Palestinian PM: Peace process endangered by settlements

Salam Fayyad says during visit to France 'efficient international action needed to change status quo, put pressure on Israel to respect its obligations in accordance with Road Map for peace initiative'
AFP

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said Thursday that Israel was endangering the peace process by refusing to respect its commitment to halt West Bank settlement. "We need efficient international action in order to change the status quo and to put pressure on Israel to respect its obligations in accordance with the (US-backed) Road Map for peace initiative," Fayyad told said during a visit to France.


Fayyad, who met with French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, added that "the basis for settling the (Israeli-Palestinan) conflict should be international law."


Kouchner, for his part, said that the establishment of a Palestinian state was a "shared goal" and that "the upcoming Israeli elections and the election of a new administration in Washington should not serve as excuses to halt the peace process."



Also on Thursday, Tzipi Livni met with outgoing American President George W. Bush at the United Nations headquarters in New York. The Israeli foreign minister said the world must remember that Bush put the peace talks on the right track after years of terror.



Yitzhak Benhorin contributed to the report



Comment: The beginning of intense pressure has begun. With the assistance of the media, both local and international, coupled with Left-Wing and so-called "centrist politicians, the strategy of defaming the "settlers" is moving forward with full force. It is so transparent! If you want to "give up" the "occupied territories" of course you paint and/or wordsmith the "settlers" as evil out of control agents of a vast right-wing group. ENOUGH!! Time to step back, examine your history carefully-stop repeating the revisionists with fancy labels and 3 letters after their name. Time to investigate what previous Israelis really did say and believe-start with Rabin! These "settler" are fellow Israeli citizens-this is a good beginning for our research.