In the Palestinian leadership, there is a deep sense of frustration with the Arab states' current attitude toward their cause and the current diplomatic stalemate. The leadership senses that the occupation by the Israel army is only deepening, as is the daily humiliation of their people. The expansion of settlements is constant and systematic, in order to prevent Palestinian statehood. Palestinians are killed on a daily basis by soldiers and settlers. And yet the leaders of the Arab governments are only paying lip service to the Palestinian statehood aspirations.
A senior Palestine Liberation Organization official close to President Mahmoud Abbas told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity that the Palestinian leadership has complained bitterly to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi about the lack of urgency in the Arab diplomatic activity. In his view, although Egypt shows full solidarity with the Ramallah leadership, it is not proactive enough vis-a-vis the US administration and the European Union leaders in order to advance a binding UN Security Council resolution on Palestinian statehood. Most Arab countries are preoccupied with the Islamic State (IS) threat and the fundamentalist danger to their regime. Saudi Arabia is stalling the transfer of financial assistance to the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the Maghreb countries are distancing themselves diplomatically.
The official said in this regard, “We understand that we need to be self-reliant in our diplomatic and military efforts. And even if we don’t have the Arab leaders on board, we have the Arab people on the side of Palestine and its people.”
He claimed that the PA will attempt to convince the Arab League, Egypt and Jordan to advance a Security Council resolution on Palestinian statehood along the 1967 lines with East Jerusalem as its capital and with a binding timeline for negotiations and implementation. Ramallah is also in contact with France and the EU headquarters in regard to the French initiative. They were disappointed with the analytical nature of the Quartet report published July 1, which lacks operative clauses on Palestinian statehood.
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