Sharon accused of exploiting violence

[Scurrilous]

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/159B16B6-BA79-4D1F-AB8F-929608A8C0AB.htm

<snip>

"Ariel Sharon is accused of using the recent Gaza border incident as an excuse to sever contacts with Mahmud Abbas, says the leader of Israel's left-wing Yahad party, Yossi Beilin.

"Sharon deliberately stopped the negotiations. This was a political decision and a tragic error," former justice minister Beilin told public radio.

"Sharon knows that we can reach an agreement with Abbas but he is not prepared to pay the price and he took advantage of this incident very quickly to break off dialogue," added Beilin who, along with Abbas, was one of the chief architects of the 1993 Oslo peace accords.

Beilin warned that his party would stop giving Sharon a safety net in parliament for his controversial plan to pull troops and settlers out of the Gaza Strip later this year if the prime minister "ruins the option of peace."

[mike_c]

1. another relevant article....

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=124x85351

[Scurrilous]

2. Labor, Yahad MKs defy Sharon, meet with Abbas in Ramallah

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1105992533308

<snip>

"A small group of Labor MKs and left-wing activists headed to Ramallah on Monday to show their support for newly elected Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and to say that Israel's decision to cut all ties between their governments is a mistake.

Standing under a row of Palestinian flags outside the Mukata, Yahad chairman Yossi Beilin told reporters that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon erred in holding Abbas responsible for the attack at the Karni crossing on Thursday in which six Israelis were killed.

"It's the right time for such a meeting," he said. "Boycotting each other is the wrong policy. We need to talk with each other and not against each other."

<snip>

"As signatories of the Geneva Accord, an unofficial agreement with the Palestinians on territorial and refugee disputes, Beilin and his colleagues said they believe in the principle of sustained negotiations.
"Abu Mazen offers us such an opportunity, it is a mistake on our part if we don't seize the moment and support him. Do we have someone who we prefer more than him?" he asked."