Abu Mazen: I don't have the right to drop the refugees’ right to return

[IMRA: To Abu Mazen's credit, he has revealed why it would be sheer insanity
for Israel to accept the creation of an internationally recognized
independent Palestinian state before final status issues have been resolved,
as is proposed in the draft of the roadmap. The refugees' right to return
to Haifa is not a slogan, nor is it a negotiating point. Abu Mazen explains
that it is a right that he cannot drop. A demand recognized by everyone
from Gush Shalom and Meretz Likud and National Union that simply cannot be
accepted by Israel as it would threaten the very existence of the State of
Israel.

Abu Mazen's candid remark renders any program that is based on the creation
of a Palestinian state irrelevant. The challenge now is to move on to
realistic and workable programs rather than programs that hinge on a
Palestinian willingness to make the "painful sacrifices" that they openly
proclaim they cannot make.]

Sharon Slows Down ‘Roadmap’ Process, Undercuts Powell’s Visit
http://www.palestine-pmc.com/details.asp?cat=1&id=776
08/05/2003

Palestine Media Center- (PMC) [Official arm of the PA]
The Palestine National Authority (PNA) accused Israeli Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon’s government of slowing down movement on the newly published
“roadmap” for peace in the Middle East, thus rendering US Secretary of State
Colin Powell’s visit at the weekend fruitless.

Powell is expected to arrive in Israel on Saturday to revive the moribund
peace process using the new “roadmap” - backed by the US, Russia, European
Union and United Nations - as a framework.

The PNA Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) said there was “a big
question mark on the roadmap for one important reason - that is, Israel does
not want to implement it.”

In his first broadcast interview since he took office, Abbas rejected
Israel’s condition that the Palestinians drop the right of return for
refugees.

“The refugee issue is a final status issue, so it should be kept for the
final status phase... Why should I drop the refugees’ right to return? I do
not have this right,” he told the Palestinian satellite television channel.

Sharon told Israel Radio that Israel would not recognize a Palestinian state
unless the Palestinians abandoned their insistence on the right of return
for refugees.

The PNA further accused Israel of slowing down US efforts to move the
“roadmap” process forward.

“The Israeli government has started to slow down the movement on the
roadmap,” said President Yasser Arafat’s media adviser Nabil Abu Rudeinah on
Wednesday.

“For sure, things will not move with the arrival of Colin Powell in the
region,” he added.

Sharon “wants to postpone implementation of the ‘roadmap’ for at least one
month,” which “jeopardizes the credibility of the international political
process, the region and the ‘roadmap,” Abu Rudeinah said.

The Palestinian media advisor urged the “Quartet” of international
diplomatic mediators, the United States in particular, to stand firm against
the Israeli disregard of international efforts.

The New York Times vindicated Palestinian accusations and confirmed Sharon’s
delaying tactics.

The last thing Israel should be doing at this moment of hopeful fluidity in
the Middle East is slowing down the new American-backed peace plan. “Yet
that is what Prime Minister Ariel Sharon seems to have in mind,” the New
York Times said on Tuesday.

Sharon wants to wait nearly another month, until he meets with US President
George W. Bush in the White House, and then press for changes in the
“roadmap,” the New York Times added.

“This is not the first time Mr. Sharon has tried to undercut Mr. Powell’s
authority,” it said.

“Mr. Sharon’s plans lend credence to Palestinian charges that Israel wants
to stall movement on the road map until the 2004 United States presidential
campaign, hoping that domestic American political considerations will then
preclude further pressure from Washington to take difficult steps for
peace,” the Times concluded.