EU Middle East envoy promises to push for two-state solution
Sven Koopmans has told AFP that with the Gaza war ongoing and Israel needing international support, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government cannot indefinitely disregard European views on resolving the conflict.
“I think that recently he was very explicit about rejecting the two-state solution,” Koopmans said. “Now, that means that he has a different point of view from much of the rest of the world.”
The Dutch diplomat said one side’s rejection of “the outcome that we believe is necessary” does not mean efforts to seek a solution should cease.
The European Union is also a major backer of the Palestinian Authority which many countries say Israel seeks to undermine. “We want to see the PA thrive. We want it to have an ability to govern in an effective and legitimate manner,” said Koopmans.
PLO is sole legitimate representative of Palestinians: Presidency
The official spokesman for the Palestinian presidency, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, has said the Palestinian people and their leadership represented by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) were the sole legitimate representatives, according to the Wafa news agency.
“There will be no legitimacy for anyone in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, or Jerusalem, neither the occupation nor anyone else, nor any legitimacy for any step on Palestinian land that was not accepted by our people and its leadership,” Abu Rudeineh said.
He added that leaked news about Washington discussing plans for the future of the Gaza Strip with some parties would not have legitimacy and be accepted by Palestinians.
Abu Rudeineh also stressed that the occupation of the Gaza Strip is illegal, as is the West Bank, and reiterated that the State of Palestine has jurisdiction over the entire occupied territory in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including Jerusalem.
Differences between PLO and the PA
The 1993–1995 Oslo Accords deliberately detached the Palestinian population in the Occupied Palestinian Territories from the PLO and the Palestinians in exile by creating a Palestinian Authority (PA) for the Territories. A separate parliament and government were established.
Since January 2013, the Palestinian Authority has used the name "State of Palestine" on official documents, although the United Nations continues to recognize the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) as the "representative of the Palestinian people".
http://passia.org/media/filer_public/8a/e7/8ae7c030-ac1d-4688-b3f4-606fbd50cd41/pa-plo2.pdf
In 1999, a report on PA institutions concluded that, albeit the PLO-PA relationship was of a temporary nature, “the difficulty of distinguishing the mandates of PLO and Palestinian Authority institutions has impeded the promotion of key elements of good governance, especially the exercise of constitutional power, transparency and accountability, and the rule of law.” Moreover, whereas the “internal” leadership of the PA has been legitimized by two presidential and parliamentary elections, plus a round of municipal elections, the “external” leadership of the PLO has never been elected and is increasingly considered as an unrepresentative circle pursuing its own goals, which have little or nothing to do with the daily lives of Palestinians in the territories. (governed by the PA) The PLO is disempowered by the paralysis of its main organs (the PNC and the EC), but it remains, for the time being, the representative of all Palestinians and holds the authority to negotiate with Israel and conduct foreign relations with third parties. In this duality lies the raison d’être for the existence of the two entities.
