Abbas says Netanyahu chose "settlement, not peace"

Nov 26, 2009, 17:14 GMT

   Santiago - Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian National Authority, said Thursday in Chile that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had chosen 'settlement, not peace.'

'The Israeli prime minister contributed nothing, settlement is going to continue in the West Bank and in Israel,' Abbas said in a speech at the headquarters of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) in Santiago.

Abbas accused Netanyahu of not committing to relaunching negotiations, which in the Palestinian leader's view would require putting an end to the construction of settlements altogether.

Netanyahu on Wednesday announced a 10-month moratorium of Israeli construction in the occupied West Bank, urging Palestinians to accept the offer and renew long-stalled peace negotiations. Already Wednesday, Palestinian officials rejected the move and insisted on a total freeze of construction, also including East Jerusalem.

Speaking before ECLAC officials and before members of the influential Palestinian community in Chile, Abbas stressed that he wants no more violence in the Middle East.

'We want peace for our children and grandchildren and for the children and grandchildren of the others (the Israelis). We do not want to see any more violence or terrorism, we want a world of security and calm,' he said.

Netanyahu's moratorium excludes under 3,000 apartments whose construction has already begun, in addition to public buildings such as synagogues, schools and kindergartens. 

Most importantly for the Palestinians, however, it excludes East Jerusalem, or Jewish settlements built within the city limits but on occupied land, beyond the 'green line' separating Israel from the West Bank.

Abbas said he had contacted other leaders of the Arab world to discuss the issue, and said he also planned to discuss it with the administration of US President Barack Obama.

   'In the future we shall talk to the United States, because we have good relations with the United States in spite of everything,' he said.

Chile - which holds the largest Palestinian community outside the Arab world, with about 300,000 people - is the last leg of a South American tour that also took Abbas to Brazil and Argentina.