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Palestinian unity will put pressure on Israel

It's high time that Tel Aviv stopped the indiscriminate building of settlements on the occupied Palestinian lands.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' presence at the funeral of former Israeli president Shimon Peres came as a conciliatory gesture towards Israel despite Tel Aviv's continuous attempts to scuttle any move to revive the peace process. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's handshake with Abbas and his greetings to the Palestinian president is only a symbolic gesture by an occupying power when nothing has changed on the ground. Rival Palestinian group Hamas and the other small political faction, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, who had urged Abbas to skip the funeral, were quick to criticise his move. But an aide to Palestinian president said that Abbas could "go anywhere to achieve peace". This shows that it is only Israel that skirts any move to revive the peace process while it continues to build settlements on Palestinian land. It shows the Tel Aviv's intransigence and defiance of the international community as it violates every rule in the book. The Jewish state is not concerned about human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories where the colonial forces continue to kill mostly the youth in the name of security. This is a cold, calculated move to instil fear in the minds of the Palestinians.
But as US President Barack Obama said during the funeral that "the Jewish people weren't born to rule another people", and Abbas presence at the funeral was a reminder of "unfinished business of peace", Israel must break its mental block towards the Palestinians. It must move forward to show its willingness for real peace with the Arab population. It's high time that Tel Aviv stopped the indiscriminate building of settlements on the occupied Palestinian lands. On the Palestinian side, the Hamas leadership and the Fatah party should work towards unity for a common cause - an independent state. Nothing else will suffice.