Palestinians and Quartet meet in Jordan to revive peace deal

Palestinian factions and Quartet meet in Jordan to revive moribund peace deal A Palestinian-Israeli meeting is being held in Amman in Jordan today, in presence of Quartet members in order to kick start the peace process again.  This will be the first face-to-face meeting

in over a year between all parties.
Muhammad Al- Kayed, the spokesperson for the Jordanian Foreign Ministry has stated that the meetings are aimed at finding a common ground for pursuing direct negotiations and achieve a peace agreement and implement the two-state solution.
Al-Kayed said that the meeting is “based on the outcomes of the multiple meetings held by the envoys of the Quartet with the two parties since the last statement issued by the Quartet on September 23, 2011. "
According to the spokesman, the meeting  will look at all issues before the deadline set by the Quartet, the end of 2012.
He declared that Foreign Minister, Nasser Judeh contacted both Palestinians and Israeli sides; in addition to the members of the Quartet, represented by the Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki moon; Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov; Hillary Clinton, United States Secretary of State; Catherine Ashton, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs for and the High Affairs and Security Policy; Quartet envoy, Tony Blair; Nabil el-Arabi, the Secretary-General of the Arab League and Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim, Foreign and Prime Minister of Qatar and the Chairman of the Arab peace initiative, as well as, a number of Arab Foreign Ministers. "
Amman meeting is part of the intensive action in anticipation of the 26th of this month, which ends the time limit of ninety days set by the Quartet, which includes the United States, the EU, Russia and the United Nations, for talks between the Palestinians and the Israelis about borders and security.
Palestinian leaders are to arrive in Amman to help strengthen the Palestinian position, and hold consultation with President Mahmoud Abbas. Abbas will meet Nayef Hawatmeh, the Secretary General of the Democratic Front, who arrives from Damascus.
After Hamas dubbed the meeting a waste of time, the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood denounced the official support for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations held in Jordan. In a press statement issued today, the group raised questions about reassurances of the Right of Return and the two-state solution, as well as the stand on reconciliation.
 On the other hand, The United States has welcomed the Jordanian initiative."We welcome and support this positive development,” U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said In a statement issued in Washington last night, “We are hopeful that this direct exchange can help move us forward on the pathway proposed by the Quartet”
A Palestinian official stressed that the bilateral meeting aims at fining "appropriate ground" to resume negotiations and does not mean their actual resumption.
"Contacts with the Israeli side are ongoing. On a daily basis we discuss various economic and security issues. The political issue is standstill, however. This meeting, with the presence of the Quartet is to find appropriate grounds to launch the peace process ".Chief Palestinian Negotiator Saeb Erekat said in a press Conference in Ramallah, the West Bank.
Erekat expressed his hope that the Israeli government will agree to the Jordanian preposition of settlement halt,‎ including the city of Jerusalem, as well as, defining the two countries border of 1967.
"We are making every possible effort to resume negotiations that we were not, on any day, against. We hope the Israeli government is aware of the importance of the Jordanian preposition and start immediately to fulfill its commitments."
He added, "If the Israeli government insisted on continuing the settlement acts, that would be a challenge to the world. The political negotiations require settlement halt and to accept the two-state solution."
Erekat is to represent the Palestinian delegation during the meeting, which also includes Yitzhak Molcho adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, delegates of the Quartet, along with Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh.
The Israeli public radio quoted political sources as saying that the two Amman meetings “are considered a positive development for the ones seeking the achieving of peace."
Israeli Defense Minister, Ehud Barak, said, that the resumption of contacts with Palestinians during the meeting to be held in Amman, "involves great significance even if did not result in tangible progress."
According to the Israeli radio, Barak stated that the resumption of these connections stand in benefit to Israel because other alternatives are worse. He added that Israel must show the true intentions to work for it, which will also contribute to hindering the attempts made to isolate his country politically and internationally.
He declared his belief that the solution of the two states for two peoples is the best way to resolve the conflict.

Hamas leader Ismail Radwan described the meetings held between the authorities and Israel as “futile meetings and a waste of time… within the context of giving the occupation the chance for the Judaization of Jerusalem, seizing more land, and continuation of aggression.”
Radwan stressed in a press statement, Tuesday, that the Amman meeting gives the “Zionist occupation” the chance to practice more aggression, as well as giving it cover for its rabid campaign against Palestinian people, in addition to having a negative impact on Palestinian unity, according to Radwan.
“The Zionist occupation does not want a true Palestinian reconciliation; it wants to use the split in its favor. These meetings come from the US administration and the International Quartet to allow the Zionist enemy to continue his crimes,” he added.
Hamas leader stressed the need to reinforce the national Palestinian unity, and implementing the reconciliation agreement on ground, practically and promptly, in addition to preserving the Palestinian constants and not betting on any negotiations with Israel. 
Regarding the Palestinian authorities demand for Israel to release 100 prisoners, sentenced to life, in exchange of returning direct negotiations, Radwan stated that the prisoners should be set free, and that if Israel does not release them at will, they will be forced to release them. He stressed that the Palestinian resistance will not forget them, as in the recent prisoners swap deal, but that the return to negotiations is futile and does not serve the cause.
Radwan addressed the authorities urging them to not return to negotiations, and calling on Abbas to abide by the Palestinian constants, implement the reconciliation, and not yield to Israeli pressures, saying that they will face pressures as one.