Abbas: Without East Jerusalem there will be no peace with Israel
Published yesterday (updated) 12/01/2014 11:54
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=664411
RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas told a
delegation on Saturday that without East Jerusalem as the capital of the
future Palestinian state, there will be "no peace between us and Israel."
Speaking to a popular delegation from Jerusalem Saturday in his office in
Ramallah, Abbas highlighted that the Arab Follow-up Committee would
reiterate this stance during a meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry
on Sunday.
"He will be told that occupied East Jerusalem is the capital of the state of
Palestine, and without this there will be no peace between us and Israel."
The current round of negotiations has been limited to nine months after
which "we are free to do whatever we want," he said, highlighting that, "the
time frame is limited and not open, and our unanimous position isn't
secret."
He added that he heard that they (the Israelis) had refused to mention
Jerusalem in any talks or negotiations.
"Let them say whatever they say. Unless it is mentioned clearly and marked
in big fonts that it is the capital of the state of Palestine, there will be
no peace with them and I want them to hear this."
"Our language is understandable. We have been hearing lots of talks about
the capital here and there. The (Palestinian) capital is Jerusalem and its
surroundings in Jerusalem which were occupied in 1967."
Jerusalem doesn't mean Abu Dis, but Abu Dis is part of Jerusalem, he added,
referring to a neighborhood of Jerusalem cut off by the separation wall from
the rest of the city.
Abbas highlighted that he is adhering to a stance that has long been
official policy.
"We have a right even though we are weak in the world. We will continue to
demand our rights and we will realize them."
Abbas added that the whole world had started to "know and understand our
grievances and pains" and that European countries have started to support
the Palestinian cause by boycotting products from Israeli settlements.
Countries in North America, Latin America and Africa are doing the same, he
added.
The Palestinian president denied Israeli claims that an agreement had been
reached between the two sides to allow Israel to build more settlements when
a group of Palestinian prisoners is released from Israeli jails.
"The Israelis link between prisoners and settlements. When a group is
released, they build settlement units and claim this has been agreed on."
"These are lies as there is definitely no relation between releasing
prisoners and settlements. Settlements are illegal from the beginning to the
end."
Peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians were relaunched in July under
the auspices of the United States after nearly three years of impasse.
Israel's government has announced the construction of thousands of housing
units in illegal settlements since peace talks began.
The Palestinian negotiating team resigned in protest against continued
Israeli settlement construction in mid-November, dealing a major blow to
negotiations between Israel and the PLO that had already been stalled.
Negotiator Mohammed Shtayyeh told AFP at the time that they resigned in
response to "increasing settlement building (by Israel) and the absence of
any hope of achieving results," following Netanyahu's announcement that
Israel would build 20,000 new settlement homes in the West Bank.
The internationally recognized Palestinian territories of which the West
Bank and East Jerusalem form a part have been occupied by the Israeli
military since 1967.
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