My letter to TIME RE Dr. Saeb Erekat's "With Status Quo On Its Side, Israel Happily Rejects Peace"

The Arab Peace Initiative

RE With Status Quo On Its Side, Israel Happily Rejects Peace
http://time.com/81277/with-status-quo-on-its-side-israel-happily-rejects-peace/

Dear Editor,

Dr. Saeb Erekat's passionate pro-Palestine op-ed was excellent! Kudos to Time Magazine for publishing "With Status Quo On Its Side, Israel Happily Rejects Peace"... and kudos to Erekat for reaching out with crucial facts in hopes of generating international support for peace and Palestinian statehood. I think the more people step up to support a just and lasting peace to end the Israel/Palestine conflict, as the Arab League did with the Arab Peace Initiative, the more likely it is that Israel will stop violating international law and the Palestinians basic human rights. 

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

NOTES
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"There is no meaning to prolonging the negotiation, even for one more additional hour, if Israel, represented by its current government, continues to disregard international law," PLO chief negotiator Saeb Erekat told AFP. "If there was a committed partner, we wouldn't even have needed nine hours..."

(MaanImages/file)

[AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine]

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=677252

PLO negotiator rejects US moves to extend peace talks

 RAMALLAH (AFP) -- A senior Palestinian official on Thursday rejected US moves to extend an April deadline for nine months of talks with Israel to culminate in a framework peace deal.

"There is no meaning to prolonging the negotiation, even for one more additional hour, if Israel, represented by its current government, continues to disregard international law," PLO chief negotiator Saeb Erekat told AFP.

"If there was a committed partner, we wouldn't even have needed nine hours to reach that deal," he said.

He was responding to comments by US Secretary of State John Kerry who told reporters in Washington on Wednesday that more time would be needed and that he hoped first to agree a framework to guide further talks.

It was Kerry who coaxed the two sides back to the negotiating table in late July, after a three-year hiatus.

"Then we get into the final negotiations. I don't think anybody would worry if there's another nine months, or whatever it's going to be... But that's not defined yet," he said.

Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon said last month that he expected the time-frame to be lengthened.

"We are now trying to reach a framework to continue negotiations for a period beyond the nine months some thought would suffice for reaching a permanent accord," he said.

Hanan Ashrawi tells The Times of Israel: Jews and members of all religions would have the right to apply for Palestinian citizenship. But “Palestine” could not accept “ex-territorial Jewish enclaves” where residents maintained their Israeli citizenship status

Times of Israel

Palestinians: Yes to Jews, no to settlers in our state

Netanyahu raised issue of settlers remaining in a future Palestine during recent talks with John Kerry, Palestinian official says

The Palestinian refusal to accept Israeli settlers in their future state does not stem from anti-Jewish sentiment, Palestinian officials said on Monday. Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the PLO Executive Committee, told The Times of Israel that Jews and members of all religions would have the right to apply for Palestinian citizenship. But “Palestine” could not accept “ex-territorial Jewish enclaves” where residents maintained their Israeli citizenship status, she said. 

 

 "....In an interview with official PA daily Al-Ayyam Monday, Erekat said the Palestinian position has nothing to do with singling out Jews.

“If Netanyahu argues that these positions are against Jews, we say to him that two Jews were elected in 2009 as members of Fatah’s Revolutionary Council: Ilan Halevi and Uri Davis,” Erekat said. “Our position is against settlements, considering them illegal and contrary to all international laws.”

Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the PLO’s Executive Committee, said that a clear distinction must be made between settlers and Jewish individuals who choose to live in a Palestinian state.

“Any person, be he Jewish, Christian or Buddhist, will have the right to apply for Palestinian citizenship,” Ashrawi told The Times of Israel. “Our basic law prohibits discrimination based on race or ethnicity.”

She added, however, that Palestinians would not accept “ex-territorial Jewish enclaves,” where residents will maintain their Israeli citizenship status. Abbas, she said, had no problem with Jews within the Palestinian state, including in the international security force deployed in the Jordan Valley.

