RAMALLAH, West Bank — The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, hosted a two-hour meeting with about 60 Israeli politicians, public figures and activists at his headquarters here on Sunday in an effort to reach out to the Israeli public at a time when the official peace process is at a standstill.
Enlarge This Image
Rina Castelnuovo for The New York Times
President Mahmoud Abbas.
“In the end, we want to make peace between the people, the Israeli and Palestinian people,” Mr. Abbas said, not just the governments.
The unusual gathering originated with an invitation from the Palestinian side and was organized by the Geneva Initiative, a group of Israeli and Palestinian figures who negotiated an unofficial blueprint for a permanent peace accord in 2003.
Amram Mitzna, a former leader of the Israeli left-of-center Labor Party, who led the Israeli delegation to the meeting here in Ramallah, said that while Israelis and Palestinians seemed to have moved closer in their positions in the last few years, they also seemed farther than ever from reaching an agreement.
Most of the Israelis attending the meeting were from the so-called Israeli peace camp, but there were also members of Parliament from the centrist Kadima Party; a member of the conservative-leaning Likud Party; a former member of Parliament from Shas, the ultra-Orthodox Sephardic party; and some representatives of ultra-Orthodox news media.
Mr. Abbas was joined by his top negotiators and advisers, as well as many well-known Palestinian academics, civic organization representatives, political leaders and activists.
For veterans of the peace process, it was an opportunity to connect with old friends. Some of the Israelis, however, were visiting Ramallah for the first time.
Long tables were laid out in the main hall of the Mukata, the presidential compound, and a traditional lunch of lamb and rice was served. Special kosher meals in sealed containers were provided for the Orthodox Jewish delegates.
Plans for the meeting began a few months ago, but organizers said it took on additional urgency when the peace process stalled.
The Palestinians suspended negotiations with the current Likud-led Israeli government in late September after Israel’s 10-month moratorium on construction in West Bank Jewish settlements expired. This month, the United States dropped its efforts to persuade Israel to agree to an additional 90-day moratorium.
The Palestinians are refusing to return to talks without a further freeze, leaving the peace process deadlocked.
Mr. Abbas outlined the recent history of his inconclusive talks with the previous Israeli government that ended in late 2008. He said that the Palestinians had been prepared to go to Washington in early January 2009 to try to bridge the gaps on border issues, but that Israel had refused because it was in the midst of a three-week military campaign in Gaza.
Israel’s current leaderhip blames the Palestinians for having waited to enter into direct talks until the final month of the 10-month moratorium. The Palestinians say that they held indirect, American-brokered talks with the Israelis for months beforehand, on the understanding that they would be used to narrow gaps on the issues of borders and security. They say they then went to direct talks even though no progress had been made on the indirect track.
Mr. Abbas said Sunday that there would be no talks, direct or indirect, so long as settlement construction continued, a position he described as “a red line.”
But the overall point of Sunday’s dialogue was supposed to be less of recrimination and more of the possibility of peace based on a two-state solution, which would see the establishment of an independent Palestine alongside Israel.
Mr. Abbas said that his leadership had ruled out violence and was committed to resolving the conflict through peace talks.
“We believe, ladies and gentlemen, in peace through negotiations only,” he said. He added that he has eight grandchildren, and that he wants a peaceful life for them.
On the bus back to Jerusalem, Mr. Mitzna said the meeting proved “to anyone who wants to know if there is a partner on the other side that there is one.”
“The question,” he added, “is do they want to know?”
Front Page Features