US peace plan is not a good starting point, senior PLO official says

Palestinians are not impressed by what they have heard from US Secretary of State John Kerry who leads peace efforts between the Palestinians and Israel, senior member of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) Hanan Ashrawi said.

Ashrawi told reporters on Thursday: “If the document is so far as we have seen then it is not even a starting point.”

However, Ashrawi noted that the Palestinians were not clear whether to leave the talks or accept the extension if there was no agreement on the key issues by April, which is the deadline set by both sides to reach a solution when talks resumed in late July.

Ashrawi said demanding Palestinian recognise Israel as a Jewish state was not a good start; noting that the PLO has already recognised the state of Israel in 1993. She believed that Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu coined the new requirement as a bargaining card in the negotiations.

Palestinians fear that recognising Israel as a national home for Jews will strengthen Israel’s stance which refuses Palestinian the right of return.

Earlier this week, during a meeting with 300 young Israelis who visited his headquarters in Ramallah, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said he would consider innovative solutions to the refugees’ problem. “I have no intention of swamping Israel with Palestinian refugees,” Abbas is reported to have said.

A former minister in the Hamas government; Wasfi Qabha criticised Abbas’ comments saying they suggest the President could recognise a Jewish state.

Later in the afternoon Qabha’s wife said that her husband was attacked by four masked men who beat him and broke his right arm near Jenin, West Bank. Palestinian police said they are investigating the incident.