Abu Mazen Calls For an Alternative Plan and Criticizes the Double Standards of the U.S.

The Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazen has appealed to the quadripartite committee and the international community to formulate a peace plan in line with the resolutions of the international legitimacy to solve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, instead of going back to negotiations, which he described as having turned to a process to manage the conflict rather than to solve it.

In a recorded message broadcast on Palestine’s official television for the 46th anniversary of the Fatah movement, Abu Mazen said, “We appeal to the international quadripartite committee, the different international organizations and most importantly the Security Council to devise a peace plan in accordance with international legitimacy as an alternative to keeping up a process that has in truth turned into conflict management, not solution.”*

Abu Mazen clearly criticized the U.S. administration, saying, “We are sad to hear that some U.S. officials are talking of the responsibility of both parties (for the failure of the negotiations). One of the confusing paradoxes is perhaps that (other) U.S. officials are saying that they do not recognize the legitimacy of settlements and nor the annexation of East Jerusalem, but then we do not see any action to counter Israel’s persistence in building settlements, which it announces publicly.”*

“Although we know of the special U.S.–Israel relations, there is an illegal occupation going on by Israel, which provocatively violates international resolutions voted on or drafted by the U.S. In fact, it often takes advantage of the unlimited support it enjoys and grows more rigid, more extremist and more radical. This gives many regional and international parties the impression that there are double standards in applying the international law,”* he added.

Abu Mazen describes the present stage as critical, pointing out that the continued building of settlements will stand in the way of the creation of an independent, geographically cohesive Palestinian state. He warned that “this will impose on all of us other options of unpredictable consequences.”* He also called for the Israeli government to “bring forward its project regarding the Palestinian state borders on lands occupied in 1967 and its take on the issue of security through a third party.”*

He said that “the need today is to agree on these two issues, and this is what will facilitate solving the rest of the fundamental problems.”* He also addressed the Israeli people saying, “I have said it before, and I am saying it again, that settlements will not bring security, and occupation cannot go on forever. We are reaching out for peace, the one defined by the Arab peace initiative and which is likely to end this long conflict and which gives hope to the peoples of the region and its future generations.”*

He further expressed his wish that the year 2011 will see Palestinians in Jerusalem celebrate the emergence of their state, saying, “The year 2011 will be in Jerusalem, the capital of our independent state. The occupation is coming to an end, and the independent Palestinian state is coming, with Jerusalem as its capital.”*

Abu Mazen touched upon the beginnings of Fatah and defended its resorting to armed resistance. “It was not a blind rifle that we raised. It was merely one of the tools we utilized to attain our highest aim of ending the Israeli occupation, allowing the return of the refugees and establishing our independent state,”* he said. He described his movement as “remaining a symbol, hope and a pioneer of the fight of Palestinians, despite the campaigns meant to distort its image and cause discord within its ranks.”*

He went on to say that the situation is now different thanks to big sacrifices, pointing out that the main issue now is “national unity, the unity of our people wherever they are, unity among political powers, unity among Palestinians deprived of independence in their own homeland because of the oppression of the occupation and those deprived of mere return to their land.”*

In this context, he criticized Hamas, stating, “The path we chose from the start to attain the goal of unifying the different components of our nation is the path of democracy, without which chaos will reign and our case will become weak. That is what we are suffering today as a result of the bloody coup by Hamas in Gaza against the Palestinian legitimacy.”*

He added that “among the main reasons of what happened in Gaza is the weapon of chaos, the militias and rebellion against national consensus, which destroyed our unity. We won’t permit this here. The weapon is one, the weapon of legitimacy, and there won’t be division in this vital pillar of our unity and constitutional system.”*

Despite this, he assured the Palestinians that he has not given up hope of holding talks with Hamas. “There is no alternative to this in order to restore national unity, and we will not let our dear people in Gaza suffer from the unjust Israeli blockade and the oppression of the militias. Their suffering is ours too, and we shall continue to provide various types of support to them as well as ensure the execution of the Goldstone report, so that the war criminals are brought before the international court.”*

*Editor’s Note: These quotes, though accurately translated, could not be verified.