Breakthrough? Abbas gets Arab backing to enter Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

[kpete]

Source: Christian Science Monitor

Breakthrough? Abbas gets Arab backing to enter Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas won Arab League backing today to enter direct Israeli-Palestinian peace talks – a step the US and Israel have been pushing for.

By Joshua Mitnick, Correspondent / July 29, 2010
Jerusalem

Setting the stage for the Palestinians to negotiate directly with Israel, the Arab League agreed in principle today to Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas holding face-to-face peace talks with the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The decision of the Arab League's forum on Israeli-Palestinian talks is significant because it provides political cover for Mr. Abbas, who has been locked in a battle for legitimacy with Islamists from Hamas who oppose negotiations with Israel.

Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani told Reuters "of course there is agreement'' in the Arab League for direct talks. The statement represents a victory for the Obama administration's effort to lobby the Palestinians for face-to-face negotiations, warning them that without such an agreement the US could not help Palestinians secure an eventual peace deal.

Arab governments "gave Abbas a mandate," says Munther Dajani, a political science professor at Al Quds University. "They gave the legitimacy he needs and the support by saying, 'Go ahead, you are not alone, we support you."

Read more: http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2010/0729/Breakthrough-Abbas-gets-Arab-backing-to-enter-Israeli-Palestinian-peace-talks

[Recursion]

1. Wow... Only about 5 years after Abbas stopped being the one they need to talk to

*sigh*

[bemildred]

2. Another routine Middle East breakthrough.

Meanwhile, everything things stays the same, only worse.

[Mosby]

3. does this mean abbas is dropping all the pre-conditions he's been demanding?

[ChairmanAgnostic]

4. ahem. You mean the shifting positions of Israel?

because its actions have been reprehensible. Add to that, bibi's own words on video, in which he promised to derail any peace talks.