RAMALLAH, April 24, 2012 (WAFA) - PLO Executive Committee member and lawmaker Hanan Ashrawi Tuesday stressed that all settlements are illegal, whether they are labeled as outposts or cities.

She said in a statement in response to Israeli attempt to legalize three settlement outposts in the West Bank that “such organized efforts to legalize the illegal outposts of Bruchin, Rechelim and Sansa are a deliberate attempt to circumvent international law and to scuttle all chances for peace.”

She said that the Israeli decision was in response to President Mahmoud Abbas’ last week letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and to persistent international condemnations of settlement activities.

“As such, this sends a clear message to both the international community and to the Palestinians that Israel is more committed to land theft than peacemaking,” she said.

“It is time that the Quartet and international community go beyond statements and verbal condemnations and take concrete steps to curb Israel’s violation’s, including legal political and economic sanctions,” concluded Ashrawi.

M.S.