Ashrawi: Quartet must take power, legality into account

Senior PLO official Hanan Ashrawi advised the the diplomatic Quartet to take account of the power asymmetry when pressing Israelis and Palestinians to direct negotiations, as the latest peace talks push gave little sign of moving forward. "If the Quartet wants to achieve any results, it has to deal with negotiations as a means and not as an end," Ashrawi said in a briefing to world diplomats on Thursday, reiterating the PLO stance that Israeli building of illegal settlements cannot coincide with peace negotiations. Middle East Quartet envoys -- from Russia, UN, European Union and US -- met separately with Israeli and Palestinian officials on Nov. 14, in the latest attempt to overcome the deadlock since Israel renewed settlement building in September 2010. After the meeting Israel extended its freeze on transferring Palestinian Authority tax revenues collected by Israel, introduced after Palestine was voted in as a member of UNESCO, and Palestinian officials reiterated that they could not enter direct talks until settlement construction is halted. Ashrawi said Israel's current acceleration of settlement building in Jerusalem is "undermining the efforts of both the Quartet and members of the international community ... threatening to plunge the whole region into great instability and conflict." Israel says it is ready to talk, but without "preconditions" in reference to the demand to freeze settlements. Palestinian leaders say settlement expansion contradicts all previous agreements and make a mockery of the process. Talks with Israel must include "terms of reference, legality and objectives" to be successful, Ashrawi said. She slammed the US for its approach to Palestinian efforts at the UN. US funding to UNESCO was withdrawn after Palestine joined in October, causing a major shortfall to the cultural agency. "The US should not insist on supporting the occupation and thwarting Palestinian efforts to achieve self-determination," Ashrawi told diplomats, before thanking countries that voted for Tuesday's UN committee resolution on the right to Palestinian self-determination and statehood. US and Canada, who voted against, struck "a direct blow to peace" she said. "These UN member-states are violating the principles of self-determination and freedom that are enshrined in the United Nations charter."