Abbas calls for peace talks in speech mourning Israel's creation

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas today called for Israel to return to the negotiating table during a speech marking the anniversary of what the Palestinians consider to be the “catastrophe” of Israel’s creation.

Abbas also urged Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip to halt rocket attacks on Israel. He said the violence encouraged Israel to step up its military activity and proceed with unilateral plans to impose a border on the Palestinians.

“I tell our neighbours, the Israelis, that we want to make a just and lasting peace with you, and we want a better future for our children and yours. So come to make this year a year of peace,” he said in a recorded speech set to be broadcast later today on Palestinian television and radio.

Israel has said there can be no peace talks until the new Hamas-led Palestinian government renounces violence and recognises Israel’s right to exist.

Abbas, a moderate from the rival Fatah movement, has been urging Hamas to soften its line, but so far been unsuccessful. His calls for Israel to resume peace talks have been rebuffed, and there was no word whether Israel would accept his latest offer.

“Let’s stop the pretext that there’s no Palestinian partner,” he said in the speech. “The partner exists, and we extend our hand to you to make peace.”

The speech marked “the Naqba” or “catastrophe”, the term that Palestinians use to describe the creation of Israel 58 years ago. Palestinians planned a series of marches and speeches throughout the day, and at 1pm local time, a mourning siren was scheduled to sound throughout the West Bank and Gaza.

Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas planned to deliver a separate speech late today in Gaza, reflecting the ongoing rift between his group and Abbas’ moderate Fatah movement.

Hamas has rejected the international community’s calls to renounce violence, despite a crippling economic boycott that has left the government broke and unable to pay the salaries to tens of thousands of employees.

In his speech, Abbas signalled to Hamas that it must change its ways and pursue a path of diplomacy.

“The PLO, which led our people in its most difficult times, would not have survived until now, or received international recognition, had it not been forthcoming in formulating courageous political initiatives,” he said.

At the same time, he welcomed the recent decision by Western donors to restore humanitarian aid to the impoverished Palestinians. It remains unclear, however, when the money will begin flowing, or how exactly it will be spent.

“The situation as I see it requires the international community not to punish the Palestinian people for their democratic choice,” he said. “I hope the salaries of tens of thousands of employees will come soon.”

Abbas called on Palestinian militants in Gaza to halt rocket attacks aimed at Israel. The rocket fire has prompted harsh Israeli reprisals of airstrikes and artillery fire. The Hamas government has refused to criticise the rocket fire or take steps to halt the attacks.

The Naqba commemorations came days before the new Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, makes his first trip to Washington. Olmert is expected to present American officials with his plans for a withdrawal from much of the West Bank.

Olmert says he would prefer a negotiated settlement, but will take unilateral action if Hamas doesn’t soften its line in the coming months. His plan, which calls for dismantling dozens of Jewish settlements while strengthening large settlement blocs, falls short of the Palestinian claim to all of the West Bank and east Jerusalem.

“Let us sit down at the negotiating table, away from dictated solutions and away from unilateral steps,” he said.

He called on the “Quartet” of Mideast peace makers – the US, European Union, United Nations and Russia – to convene an international conference to “realize the dream ... that will result in the creation of an independent free and democratic Palestinian state with Arab East Jerusalem as its capital.”