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 Color Daily Middle East 

Palestinian leaders say they are pushing efforts to have theUN Security Council endorse the creation of a Palestinian state out of frustration over the stalled peace process. Israel has threatened to take its own unilateral steps if the Palestinians move ahead with plans for statehood on their own.  

It was a swift and angry reaction from Israel when the Palestinians said this week they would push unilaterally for the UN Security Council to endorse an independent state for them. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned the Palestinians not to do anything on their own. 

Mr. Netanyahu said there is no replacement for negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. He said any one-sided step will unravel the framework of agreements that exist and cause unilateral steps from the Israeli side.

Mr. Netanyahu's warnings drew an angry response from the Palestinians under the leadership of PresidentMahmoud Abbas and his moderate Fatahfaction. Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat accused the Israeli leader of undermining the peace process.  

"He threatens with unilateral steps," said Saeb Erekat. "Do you think that settlement activity is bilateral?   Excuse me, we are the moderate camp.  We are the ones who want to achieve the two-state solution.  This Israeli government is doing nothing.  Look on the ground: we have recognized theState of Israel's right to live in peace and security, next to the state of Palestine.  Now, what Mr. Netanyahu is doing is really eating up the land that is supposed to be the Palestinian state with more settlements, with more malls, with more confiscation of land."

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Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has repeated a call for Israel to halt settlement activity in order for peace negotiations to resume.
Mr. Abbas issued the call Wednesday at a gathering in the West Bank marking the fifth anniversary of the death of his predecessor Yasser Arafat.
Commemorations for Mr. Arafat have been banned in the Gaza Strip, which is ruled by

Hamas - the rival of Mr. Arafat's Fatah movement.
The anniversary comes during a difficult time for the Middle East peace process, and the settlement issue is a key sticking point.
Earlier this week, President Abbas threatened to resign due to a lack of progress in the peace process, a move that officials say could result in the collapse of the Palestinian Authority.
Mr. Arafat won the Nobel Prize in 1994 along with then-Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin and Israeli President Shimon Peres, for their efforts to create peace in the Middle East.
He became ill in 2004, and was flown to a hospital in France, where he died at the age of 75.

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Image by spdl_n1 via Flickr

Palestinian activists tore down a section of the Israeli-built barrier that cordons off the West Bank, in a protest that coincides with the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Rock-throwing demonstrators cheered Monday as they used a truck to pull down a segment of the wall. Israeli troops used tear gas to disperse the protesters.
The structure is a combination of concrete barriers, fencing and barbed wire that will measure about 700 kilometers long once construction is finished. The United Nations estimates the barrier is more than 60 percent complete.  
Israel says it needs the barrier for security, but Palestinians view it as a land-grab. The wall cuts into territory Palestinians want for a future state, putting about 10 percent of the West Bank on the Israeli side of the barrier. 

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Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says he does not want to run for re-election in January.

In a televised speech, Mr. Abbas accused the United States of backtracking on demands that Israel freeze settlement expansion. He said all settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem must stop and he has made this a precondition for resuming peace talks.

Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat says the President is frustrated.  "Palestinian factions have reiterated that they want President Abbas to be their candidate," said Saeb Erekat. "But at the end of the day, it's not the presidency; it's the question of the Israeli government continuing settlement activities, fait accompli policies, dictation."

President Abbas's announcement complicates U.S. efforts to revive peace talks. Mr. Abbas, who rules the West Bank, is seen as a moderate alternative to the violent Islamic militant group Hamas which controls the Gaza Strip. And he does not have a successor.   But the careful wording of his statement left open the possibility that Mr. Abbas could be persuaded to change his mind. He received phone calls from Israel's president and the leaders of Egypt and Jordan urging him to remain in his post for the sake of peace.

Analysts say Mr. Abbas's threat to quit may be a means of goading the U.S. to put further pressure on Israel for concessions.

Image via Wikipedia, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas with former U. S. President, George W. Bush

 Palestinian officials say President Mahmoud Abbas does not plan to run for re-election in January.
He announced his decision at a meeting of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, and is expected to give a speech on the issue later Thursday.
Palestinian officials say the executive committee is trying to persuade Mr. Abbas to reverse his decision.
Mr. Abbas has led the Palestinian peace effort with Israel since becoming president of the Palestinian Authority in January 2005.
Those efforts have made little headway, despite renewed pressure from the United States for a resumption of unconditional talks.
The Palestinians are insisting no progress will be made until Israel freezes all construction of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem. The Palestinians want the land for a future state.
Mr. Abbas in the past has suggested he would have no reason to continue in his post if his demands for peace are not met.
The Obama administration had supported the Palestinians' conditions for peace talks earlier this year, but U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton backtracked last week. She drew Palestinian criticism by praising Israel for offering to pull back, but not freeze, some Jewish settlement construction.

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Amnesty International has accused Israel of denying Palestinians the right to access adequate water by maintaining total control over the shared water resources and pursuing discriminatory policies.
These unreasonably restrict the availability of water in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) and prevent the Palestinians developing an effective water infrastructure there.
“Israel allows the Palestinians access to only a fraction of the shared water resources, which lie mostly in the occupied West Bank, while the unlawful Israeli settlements there receive virtually unlimited supplies. In Gaza the Israeli blockade has made an already dire situation worse,” said Donatella Rovera, Amnesty International’s researcher on Israel and the OPT. 
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