Haniyeh: Abbas is preventing national dialogue

Monday November 12, 2007 16:12 by PNN - IMEMC News

Ismail Haniyeh, the deposed Palestinian Prime Minister, on Monday stated that the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is rendering national dialogue practically impossible by placing unrealistic demands on the Hamas movement.

Deposed Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh

Haniyeh stated that the only way out of the internal Palestinian crisis would be a national agreement, based on comprehensive national talks between the Fatah and Hamas parties, adding that while Hamas was ready for talks, President Abbas remained unwilling.

Haniyeh added that the Hamas party has, throughout its time in office - after winning legislative elections in January 2006 - been extremely willing to consider all initiatives for national dialogue and unity, be they Arab, Palestinian or European initiatives, but such moves have been rejected by Fatah and the Palestinian Authority.

Haniyeh reiterated earlier statements that the Hamas party had no intention of establishing a separate entity in the Gaza Strip, adding that "since the first day, Hamas has stated that what happened [in Gaza] was an unplanned security procedure and that the movement is committed to the unity of the Palestinian territories as a whole."

The deposed Prime Minister identified several reasons why internal dialogue had not been established, among them the fact that the atmosphere in the region has been set for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, rather than dialogue between Palestinians. 

Another roadblock preventing national dialogue, said Haniyeh, is the embargo on the Palestinian people imposed by the U.S. and Israel.  He stated that the embargo is an attempt to force Hamas out of power, and that the upcoming ‘Annapolis summit’ is aimed at the same end – imposing conditions on the Palestinian people to force Hamas out of power.

Haniyeh affirmed that no Palestinian ‘leader’ [a reference to rival Mahmoud Abbas, the U.S.-authorized representative of the Palestinian people] is allowed to give away the basic rights of Palestinians.  The most essential rights, according to Haniyeh, are the Right of Return of the Palestinian refugees, the right to maintain Jerusalem as a Palestinian capital city, and the right to retain the land of the Palestinian territories as a whole. 

He indicated that Hamas had rescinded the authorization the party had earlier given to President Abbas in accordance with the national agreements.

He warned of the dangerous consequences of the upcoming of the peace conference, which would affect both the Palestinian cause and the Arab region as a whole.  He stated that the expected outcomes of the summit are to achieve American and Israeli objectives in the region, while trampling on Palestinian rights. 

Israel has already indicated that its objective in the late-November summit is to achieve the dismantling and disarming of Palestinian resistance groups.  The draft presented by Riyadh Mansour, the Palestinian representative to the United Nations, would criminalize the Palestinian resistance to the Israeli occupation.  The draft described Hamas movement as an outlawed Militia, despite the fact that Hamas is a political party that won legislative elections last year.

Haniyeh rejected Mansour’s draft statement outright, and stated that he was encouraged by the Arab states, who have all rejected the draft statement as well.  He described the Arab stance as balanced towards the Palestinian situation, adding that the draft was submitted to the European Union, not the Arab Union, in the midst of widespread denouncements of the draft by Arab nations.  Even so, according to Haniyeh, various European leaders as well have agreed that there can be no Palestinian settlement without Hamas, and no peace in the region without restoring the basic rights of Palestinian people and the national principles of a Palestinian state.

He addressed President Abbas directly in his statement, saying that many of Abbas’ objectives in Gaza – namely an end to lawlessness and chaos and the establishment of a security infrastructure – have already been accomplished by the Hamas rule in Gaza.

The Fateh leadership has yet to respond to the allegations made by Haniyeh, but media sources have confirmed the previous rejection of several Hamas initiatives.

Translated by Manar Jibrin, edited by Saed Bannoura

gaza strip | palestinian politics | news report manarjibrin at gmail dot com