Arab League supports Palestine's decision to stop direct peace negotiations

[News_Editor]

Arab League supports Palestine's decision to stop direct peace negotiations

2010-10-09 23:26:58 GMT+7 (ICT)

SIRTE, LIBYA (BNO NEWS) – The Arab League met in Sirte, Libya and expressed its support to the Palestinian Authority's decision to stop direct peace talks with Israel as long as the settlement construction continues.

Diplomats from the Arab League, including Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas, met on Friday to seek alternatives to the halted peace process after Israel resumed the settlement construction in the occupied Palestine in the West Bank area.

"The Arab follow-up committee will convene another meeting in the coming weeks to study the alternatives and the ideas that were presented by the president," Nabil Abu Rdainah, a spokesman for Abbas, said.

Some Arab League nations initially expressed their desire to return to indirect talks after considering that Israel is not cooperating for the continuation of the direct negotiations with the Palestinian Authority. Others planned to give the U.S. one month to find a solution for resuming direct talks.

Amr Moussa, the head of the Arab League, said that the meeting's objective was not to give orders to Abbas regarding which steps take next but instead to propose alternative solutions for a peaceful resolution.

"There are no talks at the moment because the position of the Israelis is very, very negative. They are not cooperating in the negotiations," Moussa said.

Abbas arrived on Thursday to Libya in order to seek backing from the Arab nations on his decision to quit direct peace talks with Israel until the settlement construction moratorium is imposed again. Abbas said in the meeting that for resuming talks, Palestine requires a full freeze of settlement activities.

On Thursday, the United States said that direct negotiations are the only way to ultimately resolve the issues between Israel and Palestine. The U.S. unsuccessfully tried to lure Israel to resume direct negotiations and even offered a number for incentives in return.

However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded that his country will continue the settlement construction after considering that Palestine has not done anything in the last nine months to negotiate the moratorium and set it as a pre-condition for the direct talks despite agreeing otherwise.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2010-10-09

[Jingthing]

Is anyone in the entire world surprised?

[Tigs]

Is anyone in the entire world surprised?

Well should they be surprised? It is the only option the Arab League have. The ball for direct talks lies firmly in the Israeli court. Stop the illegal settlement building.

[Jingthing]

Is anyone in the entire world surprised?

Well should they be surprised? It is the only option the Arab League have. The ball for direct talks lies firmly in the Israeli court. Stop the illegal settlement building.

I agree they should freeze the settlements to continue the talks. Maybe they still will. I think the Israeli PM is under massive domestic pressure to allow the building, not that that's right, but both sides have domestic political considerations.

However, I was talking in more general terms about the prospect of these talks. I can't imagine anyone being optimistic about them, no matter your side bias if you have one.

http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=190756

Edited October 9, 2010 by Jingthing

[Tigs]

Is anyone in the entire world surprised?

Well should they be surprised? It is the only option the Arab League have. The ball for direct talks lies firmly in the Israeli court. Stop the illegal settlement building.

I agree they should freeze the settlements to continue the talks. Maybe they still will. I think the Israeli PM is under massive domestic pressure to allow the building, not that that's right, but both sides have domestic political considerations.

However, I was talking in more general terms about the prospect of these talks. I can't imagine anyone being optimistic about them, no matter your side bias if you have one.

http://www.jpost.com....aspx?id=190756

Thanks for the more detailed response. I agree completely. Thanks.

[Jingthing]

The big scary thing about this probable failure is that Iran and Israel appear headed for war. Iran is playing proxy war in the region already using Israel's neighbors. A significant peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians was the biggest hope a wider Iran-Israel war could be avoided. There have been theories that the time pressure of the Iranian situation would make Israel more motivated to make these talks work, but so far, it doesn't seem so.

[Tigs]

The big scary thing about this probable failure is that Iran and Israel appear headed for war. Iran is playing proxy war in the region already using Israel's neighbors. A significant peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians was the biggest hope a wider Iran-Israel war could be avoided. There have been theories that the time pressure of the Iranian situation would make Israel more motivated to make these talks work, but so far, it doesn't seem so.

Jingthing

The whole thing has taken a sinister turn. The pressures and time frames you elude to are correct and (the cross over from the other thread on here) now the US have promised Israel the F35 the clock is ticking. Despite the fact Israel has nukes, their use would seem an almost impossibility, but in a head to head conventional war Iran has the capability to give Israel a real bruising, however with the F35 in use, most if not all of the Iranian air defence assets would be useless, leaving Iran completely vulnerable to having its ass kicked any time Israel chose to do so, which means if Iran are going to become aggressive they will need to do it soon. The downside of that is the US will pitch in with Israel, and as the US have been wanting to go in to Iran for some time, then a conflict initiated by a cornered Iran, would be a perfect way of kicking off an Invasion of Iran. F35's to Israel, a coincidence? I think not. All part of some major league scheming.

The only possible counter move is for Iran to buy 5th Generation fighters from Russia. Watch this space.

Edited October 9, 2010 by Tigs

[Jingthing]

Yes, I am not privy to the inner workings, but it seems quite clear something really big and bad is indeed brewing in the region. And when push comes to shove, the US could easily be very involved in it.