Abbas declines to condemn murder of Israelis - 'We are despaired by occupation'

As Israelis ushered in the Jewish Sabbath with the grim news of the brutal murder of a father and son near Hebron, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas declined to offer a condemnation on Friday.During a joint press conference with the president of Cyprus, the Palestinian rais told journalists in Ramallah that "our people are living under difficult conditions which have become intolerable.""The continued Israeli occupation of our country and the escalating violence by settlers who are harming our property is filling us with despair," Abbas told the visiting President Nicos Anastasiades.Though the president was asked specifically about Friday's shooting, he sidestepped the issue, instead accusing Israel of "obstinateness" and blaming the escalation in violence on "a lack of a diplomatic horizon."The Palestinian leader praised the European Union's recent decision to issue guidelines for labeling of products originating in Israeli settlements on the West Bank.