Palestinians protest against negotiations in Ramallah
Publihttp://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=454191shed today
(updated) 21/01/2012 19:06

West Bank urging their leaders to cease negotiations with Israel, in a
second week of protests.

Protesters had gathered a week earlier outside the presidential compound in
Ramallah and urged an end to negotiations between Saeb Erekat and Yitzhak
Molcho in Jordan.

The PLO "retreated from its earlier position that they will not return to
negotiations, until settlement expansion is halted and all the political
prisoners were released," organizers said earlier in the week.

This is the "bare minimum demands of the Palestinian people," a statement
said.

Demonstrators on Saturday held signs urging drivers to honk their horns if
they were in favor of ending negotiations with Israel, and many did like the
week before.

Protesters at the demonstration said the latest rally ended without incident
as participants grouped together and walked toward central Ramallah.

Last Saturday, Palestinian Authority security forces detained one person who
was present at the event and interrogated him before releasing him about two
hours later, they said.

This week, however, police mostly stuck to controlling traffic.

The protests followed meetings between Israeli and PLO envoys in Jordan, in
what Western diplomats had hoped might lead to the resumption of full peace
talks.

The discussions began on Jan. 3 and followed a long break in negotiations
after President Mahmoud Abbas suspended talks 15 months ago over Israel's
expansion of settlements on Palestinian land.

But activists in Ramallah said the "exploratory" talks contradicted previous
demands.

"The PLO’s reneging on their promise to the Palestinian people and their
return to negotiations implies that the leadership accepts the continued
theft and seizure of Palestinian lands, legitimizes the ever-going attacks
of the settlers, and furthermore undermines the Palestinian people in
whole," Palestinians for Dignity said.