President Abbas meets Beilin, no deals
Palestine-Israel, Politics, 5/12/2006

Head of PLO Negotiations Department, Saeb Ereikat, said yesterday that President Mahmoud Abbas met, two weeks ago in Amman with the head of the Israeli party of Meretz-Yahad, Yossi Beilin.

However, Ereikat denied report published by the Israeli Ma'ariv, saying that they worked out a deal to be presented to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

Ereikat, who attended the meeting said that Palestinian President Abbas stressed on refusing Israeli unilateral measures, temporary solutions, the building of Apartheid Wall, building settlements and the policies of siege, assassination and military operations, saying that such policies would aggravate problems and broaden the cycle of violence.

Yossi Beilin is part of the Geneva Initiative, a detailed plan between some Israelis and Palestinians on how to resolve their conflict. The organization is led by an Israeli staff with a Director General, Gadi Baltiansky, and a Palestinian staff lead by Executive Director Elias Zananiri. The Geneva Initiative plan in part says "The Israeli and Palestinian areas of Jerusalem will be the capitals of the respective states with each side’s holy places fully under its sovereignty."

Head of PLO Negotiations Department added that the President expressed willingness to resume negotiations on final status issues, to implement the Road Map and reaching the end of the Israeli occupation which started in 1967.

He added that President Abbas told the Israeli government not to take the Palestinian government as a pretext, saying the Abbas stressed that he is the one who is responsible for negotiation as he is the Chairman the PLO Executive Committee.

"The President also asked Israel to give the government a chance and he stressed that he would save no efforts to accept the accreditation program which includes the Arab and international legitimacies, as well as the commitments of the PLO and PNA," Ereikat added.


On another matter, an Israel government news report said that sources in Israel's defense minister's bureau denied Defense Minister Amir Peretz "was scolded by the prime minister Olmert for his remarks calling for a dialogue with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. The sources said there is no disagreement and that diplomatic contacts are the purvey of the prime minister. With this, the sources noted that before the elections, Peretz called for a dialogue with Abbas, and that he has no intention of changing his view."

Meantime, International Solidarity Movement (ISM) said Thursday that Israelis and Palestinians organize a joint march next Saturday in the ar-Ram suburb of Jerusalem under the title: "No to Walls and Checkpoints, Yes to Negotiation and No to Unilateral Convergence."

The Israeli organizers, said in press release: In contrast to the Israeli government's assertion that "there is no partner", and its program for unilateral annexation, the Palestinians of ar-Ram continue their joint activities with Israelis, against the occupation and for a peace that is just for both peoples.

They added: The Wall, which bisects the main street of ar-Ram, has critically damaged the life of the residents. It has divided families, stopped workers from reaching their workplace and cut off teachers and students from their schools, in fact, three schools have already been forced to close. The Wall has turned a thriving urban center into a jail.

The Israeli organizers are: Bat Shalom, Gush Shalom, The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD), The Alternative Information Center, Mahsom Watch, Women's Coalition for Peace and Taayush.

Previous Stories:
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  Abbass: PLO is responsible for negotiations   (5/9/2006)
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