Read more: Palestinians: Yes to Jews, no to settlers in our state | The Times of Israel http://www.timesofisrael.com/palestinians-yes-to-jews-no-to-settlers-in-our-state/#ixzz2rhNxQQRG

 

found via ATFP front page

 Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the PLO Executive Committee

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat to meet with US Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday

http://thehill.com/blogs/global-affairs/middle-east-north-africa/284103-palestinian-negotiator-to-meet-with-kerry-on-thursday

By Julian Pecquet - 02/20/13 05:30 PM ET

John Kerry is meeting with the Palestinians' chief peace negotiator on Thursday for the first time since taking over as secretary of State.

Saeb Erekat will lead a delegation that's expected to urge Kerry to press President Obama to present his own peace initiative when he makes his first presidential visit to Israel and the West Bank next month, Israel's Haaretz reports. The White House has sought to downplay expectations ahead of Obama's trip, but the Palestinians are likely to press him for more engagement after sharply criticizing the administration's failure to revive the stalled peace process during Obama's first term.

“My understanding is these are consultations very much in keeping with the planning for the president’s trip,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.

The visit comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has expressed renewed interest in peace talks following his conservative party's drubbing during recent elections. This week, he announced that former opposition leader and foreign minister Tzipi Livni would join his government and lead peace talks with the Palestinians.

Kerry has made reviving talks toward a two-state solution an early priority of his term in office, calling both Netanyahu and the Palestinian Authority's Mahmoud Abbas the weekend before he took office. Negotiations have been on ice for the past three years because of disagreements surrounding Israeli settlement activity and the borders of a future Palestinian state.

[AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine]

He could have made a big difference in people's lives ... Slain US envoy 'understood Palestinian situation'

http://www.americantaskforce.org/daily_news_article/2012/09/14/slain_us_envoy_understood_palestinian_situation

Slain US envoy 'understood Palestinian situation'

George Hale
Ma'an News Agency
September 14, 2012 - 12:00am
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=519983

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Palestinian negotiators on Thursday remembered US ambassador Christopher Stevens as fair-minded and described his death in Libya as a major loss for American foreign policy.

Stevens, who was killed with three colleagues late Tuesday in an attack on US institutions in Benghazi, served years earlier as a political officer at the US consulate in Jerusalem.

"It's just tragic," said Hanan Ashrawi, a PLO leader and veteran negotiator with Israel. "It's very sad. I thought he was a person who was not just intelligent but also caring."

As a mediator, the Arabic-speaking envoy "understood the Palestinian situation well. He was very understanding and he listened; he didn't repeat talking points," Ashrawi said in an interview.

"He could have made a big difference in people's lives and, really, to America's standing and credibility. His loss is a loss not only to US foreign policy but also to its standing with other states."

Stevens and three other Americans died after gunmen attacked the US consulate and a safe house refuge in the eastern city of Benghazi on Tuesday night. The attackers were part of a mob blaming America for a film they said insulted the prophet Mohammad.

Demonstrators later attacked the US embassies in Yemen and Egypt in protests against the film, and American warships were moved closer to Libya.

Senior PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat blasted Stevens' murder as an "ugly act of terror."

"He was a really close friend of the family, and I am really shocked," Erekat told Ma'an. "He was murdered in a very ugly act of terror, and it's so despicable."

Erekat said he had personally communicated to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton the Palestinian people's condolences.

"Such a good man, such a great loss. His heart was in the peace process, and I'm sure his heart was also in the building of Libya,"...READ MORE

A demonstrator holds a placard during a rally to condemn the
killers of the US envoy to Libya and the attack on a consulate,
in Benghazi on Sept. 12, 2012. (Reuters/Esam Al-Fetori)

My letter to the Wash Post RE Saeb Erakat's revealing article "The Israeli-Palestinian settlement impasse"

Aequitas - Roman goddess is holding her symbols, the balance and the cornucopia

comment i posted online

annieannab wrote:

RE: The Israeli-Palestinian settlement impasse
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/28/AR2010102805956.html

Thank you for publishing Saeb Erakat's revealing article "The Israeli-Palestinian settlement impasse".

I very much hope that more people worldwide begin to understand the crucial importance of putting positive energy into ending the Israel/Palestine conflict once and for all- for everyone's sake.

A fully secular two state solution shaped with full respect for international law and full respect for basic human rights really is the best way forward.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

Growing Gardens for Palestine