A gesture of good will to start things off right. “‘Summit failure may ignite new intifada,'” by Khaled Abu Toameh in the Jerusalem Post (thanks to all who sent this in):
A failure in the upcoming US-sponsored Middle East peace conference would have more dangerous repercussions than the botched Camp David summit in 2000, Fatah officials warned on Tuesday.
This was the first time senior Fatah officials hinted at a possible wave of violence if the conference – expected to be held in Annapolis, Maryland, next month – did not meet the Palestinians’ demands.
“If we don’t prepare well for the conference so that it will result in something positive, the repercussions will be more dangerous than what happened after the failure of Camp David,” said Azzam al-Ahmed, head of the Fatah parliamentary list. He is closely associated with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
The Palestinians might decide to stay away from the meeting, Ahmed warned. “If the [Israeli and Palestinian] negotiators don’t reach an agreement before the conference, there will be no point in holding it,” he said. “Let’s bear in mind that invitations to the conference have not been issued yet.”