Saeb Erekat, speaking to a Syrian newspaper, emphasized yet again the intransigence of the Palestinian Authority - a word that the Western media applies exclusively to Israel.
He said that the PA will not enter into direct negotiations with Israel unless there is a full, and permanent, end to building in Jerusalem and the West Bank.
He said that Barack Obama made a direct phone call to Mahmoud Abbas asking for direct negotiations, but that the Palestinian Authority would not agree to that no matter how much international pressure is applied.
This is, of course, exactly the attitude that the world ascribes to Israel - of ignoring the international community and acting arrogantly. Yet when the PA does this, explicitly, there is no public criticism to be heard anywhere.
It hardly needs to be mentioned that the PA used to negotiate with Israel directly and that these demands are completely new conditions that were unilaterally added by Mahmoud Abbas - the so-called "moderate" who expects to get all his demands met without a single concession.
In fact, Mahmoud Abbas, that man of "peace" who is pushing to get a Nobel Peace Prize, is more intransigent than Yasir Arafat was in his negotiating positions.
