Mideast: Abbas seeks Palestine state along with Jerusalem 

-DR. ABDUL RUFF COLACHAL 

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Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas renewed a call for all Israeli settlers and soldiers within the lands captured in 1967 to be withdrawn, saying he would not hesitate to reject a bad deal. "We will say 'yes' to any ideas suggested to us which meet our rights. We will not fear and will not hesitate for a moment to say 'no', whatever the pressure, to any proposal which detracts from or doesn't fulfill the higher national interests of our people," he said in a speech.

Hoping to achieve the full nationhood through the UN route if the Israeli talks fail now, Abbas said he went to the United Nations to achieve certain goals, which he said he did achieve them.  Abbas stressed that the Palestinians have rights “and we will continue to demand our rights until in the end we get them.” Until then, he said, the Palestinians will remain steadfast in Jerusalem, in the West Bank, in the Gaza Strip and anywhere there are Palestinians. “We are not going to kneel to anyone or anything,” he stressed.  

Palestinians have been demanding East Jerusalem in West Bank inside Palestine territories for making it their future capital city. But Israel refuses to concede to Palestinians the even East Jerusalem, let alone entire Jerusalem.  Zionist leadership expects the Palestinians besieged by the militaries of both Israel and Egypt, to agree for any demand of the Israeli leaders, settle for the bare minimum from Israel. Because, the Israelis consider themselves as bosses and Palestinians are treated as slaves and bonded laborers.

In order possibly to prolong the occupation of Palestine lands endlessly, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said that he would not negotiate over Jerusalem. President Mahmoud Abbas stressed that there will be no peace agreement with Israel without an agreement over Jerusalem. Abbas said he heard Israelis say that Jerusalem will not be on the agenda of a final peace agreement. However, he made it clear that the Palestinians are not going to give up on the fact that Jerusalem, occupied in 1967, is going to be the capital of their future independent state.

The USA is trying to broker a "framework" of general guidelines to help bridge profound differences over issues including Jewish settlements on occupied land, Israel's demand for recognition as a Jewish state, the status of Jerusalem, borders, security arrangements and the future of Palestinian refugees, with details to be filled in later. Kerry sat for many, many hours with Israeli and Palestinian leaders and heard from them things that "perhaps nobody else has heard", so far.  Even though they have already taken brave decisions, US foreign secretary Kerry estimates they both have the ability to take more hard decisions with the support of their respective peoples. Before wrapping up his 10th visit to the region on 06th January, Kerry said the two sides were making progress but there was still a chance no accord would be reached. Israel obstructs to peace deal with Palestine by April.

As Israel is still not keen for  resolving the Mideast conflict sincerely, its negotiations on Palestinian statehood resumed in July after a three-year halt, with a nine-month target set for a permanent peace agreement, amid deep skepticism that a deal could be achieved to end the generations-old conflict.

Palestinians seek to establish a state in the occupied West Bank and in Hamas-controlled Gaza, with East Jerusalem as its capital. Israel captured the areas in the 1967 Middle East war and pulled troops and settlers out of Gaza in 2005. Palestinians say continued Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank and insistence on a permanent security presence in the territory's Jordan River valley border area are among the major obstacles to a deal. A senior Palestinian official said the Palestinian side was seeking a written framework agreement. "We want it to address concrete issues, such as saying the Palestinian capital will be 'East Jerusalem', not just 'in Jerusalem'," the official said. Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat last month said a framework agreement could allow the talks to be continued for another year. However, earlier this week, he said the US-brokered talks were "failing", and threatened to haul Israel before the International Criminal Court.

Adding to the skepticism, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, former foreign minister in Kadima regime and now Israel's negotiator with Palestinians sounded a downbeat note at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. "I don't want to achieve a deal at any price," Livni said. She hinted at security concerns, such as Hamas Islamists who oppose Washington's peace effort gaining influence in the West Bank where moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas rules.

Not very happy about the speed with which the US peace move progresses, Israeli hawkish PM Benjamin Netanyahu is eager to somehow end the  talks and resume  terror attacks on  the besieged Palestinians, has also questioned Palestinians' commitment to peace, accusing their leaders of orchestrating "rampant" incitement against Israel. Netanyahu offered a gloomy assessment of peace prospects with the Palestinians.

Zionist leadership, so far enjoying the pathetic conditions of Palestine people, has signaled that Israel was looking for a less rigid "framework" deal than Palestinians were seeking, in an apparent nod to concerns any formal agreement now could stoke opposition from hardline members of the Israeli government. Tel Aviv says it is not dealing with a framework agreement, but with a framework for the continuation of negotiations for a lengthier period.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia which had mooted Arab peace deal in 2002 (re-endorsed in 2007), has welcomed the peace talks being carried forwards by Palestine and Israel.  So far, Kerry has failed to broker agreement on a framework to guide the talks forward.  Kerry praised Saudi Arabia as a "very, very important" ally as he visited the Gulf Kingdom on a mission to soothe strains in the relationship over U.S. policy on Iran, Syria and the Palestinian issue. Earlier, Riyadh had said it sees as a weak US foreign policy on the part of the Obama administration which has allowed Israel to continue building settlements in the Palestinian territories. Saudi Arabia has been sour, among other issues, over the continued Israeli fascism and US decision to drag its feet on securing a peace settlement in Palestine.

Israel does not want quick or early resolution of the conflict, and says there is a wide gap remains in peace talks with the Palestinians after US Secretary of State John Kerry's latest visit and he cast doubt on the chances of reaching a final accord by an April target.

Washington, however, does not want to leave the matter to Israel to decide. Dan Shapiro, the US ambassador to Israel, said that Kerry would return soon to continue his talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders. "We will take into account the suggestions, the requests and wishes of the parties and we will be ready to present a proposal for a framework on all the core issues," Shapiro said, speaking in Hebrew.

Observation

The strength of Israel lies in the fact that despite their differences, Israelis share the same vision and have the same goal. They do not wage civil war against one another, unlike the Palestinians do it so foolishly. .Palestinians should double check whether or not they share the same goal of complete freedom from Zionist criminal yoke and establish much delayed Palestine state. If the answer is in the affirmative, they should forge unity among their ranks and set aside their factional feuds and emerge as one voice for the legitimate rights of the Palestinians. 

Big terror boss mentality is troubling the Israeli criminals, making them to attack and kill Palestinians on a regular basis on some pretext or the other.

Even as the White House keeps pushing for Mideast peace deal by April this year, Israel, seeking to prolong both the occupation and the talks without any results, continues to raise skepticism over the deadline possibility of the US scheme.

Israeli leaders play with words in place of preferring for or a peace deal saying that they are working for a framework for the continuation of negotiations and not for direct deal now. This only means that Israel is still eager to continue with occupationism and expansionism in Palestine territories.

The PLO/PA said that there will be no agreement with Israel without East Jerusalem as the eternal capital of the State of Palestine..

Let the peace talks go and ensure peaceful settlement of world's oldest regional conflict, but meanwhile, if the Palestinians wish to succeed, they have to get united. Enmity between Fatah and Hamas must decide to end to achieve speedy resolution of the conflict with the nuclear foe. 

Palestinians should show to the world that they can also think properly and defend themselves against the mighty enemy military around. Palestinians should show seriousness in their approach.

Hopefully, the Obama team will achieve the Mideast peace deal as well as the establishment of much delayed Palestine state as early as possible.

All hopes are not lost!