In a brilliantly positioned address to the Palestinian people today, at the public inauguration of the memorial to the late Yasser Arafat that has just been unveiled in the Presidential peace conference.
According to Haaretz, “Abbas said the Palestinians were working with Arab nations and the international community to make it a success. ‘We see this conference as a historic opportunity to open a new page in the history of the Middle East based on the establishment of our independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital’, he said. Along with statehood, Abbas said, Palestinians sought the ‘return of Arab land occupied in (the 1967 Middle East war)’ and peace for ‘us and the Israelis and the peoples of this region’. Though he saved his most strongly worded criticism for his Palestinian rivals, Abbas also criticized Israel, calling its West Bank separation fence the ‘ugly separation apartheid wall’ and saying Palestinians remained committed to removing all settlements and checkpoints in the West Bank. Abbas gave no indication in his address whether progress had been made in narrowing differences with Israel, with whom the Palestinians are expected to draft a joint document that will serve as the basis for the Annapolis conference. ‘We reiterate to you, Abu Ammar, and our people that we are adhering to our national principles’, Abbas said, using Arafat’s nom de guerre. They included, he said, a ‘just solution’ to the issue of Palestinian refugees, the release of Palestinians prisoners held by Israel and the uprooting of Israel’s West Bank fence, settlements, outposts and military checkpoints”.
Haaretz’s account of Abbas’ remarks at the inauguration of the Arafat memorial is posted here.
Meanwhile, here is an excerpt of what U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice said in a Sunday interview with George Stephanopolous on ABC Television today (most of the conversation focussed on the situation in Pakistan, then a little bit on Iran, and this came last):
QUESTION: You’ve also been working very hard on the Middle East peace process, gone to the Middle East eight times in the last year, three times in the last two months. And you’re trying to put together at least a preliminary peace conference in Annapolis, Maryland, either later this month or early next month. Have the invitations gone out? Will the conference take place?
SECRETARY RICE: Look, the invitations have not gone out. We still expect the conference to take place. The President has said this fall; that means by the end of the year. We’re working very hard with the parties and with the regional actors to prepare the conference. And so we will take our time in preparing the conference, but I have to say that the parties are exhibiting seriousness of purpose. I think they want to end their conflict. And if we can, as Prime Minister Olmert said, use Annapolis to launch the negotiations for the establishment of a two-state solution, that will be a very, very good step for the people of Israel, the people of the Palestinian territories and for the international community as a whole.
QUESTION: You said you wanted to include the neighbors of Israel and Palestine. Does that include Syria?
SECRETARY RICE: Well, we’ve not sent any invitations, but we did make clear that it would be likely that members of the Arab Follow-up Committee, the committee that was appointed by the Arab League to follow up on the Arab Peace Initiative — it was originally proposed by the Saudis, this peace initiative — that those members would likely be invited. Syria is a member of that committee. And let me just say something, George. Nobody would even think of trying to hide that there are other tracks that ultimately lead to a comprehensive peace. Now, in this case, the Israeli-Palestinian comprehensive peace — the Israeli-Palestinian track is the most mature. It’s the one that’s moving forward. This meeting is about Israel and the Palestinians. But we understand that ultimately there has to be a comprehensive peace and there has to be progress on the other tracks as well”.
(Transcript or Rice’s remarks was prepared by the U.S. Department of State and sent out by email.)