Palestinian President Abbas speaks during a joint news conference in Bethlehem. (Reuters)
Published: Dec 1, 2010 00:19 Updated: Dec 1, 2010 00:19
NEW YORK/JERUSALEM: Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has warned that Israel’s settlement of occupied territories has become “a time bomb” that could destroy peace hopes at any moment.
And UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a message to mark an international day for Palestinians that there was little sign of optimism by Palestinians or Israelis that a peace accord could be achieved soon.
US-brokered peace talks have been deadlocked for more than two months since Israel ended a moratorium on settlements in Palestinian territories.
In a special message read at the UN headquarters, Abbas said “the deterioration in the peace process must be addressed.” “This requires bringing a decisive and final end to the vicious Israeli settlement campaign,” he added.
The settlement “constitutes a time bomb that could destroy everything we have accomplished on the road to peace at any moment.”
Israel’s construction in East Jerusalem and the occupied territories was the focus of an annual debate at the UN General Assembly in which Arab nations and the Non-Aligned Movement condemn Israel.
Israel’s UN envoy Meron Reuben criticized what he called the “destructive rhetoric” that he said marked the debate each year.
The US has offered Israel a major package of incentives to start a new suspension. Israel has not yet given a formal response. Ban again urged Israel to halt the settlement building which he called “a serious blow to the credibility of the political process.”
The Palestinian side, he added, “must continue to roll out the institutions of statehood, combat terrorist attacks and curb incitement.”
Meanwhile, a survey on democracy in Israel indicates that Israeli Jews are intolerant of their Arab compatriots. The survey says 62 percent of Jewish Israelis polled think views of Israeli Arabs on security issues should be disregarded, as long as the conflict with the Palestinians persists.
Nearly half of Jews surveyed said they are averse to having an Arab as a neighbor. Israeli Arabs make up one-fifth of Israel’s citizens and have suffered decades of discrimination. As a result, many have begun publicly siding with the Palestinians against Israel.
The survey by the Israel Democracy Institute was released Tuesday. It questioned 1,200 Israelis with a margin of error of 2.8 percentage points. It showed little change from previous annual surveys.
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