The Palestinian leadership would continue to seek international support to pressure Israel to end its colonization of Palestinian land.

There is a wide range of views in the new Palestinian leadership.

If the Palestinian leadership does not eradicate terrorism, terrorism will ultimately eradicate it.

Noting the great economic and social challenges facing the Palestinian people and their leadership,

Noting the great economic and social challenges facing the Palestinian people and their leadership,

Fifth, the Palestinian leadership cannot be expected to take risks for peace without political protection.

The Palestinian Investment Fund, for example, was intended to serve the interests of the Palestinian population and was supposed to be transparent, accountable, and independent of the Palestinian political leadership.

It was hoped that the new Palestinian leadership would provide for Palestinian women the equality, peace and freedom they deserved and that Palestinian and Israeli women alike would experience happiness.

The Arab League gave the go ahead to indirect Palestinian Israeli talks, and the various Palestinian leadership forums have approved the resumption of talks.

The Committee welcomes the successful conclusion of the Palestinian elections, held on 9 January 2005, for the Presidency of the Palestinian Authority, and affirms its support for the new Palestinian leadership.

If the current Palestinian leadership changes its position, there will be no problem from our side.

Meanwhile, Israel can and should do more to support the Palestinian leadership in its difficult task.

More importantly, the Palestinian leadership must reshape and reunite its polity to face the challenge of statehood.

A successful outcome of the elections would enable the Palestinian leadership to carry the peace process forward.

The Palestinian leadership must make a strategic decision to fight terrorism, in accordance with the road map.

In the Palestinian case, with the lack of the kind of leadership that Arafat provided, the radical wing, Hamas, cannot be discarded from the process leading to Palestinian statehood.

The Palestinian people, the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian leadership find themselves shouldering the responsibility of fulfilling post conflict tasks while remaining, in their entirety, under foreign occupation and subject to the ongoing colonization of their land.

It was not only the endemic corruption of the official Palestinian leadership that turned so many Palestinians from it.

But the deeper problem lies elsewhere, in the poverty of the leadership, and in the fragmentation of Palestinian politics.

The prevention of terror emanating from Palestinian areas is entirely the responsibility of the Palestinian Authority and its leadership, a responsibility that it has thus far has failed to fulfil.

The Palestinian Authority, as a result of the Oslo accords of 1993 and the transfer of limited sovereignty to the Palestinian leadership, entered into a new phase of self governance.

With the recent war in Gaza, the Palestinian national movement will align itself, under Hamas s leadership, with this regional development.

On the other hand, they understand that there is no Palestinian leadership strong or moderate enough to bring it about.

The Committee noted the serious efforts by the Palestinian Authority, President Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian leadership to end violence, strengthen the national unity of the Palestinian people and achieve a solution of the question of Palestine through exclusively peaceful means.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas initiative to unite the Palestinian leadership may lead to greater moderation on the part of Hamas and create real prospects for the negotiation of a two state solution.

The Palestinian leadership knows that if Iran ever launches a nuclear attack against Israel, their people would suffer terribly as well.

While demanding an Israeli withdrawal for years, the Palestinian leadership opposes Sharon's plan, arguing it is intended to create permanent borders.

In the absence of any demonstrable leadership on the Palestinian side, it has fallen to Israel to implement its disengagement initiative.

On the other hand, the freely elected Palestinian leadership faces international boycott until it accepts a solution that the Netanyahu government rejects.

No fair minded observer could ignore the point that the Palestinian leadership was corrupt and had ignored calls to end the terror.

Moreover, it is widely believed that the Arab Spring has encouraged the Palestinian leadership to seek to change the rules of the game.

The Hamas victory is, first and foremost, an indication of the total failure of the traditional Palestinian leadership to create a body politic.

The Palestinian Authority (PA) is less extreme, but its leadership is weak, doesn t control Gaza, and is still full of hard line elements.

Most importantly, in order to consolidate his leadership, the next Palestinian leader must make some hard decisions and show some tangible results quickly.

Canada continues to exercise custodianship and leadership in the process of seeking a just, viable and comprehensive solution to the Palestinian refugee issue.

We are convinced that the Palestinian leadership should continue its efforts to reform its power structures, and firmly counter any manifestations of terrorism.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has now committed himself to a Palestinian state, and the Hamas leadership, which rejects Israel s right to exist, has agreed to a Palestinian state within the borders prior to June 5, 1967.

The lack of forward movement stems not just from disagreement over goals, but also from the inability of a divided Palestinian leadership to compromise.

The Palestinian leadership is committed to negotiation as a means to reach a peaceful settlement based on respect for international law and international legitimacy.

In those circumstances, it is important that President Abbas exercise strong leadership to ensure self restraint on the part of the Palestinian groups concerned.

We now have a Palestinian leadership legitimized by elections, one that appears to be opposed to using terrorism as a tool to achieve political aims.

The Arab League is set to meet later this month to advise the Palestinian leadership whether or not to engage in direct talks with Israel.

The window of opportunity for progress in the peace process will quickly close if the Palestinian leadership does not live up to these elementary obligations.

Any sober Palestinian leadership must know by now that the rhetorical promise of a return to an abandoned house and to the olive tree is an irresponsible mirage that fundamentally contradicts the rationale for a separate Palestinian state.

Additionally, top officials in the Israeli Government, including Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, have been making highly inflammatory statements against the Palestinian leadership and future peace prospects.