Palestinians see all settlements as illegal, says Ashrawi

Palestine Legislative Council (Jerusalem) member Hanan Mikhail Ashrawi said on Monday that Israel needs to show respect for agreed timetables when negotiating with its Palestinian peace process partners.

She said the Palestinian experience in the negotiations with Israel had been that "not a single timetable has been implemented."

The former spokesman and resigned education minister spoke at a meeting sponsored by the recently-merged National Association of Arab Americans (NAAA) and American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC).

Ashrawi is secretary general of Miftah, the Palestinian initiative for the promotion of global dialogue and democracy. She is also an adviser to the recently formed Washington-based Council for Palestinian Restitution and Reparations.

She said the Palestinians were concerned with the issue of settlements, the status of Al Quds (Jerusalem), humiliations caused to Palestinians by the occupation authority and the use of illegal methods.

There had been, she said, "no change in the extreme ideological position of Israelis on Jerusalem and Israeli settlements."

Referring to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak's policy of maintaining existing settlements and creating a security line along the Jordan Valley, she said, "As far as we are concerned, all settlements are illegal."

Unless there was a "serious change" in the Israeli approach, "We do not expect an agreement on settlements."

She also reasserted Palestinians' right to return, and renewed that Jerusalem is an "occupied territory" that must be returned.

Also needed, she added, was "an apology to Palestinians for past wrongs and restitution for past losses."

The council she advises seeks repatriation or compensation for five million Palestinian refugees and displaced persons around the world.

Ashrawi was critical of the U.S. role in the peace process. "I do not think any breakthrough can happen if the United states allows Israel to practice power politics," she said.

The Palestinians, she said, "must build democratic institutions. This is something under our control. We can do it. If we do not do this internally then I do not think we will have the strength to make and keep peace."