based Al-Jazirah said Washington has been urging the Palestinians to join direct negotiations despite the fact that indirect negotiations have not yielded positive results. The paper noted that at a time when people are preoccupied by speaking about direct negotiations, Israel has been going ahead on its settlement policy with an American-European support. "The Israelis have been demolishing houses in al-Quds and displacing the Palestinians while the Israeli deputy interior minister is celebrating launching of a new settlement in Hebron," said the paper, adding that despite all these facts Washington has been calling for the resumption of direct negotiation between the Palestinians and Israelis. US special envoy for peace in the middle east George Mitchell has recently visited Egypt hoping for the Egyptian support to the principle of direct negotiations, the daily said, asking how can Washington urge the Palestinians to get back to negotiations tables under dictates of Israel.
