The Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit and the United Nations Coordinator for Peace in the Middle East Tor Wennesland discussed today the latest political developments concerning the Palestinian cause, and ways to revive the peace efforts.
During a meeting in Cairo, Aboul-Gheit expressed his concern over the decline in international interest in the Palestinian issue, especially in light of the presence of a right-wing government in Israel that does not believe in peace and seeks, by all means, to appease the most extreme elements in Israeli society by escalating repression and intensifying construction in settlements in a way that undermines the two-state solution.
Aboul-Gheit also listened to the views of the United Nations Coordinator regarding the developments in the occupied territories, including the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip in May.
The recent initiatives meant to preserve the two-state solution as a future horizon for the settlement were also discussed. Aboul-Gheit stressed the importance of working to maintain the possibility of implementing the two-solution by preventing the appropriation of Palestinian lands and besieging them with various projects to build thousands of settlement units.
He affirmed that these practices practically eliminate the possibility of establishing a viable and contiguous Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.
For his part, Wennesland underscored the difficult situation in the Palestinian territories, especially in light of settlement expansion taking place in the West Bank and Jerusalem.
He stressed the need to find a way to deal with the main issue by stopping the attempt to expand Israel’s presence in the West Bank, affirming the importance of strengthening the National Authority and returning to the political process.
Wennesland asserted that there is no room for economic peace only.
