Brussels, 04/12/2013 (Agence Europe) - On 3 December, the Palestinian politician Mohammad Dahlan expressed his pessimism over negotiations on the Middle Eastern peace process. “We will not have an agreement in the first half of next year”, he told a conference at the European Parliament. He said that the hopes of American Secretary of State John Kerry for an agreement by halfway through 2014 were based “on emotion rather than a sound assessment of the two sides”. He explained that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has the ability to obtain peace but is not doing so and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas wants to do it but does not have the necessary support of the people.
Although neither the United States nor the European Union “can impose” a peace agreement on the two sides, they can bring pressure to bear, said Dahlan. “The Palestinians and the Israelis can sign an agreement with pressure, protection” from the international community, he stressed. “Neither the Palestinians nor the Israelis are ready and the region is not capable of supporting the peace process”, the politician summarised, laying emphasis on the situation in the region and the “moderate Arab states”.
“You cannot talk about a peace process without seeing what is happening in the region”, he explained, adding that “the leaders cannot sign without the protection of the moderate Arab states”. “If the US and the EU want to support all parties, they must support the moderate Arab states with a new conception of the peace process”. The EU needs to have a profound idea of what is happening on the Arab side, the politician added.
EU, the major donor, has a part to play
Dahlan stressed that “the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah is false, it just has European funds and pays the wages”, adding that it is Israel which decides. He explained that the EU, which is the largest donor, should call for elections to be held. He also expressed his hopes that the EU would do more in their humanitarian efforts in Gaza, explaining that this does not help Hamas but, quite the reverse, Hamas fails when it needs aid to run schools and hospitals. (CG/transl.fl)