Sunday, January 19, 2014

To Israel, what part of the NO you do not get? The N of the O?

Abbas defiant in speech of '3 noes'

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas says the Palestinians will not recognize Israel as a Jewish state, will not agree to any deal that does not make east Jerusalem the future Palestinian capital and will not give up the right of return.

 
The Palestinians will never recognize Israel as a Jewish state, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said in a speech at the Muqataa government compound in Ramallah on Saturday.

Abbas made the speech ahead of his planned trip to Paris for the Arab League conference, where he will ask for support for U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's emerging framework peace proposal. 

The Palestinian leader added another two stipulations regarding a future peace agreement in his speech: There will be no deal unless east Jerusalem becomes the capital of a future Palestinian state and the right of return for Palestinian refugees is left in their own hands.

In a speech reminiscent of the 1967 Khartoum Resolution, in which the Arab League stated what is now known as the "three noes" -- no peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel, no negotiations with it -- Abbas further stated that the Jordan Valley was an integral part of a Palestinian state


Abbas made these statements despite the fact that the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations are at a sensitive stage.

Meanwhile, Kerry met the foreign ministers of Arab League countries on Monday, and told them that Washington was determined to move forward with the peace process. He added that the talks were at a stage that required tough decisions from Abbas and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and asked for support from the Arab League for ongoing peace negotiations.
Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said that Arab League foreign ministers told Kerry they refuse to recognize Israel as a Jewish state and added that they also back the Palestinian stance of rejecting any proposal that did not include east Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state.

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