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Israel needs to tackle core issues for us to trust its intentions, PA official says

Speaking in wake of the deadly West Bank attack, the head of the PA's U.S. mission expects settlement freeze to continue to be a decisive negotiations topic.

By Natasha Mozgovaya

The Palestinian delegation to the peace talks, already apprehensive after the United States had made it clear it would not, as the PA had wanted, condition peace talks with a continued freeze of settlement construction, grew even more timid in the wake of Tuesday's deadly West Bank shooting attack, with few officials making themselves available to the media.

A notable exception was head of the Palestinian Authority mission to Washington Maen Rashid Areikat, who expressed Palestinian pessimism coming into negotiations, telling Haaretz on Tuesday the Palestinians were entering nearing peace talks "with caution."

"A lot of work is ahead of us – and these are two critical days because it will provide us with sense where are we heading," Areikat said.

Answering to whether or not the Palestinians thought Israel genuinely sought to achieve peace in upcoming talks, Areikat said that "the more we see their willingness to discuss the core issues, rather than act on the ground in a way that undermines these negotiations – the more we will become hopeful that these negotiations will lead to some kind of results."

When asked whether the Palestinians were pressured to give up their demand to extend Israel's settlement freeze, the PA official said he wouldn't "characterize it as pressure – there is a limit on how much pressure you can exert on a party. And for us the issue of settlements is a fundamental issue, because it’s something you can see."

"Ordinary Palestinian can see the settlement activity going on the Palestinian territories, and then they wonder if the Israelis are serious about the negotiations and giving back this land for us to build our own state," Areikat told Haaretz.

"If yes, why do they build on this land? Or us this issue is critical. It will send the clearest signal about the Israelis intentions. That’s why we cannot negotiate if they continue building."

Referring to reported attempts to find a "creative formula" around the settlement freeze, the PA official said the "Americans are talking to the Israelis on this issue – the Palestinians are not part of these discussions."

"We made our position clear to the administration. We have not being fully informed about the point they reached with the Israelis on this issue," he said, adding that the Palestinians would try to make it clear to the Israelis that they could not talk the negotiations if they will continue building settlements."

"Our leadership is already under pressure, from mainstream Palestinians, from Fatah, about the wisdom of going into these negotiations," Areikat said.

PA detains dozens of Hamas men after deadly shooting attack

Authority trying to track down terrorists behind attack that left four Israelis dead; says Hamas given green light by sponsoring countries to carry out terror attacks

Hamas' armed wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, claimed "full responsibility for the heroic operation in Hebron. Our men have returned safely to their bases."

"This attack is a chain in a series of attacks, some have been executed, and others will follow," spokesman Abu Ubaida said.

shafique wrote:this doesn't make sense

shafique wrote:The target and timing is pretty clearly aimed at the peace talks in the US - and serves to highlight the fact that on the Palestinian side, the theft of land and presence of illegal colonies on land captured in 1967 is an issue that won't be swept under the carpet of spin.

shafique wrote:We can't ignore the fact that those killed were colonists

shafique wrote:silly remarks about illegal colonies being just homes is really beneath you. Have some respect for those who were killed (don't try and score silly propaganda points).

Processions of joy took place at a number of locations in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, after the shooting attack near Hebron, which left four Israelis dead

Lawmaker Mushir al-Masri said in the speech during the march: "The heroic Hebron operation came as a natural reaction on the launch of direct negotiations, and the operation was a response to the continued coordination Israeli-Palestinian security and that this was the Qassam Brigades' and Hamas' response to stop the negotiations through this process, a message to both Benjamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak. "

Thousands of supporters of the Islamic resistance movement Hamas on Tuesday night participated in a massive march called for by the movement to celebrate the heroic operation carried out by the Mujahideen of al-Qassam Brigades in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron, which killed four Zionist settlers.

The claim of responsibility was unusual in that Hamas had refrained from taking responsibility for attacks in recent years. But with a sharp decline in rocket fire from Gaza against southern Israel, some in Gaza have been questioning Hamas’s commitment to fighting Israel.

