Obama's support for the Ground Zero Islamic centre called his integrity and even his citizenship into question, writes Gamal Nkrumah Despite opposition from Palestinian political factions, including his own Fatah Party, Palestinian Authority (PA) leader Mahmoud Abbas is expected to formally agree to "direct" talks with Israel. According to sources in Ramallah, Abbas is waiting for the clarification of "minor details" before officially announcing the resumption of direct talks. The last round of direct talks, spanning almost 15 years, failed to reach a breakthrough, mainly due to Israel's refusal to give up the spoils of the 1967 war and allow for the repatriation of refugees to their original homes and villages in what is now Israel. US Middle East Envoy George Mitchell had given the Palestinian leadership a "set of assurances" in an effort to encourage Abbas to enter negotiations though Palestinian officials have dismissed the assurances as "vague and insufficient". There is a general feeling that Abbas is being bullied by the American administration to agree to direct talks with the Netanyahu government which the Palestinian leadership, and the rest of the Palestinian people, are convinced will lead nowhere. Last week, during a rare briefing to Palestinian journalists, Abbas looked demoralised. He indicated that he was coming under immense pressure from the Americans. He also hinted that he had been all but abandoned by the Arab world and had no choice but to heed Washington's instructions in order to give peace a chance. What was noticeable in his meeting with the journalists was that Abbas did not even attempt to defend the decision to join in direct talks. At one point he asked journalists to explain to the Israeli public that the Palestinian leadership was not making new demands but was asking for the implementation of agreements already reached by Israel and the PA, e.g. that the two sides must refrain from acts that would prejudice the final status of the occupied territories. Abbas has been striving to obtain minimal assurances from the Americans and the Quartet (the US, EU, UN and Russia), including Israeli acknowledgement that any Palestinian state would have to be based on the 1967 borders and that Israel would have to freeze settlement expansion activities for at least the duration of talks. Israel, however, has rejected the Palestinian demands, arguing that talks ought to start without preconditions. "Israel is not willing to agree to any preconditions from the back door via a Quartet announcement that would serve as a basis for the negotiations," a senior Israeli official was quoted as saying. With this Israeli rejection in mind, Abbas reportedly asked the Quartet to reiterate its March declaration which included clauses pertaining to the creation of an independent Palestinian state as well as an end to settlement expansion. Israel is not only refusing to commit itself to halting settlement expansion after the expiration of the half-hearted moratorium on settlement construction in September. This week the Israeli government announced plans to build two dozens Jewish schools in the West Bank. The announcement followed a plethora of statements by Israeli officials, including Netanyahu, vowing to resume settlement activities when the moratorium expires in a few weeks. Netanyahu has informed Washington that any extension of the settlement freeze, however incomplete, would cause his government to collapse. Some of Netanyahu's more hawkish coalition partners have threatened to leave the government if the Israeli prime minister agrees to extend the freeze in response to American requests. Meanwhile, opposition among Palestinians to what is widely viewed as "capitulation" to the Obama administration and Israel is growing among Palestinian factions, including Fatah, the backbone of the Palestinian Authority. Most recently, 600 Palestinian intellectuals petitioned Abbas to refuse to join "futile talks with Israel" in the absence of genuine guarantees that would end the occupation and preserve Palestinian rights, including the creation of a viable Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, and the repatriation of Palestinian refugees. Palestinian factions based in Damascus have castigated the "PA's propensity to join direct talks with Israel". They issued a statement lambasting PA flaccidity vis-à-vis Israeli intransigence and US backing of the Israeli stand as "bargaining with the Palestinian cause and rights". "The Palestinian resistance movements affirm their rejection of direct, or indirect, negotiations and warn against the dangerous consequences of policies aiming at selling Palestinian national rights." Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a founding member of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, were among the factions that signed the statements. Hamas, too, criticised the Abbas leadership for giving concessions to Israel and the United States which had emboldened them to demand yet more. "While Abbas continues to wallow in meaningless negotiations, we affirm that Abbas and his group have no mandate from the Palestinian people and do not express its collective will. Any agreement that may be reached will not be binding on the people; and Abbas and his group will solely bear the ramifications and consequences of such an agreement." Hamas called on the PA leadership to ally itself with the people and refuse dictates from the US. Some insiders in Ramallah argue that Abbas has no choice but to heed proposals -- even instructions -- from Washington, given the political atmosphere in the US, which faces congressional elections this Fall. One source close to Abbas argued that Obama would shun the Palestinian leadership if Abbas said no, in which case Netanyahu would emerge the winner. It is an argument that has met with very little sympathy in the occupied territories. "We must not strive to appease Washington under each and every circumstance. We must remember that without us no peace can be made in this region," said one Fatah leader opposed to unrestricted talks with Israel. President Abbas is languishing between the American hammer and the anvil of his own people who are unwilling to allow political weakness, including the division between Fatah and Hamas, to divert their long held political aspirations.
