For Immediate Release

July 26, 2007

Palestine Liberation Organization
Negotiations Affairs Department
Ramallah, occupied Palestinian territory

Erekat welcomes the Arab League Delegation Visit to Israel

Welcoming the historic visit by the Egyptian and Jordanian Foreign Ministers as representatives of the Arab League’s Follow Up Committee on the Arab Peace Initiative, Chief Palestinian Negotiator Saeb Erekat said: “We Palestinians are delighted that representatives of our brothers in the League of Arab States are here to promote the Arab Peace Initiative, which offers full Arab recognition of Israel in return for withdrawal from all Arab lands occupied in 1967, an independent Palestinian State based on the 1967 borders and with East Jerusalem as its capital, and a just and agreed upon resolution to the refugee problem.”

Reiterating President Abbas’s repeated calls to Israel for the immediate start of substantive negotiations on final status issues, Dr. Erekat said: “Every day that passes without a permanent status agreement brings a blacker future for both Palestinians and Israelis. Improving the dire humanitarian and economic conditions must be done in parallel with a political track aimed at negotiating a permanent status framework. The Arab Peace Initiative and the visit by the Arab League delegation demonstrate the Arab states’ seriousness in achieving a comprehensive and just solution to this conflict. We must seize this historic opportunity, so that we can look our children in the eye and tell them we are doing everything we can to bring peace to this holy land. The Arab Peace Initiative is an offer that Israel should not refuse”.

The foreign ministers arrived to Israel on Wednesday, 25 July in an effort to advance the initiative in Israel.

For more information, please contact:
Negotiations Support Unit, Ramallah
+972 2 296 3741