The Palestinian people are not interested in another unilateral declaration of statehood, Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad told Channel 2 in an interview taped last week at the Saban Forum in Washington
"We want a state of Palestine, not a unilateral declaration of statehood," Fayyad told the interviewer. He explained that he did not see how a unilateral declaration of statehood would assist the Palestinian cause. "It [a declaration of statehood] is not and will not be a part of our thinking."
Fayyad said he was optimistic that a Palestinian state could be established by August 2011.
“In the past too much time was wasted on the process, but we should not be discouraged because we have failed before, we should not give up,” he said.
Regarding whether the Palestinians would seek a UN Security Council resolution recognizing a Palestinian state, Fayyad said, “We are looking for a state of Palestine, not a unilateral declaration of statehood.”
Asked if the Palestinian people would support a peace agreement, he said that “there has been a fundamental change in the mindset of the Palestinians” and that they were “fully committed to nonviolence.
“I think it’s time for the expectations to be set high, We have to believe that this can happen in order for it to happen.”
