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Palestinian factions reiterate rejection of direct peace talks

02 September 2010 19:11 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Several Palestinian opposition groups, including Islamic Hamas movement, reiterated Thursday their rejection of direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) that would open in Washington, APA reports quoting Xinhua News Agency.

Sami Abu Zuhri, Hamas spokesman in Gaza, told reporters that the direct talks in Washington "have no legitimacy because the Palestinian people rebuff it."

"There is no value or importance for any Arab or international cover as long as these talks don’t have a national Palestinian cover," he said.

"(Mahmoud) Abbas doesn’t have the right to negotiate on behalf of the Palestinian people or even represent them," Abu Zuhri said, adding that "any results would come out of these talks won’t be abiding to our people, and Hamas movement wouldn’t accept any plan that targets the basic rights of our people."

Meanwhile, Ahmed al-Mudallal, a member of Islamic Jihad (Holy War) movement told reporters that what happens in Washington "is an elimination of the just Palestinian cause," adding that "it is a conspiracy against the Palestinian cause and a preparation to a large regional aggression."

He called on all the parties in the negotiations to be responsible for the results. The results "would never commit the Palestinian people and their political powers to anything and no one has the right to negotiate on behalf of the Palestinian people and their cause," he said.

Left-wing parties and non-governmental Palestinian organizations announced on August 25 a series of activities against the decision of accepting the U.S. invitation to hold direct peace negotiations with Israel over the permanent status issues.

Jamil Mezher, a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) said in a written press statement that the resumption of the negotiations "is a real threat and a serious danger to the future of the Palestinian national strategy."

Mezher expressed pessimism towards the possibility of reaching a permanent peace agreement with Israel.

The negotiations are going on in accordance to certain terms, as well as threats and pressures from the United States and Israel, he said, adding that "such threats are serving Israel’s interests. "

Tayseer Khaled, a member of the left-wing Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), warned of being dragged to the dangers of the direct peace negotiations between Israel and the PNA "by focusing only on security arrangements and exclude other substantial issues such as refugees."

Khaled called for establishing a comprehensive political reference to the experience of the negotiations with the Israeli side "in order not to repeat the same tragedies that happened in the previous rounds of the negotiations with Israel."

"We should look for other alternatives that protect our rights, " he said.

It is the first time that Israel and the PNA decide to go for direct peace talks since the negotiation came to a halt in December 2008.

Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said before flying to Washington that the direct peace negotiations with Israel wouldn’t succeed if Israel kept expanding settlement on the Palestinian territories, mainly in east Jerusalem. He also said that the Palestinians "won’t loose anything if they go to the direct negotiations."

Abbas’ Fatah party has meanwhile accused its rival Hamas of two successive attacks on Tuesday and Wednesday in the West Bank, where four Israelis were killed and two wounded. Fatah said that the attacks aimed "to ruin the direct peace negotiations and create a status of chaos in the territory."

The PNA and Islamic Hamas movement, which rule the Gaza Strip, traded accusations over intensive arrests on Thursday in the West Bank after Hamas claimed responsibility for two attacks on Israelis in the occupied territory.

The PNA said that Hamas’ claims that hundreds of its supporters were arrested there "are no more than lies" while Hamas said that up to about 550 of its members and supporters had been detained.