Palestinians Accuse U.S. Of Sabotaging Roadmap

The U.S. stance is in line with the Israeli vision, which torpedoes the roadmap, provide additional support for Israel and reflects the Israeli blackmail of the international parties,” he said.

“Israel always wants to appear as if it has the final say,” Ghoul asserted.

Washington announced Friday, May 22, it will “address” the Israeli concerns regarding the roadmap, recognizing them as “serious”.

Following the U.S. assurances, the Israeli cabinet grudgingly approved Sunday, May 25, the peace plan, coupling it with a resolution denying Palestinian refugees the right of return.

Secret Promises

Faris Qadoura, a Fatah leader, linked the U.S. guarantees to the American seriousness about implementing the roadmap.

“We can understand if such U.S. guarantees are aimed at endorsing (Israeli Prime Minister Ariel) Sharon’s stance before his cabinet but if they were based on secretive promises, the roadmap would hit a dead end,” he told IOL.

Mohammad al-Hindi, a prominent leader of the Islamic Jihad movement, stressed that the American guarantees meant new amendments to the peace plan.

“Such amendments may have not been included in the roadmap text but would be implemented on the ground,” Hindi said in exclusive statements to IOL.

He voiced concern that Sharon managed to impose his vision on the U.S. and introduce his amendments to the plan under the guise of the U.S. guarantees.

“The U.S. is not serious about implementing the roadmap but wants to draw the world attention away from the practices of its forces in Iraq,” charged the leading Jihad figure.

“As for Israel, it works without tiring to put an end to the Palestinian resistance at Palestinian hands after it fell short of achieving this goal,” he warned.

Ramzi Rabbah, a member of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), told IOL that the American stance on the roadmap sharply contradicts with that of other Quartet members, including the E.U., Russian and the U.N.