Palestinian state 'inevitable'

2005-11-15 19:43

West Bank - Mahmud Abbas insisted that a Palestinian state was inevitable despite Israeli "intransigence" as he delivered a keynote address on Tuesday on the anniversary of a symbolic declaration of independence.

"A free and independent state is not beyond the realms of possibility, even if it is late in seeing the light of day," the Palestinian Authority president said in an address broadcast on radio and television.

"It will come inevitably for it is one of our rights and one of the conditions for peace in the whole region," he added.

Speaking on the 17th anniversary of a symbolic proclamation of independence by his late predecessor, Yasser Arafat, Abbas said an independent state would be established on Palestinian and not Israeli terms.

"Our real battle revolves around creating this state according to our conditions and not of those of the occupation," he said.

Abbas accused Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of trying to unilaterally impose "an extremely dangerous, alternative" state which would be subject to constant Israeli surveillance and divided up "into cantons by the (West Bank Jewish) settlements".

An internationally brokered peace plan known as the roadmap, endorsed by the Israelis and Palestinians more than two years ago, targeted the creation of a Palestinian state alongside a secure Israel in 2005.

However, US President George W Bush acknowledged when questioned at a press conference with Abbas last month that independence may not come about before he leaves office in 2009.

Bush's comments

Sharon last month scrapped plans for a summit with Abbas, accusing the Palestinian Authority of doing nothing to reign in militants.

The Israeli premier pulled troops and settlers out of the Gaza Strip, the smaller part of any future Palestinian state, on a unilateral basis in September after arguing that he had no partner in the peace process.

But Abbas said Sharon's demands for a campaign to disarm hardline groups such as Hamas illustrate "the determination of the Israelis to bring about a Palestinian civil war".

The Palestinian leader also accused Israel of trying to "shy away from the roadmap", which stipulates a complete freeze on settlement activity in the West Bank. Construction has continued in parts of the occupied territory.

Abbas played down the impact of Bush's recent comments on the timetable for independence.

"I had the impression that the comments of President Bush were not planned, that he had not set out to say what he did. We had no discussion about this topic," he said last month.

Tuesday's address was Abbas's first on "independence day" since being elected Arafat's successor at the helm of the Palestinian Authority in January.

Unlike Arafat, who was completely boycotted, Abbas has been a guest of both Sharon and Bush in peace talks.

- AFP