Erekat: No negotiations progress
Published today (updated) 04/02/2014 10:45
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=670468

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- PLO chief negotiator Saeb Erekat said a recent meeting
with US Secretary of State John Kerry made no progress and a date for a
framework agreement was yet to be set.

Erekat said he held several meeting with Kerry in Washington, and the two
discussed ways to push the peace process forward but there was nothing
official to report so far.

Kerry did not set a date for his next visit to the region or a date to
present the framework agreement.

Kerry met with Erekat in Washington last week, after meeting with Israeli
negotiator Tzipi Livni.

“Until this moment and after the Quartet meeting which was held on Saturday
in Munich, Kerry did not present anything written or official,” Erekat said.

He highlighted that the Palestinians awaited an official proposal from the
US, which was postponed due to “deep issues with Israel which rejects the
two-state solution and international law.”

Israel has decided to build over 10,000 settler homes, demolished over 219
Palestinian homes and killed over 40 Palestinians since restarting peace
talks last July, Erekat noted.

He said that Israel should be held accountable by the international
community, and not just condemned and denounced.

After meeting Kerry in Washington, Erekat flew to Munich for a symposium
about the Middle East peace process at which he had a heated argument with
Livni.

Erekat explained that the reason for the argument was her insistence that
Palestinians must recognize Israel as a Jewish state.

“I told her in front of the whole world that we will not change our history,
our religion or our civilization,” Erekat said. “We are the lawful sons of
Palestine; we will not accept Israel as a Jewish state”.

He added: “I informed Livni that Israel must apologize for Palestinian
refugees, because they weren’t displaced by a volcano or a tsunami, but by
the establishment of Israel. They should apologize to them and solve their
issue on the basis of the Arab Peace Initiative and international
decisions.”

“Livni accused us of not wanting peace, and I told her that Israel is racist
against Palestinians in ways that did not happen in South Africa. The world
should rise against this racist regime, hold it accountable and punish it,”
he added.

Erekat said that discussions in Munich focused on the requirements of the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the two-state solution.

He also rejected connecting the release of veteran Palestinian prisoners
from Israeli jails to signing a framework agreement.

He explained that the release of veteran prisoners was “a deal done out of
the negotiations and is connected to the heavy price of freezing
applications for UN organizations.”