Abbas: Jerusalem, Arab Refugees are on the Table

Nissan Ratzlav-Katz

In his opening remarks during a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Ramallah on Sunday, Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas repeated that the issues of Jerusalem and Arab refugees, among others, are on the table in ongoing PA-Israel negotiations.

At the very start of his introductory remarks, Abbas said: "It is known that the issues we are still debating are Jerusalem, the refugees, the borders, the settlements, security and water. All of these issues, as we had said before, are on the negotiations table." Despite the emphasis on the issue of the status of Jerusalem in the media and among politicians on the Israeli side, Abbas explained in his comments that the Arabs side sees current Jewish construction projects as the main issue holding back negotiations.

"I requested from Dr. Rice to assist us to make Israel fulfill its obligations vis-a-vis colonization," Abbas said, "because we consider settlement activity as the most important obstacle facing the political process. And the more there are dates and construction of settlements, the more this will constitute an impediment that will obstruct reaching any peace."

Again, towards the end of his remarks, Abbas repeated that the end of "settlement expansion," as he called it, "is one of the most important conditions" for reaching an agreement with Israel by year's end, as sought by the US.

Secretary Rice, as well, harshly criticized Israel for its continued construction in Jerusalem neighborhoods.

Promoting Hamas, Fatah Unity
Regarding the other negotiations he is involved in, those with the jihadist Hamas organization controlling the PA in Gaza, Abbas said, "We are moving on this track. If we succeed, it is quite important that we regain national unity." The solution he seeks with Hamas "is comprehensive, entire, in order to regain the national unity between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank," he concluded.

At the same time, during the question-and-answer period, Abbas called the Hamas takeover of Gaza a "coup d'etat," but added that his Fatah-controlled PA "never forsook the Palestinian people living there. We are still sending salaries to 77,000 civil servants and we are still paying 58 percent of our budget to enable the people of Gaza to continue living."

In the meantime, however, Abbas is leaving Egypt to negotiate with Israel over the situation in Gaza, which Hamas terrorists and their allies are using as rocket-launching pads aimed at Israel. "We hope they will conclude a speedy agreement, because it has been too long of a suffering and we hope that a solution will arrive soon," Abbas said.