CAIRO- In a bid to improve Palestines economy, Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmud Abbas has said on Saturday that he intends to demand the reopening of the Oslo Accord. Within the Oslo Accord, there is the Paris Agreement. This agreement deals with the economic relations between Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO). “We want to reopen the Paris Agreement and make changes to it,” Abbas told reporters. “The agreement is not fair and there are restrictions on Palestinians that prevent our economy from growing and prospering. The Paris Agreement does not give us the opportunity to develop our economy and our country.” The Paris Agreement was signed in 1994, and established a joint customs system controlled by Israel which collects taxes for Palestinians. It also imposes harsh restrictions on global trade with Palestine, making them more reliant on Israeli economic bodies. When the agreement was struck, it was under the condition that Palestinians still be allowed to work in Israel, although over the last decade the number of Palestinians working in Israel has dropped to an all-time low. The United Nations Security Council is scheduled to meet on Sunday to begin discussions on the Palestinian application for full member status. The United Nations (UN), Russia, United States of America (USA) and European Union EU), also known as the Quartet, released a statement on Friday calling for a meeting between Israel and Palestine within a month to agree on a new agenda for peace talks. The goal would be to reach an agreement by the end of 2012, and the Quartet have said they wish to see substantial progress and comprehensive proposals within three months in regards to territory and security. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reacted favourably in regards to the peace talks, however Abbas has rejected the idea, stating he would not deal with any initiative that does not demand an immediate halt of Israeli settlement construction. “Any initiative that does not include the freezing of settlement construction and negotiations based on the 1967 borders is unacceptable to me,” Abbas told reporters. Abbas has also called for the Palestinian application to be discussed and decided within weeks, not months. If the UN membership application by Palestine passes, then there would be a tough response, according to the Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman. “That would bring us to an altogether new situation and this would have repercussions, severe repercussions,” Liberman said in an interview from New York with Israeli Army Radio. “Any unilateral step will without a doubt bring an Israeli reaction.” All eyes are on Palestine over the next few months. It seems highly unlikely the Palestinian bid will pass if the USA maintains their stance with the veto. If the bid passes, the Israeli reaction will be interesting to see, as their threat of an Israeli reaction to a successful bid may create more enemies than allies, a position many believe Israel can no longer afford judging by the economic situation worldwide.
