Annapolis conference looking precarious, may be cancelled

From Khalid Amayreh in Occupied Ramallah

"The Middle East peace conference the Bush administration is planning to convene in Annapolis , Maryland , in November, may be postponed or even cancelled altogether due to Israel’s refusal to deal seriously with the core issues of the Arab-Israeli conflict, Palestinian sources said Thursday.....

The new pessimistic assessment of the American-led peace efforts comes as US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice wrapped up a four-day unsuccessful visit to the region during which she reportedly sought to convince Israel and the PA leadership to show “flexibility and responsibility” to ensure the success of the upcoming Annapolis conference.....

Rice held several meeting with Israeli and Palestinian leaders. However, as Israel refused to commit itself to a timetable for the implementation of a possible agreement, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas threatened to boycott the conference, saying that “we will not go to Annapolis at any price.”.....

Abbas reportedly refused the request, saying, in an exasperated tone, that “why is it that the Palestinians are supposed to always accommodate Israeli problems. Don’t we have problems of our own, don’t you know that there are some Palestinians who call me names because I want to reach peace with Israel?”

Following the meeting, a clearly exasperated Abbas refused to hold a joint conference with Rice. He told reporters that “we can’t waste more time, we can’t go to the conference at any price. This is unacceptable.”

One Palestinian official was quoted as describing Rice’s latest visit as “a complete failure,” saying that she failed to persuade Israel to change its intransigent position on practically all outstanding issues. “I doubt if we will go to the conference. The Americans and Israelis are not serious. We don’t want to make fools out of ourselves,” the unnamed official was quoted as saying.......

Meanwhile, Hamas has called on Chairman Abbas “ not to allow Israel and the US to insult the Palestinian people through this humiliating game of make believe.” “Abbas should understand that Palestinian rights are not a matter for bargaining in a public auction,” said Yahya Mousa, a Gaza parliamentarian affiliated with the Hamas parliamentary bloc.

Mousa urged Abbas to rebuild the Palestinian House and put it in order and stop harrowing after the Israeli-American mirage."

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"We don’t want to make fools out of ourselves"

You are already a lot worse than fools; you are traitors.