Mahmoud Abbas just gave a speech at PLO headquarters in Ramallah, and reports indicate there is no deal on the Pollard prisoner switcheroo to keep the talks going for another year, and Palestinians are moving ahead to join international organizations as a state.
Some of the tweets from reporters:
Abbas: PLO leadership has decided to sign document to join 15 international conventions
— Dalia Hatuqa (@DaliaHatuqa) April 1, 2014
More from Dalia Hatuqa of Al Monitor, formerly of Al Jazeera:
Abbas: ‘we salute the American efforts. But Israel is procrastinating.’ Signs document to join international organizations. — Dalia Hatuqa (@DaliaHatuqa) April 1, 2014
More from Sheera Frenkel at Buzzfeed:
The Pollard deal FYI was dead before Abbas signed treaties on TV. Pollard refused parole hearing, said wouldn’t be freed for Pal prisoners.
— Sheera Frenkel (@sheeraf) April 1, 2014
And this from Hatuqa:
@BarakRavid not necessarily UN. He said international treaties and that can include non-UN agencies. — Dalia Hatuqa (@DaliaHatuqa) April 1, 2014
Frenkel elaborated later:
Palestinian officials say that among the treaties signed by Abbas were a treaty on the rights of women and the rights of the child. — Sheera Frenkel (@sheeraf) April 1, 2014
Then, the Palestinian Authority is still going to negotiate with Kerry and the Israelis:
Just spoke to senior PA official said they remain committed to talks until April 29, did not see signing of intl treaties as obstacle 1/2
— Sheera Frenkel (@sheeraf) April 1, 2014
But:
He added that Palestinian officials took move due to Israel canceling last prisoner release 2/2
— Sheera Frenkel (@sheeraf) April 1, 2014
Derek Stoffel of CBC at once sought to blame Palestinians for walking away from talks.
BREAKING: Abbas signs agreement to join int’l organizations… appears that the Palestinians are walking away from peace talks. #CBC — Derek Stoffel (@DerekStoffelCBC) April 1, 2014
Uh oh.
Clarification: CBC News spoke to Abbas’ office: negotiations will continue, but PLO decided to join 15 UN orbs. b/c Israel broke… #CBC 1/2 — Derek Stoffel (@DerekStoffelCBC) April 1, 2014
fantastic!
I think the first one of the list of 15 he signed to pursue Palestine State membership in was the Fourth Geneva Convention:
http://www.timesofisrael.com/abbas-signs-palestines-application-to-join-15-un-bodies/#ixzz2xeq4Bz2M
Kerry was to meet with Abbas tomorrow. Looks to me like Kerry called it off once he found out Abbas was now pursuing claims via international agencies.
Kerry-Obama can also apply pressure:
Secrets about suspected Israeli theft of U.S. weapons-grade nuclear material declassified – IRmep
WASHINGTON, March 27, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — On March 18, 2014 ISCAP, the highest declassification authority in the U.S., released 84 pages (PDF) of formerly secret information about investigations into the illegal diversion of weapons-grade nuclear material from a Pennsylvania plant into the clandestine Israeli nuclear weapons program. Files now available to the public from IRmep’s ISCAP process include:
4/2/1968 Letter from the Director of the CIA alerting the Attorney General (PDF) about a huge loss of material from Pennsylvania’s Nuclear Materials and Equipment Corporation (NUMEC). “It is critical for us to establish whether or not the Israelis now have the capability for fabricating nuclear weapons which might be employed in the Near East.”
03/09/1972 FBI memorandum (PDF) “On the basis of the foregoing it must be assumed for the purpose of U.S. national security that diversion of special nuclear materials to Israel by Dr. [Zalman] Shapiro and his [NUMEC] associates is a distinct possibility.”
07/28/1977 Notes of a briefing from CIA’s Associate Deputy Director for Operations Theodore Shackley to the Carter administration National Security Council (PDF) “I also asked Shackley to get us a rundown on the political aspects—e.g. when were the President and Congressional officials briefed on the Israeli weapons program, on the NUMEC connection, and what were their reactions. In December, Carter was briefed on the NUMEC problem as President-elect by Bush in Georgia…I do not think the President has plausible deniability. The CIA case is persuasive…”
08/02/1977 Memo to Carter from Zbigniew Brzezinski “So far as we know however, (and we have made serious effort to discover it) there is nothing to indicate active CIA participation in the alleged theft…There is a tremendous amount of interest in this issue in Congress…We face tough sledding in the next few weeks in trying to keep attention focused on ERDA’s technical [overall U.S. nuclear material loss] arguments..on the FBI investigations, and away from the CIA’s information.”
All released CIA evidence and former Tel Aviv Station Chief John Hadden suggest the severely undercapitalized NUMEC was “an Israeli [smuggling] operation from the beginning.” Multiple health-related lawsuits have been filed targeting companies that later assumed NUMEC ownership. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers currently estimates its toxic cleanup of NUMEC will cost $500 million. No damage claims have yet been filed against the Israeli government.
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/secrets-about-suspected-israeli-theft-of-us-weapons-grade-nuclear-material-declassified—irmep-252658041.html
face it…for almost everybody in the USA it would be better if Israel would go away…cease to exist…Israel is a recruiting poster for every teenage Muslim Freedom Fighter who comes down the block…
because Israel is a parasite on the USA…WE…that’s YOU AND ME, does not matter what religion or race you thing you are or what race you make up…get the blame for all the fascist, racist crap Israel pulls…
WE…have better and more important stuff to consider…black contribution to USA…Native Americans…Japanese Americans….Chinese Americans…and the BIG number, Mexican Americans (Spanish, Mestizo, Native Indians)…MexoAmericanos have been here as long as anybody else except the Indians…and we all eat their food and ride their horses…
let’s move on to more important stuff…the Eastern European Migration to the MidEast is nonsense…and does NOT concern us
Why bother? get rid of Israel
From Maan:
“In a televised speech, Abbas said he had started the process to sign agreements with 15 United Nations agencies and organizations and would pursue joining more.”
Still talks of what he is “going to do”. More fun and games, threats and empty promises. I’ll believe it when it will be announced that he had actually gone ahead and done it.