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Palestinians should consider halt to diplomacy

The Palestinians should heed the suggestion of a group of distinguished Americans and halt diplomacy with Israel until it complies with international law.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas waves as he arrives to a meeting of the Palestinian leadership in the West Bank city of Ramallah March 31, 2014.  U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry broke from his travel schedule for the second time in a week and rushed back to the Middle East on Monday to try to salvage Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. A major stumbling block is Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's demand that Abbas explicitly recognise Israel as a Jewish state. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman (WEST BAN
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As the deadlock persists in the “negotiations” between the Palestine Liberation Authority and Israel without any evidence of a just and credible outcome in the offing, a group of distinguished Americans — Zbigniew Brzezinski, Frank Carlucci, Lee Hamilton, Carla A. Hills, Thomas Pickering and Henry Siegman — published an article on April 8 on the Politico news website titled “Stand Firm, John Kerry.” In it they suggest in regard to the settlements, “Halting the diplomatic process on a date certain until Israel complies with international law and previous agreements would help to stop this activity and clearly place the onus for the interruption where it belongs.”

International law? For more than 20 years, at least since the Oslo Accord and even before, Israel has persistently violated international law related to Palestinian national and human rights. The Israelis have treated international law as an intrusion on its plans, as demonstrated by the ongoing creeping annexations and proliferating settlements not only throughout the West Bank but also in East Jerusalem.

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