Erekat Meets With US Middle East Coordinator
By Maan
Secretary-general of the Executive Committee of the PLO Saeb Erekat met on Sunday with US Middle East Coordinator Rob Malley, Palestinian sources told Ma’an.
Erekat reportedly told Malley, the US’ new front-man in the fight against the Islamic State, that “fighting extremism and terrorism in the Middle East requires dehydration of the quagmire of the Israeli occupation, and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, based on the pre-June 4, 1967 borders.”
Early last month, Malley announced that the White House did not expect to find a solution for the Palestinian-Israeli conflict by the end of US President Barack Obama’s term.
“This is really the first time since the first term of the Clinton administration where we have an administration that faces a reality where the prospect of a negotiated two-state solution is not in the cards for the remainder — in the time that’s remaining,” Malley told reporters.
“The president has reached that conclusion — that right now, barring a major shift, the parties are not going to be in the position to negotiate a final status agreement,” Malley added.
Separately, Erekat delivered a lecture to members of the Palestinian community in New York and New Jersey. He talked about the Palestinian Authority’s strategy for implementing recent resolutions among the PLO’s Central Council on limiting the relations with Israel and on ending inter-Palestinian rivalry and achieving national unity.
