by Adam Gonn
JERUSALEM Oct. 8 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is expected on Friday to seek the backing of the 26 member nations of the Arab League (AL) for his position not to continue with the negotiations until Israel extends its freeze on construction in Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
The AL, officially called League of Arab States, was formed in 1945 to increase cooperating among its members and to negotiate treaties with third parties. Up until the so called Oslo peace process negotiations in the 1990s, the AL represented the Palestinian people vis-a-vis Israel.
Israel's 10-month moratorium on construction ended on Sept. 26, and according to reports by Israeli media, the building of some 350 new housing units have already began.
DOUBTS ON BOTH SIDES
The latest round of talks began on Sept. 2 in Washington under the supervision of U.S. President Barack Obama. Some Israeli officials and pundits argue that the decision by the Palestinian side to only enter negotiations in the last month of the freeze show that they are not serious about reaching an agreement.
On the other hand, Yasser Abed Rabbo, a senior Palestinian official and a veteran of the negotiations, was quoted as saying by the Israeli daily Haaretz that "there will be no serious political process while Netanyahu's government pursues settlements. "
He added that "I can go further still and say that there will be no serious political process with Netanyahu's government."
While both the Israelis and the Palestinians are making negative statements, few believe that the talks will fail, especially with the heavy involvement of the U.S. president.
The parties, according to several news reports, are working together with the U.S. State Department to broker some kind of solution under which Israel will extend the freeze for another two months.
One offer allegedly made by Obama to the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is to offer his backing to the Israeli demand for continued Israeli military presence in the Jordan Valley, once a final peace agreement is reached.
However, questions still remain whether this will be enough for Netanyahu to win over right-wing members of his government, especially his Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who were opposed to any form of construction freeze.
ABBAS TO BE SUPPORTED
Nabil Kukali, director of the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion in Ramallah in the West Bank, told Xinhua that he believes the AL will support Abbas' position, saying "I think they will back Abbas, they will do that."
"The Palestinian did what they should do, they gave many things to the Israelis but the Israelis gave the Palestinian nothing. So it's the Israeli decision that has stopped the negotiations, not the Palestinian."
Asked what would be the reaction of the Palestinian people if Abbas were to continue negotiations with Israel while construction is ongoing, Kukali said that "the majority of the Palestinian people are against that, but I think in the end they will respect Abu Mazen's decision," he said, using Abbas' nom de geurre.
Some analysts argue that, if the talks were to fail completely and come to an absolute standstill, the Hamas, who opposed any form of negotiations with Israel, would use this opportunity to increase its standing among the Palestinian people.
However, Kukali does not believe that will happen, saying a majority of the Palestinian people especially those living in Gaza are not satisfied with Hamas' performance.
Abdel-Rahman Hussein, senior reporter and foreign affairs correspondent with Daily News Egypt, the country's largest English language newspaper, told Xinhua that he believes the Egyptian government will support Abbas.
Egypt is considered one of the most powerful members of the AL.
"The Egyptian position is to support the resumption of peace talks, as was evident by the presence of Hosni Mubarak along with Jordan's King Abdalla as honorary figures during the beginning of the negotiations in Washington," Hussein told Xinhua.
"Egypt also wants negotiations to continue because of its backing to the Palestinian National Authority and its suspicious position vis-a-vis the Hamas in the Gaza Strip," he said.
A SIGN OF WEAKNESS?
Jonathan Rynhold, with the Department of Political Science at Bar-Ilan University near Tel Aviv, held the opinion that it was a sign of weakness from Abbas to consider consulting the AL. "This would never have happened with Yassir Arafat," he said, referring to the previous Palestinian president.
"The whole essence of the peace process was based on the fact that the Palestinians for the first time took an independent decision that was what the best side of Oslo was all about," he said, adding that "the consensus in the AL is not the type of consensus that is capable of moving forward on in the peace process."
However, Hussein said "Abbas' consultation with the AL is neither a sign of weakness nor strength."
"Abbas knows that in the AL he has a body that will stand his corner. The Secretary-General Amr Moussa has long argued that there can be no progress without a moratorium on settlement building," he noted.
"Simply put, if the settlement building continues at this pace, there will be no contiguous Palestinian state to negotiate for," Hussein told Xinhua.
Special Report: Palestine-Israel Conflicts |
