Palestinians & The Arab League Give Proximity Talks Between Palestinians and Israelis a Four-month Window of Opportunity

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Palestinians, Arabs Give Proximity Talks for Months [February 27 – March 6] Date posted: March 06, 2010 By MIFTAH
On March 3, the Arab League announced it would approve the resumption of indirect talks between Palestinians and Israelis within a four-month window of opportunity. President Mahmoud Abbas, who has so far resisted international and Israeli pressures on him to restart negotiations with Israel, has said he would adhere to any Arab League decision. Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said Arab foreign ministers would meet in July if the negotiations fail so as to weigh the options, adding that they would either head to the UN Security Council or to the International Court of Justice. President Abbas, who is to meet with US envoy George Mitchell today, March 6, told the League, "I am with you on any decision you take; if you say that we should not go to indirect negotiations with Israel, I will not go." However, the leadership is most likely to move towards proximity talks with the Americans as mediators, much to the chagrin of many other Palestinian factions, including Hamas, the Islamic Jihad and the PFLP who all believe the move is wrong given the current behavior of the Israeli government. Two days after the Arab League announcement, the United States said it had promised the PA that if the talks should fail, the US would not shy away from pointing fingers and taking action. Apparently, the promise came as a response to Palestinian inquiries to the US about the re-launching of talks with Israel. "We expect both parties to act seriously and in good faith," the US document read. "If one side, in our judgment, is not living up to our expectations, we will make our concerns clear and we will act accordingly to overcome that obstacle." The US document also reiterated that, "Our core concern remains a viable, independent and sovereign Palestinian State with contiguous territory that ends the occupation that began in 1967". Vice President Joe Biden is also planning to arrive in the region on March 7 for talks with the parties. If behaviors on the ground are any indication as to how these talks will proceed, they don't have much of a future. Clashes between Palestinian Muslim worshippers and Israeli police and army broke out on March 5 at the Aqsa Mosque Compound in which dozens of Palestinians were injured along with 15 policemen. According to media reports and eyewitnesses, Palestinian youths threw stones at Israeli police, who responded with tear gas, rubber-coated bullets and stun grenades. Worshippers were trapped inside the compound for hours while Israeli police surrounded the area and barred anyone from entering or exiting. This is the second time this week that Israeli forces raid Islam's third holiest site in Jerusalem. On February 28, 20 Palestinians were injured when Israeli police broke into the compound and clashed with Palestinians. The confrontation was neutralized after Jordanian officials intervened. "This is Israel's answer to the Arab League's offer to renew peace negotiations," said Erekat. "We see this aggression against our people and our holy sites as Israel's response." Erekat was also referring to the recent Israeli government decision to include the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron and Bilal Bin Rabah's Mosque in Bethlehem as Israeli heritage sites. Since Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision last week, Palestinians in Hebron have clashed with Israeli soldiers there. In addition, Prime Minister Salam Fayyad conducted Friday prayers at the Ibrahimi mosque in solidarity. On March 5, Israeli soldiers fired tear gas at worshippers as they left the mosque, causing injury to dozens including chief Islamic Justice Tayseer Al Tamimi. Hundreds of Palestinians flocked to the mosque on Friday in protest of the holy site being listed as an Israeli heritage site. Clashes erupted between the two sides leaving dozens injured. Furthermore, Israel does not seem to be reneging on the one sticking point that has kept Palestinians from resuming negotiations with them, which is settlement construction. Despite a so-called moratorium on settlement construction, which is ostensibly to last 10 months, Israeli defense minister Ehud Barak ratified on March 4, the construction of 112 housing units in the Beit Elite settlement in northern Hebron. Furthermore, on March 2, according to Mohammed Nazzal, the PA official in charge of the separation wall and settlement affairs, Israel is planning to build 30,000 housing units in the Atarot industrial zone north of Jerusalem after clearing the land. On March 4, Israeli authorities also handed demolition orders to eight families in Beit Arrush, southeast of Hebron. According to residents of the town, the orders were given under the premise of lack of permission to build in Area C, the West Bank areas which fall under Israeli control. According to a December report from the UN agency OCHA, Israel’s planning regime makes Palestinian construction effectively prohibited in about 70% of all of Area C, or about 44% of the total West Bank. On March 2, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced he had asked Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat to postpone plans to establish the archeological park on the grounds of Al Bustan neighborhood in Silwan until he could "negotiate with residents." The controversial plan involves the demolition of almost 100 Palestinian homes to make way for the "King's Garden" which Israel claims existed in this spot 3,000 years ago. In Gaza, 20-year old Ashraf Ghiben was killed on March 1 by heavy artillery fire from the Israeli army. The young man, who was claimed by the Islamic Jihad, is from Beit Lahiya. Finally, while Israel claims to want to return to negotiations and reach a peace agreement with the Palestinians, it continues to badmouth even the most pragmatic and moderate of Palestinian leaders. On February 28, Israeli media reports said assessments within the Israeli defense establishment have concluded that senior PA officials, including Prime Minister Salam Fayyad are "encouraging Palestinians to partake in anti-Israel demonstrations" on Fridays. “Fayyad is actively encouraging Palestinians to use popular resistance against Israel,” one Israeli official said. The "assessment" comes after Fayyad's participation in the non-violent demonstrations in Bilin and Nilin to protest the separation wall there and his presence in Hebron in support of the Ibrahimi Mosque.