Mahmud Abbas, the Palestinian president, has signed a request to join several UN agencies in a move that could derail a US push to revive faltering peace talks with Israel.
"The Palestinian leadership has unanimously approved a decision to seek membership of 15 UN agencies and international treaties, beginning with the Fourth Geneva Convention," Abbas said on television on Tuesday after signing the demand during a meeting at his Ramallah headquarters in the West Bank.
"The demands [for membership] will be sent immediately" to the relevant agencies, he said.
"This is not a move against America, or any other party - it is our right, and we agreed to suspend it for nine months," said Abbas.
Al Jazeera's Stephanie Dekker, reporting from Jerusalem, said: "Going to the UN means the potential of going for an independent state and of turning to the International Criminal Court."
"It ups the pressure on the US and on Israel, something they [Palestinians] have always threatened. During the nine months of talks Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said they would not do this. But they were promised nine times the release of this last batch of prisoners."
"Abbas feels he has no other choice. He is in a difficult position among the Palestinians: The settlements have doubled; home demolitions of Palestinians have doubled - and it is difficult for him to justify the talks without seeing results," said our correspondent.
Release of prisoners
The Palestinians agreed to refrain from seeking membership of international bodies and from pursuing legal action against Israel during the nine months of talks that US Secretary of State John Kerry launched in July.
In return, Israel agreed to release 104 long-serving Palestinian prisoners.
But Israel has refused to release the final batch of 26 prisoners, using it as a bargaining chip to try and extend talks beyond their April 29 deadline.
The Palestinians have also repeatedly threatened to resume their action through international courts and the UN over Israel's settlement expansion on occupied territory in the West Bank and in annexed Arab east Jerusalem.
Israel on Tuesday reissued tenders for hundreds of settler homes in the east Jerusalem settlement neighbourhood of Gilo, on top of the thousands of new homes it has announced since July.
Prior to Abbas' announcement, Kerry had been due back in the region for a meeting with the Palestinian president on Wednesday, after a whirlwind visit on Monday and Tuesday.
[aljazeera.com]
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- Abbas signs Palestine request to join 15 UN bodies
Officials on both sides say move doesn’t end talks; PA sources: It’s a response to Israeli refusal to release prisoners...
“The Palestinian leadership has unanimously approved a decision to seek membership of 15 UN agencies and international treaties, beginning with the Fourth Geneva Convention,” Abbas said on television after signing the demand.
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reporter Derek Stoffel tweeted Tuesday evening that the Palestinian Authority had made the move in response to Israel’s unwillingness to fulfill an obligation to release a fourth round of Palestinian prisoners, some of them Arab Israelis.
Stoffel quoted sources in Abbas’s office as saying the peace process would continue regardless of Tuesday’s move. Officials in Jerusalem were also quoted by Channel 2 news as saying that the move didn’t necessarily signal an end to the talks.
After the announcement was made, a meeting scheduled for Wednesday between Abbas and US Secretary of State John Kerry was canceled, Palestinian sources said.
“We salute the American efforts. But Israel is procrastinating,” Abbas reportedly said before signing a series of documents to apply to the UN bodies.......http://www.timesofisrael.com/abbas-signs-palestines-application-to-join-15-un-bodies/#ixzz2xevbkrkC
“The Palestinian leadership has unanimously approved a decision to seek membership of 15 UN agencies and international treaties, beginning with the Fourth Geneva Convention,” Abbas said on television after signing the demand.
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reporter Derek Stoffel tweeted Tuesday evening that the Palestinian Authority had made the move in response to Israel’s unwillingness to fulfill an obligation to release a fourth round of Palestinian prisoners, some of them Arab Israelis.
Stoffel quoted sources in Abbas’s office as saying the peace process would continue regardless of Tuesday’s move. Officials in Jerusalem were also quoted by Channel 2 news as saying that the move didn’t necessarily signal an end to the talks.
After the announcement was made, a meeting scheduled for Wednesday between Abbas and US Secretary of State John Kerry was canceled, Palestinian sources said.
“We salute the American efforts. But Israel is procrastinating,” Abbas reportedly said before signing a series of documents to apply to the UN bodies.......http://www.timesofisrael.com/abbas-signs-palestines-application-to-join-15-un-bodies/#ixzz2xevbkrkC
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Kerry cancels Mideast visit after Palestinians renew UN bid...
