Palestinian-Americans reassured by Abbas

[Violet_Crumble]

NEW YORK (Ma'an) -- President Mamhmoud Abbas met with Palestinian-Americans from across the 51 states on Thursday, for an hour long meeting where he reasserted his position on a resumption of settlement construction.

"I will say this once in front of you, if they want negotiations, then they will continue with settlement freeze otherwise the negotiations will stop, and we are sorry to waste the opportunity," Abbas told assembled guests.

In Israel, Netanyahu reportedly told colleagues during a series of phone calls seeking to find a solution to the settlement issue, "if the Palestinians want peace, they will stay in the talks with us in order to reach a framework agreement within one year."

Abbas, speaking at the Egyptian Embassy in New York, made clear that he was resolute on the issue, saying "we told the Americans and Israel that we will not continue with the negotiations if the settlements were not frozen on our ground, this is our condition; we had said, it and we are saying it in each bilateral meeting, in each group meeting."

Explaining the pressures he faced, Abbas said that "the Israelis say to us: you negotiated with Olmert while settlements were being built, why won't you talk now. And I say to them, that is in the past, and we have never stopped demanding a settlement halt. Enough is enough."

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=317553

[ProgressiveMuslim]

1. Let's be clear: Abbas does NOT represent the POV of the majority of Palestinian Americans.

He may have met with a few, and there is one Pal-Am org that is loyal to the PA (Amercan Task Force for Palestine) but they don't have much support in the grass roots.