person:husam zomlot

  • Abbas believes ’historic opportunity’ for peace under Trump, says Palestinian envoy

    ’President Trump has the political capital, the relationships with all the parties involved and the will to actually achieve this goal,’ Husam Zomlot says ahead of Abbas visit to Washington

    Amir Tibon (Washington) Apr 28, 2017
    read more: http://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/palestinians/.premium-1.786177

    WASHINGTON - Five days before Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas arrives in Washington for his first meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, one of his closest advisers told Haaretz that Abbas believes there is a “historic opportunity” to reach a peace agreement under Trump’s leadership, and that he is looking forward to forging a “strategic partnership” with the new American president.
    Dr. Husam Zomlot, the recently appointed chief representative of the PLO in Washington, said that Abbas is coming to Washington with one clear objective: creating a political horizon for peace together with Trump. He added that Trump and Abbas had a “very positive conversation” when they spoke on the phone last month, and that Abbas is ready to “employ his vision for peace with full force.”
    Asked about the meeting’s agenda, Zomlot clarified that “there is one thing on the agenda – and that thing is the historic opportunity for peace presented by President Trump.”
    In an interview with Reuters overnight, Trump said, “I want to see peace with Israel and the Palestinians. There is no reason there’s not peace between Israel and the Palestinians - none whatsoever.”
    In contrast to some in Israel who declared that Trump’s election was the end of the peace process, Zomlot sounded positive about working with the U.S. administration.

    #Palestine #OLP #Etats-Unis #Israël

  • J Street Conference Attendees Applaud Fatah Representative’s Call For Right of Return –
    Tablet Magazine
    http://www.tabletmag.com/scroll/147016/j-street-attendees-show-support-for-right-of-return

    During an otherwise mundane session on new voices and perspectives in Israeli and Palestinian societies, Fatah’s Husam Zomlot controversially won the support of the floor for expressing the demand that Israel give “full recognition of the Nakba” and present the right of return as an option to Palestinian refugees.

    Describing the refugee question as the easiest issue to resolve, Zomlot, executive deputy commissioner for the Commission for International Affairs of Palestine, said:

    As for the refugee issue, how do you want me to sign a deal with my own hands that would compromise the rights of two thirds of the nation? How am I doing to build cohesion and eternal peace on such a compromise? Why do I have to compromise?

    …What do the refugees want? Some of them want to stay where they are. Some of them might want to resettle somewhere else in a third country. Some of them might want to come back to the State of Palestine. And some of them might want to return to their original homes. But all of them want one thing: full recognition of the Nakba that has befallen our people.

    Zomlot’s call received sustained and sure applause from the delegates in the hall. Zomlot got further affirmation for his argument when, while speaking about his father who resides in London, he stated that he “has a right” to return to his former home in Israel. “He has to be given that option.” The applause was lighter the second time around, however, but no less noticeable.

    Such approval for the right of return departs from J Street’s official position on the subject, which is in line with the Zionist mainstream. “The refugee issue should be negotiated and resolved as part of an agreement between official Israeli and Palestinian authorities and endorsed by both peoples. J Street would support the approach outlined in commonly accepted models of a two-state solution under which the vast majority of refugees would be resettled outside the internationally recognized borders of Israel, while receiving compensation.”