Sec. of State John Kerry’s talks with the Palestinian Authorities Pres. Mahmoud Abbas were cancelled earlier today by Abbas, or by both. We do not exactly know.
The reason for the cancellation was that Abbas and the Palestinian Authority have moved to appeal to 15 international agencies for Palestinian statehood, a move that the Israelis and U.S. are strongly against.
The Palestinian Authority announced that this path was taken because the Israelis missed a deadline for a fourth prisoner release that was scheduled for the end of March.
This appeal to agencies such as the Vienna and Geneva Conventions, is a good move despite the threat from the U.S. and Israel that they will stop financial aid to the occupied territories if such actions are taken.
In my opinion the Palestinians never get reasonable concessions from Israel within the parameters of the Peace Talks. The main sticker is that the Israelis always find a way to keep building further settlements in Palestinian territory and East Jerusalem, which most of the world considers illegal.
Also, the Israelis complain about the release of “terrorists” and “militant” prisoners who were engaged in the Intifadas. But what about all of the offenses by the Israeli military with their murder of civilians? It’s absurd.
So I believe that the Palestinians should take the road that they seem set upon taking by applying to these 15 agencies for the Peace Talks lead them to nowhere.
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