Work permit and M.E visa to non b

[webfact]

Palestinian forum convenes after 22 years, beset by division

By Ali Sawafta, Nidal al-Mughrabi and Stephen Farrell

 

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas gestures as he speaks during the Palestinian National Council meeting in Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank April 30, 2018. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman

 

RAMALLAH, WEST BANK (Reuters) - A powerful but rarely convened assembly that calls itself the Palestinian "supreme authority" met for the first time in 22 years on Monday, with boycotts and rifts suggesting it will struggle to achieve its stated goal of unity.

 

In a two-hour opening address to the Palestinian National Council (PNC) President Mahmoud Abbas criticised U.S. President Donald Trump's decisions last year to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital, and to move the U.S. Embassy to the city.

 

Abbas told the de facto parliament of the Palestine Liberation Organisation that the American stance favouring Israel might require "tough decisions in the near future."

 

"If America wants to offer something let them say they support the two-state solution with east Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine and that it (U.S.) is no longer a sole mediator," he said.

 

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo suggested on Monday he was open to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, saying a "two-party solution" was likely in his first extensive comments on peace efforts since taking the job last week.

 

"With respect to the two-state solution, the parties will ultimately make the decision. We are certainly open to a two-party solution as a likely outcome," Pompeo said at a news conference in Jordan after a visit to Israel.

 

Abbas is expected to use the four-day meeting of the PNC to renew his legitimacy and to install loyalists in powerful positions to begin shaping his legacy.

 

The 82-year-old leader told the 600 PNC members present that the council - powerful but little-known outside Palestinian political circles - was "very important because it protects the Palestinian dream."

 

However his handling of the meeting has met with widespread criticism - about the location of the session, its timing and who is and is not attending.

 

Islamist groups have boycotted it, and earlier on Monday Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh dismissed the session as a "clapping party" for Abbas.

 

"Is it logical that the PLO be the sole representative of the Palestinian people when it does not include Hamas and Islamic Jihad?" asked Haniyeh.

 

Hamas defeated Abbas's western-backed Fatah in parliamentary elections in 2006 and has been locked in rivalry with it since. Attempts at reconciliation have faltered over power-sharing disputes.

 

In his speech Abbas restated his demand that Hamas relinquish full control of Gaza to his western-based Palestinian Authority, whose power base is in the West Bank.

 

But not all the criticism came from outsiders. Three factions within the umbrella PLO said they would boycott the 700-member assembly, including the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the second largest group.

 

It wanted the meeting to be postponed to allow more time for reconciliation efforts between Fatah and Hamas, and to ensure broader participation.

 

"COLLECTIVE YAWN"

Mahdi Abdul-Hadi, a Jerusalem-based analyst, said Abbas seemed intent on driving through his own agenda and replacing enemies with loyalists on the PLO's powerful Executive Committee, whose members are appointed by the PNC.

 

"He needs to re-inject legitimacy and the recognition of his authority," said Abdul-Hadi.

 

On its website the PNC says it "represents the supreme authority of the Palestinian people in all their places of residence."

 

But its aging leadership - Abbas will be 83 later this year and PNC chairman Saleem Al-Zanoon is 85 - has many younger Palestinians questioning its relevance, especially those who can barely remember its last full meeting in 1996.

 

"This PNC will not deliver me or my generation; it won’t deliver the diaspora or Gaza. The PNC is not delivering an entire generation that views these meetings with a collective yawn," said Diana Buttu, a Canadian-born former legal adviser to Palestinian peace negotiators, who now lives in Haifa.

 

"Abbas may think that this will grant him 'legitimacy' but the question remains - legitimacy from whom?"

 

U.N. Middle East envoy Nickolay Mladenov welcomed the meeting, but urged Abbas to work for unity. "The leadership has a responsibility to end divisions and the deteriorating economic, humanitarian and social situation in Gaza," he said in a statement.

