[PA] Cabinet Meeting Rejects Including Illegal Settlements In Any Future Peace Agreement

2005-04-12

www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_new/ english/details.asp ?name=3916

[IMRA: This means rejecting the "Geneva Initiative" and other similar programs that have been presented as proof that it is possible to cut a deal with the Palestinians.]

RAMALLAH, Palestine, April 12, 2005 (IPC + WAFA) -[Official PA website] - The Prime Minister Ahmad Qurei welcomed the statements of US President George Bush about halting the illegal Israeli settlement expansion and removal of settlement outposts, asserting that the future Palestinian state cannot be established in the presence of the illegal settlement blocs, stressing the leadership's rejection of including any illegal settlement in the future peace agreement.

During the Palestinian cabinet's meeting in Ramallah, Prime Minister Qurei asserted that peace cannot be realized with illegal settlement blocs preventing the establishment of a viable Palestinian state.

During the meeting also, PM Qurei discussed several issues with the attending ministers, including several internal issues as well as the political and local developments in the occupied Palestinian territories.

The meeting discussed the outcomes of the talks between Bush and the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, and the Council of Ministers asserted that the peace process cannot be completed with the strip of illegal Israeli settlements and the Apartheid Wall, and with settlement blocs delving deep into the West Bank and isolating Jerusalem from the rest of the Palestinian population centers.

The Prime Minister pointed out that these settlements, which sit on top of important Palestinian resources, would separate the southern and northern Palestinian territories, and would destroy the peace process completely in case the American administration overlooked them.

The Council of Ministers asserted the PA's commitment to reform, and reiterated the adherence to all the signed agreements and understandings. The Council called on the American administration and international community to put an end to the Israeli settlement activities, and take a firm standpoint towards the official Judaizing of Jerusalem, the Apartheid Wall and incitement against the Palestinian Authority.

PM Qurei and the ministers also categorically condemned the threats against Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem by Jewish extremists, harshly criticizing the remarks made by the Israeli President Moshe Katsav, in which he called for dividing the holy mosque.

The participants in the meeting stressed that any threats or attempts by the Israeli government to divide Al Aqsa Mosque are totally rejected by the Palestinian leadership and would lead to turning the entire region into a tinderbox waiting to explode.

Source: IMRA – Independent Media Review and Analysis