Ramallah - Palestinian Authority Prime Minister
Salam Fayyad said Monday that the fundamentals of a viable
Palestinian state will be in place within two years at the longest.
Speaking in Abu Dis, in the West Bank, Fayyad called on all
Palestinian groups, particularly the Islamist Hamas movement, as well
as the international community to adopt a two-year time frame for an
independent state.
'Achieving the goal of establishing the Palestinian state within a
maximum of two years is possible,' said Fayyad, who spoke at
al-Quds University in the town of Dis, just behind the 8-metre
concrete wall Israel built to separate East Jerusalem
from its West Bank environs.
'This is the state we seek, and not just divided cantons,' he
said.
Fayyad was referring to his Israeli counterpart Benjamin
Netanyahu's June 14 speech The Israeli leader declared that history
had shown that closing down settlements in the Palestinian territory
would not advance peace. He said Israel would allow its remaining
West Bank settlements to expand to accommodate natural growth.
Fayyad insisted that such a settlement policy would derail peace
efforts and end the Palestinian dream of their own state on West Bank
territory. Palestinian governance is now split between the West Bank,
with its more moderate and peace-seeking Fatah government, and Gaza,
governed by the radical Hamas movement.
'The Palestinian Authority stresses the position that Israel
should be made to abide by the political agenda and its obligations,
which should lead to an end to the occupation. This is our position
and we will not go back on it,' he said.
The peace process would lack all credibility unless Israel
'abides by its obligations,' Fayyad said. Those obligations include
ending the settlements, ending the siege, particularly on the Gaza
Strip, and ending the incursions into the West Bank cities, he said.
Fayyad said the Palestinians made 'a painful concession in 1988
when they accepted a state on only 22 per cent of the land of
historic Palestine.'
'There will not be a lasting solution unless Israel realizes this
fact and unless the final settlement is based on international
resolutions,' Fayyad declared.
Turning his attention to the Israeli public, Fayyad said that
Palestinians have their own historical story, just like Israel does,
even if the two stories are different.
Palestinians 'want only to have what is considered a natural right
to the people (around) the world and that is to live in freedom and
dignity in our homeland.'
'We look forward to building our state next to your state on
the basis of good neighbourly relations. We do not want to build
walls. We want to build bridges. This land is our land and this
homeland is our homeland and we do not have any other homeland.'
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