(JNi.media) Ahmed Majdalani, a former Palestinian government minister who currently serves as Secretary-General of the Palestinian Popular Struggle Front (PPSF) and teaches at Birzeit University, on Sunday told the news agency Ma’an that the Palestinian leadership will soon announce the annulment of the Oslo Accords.
As part of the Oslo Accords, which were signed between 1993-95, Israel recognized the PLO as the representative of the Palestinian people, agreed to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and the Jericho area, and approved the establishment of a Palestinian Authority that would rule the areas known as the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The Authority was granted civilian control powers in the territories marked A and B, in the context of restructured security and economic relations between the two parties.
According to Majdalani, the proposal to scrap the accords will be debated in next week’s session of the Palestinian National Council. Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas is expected to announce the move in his speech this month before the UN General Assembly. In the speech, Abbas is expected to say that since Israel has not complied with the accords, and has not allowed the establishment of a Palestinian state — the Palestinians no longer abide by the same accords.
The Saudi newspaper Okaz reported last week that Abbas had told Jordanian King Abdullah II that he wishes to resign because of the impasse in the peace process. The two met last Wednesday in Amman. Gaza sources have told the newspaper that Abbas plans to make a “surprising” speech in the coming days, notifying Palestinians about his resignation and retirement from political life.
Syndicated columnist Ramzy Baroud has suggested that, at the age of 80, Abbas is concerned about his legacy, a fact Baroud considers “hardly encouraging.” The Unity deal Abbas’ Fatah signed with Hamas included the restructuring of the PLO and the inclusion of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad in one unifying, representative Palestinian government. But Hamas is furious with Abbas for not living up to his commitments. In fact, Hamas is now seeking its own alternatives to breaking the Gaza siege through “indirect talks” with Israel, using the good services of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Last Thursday, Secretary of State John Kerry spoke with Abbas on the phone and urged him not to resign, because “the region cannot, in its current situation, tolerate political vacuum which could be exploited by extremist elements.” According to a report in Qatar’s al-Arabi al-Jadid, Kerry also asked Abbas not to make crucial decisions regarding Israel during the Palestinian National Council meeting.