Abbas says determined to advance unilateral moves

[Scurrilous]

Palestinian president unfazed by chilly American, European and even Egyptian responses to his plan to declare independent state. 'What is the solution for us? To stay without peace? This is why I made this move,' he explains following meeting with President Mubarak in Cairo

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3806760,00.html

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"Despite the European and American objection to a Palestinian unilateral declaration of an independent sovereign state, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is sticking to his decision to turn to the United Nations Security Council for a resolution which would support such a move.

Speaking Tuesday at a press conference in Cairo following a meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Abbas said that the Palestinian Authority was determined to move on in that direction.

According to Abbas, the Palestinian decision was made after the Arab League adopted a resolution supporting such a move last week. He added that the Palestinians reject the idea of a temporary state raised recently by Knesset Member Shaul Mofaz (Kadima).

"We sense a very difficult reality," he said. "What is the solution for us? To stay without peace? This is why I made this move," Abbas said.

It should be noted that Egypt is not keen on the Palestinian plan as well. Hossam Zaki, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry in Cairo, said Sunday that turning to the Security Council with a demand that it recognize a Palestinian state "is not an alternative for negotiations between the Palestinians and Israel."

Meanwhile, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat referred to the European Union's decision not to support a unilateral Palestinian state declaration, saying that Sweden, the current EU president, does not reflect the opinion of all EU countries and that the Palestinians would continue to act on the matter.

Erekat, who was the first Palestinian Authority official to reveal the unilateral plan, said that "this is the time, as far as we are concerned, to turn to the Security Council and receive recognition of a state within the 1967 borders with Jerusalem as its capital."

[aranthus]

1. Could Mubarak really refuse to recognize a Palestinian state?

Not to mention the US and Europeans. They were all opposed to the creation of Israel, and the US and the UK actively worked against the idea in 1947-48, but once Israel declared independence, both countries recognized the new state. I don't think they could do otherwise now. Arab leaders ceretainly couldn't.