Abbas says Israel will have peace if it ends Arab occupation

ANKARA – Israel will live in peace if it ends its occupation of Arab lands, Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said yesterday ahead of a US-sponsored peace conference to revive the Middle East peace process.

“If there is peace between Israel and the Palestinians and the occupation of Arab lands ends, Israel will also live in a sea of peace, security and stability in the Middle East,” Abbas told a joint press conference here with Israeli President Shimon Peres and his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul. “If this happens, there will no longer be wars or enmity and all the peoples in the region will live in security and stability,” the Palestinian leader said, speaking through a translator.The United States is due to host an international conference in Annapolis, Maryland, in a bid to jumpstart Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations that broke down seven years ago with the second Palestinian uprising.The conference could be held later this month, although no specific date or list of participants has been set.Both sides have hailed the conference as an opportunity not to be missed, but negotiations to draw up a joint document for the meeting have so far failed to yield a result.Palestinians are calling for a document that addresses core issues, while Israel prefers a looser declaration based on the 2003 roadmap plan that calls for the removal of some Jewish settlements in the West bank in exchange for Palestinians taking over responsibility for security.Peres hailed the Palestinian leader as a ‘friend’ and a ‘man of peace’.”Having Abbas as the leader of the Palestinian people is a very important chance for peace,” the Israeli President said.Peres and Abbas spoke just minutes before they signed, along with Gul, an agreement to set up joint industrial zones in the West Bank.”This agreement is a win-win situation,” Peres said.”This meeting supports Annapolis and it will contribute to the peace process.”The agreement paves the way for the establishment of industrial zones first in Tarqumia and then in Jenin under the leadership of Turkey’s Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges.Israel will provide security for the planned zones and allow the produced goods to be shipped out by sea and air routes.”This project will provide employment for thousands of Palestinians, revive business in the Palestinian territories and allow for goods produced there to enter markets in the United States, the European Union, and the Gulf,” Gul said.The initial project, launched by Gul himself in 2005 when he was foreign minister, initially called for the reconstruction of the Erez industrial zone on the northern tip of the Gaza Strip, but that project was frozen after Hamas gained control of the region.Nampa-AFP”If this happens, there will no longer be wars or enmity and all the peoples in the region will live in security and stability,” the Palestinian leader said, speaking through a translator.The United States is due to host an international conference in Annapolis, Maryland, in a bid to jumpstart Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations that broke down seven years ago with the second Palestinian uprising.The conference could be held later this month, although no specific date or list of participants has been set.Both sides have hailed the conference as an opportunity not to be missed, but negotiations to draw up a joint document for the meeting have so far failed to yield a result.Palestinians are calling for a document that addresses core issues, while Israel prefers a looser declaration based on the 2003 roadmap plan that calls for the removal of some Jewish settlements in the West bank in exchange for Palestinians taking over responsibility for security.Peres hailed the Palestinian leader as a ‘friend’ and a ‘man of peace’.”Having Abbas as the leader of the Palestinian people is a very important chance for peace,” the Israeli President said.Peres and Abbas spoke just minutes before they signed, along with Gul, an agreement to set up joint industrial zones in the West Bank.”This agreement is a win-win situation,” Peres said.”This meeting supports Annapolis and it will contribute to the peace process.”The agreement paves the way for the establishment of industrial zones first in Tarqumia and then in Jenin under the leadership of Turkey’s Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges.Israel will provide security for the planned zones and allow the produced goods to be shipped out by sea and air routes.”This project will provide employment for thousands of Palestinians, revive business in the Palestinian territories and allow for goods produced there to enter markets in the United States, the European Union, and the Gulf,” Gul said.The initial project, launched by Gul himself in 2005 when he was foreign minister, initially called for the reconstruction of the Erez industrial zone on the northern tip of the Gaza Strip, but that project was frozen after Hamas gained control of the region.Nampa-AFP