The pleading by Abbas for direct negotiations with Israel is incomrehensible. Israel stands in illegal occupation of Palestinian territory for 38 years in defiance of international law and repeated Security Council resolutions. Immediate and complete termination of this illegal occupation should be demanded by the Palestinian Authority, as well as the USA and all those who claim to speak for international legitimacy and the UN Charter. When Iraq illegally occupied Kuwait,in 1990, no one said the Kuwaitis should negotiate with the Iraqis about withdrawal from 90% or otherwise of their land. A Security Council resolution was passed, and when withdrawal was not accomplished in few weeks, the US and its allies sent nearly a million troops and evicted Iraqi forces from Kuwait, besides bombing and destroying the entire infrastructure of Iraq. Even after the eviction of Iraqi troops from Kuwait, the US and the UK claimed that Iraq was not in full compliance with one Security Council resolution and imposed economic sanctions, that brought about the death of over a million Iraqis, mostly children.