Qassem to Abbas: Reconciliation does not match with security coordination

[ 24/04/2010 - 04:41 PM ]

GAZA, (PIC)-- Political science professor Abdul Sattar Qassem on Saturday told Mahmoud Abbas, the PA chief whose tenure in office expired last year, that wanting reconciliation does not match with maintaining security coordination with the Israeli occupation authority (IOA).

Qassem told the PIC that if the main reasons for the division were dealt with then reconciliation would automatically follow, but he recalled that former reconciliations in 2005 and 2007 did not live long because the basic reasons for the rift were not treated.

For his part, Fayez Abu Shammale, a Palestinian writer and political analyst, told the PIC that Abbas should have approved negotiations with Hamas instead of announcing readiness to have talks with all Jewish forces in the world.

Abbas acknowledged that the IOA practices on the ground were tearing up the foundations of a Palestinian state, yet he was still adamant on negotiations with the IOA because he did not seek to have an alternative choice, Abu Shammale added.

He described the Palestinian factions' position regarding Abbas's policy as "careless".

A prominent Hamas leader said that Abbas's speech did not carry anything new but rather reiterated the same old phrases accusing Hamas of delaying reconciliation, and insisting on negotiations with the IOA.

Dr. Salah Al-Bardawil said in a press release that the only new thing was Abbas's open demand on Hamas to recognize the two-state solution in order to accomplish national reconciliation.

The Hamas-affiliated change and reform bloc expressed absolute dismay over Abbas's repeated attempt to market the illusion of peace, adding that his speech was full of "lies".

It said that Abbas and his entourage, who refuse political partnership, should declare in a courageous stand their acceptance of amending the Egyptian proposed national reconciliation agreement as what have been agreed upon during the dialog sessions.

Hamas: The national reconciliation is practices, not a signature on paper

[ 24/04/2010 - 02:37 PM ]

GAZA, (PIC)-- The Movement of Hamas said it did not see any serious tone in Mahmoud Abbas’s speech, affirming that the national reconciliation is not slogans or a signature on paper, but it is procedures and practices.

In a press statement to the Palestinian information center (PIC), Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri stressed that his Movement is ready for the national reconciliation, but Abbas’s behavior on the ground confirms he is not serious at all and this is evident in the ongoing political arrests and trials taking place against Hamas cadres in the West Bank.

“Abbas’s speech reflects that he is dealing selectively with Egypt’s reconciliation paper; he wants presidential and legislative elections while ignoring the elections of the Palestine liberation organization, although it was approved by the Egyptian paper,” spokesman Abu Zuhri underlined.

Commenting on Abbas’s intention to supervise national dialog between the factions after the signing, the spokesman said that this mechanism was not agreed upon because Abbas is a party to the conflict in his capacity as the head of Fatah faction, adding that Abbas asserted that the elections should be held first before discussing the other contentious issues and this collides in general with Cairo talks.

He pointed out that raising the issue of the reconciliation in this way by Abbas is aimed at covering up the preparations for resuming peace negotiations between Israel and Fatah.

In separate incidents, Abbas’s militias kidnapped 16 Palestinian citizens affiliated with Hamas in the districts of Jenin, Qalqiliya, Ramallah and Salfit.

The Israeli occupation forces at Jaba checkpoint, for their part, kidnapped two students at Al-Quds university after tying and beating them up.



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