The Palestinian Authority passed on four official demands to the Mideast Quartet for discussion in upcoming meetings, PLO official Saeb Erekat told Saudi newspaper Al-Watan on Friday.
European Union foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton told the PA's leadership Friday that the Quartet would convene in July for ministerial level talks to discuss relaunching the peace process. Quartet envoys are scheduled to meet Friday.
Erekat said the demands included a complete halt to all Israeli settlement activity, 1967 borders as the basis for peace negotiations with mutually agreed land swaps, EU support for reconciliation talks "which will strengthen peace opportunities" and EU support for a Palestinian UN statehood bid in September.
He also wanted EU acknowledgment that a UN statehood bid does not contradict peace negotiations.
Demand #1, complete halt to all "settlement" activity (which of course includes Jerusalem) was never a precondition of talks before 2008.
Demand #2, the 1967 borders as a basis for negotiations, was similarly never a precondition - it was what the PLO wanted as a result.
Demand #3, EU support for Fatah to be reconciled with unrepentant terror organization Hamas, directly contravenes the Quartet position on Hamas. Hamas' statements since the "unity" agreement proves that it has no interest in living at peace with Israel so this demand proves that the official PLO position is that they prefer Hamas to peace.
Demand #4, support for a unilateral state, is literally a demand to rip up the entire Oslo process.
And the "acknowledgement" he is asking from the EU is pretty much self-contradictory - if the PLO gets recognition as a state then the point of peace talks is moot. It also implies that if such a state was declared tomorrow, it would not be at peace with Israel.
These outrageous demands prove yet again that the so-called "moderate" PA is far, far more intransigent than the "hawkish" Likud. Not only that, it proves that there is nothing remotely peaceful about it as it insists on partnering with Hamas and demanding that the world support a genocidal terror organization.
Apparently, Erekat really didn't resign from his role as chief negotiator as he pretended to in February.
(h/t Mike)