Palestinians say any Israeli retention of settlements 'unacceptable'
AFP
Date: 03-27-05
GAZA CITY (AFP) - Palestinians slammed as "unacceptable" any question that major Jewish settlement blocs in the West Bank be taken into account in a final Middle East peace agreement, as envisioned by Washington.
Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas said more settlement building would affect the final status talks as chief negotiator Saeb Erakat accused Washington of usurping his position by meddling to the detriment of the peace process.
They spoke just hours after US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that any negotiated deal between the Israelis and Palestinians will have to take major population centres into account.
Last week, Israel announced it would push ahead with the expansion of the largest West Bank settlement -- Maaleh Adumim, east of Jerusalem -- through the construction of more than 3,500 new homes.
"Any talk about settlements other than about stopping the activity is unacceptable. This will affect the final status issue," Abbas said in Gaza City after a meeting of the revolutionary council of the mainstream Fatah party.
"Settlements are illegal from start to finish. We have said that repeatedly and we will not backtrack from our positions," Abbas added.
The Palestinian leader called on Israel to start dismantling checkpoints, grant work permits to Palestinians and sanction freedom of movement between the Gaza Strip and West Bank.
"We have agreed to a cooling down period, so we demand the Israeli side start to cool down," he said, adding that he always "appreciated" US demands for a halt to settlement activity in accordance with the roadmap.
Contradicting reports that Israeli-US relations had been bruised by continued settlement activity, Rice reiterated US policy that any peace deal will have to take the biggest outposts into account.
"The existing major Israeli population centres will have to be taken into account in any final negotiation," she told Israeli public radio, nonetheless adding that "American policy remains unchanged in accordance with the roadmap".
That peace plan, drafted by the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States, calls for the freezing of all settlement activity, but has made next to no progress since its launch in 2003.
In an April 14 letter to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, US President George W. Bush said the final borders of a promised Palestinian state must take into account demographic realities on the ground.
Rice's comments were likely to further fuel the debate over the US position on the West Bank settlements, regarded as illegal by the wider international community.
Erakat said continued Israeli settlement activity spelled the death knell to efforts to kick start the peace process and slammed the US administration for trying to negotiate on his behalf.
"The settlement activities... are prejudging the outcome of negotiations. So what is left for negotiation?" he told CNN.
"This will destroy the peace process... it will destroy President Bush's two state solution," Erakat said.
"Israel has a major obligation now to stop all settlement activities... and the Americans cannot tell the Israelis 'yes you can keep these settlement blocs'. The Americans have no right to negotiate on my behalf," he added.
Palestinian Authority spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina told AFP the Palestinians would recognise "nothing except the roadmap because all settlement measures are illegal and unacceptable and nobody can impose it on the Palestinian people".
Israel's plans to expand Maale Adumim, in violation of the roadmap, sparked an angry Palestinian response and rebukes from roadmap co-sponsors the European Union and Russia.
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