Israel would be well advised to team up with the Palestinian Authority under the 2002 Arab peace plan, says PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas – and well advised to raise its alert status if it does not.
Abbas accused Israel of “seeking to avoid the realization of peace” by insisting on changes to the plan authored five years ago by Saudi Arabian King Abdullah.
The plan calls for Israel to withdraw from all the lands recovered during the 1967 Six Day War, including Judea, Samaria, the Golan Heights and half of Jerusalem.
It also calls for Israel to allow millions of Arab descendants of those who fled the country during the 1948 War of Independence to be allowed to immigrate to Israel. The Jewish State has rejected this clause absolutely.
It's not a secret that anti-U.S. feeling within Fatah is increasing, and Abbas is ignoring this.
Speaking at the closing ceremony of the Arab League Summit in Riyadh on Thursday, Abbas called for a “negotiated settlement that will be sponsored by the international community and within the framework of an international peace conference in the region.”
He warned, however, that if Israel did not accept the Arab peace plan, “The entire region will be under renewed threats of war [and] explosions, as well as regional and international confrontations, as a result of the absence of a solution or the impossibility of implementing one.”
Abbas accompanied his threat with a statement “reiterating the sincerity of the Palestinian will in extending the hand of peace to the Israeli people… we should not waste more chances in the history of this long and painful cause.”
Fatah Complains Abbas Has Become ‘Condi’s Office Boy’
A caricature on PA websites Thursday showed a Jew with his back turned on Abbas, whose head is covered with doves, symbolizing peace.
Abbas is losing support within his own faction by appearing to be allied with the Bush administration, according to a report in TIME magazine.
The report quoted a PA Central Committee member as saying, "It's not a secret that anti-U.S. feeling within Fatah is increasing, and Abbas is ignoring this.”
Abbas had not been tough enough when presenting PA demands to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during her visit to the region this week, complained the source. “Abbas doesn't respect us. He is too busy bowing to American demands. He's become Condi's office boy."
On the other hand, noted TIME, Abbas also did not pass on to Secretary Rice information that Hamas may quit the unity government and resume attacks against Israel.
Abbas Talks Peace, His Fatah Faction Fires Rockets
Abbas’s Fatah faction includes the Al-Aksa Martyrs Brigades terrorist group as well as the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which Abbas chairs.
The former vowed Thursday to continue its Kassam rocket attacks against Israeli communities in the western Negev. Abu Ahmed, commander of the northern Gaza division of Al Aksa told WorldNet Daily that if the Israel Defense Forces continue anti-terrorist operations, “You can count on a [long] string of suicide bombings and rocket attacks.”
Al Aksa claimed to have teamed up with the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization in firing a total of seven Kassam rockets at Israeli communities in the western Negev on Wednesday. Some damage was caused in Sderot and two rockets landed just south of the port city of Ashkelon but no injuries were reported. Arab terrorists launched at least four more Kassams toward Ashkelon on Thursday. No damage or injuries were reported.
Abbas accused Israel of “seeking to avoid the realization of peace” by insisting on changes to the plan authored five years ago by Saudi Arabian King Abdullah.
The plan calls for Israel to withdraw from all the lands recovered during the 1967 Six Day War, including Judea, Samaria, the Golan Heights and half of Jerusalem.
It also calls for Israel to allow millions of Arab descendants of those who fled the country during the 1948 War of Independence to be allowed to immigrate to Israel. The Jewish State has rejected this clause absolutely.
It's not a secret that anti-U.S. feeling within Fatah is increasing, and Abbas is ignoring this.
Speaking at the closing ceremony of the Arab League Summit in Riyadh on Thursday, Abbas called for a “negotiated settlement that will be sponsored by the international community and within the framework of an international peace conference in the region.”
He warned, however, that if Israel did not accept the Arab peace plan, “The entire region will be under renewed threats of war [and] explosions, as well as regional and international confrontations, as a result of the absence of a solution or the impossibility of implementing one.”
Abbas accompanied his threat with a statement “reiterating the sincerity of the Palestinian will in extending the hand of peace to the Israeli people… we should not waste more chances in the history of this long and painful cause.”
Fatah Complains Abbas Has Become ‘Condi’s Office Boy’
A caricature on PA websites Thursday showed a Jew with his back turned on Abbas, whose head is covered with doves, symbolizing peace.
Abbas is losing support within his own faction by appearing to be allied with the Bush administration, according to a report in TIME magazine.
The report quoted a PA Central Committee member as saying, "It's not a secret that anti-U.S. feeling within Fatah is increasing, and Abbas is ignoring this.”
Abbas had not been tough enough when presenting PA demands to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during her visit to the region this week, complained the source. “Abbas doesn't respect us. He is too busy bowing to American demands. He's become Condi's office boy."
On the other hand, noted TIME, Abbas also did not pass on to Secretary Rice information that Hamas may quit the unity government and resume attacks against Israel.
Abbas Talks Peace, His Fatah Faction Fires Rockets
Abbas’s Fatah faction includes the Al-Aksa Martyrs Brigades terrorist group as well as the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which Abbas chairs.
The former vowed Thursday to continue its Kassam rocket attacks against Israeli communities in the western Negev. Abu Ahmed, commander of the northern Gaza division of Al Aksa told WorldNet Daily that if the Israel Defense Forces continue anti-terrorist operations, “You can count on a [long] string of suicide bombings and rocket attacks.”
Al Aksa claimed to have teamed up with the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization in firing a total of seven Kassam rockets at Israeli communities in the western Negev on Wednesday. Some damage was caused in Sderot and two rockets landed just south of the port city of Ashkelon but no injuries were reported. Arab terrorists launched at least four more Kassams toward Ashkelon on Thursday. No damage or injuries were reported.