Abbas: our sons will fight Israelis for a just deal

[Scurrilous]

Palestinian president says long-term peace will be jeopardised without negotiations

<snip>

"The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, says Israel's plan to impose its final borders deep inside the occupied territories while expropriating large areas of Palestinian land for Jewish settlers will lead to another war in a decade.

Speaking in Gaza City as Israel dropped scores of artillery shells in and around the city, Mr Abbas told the Guardian that the newly elected Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, would jeopardise the possibility of long-term peace if he refused to negotiate an agreement that ordinary Palestinians considered just.

"The Israelis say: 'OK, we'll impose a unilateral solution' - which means that they will postpone, delay, the struggle and they will not solve the problem. OK, they can postpone it for 10 years. After 10 years our sons will feel it is unfair and they will return back to struggle," Mr Abbas said in a rare interview with several European and North American newspapers.

"In Gaza they evacuated the settlements and left Gaza. But in the West Bank they will demarcate the borders and say: 'This is your state.' And they want our state within the wall without negotiations ... Nobody will accept it. The struggle will continue."


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[Behind the Aegis]

1. Then Mr. Abbas needs to get the new PA to negotiate with Israel!

This is the same old shit we keep hearing from the PA. They want "this or that from Israel," but never offer anything in return. That is not negotiating!

"...Mr Abbas told the Guardian that the newly elected Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, would jeopardise the possibility of long-term peace if he refused to negotiate an agreement that ordinary Palestinians considered just."

Well, the "ordinary Palestinians" elected Hamas. To date, Hamas refuses to negotiate with Israel! So, it seems the real problem is not Israel, but the newly-elected Palestinian government!

Abbas has his work cut out for him. Perhaps if he turned that critical finger back at his own government, we might actually see some changes emerge.

[lastknowngood]

6. Why should Hamass negotiate with the Israelis? The Israelis have

refused to negotiate with them, they have cut off the taxes and world aid to Palestine, so how is it there fault? The Palestinians have elected Hamass because they were looking for someone to represent their concerns, not just Israels and the u.s. point of view. I love the asseriation that Israel can just keep land it took via war, from the people whose grandfather owned this land. Remember Israel is a manufactured country just like iraq, turkey, and iran. It just seams bizarre to assert the right of Israel to exist and deny the right of Palestine to exist. Some really need to stop listening to the rush Limbaughs of Israel, i.e. sharon and his gang of thugs, and start thinking how they might work toward peace instead of how best to antagonize, suppress and demean a people with no hope no country and no power.

Remember WAR is terrorism by rich people
and terrorism is war by poor people

[cali]

7. Well, you just contributed

very little in inflammatory and awkward language. Accusing Israel of cutting off world aid is inaccurate. The countries that cut off aid are responsible for their actions. Damning Israel in such a totally black and white way says more about you and your biases than it does about the situation. Yes Israel is a manufactured country, but that goes for Palestine as well. "Manufactured" is not synonymous with illegitimate. Sharon is out of the picture, and there are certainly just as many thugs on the Hamas side.

[number6]

10. you said it exactly right

"Remember WAR is terrorism by rich people
and terrorism is war by poor people"

Terrorism is a tactic, everybody uses it
USA - Brittan - Israel

A war against terrorism is an absurdity.

how about a terrorism agianst war ?

[Andromeda]

2. Abbas is saying "just give us what we want...

and then we'll have peace." If Israel gives in to Abbas' or Hamas' demands without any concessions on their part there will be no long-lasting peace.

That is not negotiating.

[cali]

3. I think Abbas is doing nothing more

than stating the obvious here. Nothing good can come from Israel unilaterally setting the borders between Israel and Palestine. Yes, The Hamas led PA should recognize Israel, but practically speaking, even without that recognition, for Israel to move forward with this plan is utter folly. Doing so will lead to increasing death and destruction, and ultimately to war. He's right.

[Behind the Aegis]

4. The obvious here is the failure to negotiate!

While you state, "Yes, The Hamas led PA should recognize Israel, but practically speaking, even without that recognition, for Israel to move forward with this plan is utter folly." You fail to mention an alternative. The only alternative is constant and on-going occupation! Your statement still places blame on Israel, but none on Hamas. It is the "damned if they do, damned if they don't" scenario. Furthermore, your statement implies that Israel's establishment of borders without a negotiating partner would result in "...increasing death and destruction, and ultimately to war." You, thereby, lay the blame at the feet of Israel for any continuing hostilities and imply that Hamas is absolved. It feeds the "Israel is always wrong" scenario.

[cali]

5. I don't claim to have the answers.

I was simply pointing out what I see as the result to the unilateral drawing of of borders. My statement was not accusatory, nor was I placing blame on Israel, but I do believe, that for multiple reasons, Israel has the greater burden. Israel is a stable and relatively wealthy nation. They're operating from a base of strength. Israel is occupying land that belongs to the Palestinians. You state that the only alternative is ongoing occupation, but that's true if they go forward with drawing final borders. They have no plan to completely withdraw from the occupied territories. By stating that drawing borders without negotiating, I am not laying all the blame at the feet of Israel and absolving the Hamas. I'm simply stating a likely outcome. I do not buy into the Israel is always wrong scenario. In fact, I have little use for Hamas. I don't see that having them in power will serve the Palestinians well. I find their charter despicable, and their actions since assuming power less than commendable. None of that changes the fact that they are in power and Israel can either mount a concerted effort to find some way of dealing with them non-militarily or they can continue relying on the language of force.

[barb162]

8. Cali

Yours:"...occupying land that belongs to the Palestinians".
You might want to take a look at British Mandate documents to see what land was owned by Jews, Christians, etal., before 1948. The land Israel is on was not by any stretch 100% Palestinian-owned and Jews, Christians and others lived there for many centuries too.

[Violet_Crumble]

9. Barb...

If the West Bank and Gaza don't belong to the Palestinians, then by the same token Israel doesn't belong to the Israelis, right?

Violet...