 

(Reporting by Stephen Farrell, Ali Sawafta and Nidal al-Mughrabi, Editing by William Maclean and Richard Balmforth)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-05-01

[geriatrickid]

Diana Buttu, a Canadian-born former legal adviser to Palestinian peace negotiators, who now lives in Haifa.

 

That description speaks volumes.  An arab who is part of the PLO  can live in Israel, in a city that the PLO  does not claim nor accuse Israel of seizing, and can participate in  PLO Fatah political activities. A person  identifying with the Israeli state and working  on its behalf would never be allowed to live in Gaza, let alone much of the Arab world. Ms. Buttu can speak her mind and live in peace.  Ms. Sabrina Israeli would  most likely be gang raped and murdered if she did similar activity whilst living in Gaza, or Tehran or Baghdad, or Tunis, or Algiers, or Karthoum or Damascus or Beirut etc.

 

 

 

[simple1]

1 hour ago, geriatrickid said:

Diana Buttu, a Canadian-born former legal adviser to Palestinian peace negotiators, who now lives in Haifa.

 

That description speaks volumes.  An arab who is part of the PLO  can live in Israel, in a city that the PLO  does not claim nor accuse Israel of seizing, and can participate in  PLO Fatah political activities. A person  identifying with the Israeli state and working  on its behalf would never be allowed to live in Gaza, let alone much of the Arab world. Ms. Buttu can speak her mind and live in peace.  Ms. Sabrina Israeli would  most likely be gang raped and murdered if she did similar activity whilst living in Gaza, or Tehran or Baghdad, or Tunis, or Algiers, or Karthoum or Damascus or Beirut etc.

 

 

 

Looks as though Diana Buttu is an Israeli Arab citizen by descent. However, you're right it is interesting she lives in Israel, considering she has been an active propagandist for Hamas.

[rosst]

Tragically it is all moot, they are their own worst enemy divided and rabid, unity is a dream which will NEVER BE ACHIEVED. 

Neither side is blameless and innocents on both sides are victims. 

I am unable to see a peaceful solution ever. 

[The manic]

11 hours ago, geriatrickid said:

Diana Buttu, a Canadian-born former legal adviser to Palestinian peace negotiators, who now lives in Haifa.

 

That description speaks volumes.  An arab who is part of the PLO  can live in Israel, in a city that the PLO  does not claim nor accuse Israel of seizing, and can participate in  PLO Fatah political activities. A person  identifying with the Israeli state and working  on its behalf would never be allowed to live in Gaza, let alone much of the Arab world. Ms. Buttu can speak her mind and live in peace.  Ms. Sabrina Israeli would  most likely be gang raped and murdered if she did similar activity whilst living in Gaza, or Tehran or Baghdad, or Tunis, or Algiers, or Karthoum or Damascus or Beirut etc.

 

 

 

Well said.

[Jingthing]

While he was at it at the same conference in Ramallah, the past his use by date antisemite accused Jews of being to blame for the holocaust.  

And Abbas is supposed to represent the "moderate" side. Hmm.

 

Quote

 

Palestinian president says Jewish behavior caused the Holocaust, sparking condemnation

...

The European Union foreign service in Brussels also condemned Abbas’s speech, calling his opinions on the Holocaust unacceptable. “Such rhetoric will only play into the hands of those who do not want a two-state solution, which President Abbas has repeatedly advocated,” the European External Action Service said on Wednesday.

Nickolay Mladenov, the United Nations’ special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, accused Abbas of using his speech “to repeat some of the most contemptuous anti-Semitic slurs."

 

 

 

http://www.paywallnews.com/news/Palestinian-president-says-Jewish-behavior-caused-the-Holocaust--sparking-condemnation.HJyuetPaz.html

[ezzra]

The real facts never stood in the way of Abbas and the palestinian

leadership from distorting history, like Abbas assertion that over the

last 1,400 years of jews living in arab countries that no jews

were harmd ever in any way whatsoever and he would love to hear

about one case, and if there is is such a case, it must be a fabricated lie...