There is no real peace partner in Israel, says Mustafa Al-Barghouthi

Saturday September 22, 2007 22:59 by IMEMC Staff saed at imemc dot org

In a press conference held in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Palestinian legislator, secretary-general of the Palestinian National Initiative, Dr. Mustafa Al-Barghouthi, stated that Israel is ongoing with its assaults against the Palestinian people and is not interested in being a real partner for peace.

Dr. Barghouthi stated that Israel’s declaration of the Gaza Strip as a hostile entity is a very dangerous step that could lead to further escalation, and added that such measures will have negative effects on the upcoming Fall Peace Conference.

He added that while the world is talking about a possible political breakthrough, Israel is unilaterally imposing its own version of the outcome of any peace talks.

Dr. Barghouthi said that Israel is barring Muslim worshippers from reaching the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, a step which is considered part of the Israeli measures to isolate Jerusalem from its surrounding Palestinian areas in an attempt to impose Israel’s position regarding rejecting talks on Jerusalem in the final status peace talks.

He also said that the current harsh measures and the increasing number of roadblocks are not due to the Jewish feasts as Israel claims, but are part of the Israeli policies of isolating Jerusalem from its surrounding Palestinian area.

Dr. Barghouthi pointed out that Israel claimed that it will allow elderly and women to reach the Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem during the holy month of Ramadan, but thousands of worshipers were barred from entering Jerusalem on Friday and were detained on roadblocks around Jerusalem.

He added that he was personally detained as he and a group of Palestinians tried to drive into Jerusalem in an attempt to reach the Al Aqsa Mosque, but the soldiers detained him and forty other men for several hours and barred them from entering the holy city.

Also, hundreds of residents were barred from entering Jerusalem while trying to reach the Al Aqsa mosque for Friday prayers, and when they decided to pray near the a roadblock soldiers fired at them rounds of live ammunition, gas bombs and rubber-coated bullets; one woman was injured by a live round in her head while she was standing next to her three-year old daughter.

Commenting on the recent Israeli decision to consider the Gaza Strip as a hostile entity, Dr, Barghouthi said that the Palestinian government and the Palestinian Liberation Organization should head to the Security Council and request a resolution which rules out the Israeli decision especially since considering the Gaza Strip as a hostile entity has six serious consequences;

1. Carrying a massive military offensive in the Gaza Strip.

2. Imposing further sieges on an area which is already economically suffocating and impoverished.

3. This decision is considered a collective punishment to more than 1.5 million Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip.

4. This decision is an attempt to implement the total isolation of the Gaza Strip from the West Bank.

5. This decision is an attempt to foil any positive outcomes of the upcoming fall peace conference.

6. This decision is an attempt to foil any attempt to create a contiguous Palestinian State, and thus creating isolated cantons.

Dr. Barghouthi also said that Israel escalated its military attacks in the Palestinian territories and carried twenty invasions last week, and also shot and killed a paralyzed residents while he was sitting on his wheelchair at his house.

He said that in the period between June 16 and September 20, the army killed 121 Palestinians, 29 in the West Bank, and 92 in the Gaza Strip, including 7 children.

Dr, Barghouthi stated that 970 children were killed by the army since the beginning of the Al Aqsa Intifada last September 2000.

Also during period between June 16 and September 20, soldiers shot and injured 385 Palestinians; 221 of them were shot in the Gaza Strip, including 59 children.

Commenting on the Israeli claims of facilitating the movement of residents in the West Bank, the number of roadblocks increased from 543 to 572, and while Israeli released 255 detainees, the army kidnapped 420 Palestinians.

He also stated that Israel did not provide any guarantees to stop its assaults, and to stop its settlement construction and expansion.

Dr, Barghouthi stated that the Palestinians must continue their nonviolent resistance, encourage steadfastness and unity, and should act on the international level to garner international support.

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