U.S. Special Envoy for the Middle East George Mitchell arrived back in the region on Monday night for a quickie — after rumors and subsequent denials of threats and pressures, particularly on the Palestinian side, to move from indirect or “proximity” to direct talks which Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu has suggested could last for years.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his people appear to have done little to discourage denunciation of the talks. The jailed Fatah personality Marwan Barghouthi, serving five consecutive life sentences in an Israeli prison for his role in the second Palestinian intifada, issued a statement last week through a lawyer saying that the talks were against the Palestinian national interest. Marwan Barghouthi was elected to the powerful Fatah Central Committee at a rare General Conference closely choreographed by Abbas supporters that met for ten days in Bethlehem last August.
During Mitchell’s previous visit, for the sixth round of “proximity” talks, a Palestinian representative of a group putting up posters around the West Bank advocating a one-state (rather than the two-state) solution was invited to make a presentation during the Abbas-Mitchell meeting.
Abbas gave a private briefing to Palestinian journalists in Ramallah on Monday evening.
