Jordan Times
Sunday, December 19, 2004
Jordan rejects Sharon's
statements
By Khalid Dalal, Jordan Times
AMMAN, December 19 - The government on Saturday rejected Israeli Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon's statements that Tel Aviv would keep large settlements in the West
Bank and block the return of Palestinian refugees to their homeland.
Describing Sharon's statements as “unacceptable,” Government Spokesperson Asma
Khader said “no party has the right to unilaterally decide on the final status
issues.”
“His remarks are provocative and do not create a positive atmosphere to help
revive peace,” Khader, also minister of culture, told The Jordan Times.
Sharon told the Herzliya annual policy conference on Thursday that he saw a
unique chance for peace with new Palestinian leaders and was ready to coordinate
his Gaza withdrawal plan with them. But said Israel would keep large settlements
in the West Bank and block the return of Palestinian refugees. He also added
that the Jewish state would not go back to 1967 borders.
“The understandings between the US president and me protect Israel's most
essential interests,” Sharon told the meeting.
“First and foremost, not demanding a return to the 1967 borders; allowing Israel
to permanently keep large settlement blocs which have high Israeli populations;
and the total refusal of allowing Palestinian refugees to return to Israel.”
According to Khader, any future disengagement from Gaza should come in full
coordination with the Palestinian leadership and as part of the internationally
backed roadmap.
“It should also be a step towards establishing a viable Palestinian state on the
basis of the 1967 borders,” she said. Former Prime Minister Taher Masri said the
remarks “portrays Sharon himself as an obstacle to the peace process, and Arabs,
including Palestinians, will never accept what he said.”
Palestine Liberation Organization chief Mahmoud Abbas on Friday said Sharon's
hope of annexing the settlements and keeping all of the occupied Jerusalem under
a final peace deal is a disaster that could torpedo efforts to restart peace
talks.
“If he puts these conditions on the table and says that he wants to negotiate on
this basis, then I think he's closing all the doors to peace,” Abbas warned. For
Deputy Abdul Karim Dughmi, Sharon's remarks were “not unusual from a radical man
like him who committed many massacres against Arabs and who has always called
for a substitute homeland for Palestinians.”
The deputy, also a lawyer, said Arabs should not expect peace from Sharon.