Palestinians blame Israeli settlements for deadlock

The United States envoy George J. Mitchell told Palestinian leaders on Friday that they had to resume talks with Israel if they wanted American help to achieve a peace treaty that would end Israeli occupation and create a Palestinian state, said the chief Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat. “We do not share a common point of view on this issue,” said Mr. Erekat, left, blaming the Israeli government’s refusal to freeze Jewish settlements around Jerusalem for the deadlock. “We want the resumption of negotiations. We are not obstructing negotiations.” Mr. Mitchell left the meeting without comment. NYT