Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Nazzal: The Gaza crisis is not related to mere funds but to the Israeli siege


GAZA, (PIC)-- Mohamed Nazzal, a member of the Hamas political bureau, stated Monday that the crisis of Gaza had never been primarily related to the provision of funds, but to the blockade imposed by Israel and the closure of crossings.

In a press statement, Nazzal castigated the Sharm Al-Sheikh conference for only urging Israel to open the crossings instead of pressuring it.

The Hamas leader charged that there are attempts to blackmail his Movement and the legitimate government in Gaza through reconstruction funds and associating them with recognizing the middle east quartet's conditions, highlighting that the conditions of the quartet have nothing to do with the reconstruction issue.

He also noted that ignoring the legitimate Palestinian government headed by premier Ismail Haneyya is considered avoiding facts and a negative indicator for politicizing the reconstruction funds.

Salah Al-Bardawil, a member of the Hamas parliamentary bloc, said that demanding his Movement to recognize the Israeli occupation and the previous agreements signed with it is unjust and not based on facts on the ground.

Bardawil added Monday that the Europeans do not want to speak out frankly to their peoples about their connivance with the Zionist entity against the Palestinian democracy, but rather they try to cover this complicity through creating a series of demands in order not to deal with the outcome of this democracy

As for demanding Hamas to abide by previous PA-Israeli agreements, the lawmaker underlined that the only results of these agreements on the ground is destruction, adding that if late PA chief Yasser Arafat's commitment to these agreements ended up with him being besieged and murdered, there is nothing that encourages Hamas to abide by such agreements.

"Israel is only committed to systematic destruction of the peace process, the Judaization of Jerusalem and the return of no refugees, so are we supposed to abide by all that Israel commits itself to?!" the lawmaker asked.

He added that the western countries have to pressure Israel to abide by the international legitimacy and the agreements signed with late Arafat and declare its borders within the UN resolutions, adding that the Europeans should question Israel about the agreements it respected and abided by and take answers from it and then talk with the Movement.

The lawmaker expressed fears that the Sharm Al-Sheikh conference would lead to the eruption of the inter-Palestinian differences again, warning of the attempts to drag these differences into the reconstruction issue.

Hamas demands Arab and Islamic stands against Israeli violations


GAZA, (PIC)-- The Hamas Movement on Tuesday deplored the Israeli decision to establish 73, 000 settlement units in the West Bank, calling for taking Palestinian, Arab and Islamic stands to pressure Israel to stop all forms of violations against the Palestinian people.

In a press statement received by the PIC, Hamas said while the American officials visit the region to revive the peace process and make promises about the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, the Israeli government announces its intention to expand settlements in the West Bank,.

Hamas underlined that Israel is still persistent in ignoring all appeals of its allies for halting settlement activities and respect the peace process.

MP Mona Mansour, a member of the Hamas parliamentary bloc, stated that the new Israeli scheme to build thousands of settlement units dealt a heavy blow to all those who cling to the illusions of peace with the Israeli occupation.

MP Mansour urged the Palestinian factions in Cairo to unite ranks to repel this Zionist attack and resist the Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people and their land.