Free Republic

US President Barack Obama has lost all credibility in the Middle East, PA negotiator Saeb Erekat told US envoy George Mitchell in October 2009, according to leaked Palestinian documents released by Al-Jazeera and the Guardian Wednesday night.

Chief PLO negotiator says Palestinian missions abroad are a step closer toward becoming embassies of an "occupied state with defined borders." Some 10 EU countries are scheduled to upgrade the status of Palestinian representative offices in their capitals in the near future, Chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat declared on Sunday. The move means that Palestinian missions would move a step closer toward becoming embassies whose workers enjoy full diplomatic immunity. Erekat said that the move follows Norway’s recent decision to upgrade the status of the Palestinian representative office. Moreover, the move comes in wake of three South American countries to...

PA negotiator slams Shas spiritual leader for "insulting comments" calling Abbas "an evil hater of Israel"; MK Tibi claims Rabbi became a spreader of hate "a long time ago." Palestinian Authority officials claimed on Sunday that Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef called for the "genocide of the Palestinian people" when he made comments about Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian people in his weekly sermon. Palestinian Authority Chief Negotiator Saeb Erekat said that Rabbi Ovadia's comments are "an absolute insult to our efforts to progress the peace process." Rabbi Ovadia called Abbas "an evil hater of Israel"...

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert at the weekend invited the international community to help him and the Palestinian Arabs divide the city of Jerusalem between them as part of a final status peace deal. According to the proposal, major international powers like the European Union, the United States, Russia and the United Nations would be asked to act as official advisors in the process of partitioning the Israeli capital.

Dec. 16, 2004 22:30 | Updated Dec. 16, 2004 22:36 PA reacts angrily to Sharon's speech By KHALED ABU TOAMEH Palestinian Authority officials have reacted angrily to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's comments at the Herzliya Conference on Thursday night, saying he would not find a partner on the Palestinian side for his vision. Echoing a sense of deep disappointment among the top brass of the PA in Ramallah, cabinet minister Saeb Erekat condemned Sharon's remarks as "self-deception." "I didn't hear anything new in Sharon's speech," Erekat said. "He only reiterated what he has said about his plan for a long-term...

JERUSALEM (AP) - A top Palestinian official told a visiting U.S. envoy Saturday that Palestinians were angered over Washington's opposition to an international court hearing on the Israeli barrier to seal off the West Bank. The expansive complex of trenches, fences, walls and razor wire, has become one of the most contentious issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and both sides see the upcoming hearing as important to determining the project's fate. Palestinian Cabinet Minister Saeb Erekat told State Department official David Satterfield that Palestinian leaders were upset with a U.S. position that the International Court of Justice should not consider...

Oct. 15, 2003 Israel: Palestinian terrorists out to harm peacemakers By JPOST.COM STAFF The deadly road bomb attack on US convoy in Gaza Strip, in which three Americans were killed (see story), has drawn a multitude of Israeli, Palestinian and American reactions: Israel: No one is immune to Palestinian terrorism Israeli officials said the attack underscored the need to dismantle Palestinian terror groups — a requirement of the stalled, US-backed "road map" peace plan that Palestinian leaders have refused to carry out. Officials said Palestinian terrorists are trying to harm even those out to help the Palestinian cause, and that...

Oct. 4, 2003 Erekat: "God help us all If Israel kills Arafat" By LAMIA LAHOUD IMG SRC="http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?ssbinary=true&cachecontrol=*%3A0%2C30%3A10+*%2F*%2F*&blobtable=JPImage&blobcol=urlimage&blobwhere=1063509754435&blobkey=id&blobheader=image/jpeg">Yasser Arafat (AP) "We condemn this act, these attacks do not serve the Palestinian interest and do not serve the policies of the Palestinian Authority", Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat told The Post. He said pointing the finger at PA Chairman Yasser Arafat was not helpful. Another PA source said it was obvious that Saturday's deadly terrorist bombing did not have the blessing of Arafat, since he knew that Israel was likely to take measures against him. "If the Israelis kill Yasser Arafat the...

Arafat and Abbas reach agreement to end internal PA crisisThe Associated Press Jul. 15, 2003 Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat and Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, settled their differences in a meeting in Arafat's office in the West Bank town of Ramallah on Monday, Palestinian officials said. The two have been at odds since the three main Palestinian groups declared a temporary halt in attacks against Israelis. The Palestinians followed that with a demand on Israel to release the estimated 7,000 prisoners it is holding, but Israel has offered to free only a few hundred. Critics in the Fatah, headed by...

Fatah Central Committee to meet on Abu Mazen's cabinet list By Arnon Regular, Haaretz Correspondent, and Agencies Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat rejected on Sunday a reformist cabinet proposed by incoming Palestinian prime minister Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen), sources close to Arafat said. Arafat's opposition to the ministerial list was likely to disappoint Washington, which has said the release of a long-awaited peace "road map" leading to the creation of a Palestinian state by 2005 must await the installation of an Abbas-led cabinet. In a step that apparently angered Arafat, Abbas decided to name himself interior minister, taking over a...