In Ramallah, Israeli Journalists Meet With Palestinian Leadership
In a talk with Israeli journalists in Ramallah, senior Palestinian official Nabil Shaath declared that the current Israeli coalition will not permit jump-starting the negotiations.
When Nabil Shaath, a member of the Palestinian Authority government and a senior Fatah official, entered the spacious conference room of his Ramallah chambers, he exuded vitality and personal charm.
It was clear that Shaath was happy to have the opportunity to meet us, about twenty Israeli journalists who came to Ramallah to hear him without intermediaries on June 13. He tried, through us, to talk to the Israelis above the heads of their leaders, in the hope that the Israeli public will urge them to return to the negotiating table.
The meeting lasts about two hours. Shaath’s central message, repeated several times, is that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu is the recalcitrant one. We, he says, are ready tomorrow morning to engage in negotiations on the basis of the 1967 borders, on the condition that construction in the settlements is frozen and Palestinian prisoners will be freed.
Shaath looks a lot younger than his 75 years. Without a doubt, he is one of the best spokesmen of the Palestinian position. This is due to more than his fluent English, his rhetorical skills and mastery of the inner recesses of Israeli politics, all of which cause you to sit up and listen attentively. It is also due to the broad experience he accumulated over more than 20 years of peace negotiations with Israel. Shaath was partner to the "shattered Oslo dream," and now he is one of the architects of the diplomatic strategic struggle against Israel that is unfolding in the corridors of the UN. Yet he testifies that he has not lost hope in peace.
