AhlulBayt News Agency - Over the last two decades there have been some so-called peace negotiations, approved by the Palestinian Authority in the 1990s. The Palestinians were told that the talks would be a viable mechanism through which they would obtain their usurped rights from the Israeli regime.
However, the talks brought the Palestinian people not but more disasters and scourges like wars and seizing what remained of the Palestine’s lands. And despite the fact that the Palestinian Authority and many Arab countries have asserted repeatedly that the negotiations with Tel Aviv are “dead and buried and even rotten” with no memorable thing of them is left, but it seems that the Palestinian Authority is ready to go to them once again, ignoring the fact that the Israeli regime exploits the negotiations to buy time for concluding its projects and plans and not to give back the Palestinians any of their rights.
In the past few days, the French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabious has called on the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli regime to launch what he called a new round of negotiations for reaching a deal based on the two-state solution.
What is Gaza-based Hamas movement’s stance on any possible negotiations of the Palestinian Authority with the Israelis? To answer the question and discover other cases, the Alwaght News has conducted an interview with Ismail al-Ashqar, the Palestinian Member of Parliament and one of Hamas’ leaders.
Q: What is France by means of its Foreign Minister Fabious seeking through proposing that negotiations be resumed between the Israeli regime and the Palestinian Authority with the excuse of establishing a Palestinian state based on the terms of two-state solution?
Al-Ashqar: The West thinks that the Palestinian cause’s settlement is a product of establishment of two states, a Palestinian state and as it is known disarmed and weak and disunited like spots on a leopard’s body, and in the opposite side, an Israeli state strengthened over our Palestinian people. I believe that what they are trying to raise afresh has proved a failure previously, because the Zionist occupation has usurped a majority of the Palestinian lands though settlement and through wide expansion throughout the West Bank. Therefore, this project (two-state solution) has become impossible to implement on the ground. I think that the European countries, including France, have renewed their efforts to solve the Palestinian issue no matter it is satisfactory or not for our Palestinian people.
Q: In Hamas’ viewpoint, what are the threats the two-state solution could bring forth?
Al-Ashqar: Proposing a new round of talks to achieve a two-state solution is a waste of time once again, because the Palestinian issue should not be dealt with this way, but it must be clearly explained. This two-state solution now is an unreal case and thus rejected. So, we do not see but only one solution and it is that the negotiation with the Zionist occupation is productive only through the language of armed resistance and pushing the occupiers out of our territories and our holy places. And talks with the Israeli regime would not yields any results.
Q: Some of the Israeli officials said that they found the remarks of the French Foreign Minister Fabious, who said that should the talks fail, France would officially recognize a Palestinian state, as encouraging the Palestinians to push the negotiations towards a dead end once they are resumed between them and the Israelis. What is Hamas’ interpretation of such suspicious Israeli remarks?
Al-Ashqar: I reiterate that any return to the negotiations table brings the Palestinians no products but more waste of time. These talks have wasted more than 22 years and so what Fabious and the likes are attempting to achieve is a fragmentation of the Palestinian cause through pushing for fresh negotiations. Based on the realities that we are living and seeing on the ground, the accomplishment of the two-state plan- establishing a Palestinian state and an Israeli one- is impossible. Thereby, our people are left with only one choice: armed confrontation.
Q: There is an analysis which suggests that the West and the Israeli regime are trying, through Fabious’ proposal for resuming the talks and reaching a two-state deal, to deceive the Palestinians in to fresh negotiations to buy Tel Aviv more time to proceed with its settlement projects and its current criminal acts against the Palestinians. What is your view of that?
Al-Ashqar: Yes, this is a right analysis and it is a precise and straight vision. How is it possible for a Palestinian state to be established while the Zionist occupation is still devouring the West Bank’s lands? Where is a Palestinian state supposed to be established? In the sky? Or on the papers? Would it have any place in the world? I think that the Palestinians could not wrest their rights through such solutions as two-state settlement, and therefore, they should not be deceived once again in to absurd negotiations.
Q: In recent days, we have heard that Mohammed Dahlan, backed by countries like the UAE, is trying to replace Mahmoud Abbas as the Palestinian Authority’s president. What is Hamas’ stance on Dahlan and would you accept him as a Palestinian president?
Al-Ashqar: There are regional and international negotiations held by the UAE and others countries to nominate Mohammed Dahlan once again to replace the current Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. This is rejected by our Palestinian people. Mr. Dahlan is refused by the Fatah movement and by Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank as well. He is rejected on the Palestinian level and he has no chance to impose himself on the Palestinian people. A lot of efforts are being made by some countries to replace Mahmoud Abbas with a figure that is approved by the US and the Israeli regime. But our people would approve a figure it chooses through elections.
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