ReplyDeleteAbbas promised to continue negotiations until end of April, U.S. secretary of state says.
American efforts to reach a "deal" to extend the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians have reached a severe crisis Tuesday evening. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry canceled his planned visit to Jerusalem and Ramallah barely two hours after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas signed 15 international treaties the Palestinian state is interested in joining, and after earlier in the day Israel issued 700 new tenders for housing units in Jerusalem neighborhood across the Green Line.
In a press conference in Brussels, Belgium Kerry attempted to play down the crisis, and noted that it is premature draw conclusions about the day's events.
"We urge both sides to show restraint," he said. Kerry added that none of the treaties signed by the Palestinian president has anything to do with UN agencies.
"Abbas has given me his word that he will continue to negotiate until end of April," Kerry said.
The American secretary of state said that no agreement has been reached "regarding the release of any prisoner." According to him, there are many possibilities and the decision is up to the Israeli cabinet. Kerry added that efforts to extend the negotiations will continue, but emphasized that "it is up to the parties to make decisions."
Unanimous PLO vote
Less than two hours earlier, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced that he had signed 12 documents that the PA would use for its application.
Abbas made the announcement.in a surprise address at a meeting of the Palestinian Liberation Organization's action committee.
Israeli officials said Jerusalem estimates that Abbas' step is an attempt to exert last-minute pressure on Israel and the United States to improve the Palestinian side of the deal to extend the peace talks, which were due to end on April 29. The Prime Minister's Office has yet to comment on the matter............http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.583264
1/4/14
Ministers threaten retaliation over Abbas’s UN move....
ReplyDelete‘Annexation’ and ‘financial sanctions’ on the table, tourism minister says; Feiglin: Cancel ‘infernal’ Oslo accords.
Israel could also hurt the Palestinians economically by acting “to block financial aid to them,” the minister added.
Landau’s remarks were referring to the so-called settlement blocs, areas of the West Bank that Israel hopes to retain in any future peace deal.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday made a public show of beginning steps to join several UN agencies, abandoning a pledge to freeze such action for the duration of peace talks, which are scheduled to end April 29.
Abbas made his announcement just hours after Israel reissued tenders for hundreds of settler homes in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Gilo, as Washington was working around the clock to resolve a major dispute over Palestinian prisoners. While Gilo will most likely be part of Israel in any future agreement, the move was criticized as inflammatory by the Palestinians.........http://www.timesofisrael.com/ministers-threaten-retaliation-over-abbass-un-move/
2/4/14
Arab League to hold urgent meeting on peace talks...
ReplyDeleteForeign ministers to convene on April 9, at Abbas’s request, to discuss Israel’s refusal to release Palestinian prisoners.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas requested the meeting, Arabi said, adding it would “examine developments in the light of Israel’s refusal to release a fourth tranche of prisoners and extend talks.”......http://www.timesofisrael.com/arab-league-to-hold-urgent-meeting-on-peace-talks
2/4/14
U.N. accepts Palestinian treaty applications...
ReplyDeleteUnited Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has verified that the Palestinian applications to join 13 international conventions were “in due and proper form” and has accepted them, the Associated Press reported.
U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters Thursday that Ban informed all 193 U.N. member states of his acceptance.
After Israel failed to carry out a planned prisoner release a few days after the end of the March deadline, the Palestinians retaliated by signing letters of accession to 15 international conventions. Thirteen were deposited at the U.N., one in Geneva, and one in the Netherlands.
The Palestinians are seeking wider international recognition. Meanwhile, Israel on Thursday placed further sanctions against the Palestinians.
This will further complicate U.S. efforts to keep peace talks from collapsing before the April 29 deadline.
An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that the Jewish state would deduct debt payments from tax transfers which the Palestinian Authority routinely receives, and limit access the government’s bank deposits in Israel.
On Wednesday, Israel said it was limiting its contacts with Palestinian officials, citing Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s signing of U.N. human rights conventions last week.
In return, Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erakat lashed out Thursday at the Israeli move to freeze the transfer of taxes collected on behalf of the Palestinians, saying the move amounted to “theft.”
Erakat called the sanctions an act of “Israeli hijacking and the theft of the Palestinian people’s money,” telling Agence France-Presse that the decision was a “violation of international law and norms by Israel” in revenge for the Palestinians’ move to join a raft of international treaties as a state.........http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2014/04/11/U-N-accepts-Palestinian-treaty-applications.html
11/4/14