Abbas working to keep dialogue open as EU refuses to deal with Hamas & puts no conditions on Israel

President Abbas said after his meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel that the blockade must end. “It is totally unjustified.”

The President hosted Merkel, whose country currently heads the European Union, in Ramallah on Sunday. In a joint press conference he told reporters, “We spoke seriously with Merkel about ending the siege, as we talked about German businesspeople and experts coming here to establish projects.”

Merkel contends that the EU will not deal with members of the Hamas party within the Palestinian government because they “did not respond to the terms of the Quartet.”

During the joint press conference in the central West Bank city of Ramallah, Merkel said, “The criteria of the Quartet is to renounce violence and recognize Israel’s right to exist and to abide by previous agreements, but unfortunately this is not the aim of Hamas and therefore were not party to negotiations with the European Union.”

In response to a question about picking and choosing ministers to deal with, Merkel said, “President Abbas accepted the standards of the Quartet, therefore we are dealing with him. We talked with him today frankly and there will be financial talks in mid-April. We will discuss how to cooperate with the Palestinian Minister of Finance, Salam Fayyad.” Currently the EU is bypassing the Palestinian government in financial dealings by going through its Temporary Mechanism in place in West Bank and Gaza Strip offices.

Merkel welcomed the Arab Peace Initiative, although the Israelis still do not, in part due to the inclusion of United Nations 194, the Right of Return. Replying to a question on the subject, she said that she could “not speak on behalf of Israel.” Instead she urged the Palestinians to release the Israeli soldier who was captured in June 2006 while he was invading the southern Gaza Strip. “It is necessary to release the soldier in order to strengthen confidence between the Palestinian and Israeli sides.” Merkel made no mention of the 10,000 plus Palestinians currently in Israeli prisons or of Israel not honoring international law, UN resolutions, or previous agreements.

President Abbas was not optimistic on the subject of prisoners, but said that he was doing his utmost to work with the Europeans and discussed with Merkel “ways to move the peace process forward.”

The Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, called on Sunday for a meeting with Arab leaders. The US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, already held a similar meeting in an effort to change the terms of the Arab Peace Initiative on behalf of the Israelis.

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