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Monday, May 30, 2016
Palestine: Fattah: official Normalization with Israel would be 'a stab in the back' for Palestine

Normalization with Israel would be 'a stab in the back' for Palestine:
Fattah official
Sun, 29/05/2016 - 16:23 Egypt Independent
http://www.egyptindependent.com//news/normalization-israel-would-be-stab-back-palestine-fattah-official

Hazem Abu Shanab, a senior member of the Revolutionary Council of Fattah,
has hit out at Arab states that talk of normalizing relations with Israel at
a time when the Palestinian leadership is seeking support from the wider
international community in negotiating a peace deal.

Abu Shanab made his comments during a phone-in to a television talk-show, in
which he discussed efforts to revive Israel-Palestinian peace talks, which
stalled in 2014.

The senior Palestinian official said that the normalization of relations
between Israel and Arab states at this time would be a "stab in the back"
for the Palestinians.

His comments appear to be a response to claims that Arab states, including
Saudi Arabia, might be willing to move towards normalization with Israel as
part of a revived Saudi peace initiative that was originally unveiled in
2002.

According to a report in the Jerusalem Post, several Arab states have
signalled their willingness to revive the Saudi initiative — including some
steps towards normalization in return for Israeli concessions.

The move is apparently being pushed by former British Prime Minister Tony
Blair, who cited Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi as among those who
might be willing to engage in such a process.

“Provided the Israeli administration is ready to commit to a discussion
around the Arab peace initiative... it would be possible to have some steps
of normalization,” the Israeli daily Haaretz quoted Blair as saying.

“With the new leadership in the region, today that is possible," said Blair.

However, the proposed Saudi process is just one of several on the table, and
many favor a more recent proposal from the French government involving a
series of meetings in Paris this year. The French government had planned an
initial meeting of ministers from 20 nations — including Egypt, Saudi Arabia
and Jordan — as a first step toward a larger Israel-Palestine peace
conference later down the line.

However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected the French
initiative, stating that it has no clear purpose, while US Secretary of
State John Kerry said he would not be able to attend the preliminary
meeting, scheduled for May 30, forcing the French government to postpone the
event.

After the talks were postponed, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi
invited Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to Cairo for bilateral
discussions, with a view to facilitating the French initiative. The two
leaders met on Saturday, along with senior officials and ministers on both
sides, and Abbas expressed his appreciation for Egypt's ongoing assistance
in the search for a political solution and the establishment of a
Palestinian state.

According to a statement issued by Egypt's presidential spokesperson Alaa
Youssef, during the meeting Sisi stressed that the issue of Palestine
remains at the top of Egypt’s foreign policy agenda, and that Egypt would
continue to support international peace initiatives — such as France’s
recent efforts to find a just solution — in order to establish lasting and
comprehensive peace.

In a recent speech, Sisi pointed to the range of options on the table,
saying that Egypt is willing to support whichever efforts lead to progress.
However, he said that Egypt would not be taking a leading role.

“There is currently an Arab initiative, a French initiative, there are
American efforts and there is the Quartet that are all working toward a
solution to this issue. In Egypt, we do not intend on playing a leading role
or to be leaders of this issue, but we are prepared to exert all efforts
that will contribute to finding a solution to this problem,” Sisi said.

Abu Shanab was among Palestinian officials who dismissed claims last week
that a three-way Cairo "summit" involving Sisi, Abbas and Netanyahu was
being planned, saying that Israel was spreading such rumors in the media in
order to sabotage the French initiative. He said that Israel wanted to give
the impression that the Paris summit had somehow been replaced by one in
Cairo.

Discussion of a possible Paris peace conference disappeared from news
headlines on May 19 when an EgyptAir passenger plane crashed into the
Mediterranean Sea en route from Paris to Cairo, with the loss of 66 lives.

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