Palestinian Authority officials on Thursday stepped up their criticism of US Secretary John Kerry’s proposals for peace with Israel.
PLO Secretary-General Yasser Abed Rabbo said that Kerry’s proposals were Israelis “ideas.”
The PA leadership, Abed Rabbo said, cannot accept the proposals, mainly because it remains unclear when Israel would pull out of the West Bank and east Jerusalem.
Abed Rabbo told the Voice of Palestine radio station that Kerry’s proposals offer the Palestinians “general and vague” formulas about the fate of Jerusalem.
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 charged.
Hanan Ashrawi, 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.
Ashrawi said that these reports were untrue and have a negative impact on the higher interests of the Palestinians.
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.”
According to Tirawi, the Palestinians do not have a peace partner in Israel. Recent Israeli threats against PA President Mahmoud Abbas show that Israel is not interested in peace, he added.
He claimed that Abbas could face the same fate as Yasser Arafat.
“No Palestinian in the past or present or future has a mandate to make concessions on Palestinian rights,” Tirawi said.
The PA leadership, he said, 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.