The Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas welcomed the decision by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) to take part in the upcoming parliament election scheduled for July 17, Palestinian sources reported.
Abbas told a press conference in the Arab-South American conference in Brazil, that he encourages all the Palestinian political parties to take part in this political process.
‘It is good to be ready to take part in the elections in July, but we must also resume the political process’ Abbas said, and added, ‘If Hamas wins, this is the responsibility and the choice of the Palestinian people and everybody should accept and respect the results.’
Questioning the Israeli democracy, Abbas said if Israel does not accept the result of the Palestinian elections, ‘it approves that it is not a democracy.’
Responding to a question on possible re-launch of attacks by Palestinians, Abbas said ‘the activists are calm and they act rationally. That was ‘past’ we are optimistically looking for the future now.’
The president reiterated the Palestinian Authority’s commitment to the internationally backed ‘Road Map’ peace plan in the Middle East, which calls for the establishment of a Palestinian state to live safe and secure beside Israel.
‘Despite the very bad economic situation and the infrastructure in the Palestinian areas, we are still committed to the peace process and we are certain that the Palestinian state will be established sooner than we expect.’
However, Abbas accused Israel of weakening the peace efforts and said the continuous settlement expansion and the construction of the wall, do not reflect any good will from the side of Israel.
‘It is necessary that Israel takes clear moves towards us, to indicate the peace is coming. They [Israeli leaders] do not show positive indications for the Palestinian People’
The final statement by the conference clearly stated and supported the right of nations under occupation to fight this occupation, a comment that Israel expressed dissatisfaction towards.
