Dr. Barghouthi accuses Israel of taking advantage of the Palestinian crisis to prevent creation of a Palestinian state

Editorial Note: The following news reports may be summaries from original sources. They may also include corrections of Arabic names and political terminology.

Date: 22 / 06 / 2007 Time: 13:44

Ramallah - Ma'an -

The secretary general of the Palestinian National Initiative, Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi, has warned that Israel is trying to take advantage of the Palestinian unrest to destroy Palestinian efforts to create an independent state.

During a meeting in the West Bank city of Ramallah with Roland Koch, president of the German federal republic of Hessen, Barghouthi discussed the Palestinian situation in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, paying special attention to the assassination attempts by the Israeli forces and the consequences of the illegal separation wall built on West Bank land.

"The Israeli authorities are taking advantage of the current situation in the Palestinian territories," said Barghouthi. According to him, Israel is trying to prevent the creation of a free Palestinian homeland by inducing the Palestinians fight it out amongst themselves, while aggravating matters by placing 530 checkpoints and an additional 600 movable roadblocks throughout the occupied West Bank.

Such action will facilitate Israel's long-term plan to link up Jerusalem with the Jordan Valley, Barghouthi told Koch.

The only way forward is through early elections, in order to improve internal Palestinian relations, Barghouthi added.

Barghouthi stressed the need to protect Palestinian civilians from hunger and demanded that the borders be re-opened. Also, he underlined the importance of safe-guarding the democratic process within the Palestinian territories, as well as maintaining the unity between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. He warned against any project that would target the West Bank alone.

Koch, for his part, expressed his concerns about the state of affairs in the Gaza Strip. He said that the division between Gaza and the West Bank is harmful to the Palestinian cause, the more so since the present situation is obstructing the possibility of negotiations with Israel. Therefore, Koch urged the Palestinians to resolve their differences urgently.

On a separate note, Barghouthi also warned on Friday about the humanitarian dangers looming as a result of the ongoing closure of the crossings into and out of the Gaza Strip.

Mentioning particularly the 6,000 Palestinians still stuck on the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing, located between the southern Gaza Strip and Egypt, Barghouthi said that "many lives, women, children and patience" were at risk if the current situation continues. He said that the Rafah crossing has been closed since June 11.

Barghouthi called on the international community to immediately intervene and put pressure on the Israeli side to reopen all the Gaza crossings and allow food and medical supplies in.

He also added that many people who are stuck at the crossings have run out of money and are living in the streets on the Egyptian side. He demanded an instant end to the civilians' current suffering, which he said is increasing by the day due to the spread of diseases amongst them as a result of the waiting and the hot weather.

In a press release, Barghouthi recalled that: "According to the Access of Movement Agreement (AMA) drawn up between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) in November 2005, Egypt and the PA should man the Rafah crossing, with the European Union assisting in a third party role. The AMA states that "The Government of Israel will not close a passage due to a security incident unconnected with the passage itself"."

Barghouthi also recalled that, from 28 June 2006 to 29 May 2007, Rafah crossing was only open 44% of scheduled working days and has only functioned 17% of scheduled working hours over this period.

Fair Use Notice

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.