Abbas finds backing in EU
BRUSSELS, Jan 22, (Agencies): The European Union assured President Mahmoud Abbas it supported his ambition to have East Jerusalem as capital of a Palestinian state, in the bloc’s latest rejection of US President Donald Trump’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
At a meeting in Brussels with EU foreign ministers, Abbas repeated his call for East Jerusalem as capital as he urged EU governments to recognise a state of Palestine immediately, arguing that this would not disrupt negotiations with Israel on a peace settlement for the region.
While Abbas made no reference to Trump’s move on Jerusalem or US Vice-President Mike Pence’s visit to the city on Monday, his presence at the EU headquarters in Brussels was seized on by European officials as a chance to restate opposition to Trump’s Dec 6 decision to move the US Embassy to Jerusalem.
Mogherini, in what appeared to be a veiled reference to Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as capital of Israel, called on those involved in the process to speak and act “wisely”, with a sense of responsibility.
“I want to reassure President Abbas of the firm commitment of the European Union to the two-state solution with Jerusalem as the shared capital of the two states,” Mogherini said.
Before Abbas’ arrival, she was more outspoken, saying: “Clearly there is a problem with Jerusalem. That is a very diplomatic euphemism,” in reference to Trump’s position.
Deputy German Foreign Minister Michael Roth told reporters that Trump’s decision had made peace talks harder but said all sides needed to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Abbas also struck a more diplomatic tone than in his recent public remarks, including earlier this month when he said he would only accept a broad, internationally-backed panel to broker any peace talks with Israel.
“We are keen on continuing the way of negotiations,” Abbas said. “We are determined to reunite our people and our land.”
But his call for the European Union to immediately and officially recognise the state of Palestine was unlikely to be answered, two senior EU diplomats said.
While nine EU governments including Sweden and Poland already recognise Palestine, the 28-nation bloc says such recognition must come as part of a peace settlement.
Only Slovenia has recently raised the possibility of recognising the state of Palestine. A parliamentary committee there is due to consider the issue on Jan 31, but it remains unclear when the parliament could recognise Palestine.
That reflects the European Union’s dual role as the Palestinians’ biggest aid donor and Israel’s biggest trade partner, even if EU governments reject Israeli settlements on land Israel has occupied since a 1967 war — including the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights.
The European Union also wants the Palestinians to remain open to a USled peace plan, expected to be presented soon by Jason Greenblatt, Trump’s Middle East envoy and Trump’s sonin-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner.
Abbas said there was “no contradiction between recognition (of Palestine) and the resumption of (peace) negotiations.”
Instead, France wants to push the European Union to offer closer trade ties through a so-called EU association agreement, an EU treaty covering unfettered access to the bloc’s 500 million consumers, aid and closer political and cultural ties.
“We want to say to Mahmoud Abbas that we want to move ... towards an association agreement and to start the process already,” said France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian.
But offering an EU association agreement to the Palestinians was also fraught with difficulties, diplomats said.
Under EU rules, the agreements need to be agreed with sovereign states. France argues that the EU has an association agreement with Kosovo, whose independence is not recognised by all countries, including EU member Spain.
Meanwhile, Pence on Monday told Israel’s parliament that the US Embassy will be moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem by the end of 2019, ahead of schedule, receiving a rousing ovation as he pledged to barrel ahead with a plan that has set off weeks of unrest and thrown US peace efforts into disarray.
The move, in the first ever address of a sitting American vice-president to the Israeli Knesset, marked the highlight of Pence’s three-day visit to Israel celebrating President Donald Trump’s decision last month to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
“The United States has chosen fact over fiction — and fact is the only true foundation for a just and lasting peace,” Pence said.
“Jerusalem is Israel’s capital and as such President Trump has directed the State Department to immediately begin preparations to move the United States Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem,” he said adding the embassy “will open before the end of next year.”
The speech drew an angry denunciation from the Palestinians, with chief negotiator Saeb Erekat saying it “has proven that the US administration is part of the problem rather than the solution.”
Pence was preceded on the dais by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who lavished his American guest with praise and gratitude. It was all part of an exceptionally warm welcome for Pence in Israel, which has been overjoyed by Trump’s pivot on Jerusalem. But the move has infuriated the Palestinians, with whom Pence is not meeting, and upset America’s Arab allies as well.
A group of Arab lawmakers voiced their displeasure at the administration’s perceived pro-Israel bias by raising banners reading “Jerusalem is the capital of Palestine” and heckling Pence at the beginning of his address, before being forcibly removed from the plenum.
The main Arab party in the Israeli parliament warned ahead of time it would boycott Pence. Its leader, Ayman Odeh, vowed they would not provide a “silent backdrop” to a man he called a “dangerous racist.”
Pence responded to the ruckus by saying he was humbled to speak before such a “vibrant democracy,” before delving into his prepared remarks about the two countries’ unbreakable bond.
“I am here to convey one simple message. America stands with Israel. We stand with Israel because your cause is our cause, your values are our values, and your fight is our fight,” he said. “We stand with Israel because we believe in right over wrong, good over evil, and liberty over tyranny.”
Pence said the American administration urged the Palestinians to return to negotiations. “Peace can only come through dialogue,” he said.
Pence said the US would support a two-state solution, but only if both sides support it. Netanyahu’s hard-line government is dominated by opponents to Palestinian statehood, making such a scenario unlikely.
The Palestinians say the US is no longer an acceptable mediator after its recognition of Jerusalem and have preemptively rejected any peace proposal floated by the Trump administration, fearing it will fall far short of their hopes for an independent state in the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza, lands captured by Israel in the 1967 war.
The Palestinians have refused to meet with Pence. In an expression of that snub, Abbas overlapped with Pence in Jordan from Saturday evening to midday Sunday, when the Palestinian leader flew to Brussels for a meeting with European Union foreign ministers. There, Abbas is expected to urge EU member states to recognize a state of Palestine in the pre-1967 war lines, and to step up involvement in mediation.
In Brussels, the EU’s top diplomat Federica Mogherini said the aim was “to support an international framework to accompany direct negotiations,” despite the US decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
“The only pragmatic, realistic solution for Jerusalem has to come through direct negotiations,” Mogherini said.
A small group of Palestinians in the West Bank town of Bethlehem protested Pence’s arrival by burning posters with his image. In the West Bank city of Nablus, dozens of Palestinians chanted against Trump and stepped on pictures of Pence in a sign of anger.
Some shouted: “Trump you are pig. May God demolish your home. How mean you are!”
Netanyahu called Pence “a great friend of Israel” and said there was “no alternative for American leadership” in the peace process. “Whoever is not ready to talk with the Americans about peace — does not want peace,” he said Sunday at a meeting of ambassadors in Jerusalem.