Delattre said his government received Abbas\u2019 proposal with interest and will study his call for an international conference, but U.S. participation in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process \u201cis indispensable.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:-\u00a0https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/world\/middle_east\/palestinian-leader-calls-for-peace-conference-by-mid-2018\/2018\/02\/20\/9192aaee-16ab-11e8-930c-45838ad0d77a_story.html?utm_term=.b950c45e7103<\/span><\/p>\n

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