Israel’s expansion of illegal settlements on Palestinian land in the West Bank is intended to terminate the peace process before it even starts, Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) official Yasser Abed Rabbo said on Wednesday.
Abed Rabbo told the Russia Today TV network, “They know quite well that such steps will provoke the Palestinians and the Arabs, and even the international community who agreed that settlements must stop as a major part in the Road Map plan. Thus, the Israeli government’s aim is to thwart the political efforts that will eventually lead to the two-state solution.”
On Monday the Israeli government approved the construction of 455 new settler homes in the illegal West Bank communities, in defiance of international calls for a freeze.
Abed Rabbo added, “We herby emphasize that the international Quartet must adopt one stance, and Arab countries too must stick to the same stance which is the necessity to implement the Road Map plan. According to that plan, settlement activities must stop completely as a major base for the peace process. There couldn’t be settlement and political talk at the same time.”
The international consensus has never been clearer, added Abed Rabbo. “There is no difference between the US, the European, and the Russian attitudes. All these countries agree that settlement is the main obstacle impeding progress of the peace process.”
“Therefore, the Israelis will be making a big mistake if they think this international consensus is incidental, that it is something that will pass, enabling them later to resume settlement activities while preaching peace,” Abed Rabbo added.
With regards to a proposed peace conference in Moscow, he said, “If this conference does not focus on the peace process and encourage negotiations, it will be casual. There have been such conference previously, and what we need is a conference that makes a qualitative shift in the political process.”
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