At last, I agree with a Palestinian Authority official on something! I think Olmert is living on another planet also, although I doubt the PA wonk and me have exactly the same idea of why that is. In this story, the PA official takes Olmert to task for daring to suggest that Israelis may stay on what he regards as “occupied lands belonging to the Palestinian people.” The only problem is that when one starts inquiring into what these Palestinian spokesmen believe are the particular “occupied lands belonging to the Palestinian people” in question, one finds that they’re referring to every bit of Israel, such that only someone who lives on another planet, like Olmert, could possibly believe that this or that concession of land would satisfy them.
“PA: Olmert must be living on a different planet,” by Khaled Abu Toameh in the Jerusalem Post (thanks to Sr. Soph):
The Palestinian Authority on Tuesday reacted angrily to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s assertion that Ma’aleh Adumim was an “indivisible” part of Jerusalem and Israel, and warned that continued construction in the settlements and Jewish neighborhoods in east Jerusalem would “sabotage” the peace process.
In an interview with The Jerusalem Post published Monday, Olmert made it clear that he did not envisage a permanent accord along the 1967 lines, adding that his primary responsibility as prime minister lay in ensuring a “separation” from the Palestinians.
“I don’t think when people are talking about settlements they are talking about Ma’aleh Adumim,” Olmert said.
Asked to comment on Olmert’s statements, a top PA official in Ramallah said, “Olmert must be living on another planet. Peace and settlements don’t go together. If this is his policy, he can forget about finding a partner on the Palestinian side.”
The official stressed that the PA does not distinguish between an illegal settlement outpost and Ma’aleh Adumim or Har Homa.
“These are all illegal settlements that were built on occupied lands belonging to the Palestinian people,” he said.