PLO Chief Negotiator threatens US: If embassy moved to Jerusalem, US interests harmed in Islamic world, blames Israel for all “evil” in the Middle East
Erekat assumes US administration could never Israeli capital and settlement -building; blames Israel for all “evil” in the Middle East; hopes peace process will cause “drying up of the quagmire of the Israeli occupation”
Official PA radio station The Voice of Palestine program The Day’s Events
Secretary-General of the PLO Executive Committee and Fatah Central Committee member Saeb Erekat: “We will make every possible effort with the next American administration and with the European Union, and especially France, to convene an international peace summit (i.e., the French Initiative) that will initiate a credible and meaningful peace process that will lead to the drying up of the quagmire of the Israeli occupation which has become a source of the evil of this region in general…
The American embassy will not be transferred to Jerusalem under any circumstances, as that would destroy the American interests in the Middle East, the Islamic world, and many countries around the world. I believe that the US position regarding the settlements has not changed since 1968, since it said that they are illegitimate and illegal, and [that] they are an obstacle to peace. The US rejects the annexation of Jerusalem and considers it illegitimate. Therefore, I believe that what we heard before the elections is not what we will hear after the elections.”
The French Initiative – A peace initiative proposed by the French PM Hollande’s government in 2015 aimed at reviving peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians. A one-day summit was held in Paris on June 3, 2016, attended by foreign ministers of the US, EU countries, and several Arab countries, for the purpose of advancing the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. At the end of the summit, participants issued a joint communique supporting a negotiated two-state solution and proposing an international conference before the end of the year. Israelis and Palestinians did not participate in this first summit, the purpose of which was to establish a framework for renewed negotiations between the two.
Official PA radio station The Voice of Palestine program The Day’s Events
Secretary-General of the PLO Executive Committee and Fatah Central Committee member Saeb Erekat: “We will make every possible effort with the next American administration and with the European Union, and especially France, to convene an international peace summit (i.e., the French Initiative) that will initiate a credible and meaningful peace process that will lead to the drying up of the quagmire of the Israeli occupation which has become a source of the evil of this region in general…
The American embassy will not be transferred to Jerusalem under any circumstances, as that would destroy the American interests in the Middle East, the Islamic world, and many countries around the world. I believe that the US position regarding the settlements has not changed since 1968, since it said that they are illegitimate and illegal, and [that] they are an obstacle to peace. The US rejects the annexation of Jerusalem and considers it illegitimate. Therefore, I believe that what we heard before the elections is not what we will hear after the elections.”
The French Initiative – A peace initiative proposed by the French PM Hollande’s government in 2015 aimed at reviving peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians. A one-day summit was held in Paris on June 3, 2016, attended by foreign ministers of the US, EU countries, and several Arab countries, for the purpose of advancing the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. At the end of the summit, participants issued a joint communique supporting a negotiated two-state solution and proposing an international conference before the end of the year. Israelis and Palestinians did not participate in this first summit, the purpose of which was to establish a framework for renewed negotiations between the two.