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Abbas denies the Jewish connection to Jerusalem |
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Abbas denies the Jewish connection to Jerusalem
By Herb Keinon
The Jerusalem Post
August 22, 2012
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas denied the Jewish
connection to Jerusalem on Tuesday, the same day he spoke by phone with
both Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s
envoy Yitzhak Molcho.
Abbas issued a statement Tuesday, marking the 43rd anniversary of an
attempt by deranged Australian Christian Denis Michael Rohan to set fire
to al-Aksa mosque, saying that Jerusalem’s Arab and Islamic identity
was a Palestinian red line.
Highlighting the necessity of the protection of Jerusalem’s Islamic and
Christian holy sites, Abbas said “the fire, set by a criminal under the
eyes of the Israeli Occupation Authorities, was the first [attack] in a
series aiming to demolish al- Aksa mosque and build the alleged Temple
in order to uproot its citizens, Judaize it and eternalize its
occupation.”
The statement read that all Israeli excavation work in Jerusalem, and
tunnels underneath the mosque, “will not undermine the fact that the
city will forever be Arabic, Islamic and Christian.”
Abbas’ statement warned against what it called “the dangers surrounding
Jerusalem and its al-Aksa mosque by the Israeli government and
municipality which aims to steal more lands and enact unfair
legislations against the Palestinian institutions.”
The statement concluded “that there will be no peace or stability before
our beloved city and eternal capital is liberated from occupation and
settlement.”
Netanyahu’s spokesman Mark Regev said in response that he hoped the
Palestinian leadership was not denying the Jewish connection to
Jerusalem, which goes back 3,000 years. “Ignoring that connection is to
ignore reality,” he said, and will do nothing to advance peace and
reconciliation Regev said he was “disappointed” to hear the mainstream
Palestinian leadership “echo outrageous conspiracy theories concerning
the Temple Mount, conspiracy theories that are the usual domain of
extremist elements.” He added that only under Israeli control has
Jerusalem enjoyed a period of unparalleled growth and development, under
which the religious rights of all, and the holy sites, were protected.
“This is in stark contrast to the reality before 1967,” Regev said.
The tone of Abbas’ statement dispelled the notion that a series of phone
calls recently might lead to a slight change in atmosphere.
Barak phoned Abbas on Tuesday to send well-wishes on the occasion of Id al-Fitr.
Barak’s call followed a similar call Netanyahu made to Abbas Saturday
night, at the onset of the festival. With no negotiations currently
taking place between Israel and the PA, such calls at the top leadership
level are infrequent.
A statement released by Barak said the two men discussed the situation
in the region and ways to renew the diplomatic process between Israel
and the Palestinians. A source in Abbas’s office in Ramallah confirmed
the conversation took place and that the two talked about the diplomatic
process, but said that it was unlikely the gesture would have any
political results in the near future.
The Jerusalem Post has learned that Molcho phoned Abbas, as well as
Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad on Tuesday, to update
them on the health status of the six Palestinians hurt in a fire bomb
attack on a taxi near Bat Ayin on Thursday.
Netanyahu spoke about the matter with Abbas when he called him Saturday,
and his office has on three different occasions issued statements since
then relating to the issue. The first statement contained Netanyahu’s
condemnation, the second was a letter he wrote to Abbas not only
condemning the incident, but also promising all efforts would be made to
apprehend those responsible, and the third was a statement to the
effect that the issue had been brought up again during the Saturday
night phone call.
There are a number of reasons Netanyahu has reached out so publicly to
the Palestinian leadership on this issue, a government official said.
First, he explained, this behavior is abhorrent, unjustifiable and must
be stamped out.
Second, because those responsible are giving Israel, Zionism and the
settlement enterprise a bad name. Third, out of concern that this
violence plays into the hands of the most anti-Israel narrative and
gives “ammunition to Israel’s enemies.” Fourth, because there is close
security coordination between Israel and the PA, and Israel has given a
commitment to stamp out this type of activity.
And finally, out of concern that Palestinian extremists could use these acts as a trigger for Palestinian violence.
In a related development, UN Middle East envoy Robert Serry warned
Monday evening that the PA was losing legitimacy in the absence of any
diplomatic process.
Speaking at the closing ceremony of the international model UN event at
the College of Management Academic Studies in Rishon Lezion, Serry said
that the Israeli- Palestinian peace process is not “all about the
money.”
“Some think that a strong Palestinian economy will be enough to maintain
stability in the West Bank, something that is both a Palestinian and an
Israeli interest,” he said.
“Yet economic growth alone will not assure a sustainable future. This is
because the Palestinian Authority is quickly, in my view, losing its
legitimacy in the eye of the public, if it is not able to bring also the
political goal forwards – the creation of a Palestinian state living
side by side with Israel in peace and security.”
Serry said that recent events in the region have shown that “no
political institution can survive if it rests only on economics and
lacks political legitimacy.”
These sentiments, which Serry has articulated numerous times in the
past, are at odds with some senior officials in Jerusalem, including
Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman, who believe that setting a strong
Palestinian economic base can go a long way toward eventually solving
the outstanding problems.
Indeed, at a gathering of European foreign ministers in December, many
of whom share Serry’s view, Liberman said that propping up the middle
class was a key to eventually finding a solution.
“My suggestion is to bypass highly disputed political issues, which
cannot be resolved in the present,” he said. “Once economic growth is
allowed to take root and enable the formation of a strong middle class, I
have no doubt that the difficult political issues, which seem
irresolvable today, will lend themselves to resolution.”
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| Filed under Israel, Politics, Palestinian Authority, Arab - Israeli Relations on Thursday, August 23, 2012 by Author: Admin. |
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