Israel Matzav: Good news: Abu Bluff adds more conditions for 'talks'

Good news: Abu Bluff adds more conditions for 'talks'

In an interview published Sunday, 'moderate' 'Palestinian' President Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazen told al-Guardian that he would return to 'direct talks' with Israel in exchange for a three-month freeze on construction in 'east' Jerusalem.

Israel's continuing colonisation of the West Bank is leading to a "one-state solution", the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, has told the Guardian, while indicating that he may be poised this week to accept a US proposal for "proximity talks" with Israel through American mediators.

In an exclusive interview, the Palestinian Authority president also insisted he would not allow any return to armed resistance; offered direct negotiations with Israel in exchange for a complete three-month settlement freeze; claimed he had come close to a comprehensive agreement with former Israeli leader Ehud Olmert that went beyond anything negotiated by Yasser Arafat under President Bill Clinton; and defended Egypt's construction of an underground wall to prevent smuggling into the Hamas-controlled Gaza strip.

But don't worry: The 'talks' Abu Bluff proposes have a pre-ordained outcome, which of course is not a 'precondition.'

"If there is any substance in the response from the Israeli side – for example, if they accept the framework of a two-state solution based on the 1967 borders and an end to occupation, with timelines and mechanisms – then there will be progress," Abbas said.

Israel is being pressed by the US to respond with confidence-building measures, including an end to military incursions, dismantling of checkpoints and release of prisoners, if indirect talks take place.

Abbas also said he would be prepared to resume full face-to-face peace negotiations if Israel froze all settlement construction for three months and accepted its June 1967 borders as the basis for land swaps. "These are not preconditions, they are requirements in the road map. If they are not prepared to do that, it means they don't want a political solution."

We don't want a 'political solution' in which terms are dictated to us by the losing in a war we didn't start.

And by the way, Israel only accepted the road map subject to fourteen reservations made by the Sharon government. Isn't it odd how the World forgets that?

Israel Matzav: Good news: Abu Bluff adds more conditions for 'talks'