Hammad: despite the meetings, nothing has been agreed

25 October 2007

by Rasheed Hilal

Nimir Hammad, President Abbas' advisor, said on Thursday that over the past two weeks only three meetings have been held between the Palestinian and the Israeli sides, during which not even one word was written down. He indicated that the Americans had called for these meetings to be intensive, daily and away from spotlights.

Hammad added that " Until this moment, the first phase of the beginning of the negotiations has been obstructed, that is why different dates had been mentioned for the November meeting. It has been moved from the fifth, to the twenty sixth, then to the first of December".

He demanded that the Israeli government be held responsible, as it wants a document that would reflect agreement among all Israeli parties within the government and a meeting that will achieve a new form of normalization between Arab and Islamic countries and Israel. Hammad said that this cannot be accepted either by the Palestinians nor by Arab and Islamic countries, and not even internationally.

He demanded that the US administration and the international community ,who are keen on a peace agreement, use their position to convince Israel and to put pressure on it to respond to the need for a settlement based on international legitimacy.

He pointed to President Bush's and Condoleezza Rice's statements which say that the establishment of a Palestinian State is in America's interest. and that " The statements mean that we should attend a conference which is based on the Road Map, the Arab Peace Initiative and President Bush's vision."

He clarified that until now the US Adminstration had not sent invitations to the conference and had not set a date. He indicated that Steven Hadley, advisor for US national security, accompanied by a high level delegation, will arrive in Ramallah on Thursday before Condoleezza Rice, to discuss ways of making a success of the conference.

Hammad said that while the US continues with its efforts, Israel continues with its attacks on Palestinians on different levels, which make the Palestinians wonder about the validity of the conference. This could weaken the Palestinian peace camp and the moderates, led by President Mahmoud Abbas. He added that the Palestinians and the Israelis need a document that is beyond that of just a declaration of principles and which looks at all the final status issues, with a timetable for proper negotiations over the following six months and further meetings relating to Syria and Lebanon