December 9th, 2009 by Zack

Laura Rozen reports that foreign ministers in Europe have issued a joint statement saying that “a way must be found through negotiations to resolve the status of Jerusalem as the future capital of two states,” calling on the Israeli government to “to cease all discriminatory treatment of Palestinians in East Jerusalem.”  However the move did drop a Swedish proposal that explicitly supported East Jerusalem as a Palestinian capital (see our post).  Al-Arabiyya goes on to explain that Europeans will not “recognize any changes to the pre-1967 borders,” thereby refusing to recognize Israel’s right to occupy the area.”  The Arabist has a post detailing the political wrangling that went on in order to soften the statement about Jerusalem.

Foreign Policy relays an Israel official’s response to the idea: “The peace process in the Middle East is not like IKEA furniture.” But the magazine argues the Swedish draft was not taken directly from the Fatah platform, but is a composition of ongoing efforts.  At the same time, Al-Arabiyya writes that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is disappointed about the watered down language, arguing that “the Swedish draft was a good draft because it put in clear cut terms the issue of East Jerusalem. Then came the final, vague form.”

MotherJones has run an article chronicling a non-violent resistance movement in the West Bank village of Jayyous, where the Israeli separation barrier has cut off the village from much of its agriculture. 

In Lebanon, Abbas underscored the idea that Palestinian refugees are subject to Lebanese laws and explained that “If Hamas persists in its refusal to allow the [presidential and parliamentary] polls to take place in Gaza, I will not agree to the vote in the West Bank.”

Posted in Diplomacy, EU, Elections, Hamas, Israel, Mideast Peace Plan, Palestine |