Less than 24 hours after the conclusion of the Arab Summit at the Dead Sea, Jordan, and assertions by Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Al-Malki on the importance of the resolutions adopted at the summit and how they covered all aspects of the Palestinian cause and are acceptable to the Palestinians, Israel's security cabinet approved the construction of the new settlements in the West Bank, occupied 20 years ago. This comes at a time when Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is negotiating with Washington about possible restrictions on settlement building. Israeli media reported that the new settlement was an alternative to Amona settlement in the West Bank that was evacuated as it was built on private Palestinian land, even though the land has not been handed over to its rightful Palestinian owners until today. Wassel Abu Youssef, secretary-general of the Palestinian Liberation Front (PLF) and member of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) Executive Committee, believes the construction of a new settlement in the occupied West Bank is a blow to Arab Summit resolutions. The occupation government continues to falsify reality and jump through hoops to accomplish its conspiracy to seize large swathes of Palestinian territories by confiscating land and increasing settlements. Abu Youssef said Tel Aviv's decision to build a new settlement in the West Bank and its plans to construct 1,000 housing units in Jerusalem and West Bank aim to disconnect West Bank territories. “This is all part of a plan by successive occupation governments through killing, aggression, destroying homes, confiscating land, evicting Palestinian residents and increasing settlements,” he said. He strongly criticised the move as a blow to Arab League resolutions in Amman, and demanded a confrontation with the occupation that is trying to impose a reality on the ground that explodes any hope of establishing an independent and connected Palestinian state. Abu Youssef argued that any discussion of resolutions or negotiations without an end to settlements on Palestinian land is meaningless. “We have tried this for more than 22 years, but these negotiations just gave the occupation an opportunity to further expand and Judaicise the land, settlements and take control of Jerusalem,” he said. “Thus, under a ruse of deceit and negotiations, they carry out their hostile expansionist plans on Palestinian land. We reject US pressure to return to this track.” Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is determined to propose a Palestinian state on territories occupied in 1967 in return for recognition by Israel and an end to settlement building in the West Bank and Jerusalem. Abbas wants to establish a Palestinian state on 22 per cent of the original land, in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital, according to his vision. Despite this compromise, Israel is procrastinating, evading and even refusing this solution. Analysts and politicians believe Abbas's compromise is an insult and provocation for the Palestinian people, and is a national crime and constitutes an obliteration of Palestinian rights. The Hamas resistance group said it is very concerned about Abbas's statements demanding 22 per cent of the original territories of Palestine, abandoning the rest to the Zionist entity, according to the group's spokesperson Fawzi Barhoum. Barhoum said Abbas's statements were a national crime and forsake the rights of the Palestinian people in their land and entrench the Zionist entity. “Our people have a right to their land,” he asserted. “No one, irrespective of their position or seniority, has the right to relinquish one inch of Palestine.” He added that, “every Palestinian must stand up to all plots to squander the rights of our people and end the political downward spiral of the Palestinian cause as result of this grave accommodation of the occupation's demands.” Abdel-Sattar Qassem, a Palestinian political science professor, said Abbas's statements are nothing new and that all his life he has called for peaceful solutions with Israel. He was never a freedom fighter or one who believes in revolution, or participated in military combat. Qassem added that Abbas's repeated statements continue to insult the Palestinian people without taking into account public morale, national unity or social cohesion. He continued that Abbas always uses divisive language and has contempt for national culture and Palestinian values. Qassem added: “The status quo for our people at home and overseas cannot confront these challenges. Our people are suffering from social rupture and lack of national culture, and therefore it is difficult to mobilise their energy to confront these political moves. No one has the right to surrender the pillars of the Palestinian people. Those calling for a settlement have violated the rights of the Palestinian people and unduly gave themselves the right to decide the people's destiny.” He believes Abbas is seeking new initiatives to distract the people and create “an illusion” that something good will come. Qassem said the PLO worked against liberation and continues to work against Palestinian national interests, and no longer represents the people. “It is an organisation to entrench occupation.” He concluded saying it is impossible for the occupation to agree to the creation of a Palestinian state within 1967 orders, especially since Israel understood long ago the abilities and capabilities of its enemies, the “Arab countries”, which amount to nothing more than protestations, condemnations and denunciations. They take “theoretical decisions” in the face of Israel's “practical decisions” on the ground.
