Bethlehem – Ma’an – Six rounds of indirect Israeli-Palestinian talks have resulted in a “big zero,” Fatah leader Muhammad Dahlan said Friday.The big doughnut, goose egg, zip, zippo, zilch, nada, nuthin...
In an interview with the Dubai-based Al-Arabiya channel, Dahlan said three days of meetings with the PLO Executive Committee, FatahÂ’s Central Committee and the party's Revolutionary Council concluded that Palestinians will resume direct negotiations only if the preconditions set by the Arab League are met.
What's that? A decent menu and hookers?
The sentiment echoed those of Amr Moussa, Arab League chief, who said following his meeting with Mitchell on Sunday, that Palestinians could not enter direct talks with Israel without written guarantees. Moussa told reporters that “moving from proximity talks into direct ones without any confirmation or guarantee on Israel’s seriousness means that we have entered into crisis management and not solving the crisis.” Moussa has previously referred to the indirect talks as “a comprehensive failure.”
Well, Jerry...it's not like you're not used to that.
Six rounds of US-initiated proximity talks have seen US peace envoy George Mitchell shuttle between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators relaying positions. Direct negotiations were broken off when Israel launched its devastating assault on the Gaza Strip in December 2008.
Fatah officials have repeatedly complained that Israel has failed to respond to proposals on the key Palestinian issues of borders and security.
In the interview, Dahlan said the Palestinian side will present the results of proximity talks in the upcoming meeting with the Arab Peace Initiative follow-up committee, adding that if Israel continued to ignore President Mahnoud AbbasÂ’ proposals, Palestinian negotiators should approach the UN Security Council.
Well, that should accomplish...not much.