Abbas: Peace possible within six months

President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, has stated he believes a peace agreement with Israel could be achieved within a time period of six months, given that the upcoming international peace conference ends with mutual agreement. The conference has been slated for November 15th, and will be held in Annapolis, Maryland. The guest list is expected to include members of the permanent UN Security Council, the Arab League, countries from the G8 and other non-aligned states (e.g. Cuba, Venezuela, etc). Abbas said negotiations on a permanent peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians should begin immediately following the peace conference in November.  

Quote: ""We have noted that the whole world is interested in this meeting and attaches great hopes to its success," he added. Abbas said that Palestinian and Israeli negotiators would start to tackle preparations for the gathering in the coming days. "We want to prepare a framework agreement defining clear principles and without equivocation that will serve as a basis for the settlement. Immediately after the meeting we will hold negotiations on the basis of this document."

It's not the first time Abbas has said peace was possible within six months. Previously Abbas had called for intense negotiations which should last no longer than six months, the results of which would be put to a referendum of the Palestinian people. That was in February of this year, and intense negotiations were not forthcoming. We had the failure of Fatah and Hamas to form a unity government, followed by months of fighting between the two terrorist organizations resulting in Hamas taking complete control of the Gaza Strip. Six months from November 15th is May 15th 2008, the 60th anniversary of the founding of the state of Israel. To aim for a permanent agreement between Israel and the Palestinians by such an auspicious date is either extremely wise, in setting a date by which the two sides will be pressured into working towards, or extremely foolish, if the peace agreement backfires and Palestinians suffer a second "nakba". As Abbas commented, the whole world is interested in this meeting, just like the Bible stated it would be, over 2500 years ago. And you can bet that as Israel's 60th birthday draws near, Prime Minister Olmert will be coming under intense pressure to make some major concessions.

Zechariah 14:1-3
Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.

Source YNet news

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