DAVOS, Switzerland, 27 January 2007 — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni reiterated their commitment to finding a two-state solution and to resuming long-stalled negotiations. They were speaking at a packed session yesterday at the World Economic Forum being held in the idyllic Swiss mountain resort of Davos.
“The Middle East is in dire need of peace and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is one of the most serious conflicts that requires a solution,” said Abbas. “Dialogue between nations and different sectors of society will lead to peace.”
Noting previous agreements signed with Israel, as well as other peace initiatives, such as the UN-sponsored road map, Abbas called for resuming meaningful negotiations that will ultimately lead to a Palestinian state.
“What is required now is for us to trace the beginning and the end of this peace process,” he said. “Our hand remains outstretched to start the negotiation process. Fear and despair must be replaced by hope and forgiveness. Nothing is more important than peace for our children.”
Livni tried to reciprocate Abbas’ call to seek peace for future generations, but sounded hollow. “Our responsibility is to give them hope, this is something we owe them,” she said after viewing with the Davos participants several filmed messages of peace from young Palestinians and Israelis in Jerusalem, Ramallah and Tel Aviv. “If what can come out of this is a promise to generations to come then we will take all the measures to bring peace to our region,” she said.
Many Arab and Saudi participants at the session said the Israelis were barking up the wrong tree. “They will have to talk to Hamas, if not today then tomorrow, because Hamas represents the people of Palestine. They won the elections by a landslide... Israelis can ignore Hamas at their own peril,” said one Saudi participant. “Abbas is a nice man but he doesn’t represent the Palestinian people at the moment. He should have just allowed Hamas to do the talking and governing. He should have joined Hamas in fighting a criminal economic blockade imposed on Palestinians by the Israelis, the United States and the European governments.”
Abbas, meanwhile, kept up the pressure on Hamas. “It should take no more than three weeks to reach agreement with Hamas on forming a national unity government,” he said and repeated his threat to call for parliamentary and presidential elections if talks fail.
“We are at a junction now, either yes or no. I would tell you, this doesn’t need more than two weeks, maximum three weeks,” said Abbas.
“If we fail to achieve a national unity government that allows us to lift the siege, I will call for presidential elections,” he said.
His adviser, Saeb Erekat, clarified later that Abu Mazen (Abbas) was not trying to set a deadline for negotiations with Hamas.
The Palestinian president also said he expected to hold talks with the United States and Israel within a month on the framework for establishing a Palestinian state. “I don’t have a specific date. Maybe it needs a month, within a month,” he said.
Internet and global trade also figured prominently at yesterday’s sessions. Gordon Brown, who is set to succeed British Prime Minister Tony Blair soon, said public access to the Internet meant decisions could no longer be made by negotiators behind closed doors. “Too often we run away and say the trade talks can be handled by experts in a smoke-filled room,” said Brown.
In a separate meeting, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, whose country stands to profit if a new global trade treaty is reached in the long-stalled Doha trade talks, made an impassioned plea to the world’s richest countries to open up their agricultural markets.
“If we wish to send a signal to the poorest countries on the planet that they will have an opportunity in the 21st century... these countries should assume responsibility for developing a pact so we can reach agreement in the Doha round,” he said. “If we want to avoid terrorism in the world and growth in organized crime, I believe that the Doha round is one of the paths that we should follow.”
The round of talks launched in the Qatari capital, Doha, five years ago was suspended by WTO Director General Pascal Lamy last July following nearly five years of acrimonious meetings pitting the European Union, the United States and the emerging countries against each other.
About 30 trade negotiators are to meet on the forum’s sidelines today, including European Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson, US Trade Representative Susan Schwab, Indian Industry Minister Kamal Nath and Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim.
At another meeting, Microsoft founder Bill Gates briefed journalists on the work of the global immunization program funded by the foundation he runs with his wife Melinda. “Vaccines are a miracle thing,” Gates said, adding that vaccination in developing countries had reached record levels, saving the lives of some 2.3 million children.
