Palestinian sources initially told TV7 that they believed that the Paris declaration would be a historical achievement reflecting international opposition to the Israeli occupation; but once the concluding statement was announced, they voiced frustration. Senior Palestinian official Hanan Ashrawi asserted that the final statement of the international conference was “watered down” to appease Israel.
“As it turned out, this was just a proclamation of statements of intent, of commitment to the two-state solution. It was slightly watered down because of several interventions to try to avoid concrete mechanisms or deadlines and to just call on both parties to go back to negotiations. The issue is not negotiations per se, the issue is what is the basis of the negotiations and what is the behavior of Israel as an occupying party,” said Ashrawi.
Paris responded to the Palestinian accusations of ‘watering down the statements’ that the meeting did not aim to impose anything on Israel or the Palestinians, and that only direct negotiations could resolve the decades-old conflict. The further noted that another conference to advance talks on the matter of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict would be set before year’s end.