Abbas Won't Be Coming To The Negotiations After All

Buh-Bye!

Maybe after seeing Biden stand up Netanyahu by comeing 90 minutes late to his home, Abbas figured it would OK for him to pull shtick too.

Arab League chief Amr Moussa said on Wednesday that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had told him he would not enter indirect talks with Israel, only days after the Palestinian side had agreed to the contacts.


The about-turn puts on hold U.S. efforts to bring together Israel and the Palestinians in so-called proximity talks. The proposed talks, the Palestinian chief negotiator said this week, were a "last chance" to keep the Middle East peace process alive.

The decision came after Israel announced on Tuesday it would erect 1,600 settler homes in an area of the occupied West Bank it annexed to Jerusalem. Abbas had only agreed to the talks on condition that Israel imposed a Jewish settlement freeze.

"The Palestinian president decided he will not enter into those negotiations now ... the Palestinian side is not ready to negotiate under the present circumstances," Moussa told a news conference following an urgent meeting of Arab delegates at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo.

He said Abbas had conveyed the decision to him by phone.

Actually, Abbas is probably really eager to come to the table and discuss peace--he just had to make an excuse to get away to make one of those political appearances that are the bane of the existence of such a popular and accomplished political leader, as JTA reports:

In response to claims that they are picking on Israel by focusing so heavily on settlements, the White House and left-wing Jewish groups often counter by saying that they are equally concerns about areas where the Palestinians need to do better, particularly on ending incitement.

Well, it turns out that the Palestinians have their own timing issues: On Thursday, according to Palestinian Media Watch, the Palestinian Authority is planning to go through with plans to name a public square after Dalal Mughrabi, who led a 1978 bus hijacking in which 37 Israelis, including 12 children, were killed.

Thursday is the 32nd anniversary of the attack. Biden will still be in town. So it'll be interesting to see if he wieghs in, as he did on the Israeli housing starts.

Haaretz has reported that the Israel government has finally decided to officially publish a Palestinian Incitement Index, tracking how the Palestinian leadership--and not just Hamas--incites its people towards hatred and violence.

Can anyone seriously think there will be a shortage of material to work with?

Technorati Tag: Abbas and Terrorism.