Hamas said the attack was “a natural response to the crimes of the Israeli occupation and its settlers.” It said the killings demonstrated that the “armed Palestinian resistance is present in the West Bank despite the war to uproot it,” referring to the crackdown by Israeli and Palestinian Authority forces against Hamas in the West Bank.

shafique wrote:The target and timing is pretty clearly aimed at the peace talks in the US - and serves to highlight the fact that on the Palestinian side, the theft of land and presence of illegal colonies on land captured in 1967 is an issue that won't be swept under the carpet of spin.

shafique wrote:my opening post

shafique wrote:The fact the pregnant woman and three others were illegal colonists does not excuse their killing, but does explain why they were targeted

Thousands of supporters of the Islamic resistance movement Hamas on Tuesday night participated in a massive march called for by the movement to celebrate the heroic operation carried out by the Mujahideen of al-Qassam Brigades in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron, which killed four Zionist settlers.

The rally began after Taraweeh prayers, directly in front of the mosque in the camp in the northern Gaza Strip, with people chanting slogans in support of the resistance and the Qassam Brigades and slogans demanding more quality operations and to respond to the continued Zionist escalation against the holy sites and the Palestinian people.

The participants in the rally prostrated to thank God for the success of the Qassam Brigades and distributed sweets in celebration of the guerrilla operation.

Lawmaker Mushir al-Masri said in the speech during the march: "The heroic Hebron operation came as a natural reaction on the launch of direct negotiations, and the operation was a response to the continued coordination Israeli-Palestinian security and that this was the Qassam Brigades' and Hamas' response to stop the negotiations through this process, a message to both Benjamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak. "

Al-Masri added, "At a time when Abbas and Barak were sitting in Jordan, the al-Qassam Brigades wee sitting down with the settlers, but on their own [terms]."

event horizon wrote:But they really want peace ....

Initiatives, and so-called peaceful solutions and international conferences, are in contradiction to the principles of the Islamic Resistance Movement.

"This is proof that the Palestinian resistance is living, breathing, and kicking," he said.

Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum told Ynet the attack was not meant to foil direct peace talks, and said the negotiations had failed even before starting.

"This is a natural response by the Palestinian resistance to the enemy's crimes, and is proof that despite the resistance's persecution by the security services and despite Israel's crimes, the Palestinians are capable of responding to these crimes."

Netanyahu as well as the decision-makers in Washington know who controls the roads on which Tuesday's terror attack took place. The IDF is deployed along the West Bank's main roadways, and the Shin Bet watches over the details, so it's difficult to accuse the Palestinian Authority of not doing enough to prevent the attack. The PA's security apparatus detains dozens of Hamas operatives and shouldn't be punished by renewing settlement building (only partially frozen in any case ) across the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

The attack was a message to those who pledged to the Zionist enemy that there would be no more attacks," said Hamas armed wing spokesman Abu Ubaida, referring to Abbas's U.S.-backed Palestinian Authority administration.

Mahmoud Zahar criticizes Abbas for joining negotiations, says he has no right to represent Palestinian people [agreed: inserted by poster], claims the "enemy of Palestinian people is Zionist enemy."

In an address to Hamas members, Gaza strongman Mahmoud Zahar said the movement would resist peace efforts and criticized the Palestinian president for joining the negotiations.

Zahar rejected the idea of compromise with Israel, saying that . He said Palestinians must not abandon armed resistance against Israeli occupation"liberating" all the land between the Mediterranean and the Jordan River — a reference to Israel's destruction — is a moral and religious duty

Despite Zahar's tough words, it's unclear whether the militants will try to derail the negotiations with more attacks or whether the shooting was an isolated incident.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak wrote in an op-ed piece in The New York Times on Tuesday that reconciliation between Hamas and Abbas' Fatah movement is "critical to achieving a two-state solution" and renewed an offer of Egyptian mediation.

Hamas expert Khaled Hroub said the group would keep acting as a spoiler if it is not accommodated.

"You have to engage with Hamas — not because you like or dislike them," Hroub said. "Because, pragmatically these are the people who can deliver."