Voices Loud Against PA, Israeli Talks

02/09/2010 With Palestinians in both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank staging a sit-in to protest the resumption of direct talks between the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Israel, many voices have opposed these negotiations saying they’re doomed to failure.

The Palestinians in Ramallah and Gaza have been staging protests against the decision, arguing that the United States has never been a true mediator for peace while they seriously question Israel's commitment to peace. "Israel must hold settlement expansions before we can go to start negotiations," Jameel al-Majdalawi, a leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, told Press TV.

Walid al-Walad from the Palestinian People's Party demanded an immediate stop to direct negotiations. "Israel will exploit these talks, buy time and build more settlements, and make it impossible to have a Palestinian state," he warned

On August 20, the PA agreed to US calls to sit at the negotiating table with Israel at the summit on September 2 in Washington, despite vehement opposition from several Palestinian factions. The PA withdrew from direct talks with Israel some 20 months ago in the wake of Tel Aviv's devastating offensive on the Gaza Strip, which killed more than 1,400 Palestinians -- mostly civilians.

RESISTANCE THE ONLY OPTION

Hezbollah issued a statement on Wednesday that negotiations, direct or indirect, will achieve nothing for Palestinians. Hezbollah commented on Hamas' West Bank shooting in which four Israeli settlers were killed, saying this came to prove that the resistance in the only option. Hezbollah condemned "international silence which is often supportive of the Zionist occupation."

An Iranian lawmaker censured the direct talks, saying the US-led plan will fail. "As previous plans by the US and Zionist regime against the Palestinian people achieved no result, this plan will also bear no fruit," Gholamali Haddad-Adel said on Wednesday.

He added that International Quds Day rallies would be an appropriate chance for the Iranian nation and all Muslims across the world to condemn the US-brokered peace negotiations, Fars news agency reported. According to the Iranian lawmaker, the Palestine-Israel conflict will not be solved thorough holding such talks.

TALKS DESTINED TO FAIL

Jailed Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti also condemned the talks saying they are destined to fail and the Palestinians must instead focus on ending their deep national divide. In written answers to questions from Reuters, Barghouti said "the problem is not in the principle of negotiations, which we accept, but that without a popular foundation and action on the ground which supports negotiations, they will not reach any results". "The alternative is achieving national reconciliation and unity and in wider participation in popular resistance to the occupation," he said.

Barghouti urged a wider boycott of Israeli-manufactured goods and said the Palestinians must mobilize international support to impose the sort of isolation on Israel. He said Israel must commit to withdrawing from those territories and to cede the Palestinians sovereignty over East Jerusalem. It must also agree to a resolution to the plight of Palestinian refugees in line with U.N. resolutions.

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