Erekat: About that statehood thing? Just kidding.

One thing to one audience, one thing to another. Saeb Erekat told the Jerusalem Post today that the Palestinian Authority is not, in fact, planning to unilaterally declare a Palestinian state.

"What we are asking the world to do is to specify the borders of the state as the 1967 border," Erekat said. "I want to make sure the Israeli people understand that we are not speaking of a unilateral declaration... this is not an option."

That would pretty clearly seem to contradict his interview with AFP this weekend, when Erekat said the PA wants "recognition of an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital and with June 1967 borders."

Erekat should really tell his boss, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, who reiterated today in Cairo (عربي) that he still plans to ask the U.N. Security Council to recognize the Palestinian state.

Abbas said the "harsh reality" in the region drove him to his current position.

After meeting with Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, Abbas told reporters in Cairo that "the decision to declare an independent state is not a unilateral decision."

He said a resolution was issued by the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee after a recent meeting; the committee agreed to go to the Security Council and say that it supports an independent Palestinian state.

Abbas said Mubarak supported the PA's decision not to resume peace talks until Israel agrees to a full settlement freeze.

This is all probably a moot point: The U.S. and European Union both rejected the unilateral-statehood idea earlier this week, virtually ensuring it will die in the Security Council. It seems like a gambit designed to focus the Israeli mind, much like Erekat's suggestion earlier this month that the PA might have to ditch the two-state solution and push for one state.

If Bibi Netanyahu sees the alternatives, the thinking goes, maybe he'll be more amenable to peace talks.

Doesn't seem to be working, does it?

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