‘Israel will be guilty of talks failing if freeze ends’

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas announced on Sunday that the Palestinians were going to the direct talks with Israel on the basis of the Quartet’s declaration in Moscow last March, which  calls for the establishment of an independent and viable Palestinian state and a halt to settlement construction. Abbas warned that the Israeli government alone would be held responsible for the failure of the talks if it continued to build in the settlements."Our position toward settlements and their illegal status hasn’t changed," he said. JPOST