Palestinians skeptical over resumption of peacetalks with Israel
After Israel and the United States had failed to agree on the period for freezing the Israeli settlements in the West Bank, the Palestinians became more concerned over the possibilities of resuming the peace talks that has been stalled for several years.
Since the peace talks completely stopped more than a year ago, the issue of settlement activities became the core issue for the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) and also a condition for the resumption of the Middle East peace process.
Hana Amira, member of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) executive committee told Xinhua in an interview that the Palestinian leadership still insists that no peace talks would be resumed, until the Israeli government clearly declares a complete freeze of settlement.
"Even if it was agreed between Israel and the United States to freeze settlement for a certain period of time, any time limit to stop the settlements must be synchronized with the time limit to reach an agreement on final status issues," said Amira.
U.S. EFFORTS TO RESUME THE PEACE TALKS
U.S. President Barack Obama and his peace envoy George Mitchell, who is currently visiting the region, had repeatedly declared that Israel should freeze all its settlement activities, including the so called "the natural growth into settlements." Israel clearly announced that it rejects this demand.
Obama, who is preparing an initiative to revive the Middle East peace process, had delegated Mitchell this week to hold talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders in a bid to find a compromise on the issue of settlement, and achieve a breakthrough in resuming the peace process.
Mohamed Yaghi, a West Bank-based think tank and a political analyst, told Xinhua that "all indications show that Mitchell has not been able to get an Israeli approval of freezing settlement activities. On the contrary, there is an Israeli announcement to build 2,500 new housing units in the West Bank."
"The current Israeli position is really putting Obama's administration in front of the time of reality," said Yaghi, adding "President Obama had repeatedly announced that he wants to see the peace negotiations resumed based on halting settlements orany other issue that obstructs the peace process."
PALESTINIAN CONCERNS
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas still clings to the principle that no peace talks with the Israeli government, which is headed by hawkish premier Benjamin Netanyahu, unless it stops settlement activities and recognizes the principle of the two-state solution.
The United States, Europe and the Arab states are backing Abbas' demands to keep pressuring on Netanyahu and his government until they accept the Palestinian conditions. However, Palestinian observers expressed their concern that this pressure would be shifted to the Palestinian side.
Khalil Shahin, a political analyst from the West Bank city of Ramallah told Xinhua that "there is a clear change in recent stance of the United States, in terms of not considering the question of the full cessation of settlement a decisive condition to resume the talks and push forward the peace process."
"Mitchell's mission is based on exerting pressure on more than one track, first to convince Israel to declare a temporary or partial freeze of settlement's expansion, and second to pressure on the Palestinians to accept the U.S. proposal to hold a three-way meeting in New York," said Shahin.
FUTURE OF ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN TIES
The delay in resuming the peace process, according to Palestinian observers, would serve Israel in the first place, and would harm the Palestinians who suffer from the split between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
The failure of the peace process, in case the talks are not resumed, would lead to more violence between Israel and the Palestinians. Many Palestinian officials and observers warned of anew Intifada, or uprising against Israel, in case the latter doesn't stop settlement and the peace talks are not resumed.
Shahin expressed his concern that the United States, would on the one hand urge the Arab states to normalize their ties with Israel "even for a temporary freeze of settlement," and on the other hand "urge the European and Arab states to exert pressures on the Palestinians to resume the talks with Israel."
Hamas lawmaker, Mushir el-Masri, has also warned of the U.S. efforts "to jump over the inalienable legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, and limit it only to the issue of freezing settlement in order to achieve an Arab normalization with Israel."
"The only solution is to end the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories, dismantle all the illegal Jewish settlements and establish the independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital," said el-Masri.