Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad did not attend today’s scheduled delegation meeting with the Israeli government, instead sending chief negotiator Saef Erekat with a five page letter reiterating the Palestinians’ hopes for the peace talks and detailing the demands their side has.

 

The demands are nothing new – calling for a halt to settlement construction in the occupied West Bank and saying that the 1967 borders should be the initial basis of negotiations for the two-state solution.

Israeli officials have naturally ruled out both conditions several times, saying that the 1967 borders are “indefensible” and that they will never again agree to a settlement freeze after ending a partial freeze in September 2010, which marked the end to the last round of peace talks.