Friday 29 March 2024 
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Ex-PA negotiator says int'l consortium should take up Palestinian issue

Former PA negotiator said the only hope is with new talks mediated not by the U.S. but a consortium of global powers. But there is no clear path to getting Israel, or the U.S., to accept such a formula.

 

Associated Press wrote:

 

After more than two decades of failures, Palestinians are increasingly questioning their leaders' strategy of reaching statehood through negotiations with Israel.

 

A majority believes that the "two-state solution" to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is no longer possible, despite pledges by President Donald Trump that he would try to broker a deal and a new round of Mideast meetings on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly this week.

 

Such skepticism largely stems from continued Israeli settlement in the West Bank and east ‘Jerusalem’ (occupied Quds), which some believe has passed the point of no return.

 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who in the past said he does not want to rule the Palestinians, recently declared that Israel cannot give up control over the West Bank.

 

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas also bears responsibility for the deadlock because he has been unwilling to challenge Israel and the U.S., said pollster Khalil Shikaki.

 

He said it relates to Abbas' conflicting roles as both head of a national movement that seeks to end Israeli occupation and as leader of an autonomy government dependent on foreign aid and Israeli acquiescence to provide services to millions.

 

Shikaki argued Abbas has been too invested in the status quo and should push harder to translate the General Assembly's 2012 recognition of Palestine along pre-1967 lines into achievements on the ground.

 

For example, Abbas could make a statement by issuing passports emblazoned with "State of Palestine" in place of the current "Palestinian Authority," Shikaki said.

 

"What we need is to give ourselves the ability to free our decision-making from these constraints and be in a position to take risks. This is not where the Palestinian Authority is today," he said. "So our leadership lacks credibility, in the eyes of its own public, in the eyes of the Israelis and in the eyes of the international community."

 

A new survey by Shikaki's Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research found that 67 percent of Palestinians want Abbas to resign, up 5 points from June. The poll, which had an error margin of 3 percentage points, also found 52 percent still support a two-state option, but 57 percent believe it's no longer possible because of Israel's settlements.

 

Abbas has been silencing dissent, drawing criticism that he is mainly focused on staying in power.

 

Mohammed Ishtayyeh, a former negotiator, said it's pointless for the Palestinians to engage in U.S.-led negotiations as long as Trump can't rein in Israel on settlements.

 

Ishtayyeh said the only hope is with new talks mediated not by the U.S. but a consortium of global powers. But there is no clear path to getting Israel, or the U.S., to accept such a formula.

 

Shikaki warned that damage to the two-state option caused by settlements could be "massive" by the end of Trump's term, an outcome inadvertently enabled by Abbas' sticking to the status quo.




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