Hamas: internal dialogue is back to ground zero

Saturday July 05, 2008 14:54 by Ghassan Bannoura - IMEMC News

Mahmud Al Zahar, a prominent Hamas leader in Gaza, stated Saturday that the Palestinian internal dialogue is back to ground zero. He added that that there are no new developments on that front. Al Zahar also said that Ramallah officials don’t have the capacity to enter a serious dialogue because of the American and European Veto.

Mahmud Al Zahar - File 2008

Al Zahar said to Alwatan Saudi news paper on Saturday that the Berlin conference revealed that there is an American European Veto over the Palestinian internal dialogue process.

He said that this Veto sets unreasonable conditions on Hamas and the other political groups, and that Hamas rejects this interference.

Al Zahar put the responsibility for the lack of Palestinian internal unity on the western world, and accused those nations of interfering on Israel's behalf. He added that even if a dialogue happens, former negative experiences will prevail, pointing out that the US-backed Fateh movement has no unity in its stand towards internal affairs.

Al Zahar's statements came after leaders of his party, Hamas (led by Palestinian Prime Minister, Ismail Haniyya), and the rival Fateh, led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, traded accusations this week over the blocking of a genuine national dialogue.

On Thursday, a Fateh official in the West Bank, Ahmad Abdelrahman, said that Haniyya's visit to the abandoned Palestinian Presidential headquarters in Gaza indicates the "Hamas domination of Gaza".

Meanwhile, Sami Abu Zuhri, the Hamas spokesman in Gaza, criticized recent remarks by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to foreign media outlets that Hamas should "adhere to international demands". 

When asked by an IMEMC correspondent about current Palestinian efforts to bridge the gap between Fateh and Hamas for the benefit of Palestinian unity, Rabah Mhanna, a Gaza-based leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine stated, " In this respect, we have opened up the profile of political detainees of both sides in Gaza and Ramallah, with the aim of emptying the prisons of such detainees, as a preliminary step towards dialogue. In addition, we have proposed forming a preliminary committee to organize a comprehensive national dialogue and we are working tirelessly with all parties concerned".

Since Hamas was elected to lead the Palestinian government by popular vote in 2006, the party has been sidelined by America, Israeli and western governments.

International players demand that Hamas give up the right of return of Palestinian refugees by "recognizing the jewish state", drop its resistance agenda and adhere to previously signed peace agreements with Israel.  These Western leaders have demanded these things of Hamas without placing any demands on the occupying state of srael, who continue to illegally occupy all Palestinian land and dominate every aspect of their lives, in addition to causing the vast majority of the casualties in the Israel-Palestine conflict.

In June 2007, Hamas-led forces ousted Fatah-loyal security personnel and leaders from the Gaza Strip amidst factional fighting with the Fatah party. Afterwards, Abbas outlawed Hamas and demanded an end to what he called the ' coup against legitimacy', before any dialogue could be initiated with the Hamas party. Last month , Abbas launched an initiative for dialogue, based on a Yemeni proposal for reconciliation.

gaza strip | palestinian politics | news report ghassanb at imemc dot org