Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat said Wednesday the peace process would be dead if the United States assures Israel it can keep some key West Bank settlement blocs and would not have to absorb Palestinian refugees.
| Then it's dead. Let's move on to the next subject... |
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was to meet President Bush in Washington on Wednesday and hoped to secure a U.S. endorsement for his plan, under which Israel would withdraw from the Gaza Strip and four West Bank settlements. Palestinian leaders held an emergency meeting Wednesday to discuss Sharon's White House meeting. A statement issued by Arafat's office on his and the Palestinian leadership's behalf said U.S. assurances on the West Bank settlement blocks and the refugees would ruin future negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.
| That's assuming there are any... |
"The Palestinian leadership warns of the dangers of reaching such an accord, because it means clearly the complete end of the peace process," the statement said.
| Hamas blew up the peace processor with the bus, last year... |
The assurances would also lead to a "cycle of violence and end all the signed agreements" between the Palestinians and Israel, the statement said.
| They've been doing a hell of a lot of good, haven't they? Where's the loss? |
Palestinians see the settlements as an illegal encroachment on land they want for a future state and support refugees' demands to return to the land they fled during the 1948-49 war.
| To which Israel's already said "no." What part of "no" Don't you understand? |
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