On October 23, 2010, the Qatari daily Al-Sharq published an editorial titled "How Long Will They Continue with the Debacle?" which called upon the Palestinian Authority to declare that negotiations with Israel had failed and to return to popular and armed resistance. The daily called upon the Arabs to refrain from supporting Palestinian negotiations with Israel.
It is noteworthy that it was Qatar, in its current capacity as president of the Arab Peace Initiative Committee, that gave the Palestinians the go-ahead for direct and indirect negotiations with Israel over the past year. In its October 8, 2010 meeting in Libya, the committee gave the U.S. a month to convince Israel to extend the freeze on construction in the settlements, in order to enable the continuation of the negotiations. The editorial by Al-Sharq, published even before the month was up, adopts a clear position against continuation of the negotiations.
Following are excerpts from the editorial:
The Palestinian Leadership Should Declare the Failure of the Negotiations Track
"Construction in settlements in many parts of the occupied West Bank, particularly in Jerusalem and its environs, has been stepped up. This is related to the end of ... the 10-month extension [of the freeze], which the right-wing [Israeli] government headed by Benjamin Netanyahu purported to uphold... with flocks of settlers let loose to build outside the settlements, and with tenders [for construction] within the settlements announced... by the Israeli government.
"The Israeli crime did not end here, but went even further: Several days ago, a new plan, carried out by the occupying Jerusalem Municipality, was exposed. The goal of this plan is to expose the great number of tunnels beneath the Al-Aqsa Mosque and around it, to interconnect them, and to attribute the designated area to a false Hebrew history. This has even begun to undermine [the stability of] the Al-Aqsa structure, due to the large hollow spaces underground, beneath the west side of the blessed mosque.
"In light of the efforts by the occupying authorities to establish geo-demographic facts on the ground throughout the historical land of Palestine, the Palestinian people has increased its demand for its leadership to declare the failure of the negotiations track and of the [possibility] of a settlement as a means to restore Palestinian rights. The next step is [for the leadership] to embark upon a national dialogue, in an honest and practical manner, in order to restore unity and strength to the Palestinian domestic front. [This strength] is manifested in the popular and armed resistance, in accordance with the enterprise of struggle, which derives its inspiration from the recent past..."
'Abbas Must "Adopt a Different Strategy, Which Would Provide Him with a Way Out"
"It should be stated candidly that the political process has [already] reached a dead end – as indeed, it would [anyway] – and it must be acknowledged that the future belongs to the resistance. Reading the equation of the struggle correctly, the Arabs should stand alongside the Palestinians as one, and should not back the Palestinian negotiator in talks with Israel. The goal of the negotiations is unattainable, and they should therefore be halted. President Mahmoud Abbas must declare that this option has failed, and must take action to adopt a different strategy, which would provide him with a way out.
"The lives of the peoples are not something to be toyed with, nor are they guinea pigs. It is unreasonable [to expect] that the Palestinian people will adhere to the track of negotiations all these years. There are other options, and we believe that the Israeli stubbornness brings the Palestinians closer to [internal] reconciliation and to the need to establish a position that will gain general agreement [among the Palestinians], while at the same time improving the internal situation and building a national strategy that adheres to the [Palestinian] principles."[1]
Endnote:
[1] Al-Sharq (Qatar), October 23, 2010. An October 19 editorial in the daily called upon President Mahmoud Abbas to adhere to the Palestinian principles, to international law, and to the resolutions of the Arab Peace Initiative Committee and not to continue negotiations as long as construction was going on in the settlements. It called upon the president to keep all options open, including the dismantling of the PA and a resumption of resistance.
