Zahhar Says Washington Talks Provide Israel with a Cover for its Violations

[ 02/09/2010 - 12:43 PM ]

GAZA, (PIC)--

Dr. Mahmoud Al-Zahhar, the head of the national conference for the protection of constants, said that the Palestinian Authority's direct talks provide Israel with a cover for its crimes and its Judaization and settlement activities in the West Bank and occupied Jerusalem.

Dr. Zahhar, a senior Hamas official, made his remarks in the fourth national conference for the protection of constants which was held in Gaza on Wednesday in response to the resumption of direct negotiations in Washington. Different Palestinian officials, figures and dignitaries participated in the conference.

The Hamas official pointed out in his opening speech that de facto president Mahmoud Abbas has no mandate at all to speak on behalf of the Palestinian people in Washington talks.

He affirmed that Abbas pursues the policy of negotiations and making concessions in order to fulfill Israeli and American demands and serve his own personal interests at the expense of the Palestinian cause ignoring that tens of thousands of Palestinians had sacrificed their lives over a century in order to protect this cause.

The official stressed that the Palestinian constants are definitive and clear-cut and the Palestinian people have been unanimously defending and supporting them throughout the history of their conflict with the Israeli occupation, since the national charter in 1929.

In the same context, Palestinian premier Ismail Haneyya stated during his meeting with dignitaries and national figures on Wednesday evening that the Washington talks which the PA is involved in are taking place with an American summons and without any national cover.

Haneyya also expressed his confidence that these talks would fail as previous agreements and meetings with Israelis had failed, noting that the current negotiations were based on unjust Israeli conditions.

For his part, secretary-general of the Palestinian national initiative Mustafa Al-Barghouthi said it is not wise to go into negotiations with Israel in the absence of a clear binding framework and without ending settlement activities in the West Bank and Jerusalem, warning that this is a grave mistake that would inflict great damage on the Palestinian people's interests.

Barghouthi's remarks came during his participation in a popular sit-in organized on Wednesday in Ramallah by the national initiative movement, the popular front for liberation of Palestine, the democratic front, and the people's party in protest at the direct talks.

"Our protest today confirm that the majority of the Palestinian people are against such negotiations the results of which are determined by Netanyahu in advance and are taking place without halting settlement activities or identifying a framework for these talks, which indicates that the failure this time will be greater and more grave than the failure of Camp David in 2000," he underscored.

The popular front for the liberation of Palestine (PFLP) reiterated its rejection and condemnation of the PA's engagement in Washington talks and said these negotiations are being held according to Zio-American conditions and against the Palestinian consensus.

The PFLP called in a press release on Wednesday on the Palestinian factions and all national figures to assume their responsibilities and stand firmly against the attempt to erode the Palestinian people's rights and undermine his national and democratic achievements and options.

Abbas decided to go into talks with Israelis, although an aide to Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu had said yesterday prior to the launch of direct negotiations that the occupied city of Jerusalem would remain the eternal united capital of Israel.

Abu Zuhri: Resistance operations to continue in occupied WB

[ 02/09/2010 - 12:15 PM ]

GAZA, (PIC)--

Resistance operations in the West Bank will continue despite the security coordination between the Israeli occupation authority (IOA) and the Ramallah authority, Dr. Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman, said on Thursday.

He told a press conference in Gaza that Mahmoud Abbas does not represent the Palestinian people and is not entitled to negotiate in the name of the Palestinians.

There is no legitimacy for the direct negotiations between the IOA and Abbas, Abu Zuhri asserted, explaining that the negotiations were rejected by the people.

The Arab and international cover for those talks is valueless, he said, adding that the talks would not succeed in weakening the resistance project.

The detention of 550 cadres of Hamas since Al-Khalil operation and the formation of a joint security committee with the IOA to follow up investigations into the incident proved that Abbas's authority was a tool to protect the security of the IOA and settlers, the Hamas spokesman charged, adding that resistance is the real representative of the people and not Abbas's authority.

Hamas: Washington summit a shot at ‘liquidating’ Palestinian cause

[ 02/09/2010 - 12:28 PM ]

DAMASCUS, (PIC)--

Hamas has warned that the summit held in Washington and resumed direct peace talks with the "Zionist enemy" came in response to the U.S.-Israeli objective of “liquidating” the Palestinian cause.

A Hamas official said in a statement on Thursday that the movement rejects the negotiations “which are intended to be an impetus for the Obama administration before the Congressional elections, an umbrella to cover Israel’s crimes, a complement on settlement plans and Judaization of Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa, and a tool to lift its international isolation and improve its image after the terrorist war crimes committed in its attack against the besieged Gaza Strip and the deadly assault on the Freedom Flotilla.”

The talks are against national choice, Hamas confirmed, adding that they take place amid ongoing settlement activity and deportation operations against Palestinians in Jerusalem and throughout the West Bank.

“They only serve the criminal enemy and will not achieve our national goals,” the official stated.

The spokesman explained that Ramallah authority president Mahmoud Abbas, West Bank government president Salam Fayyad, and the Oslo Group “represent themselves only, and do not speak on behalf of our people, our aspirations, our cause, or our national constants.”

Hamas believes that national unity based on the resistance program and steadfastness is the only way to preserve constants and recover national rights, he concluded.

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