PLO official: Kerry's proposals offer 'general and vague' formulas about J'lem's future

PLO Secretary-General Yasser Abed Rabbo says proposals offered by US secretary of state are "Israeli ideas."

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
PLO Secretary-General Yasser Abed Rabbo. (photo credit: REUTERS)
PLO Secretary-General Yasser Abed Rabbo.
(photo credit: REUTERS)
US Secretary of State John Kerry’s proposals are Israeli ideas that the Palestinian Authority cannot accept, PLO Secretary-General Yasser Abed Rabbo said on Thursday.
Abed Rabbo said he cannot accept the proposals mainly because it remains unclear when Israel would pull out of the West Bank and east Jerusalem.
Kerry’s proposals offer the Palestinians “general and vague” formulas about the fate of Jerusalem, Abed Rabbo said in a broadcast on the Voice of Palestine radio station.
The proposals also call for “slicing” parts of the Jordan Valley and making them part of Israel, and scrapping the “right of return” for Palestinian refugees, the PLO official said.
Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the PLO Executive Committee, denied reports that the PA leadership had agreed to a gradual Israeli withdrawal over a period of three years.
These reports were untrue and hurt the higher interests of the Palestinians, Ashrawi said.
Tawfik Tirawi, a top Fatah official and former PA security commander, said that Kerry’s proposals were completely unacceptable to the Palestinians.
“We don’t want framework agreements, but a final solution,” Tirawi told reporters in Ramallah.
He criticized Kerry for offering the Palestinians a capital in the villages of Abu Dis and al-Ram, and not in Jerusalem.
Tirawi said that Kerrry’s proposals do not offer a solution to the issue of the refugees.
“This means that we cannot accept these ideas,” he said. “We will pay a heavy price.”
The Palestinians do not have a peace partner in Israel, according to Tirawi.
Recent Israeli threats against PA President Mahmoud Abbas show that Israel is not interested in peace, he said.
Abbas could face the same fate as Yasser Arafat, Tirawi said.
“No Palestinian in the past, present or future has a mandate to make concessions on Palestinian rights,” Tirawi said.
The PA leadership made a mistake by not seeking full membership in the United Nations and other international agencies and forums after it obtained the status of non-member observer in November 2012, he said.