Abu Mazen Tells the Arab Media What He Really Thinks
www.israelnationalnews.com ^ | 11:12 Oct 11, '06 / 19 Tishrei 5767 | www.israelnationalnews.com
israelnationalnews.com
Deemed a ‘moderate’ by Israel and the United States, PA (Palestinian Authority) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) told the Arab media his Fatah Party needn’t recognize Israel.
While both Israel and the United States reject the legitimacy of the Hamas-led PA government, they are placing their hopes for peace with the PA on Abu Mazen, who heads the Fatah opposition party.
Abu Mazen, whose doctoral thesis surrounds his denial of the Holocaust, is deemed a ‘moderate’ in today’s political arena, and is seen as the only option to replace Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyah.
Abu Mazen, of late, has not missed an opportunity to tell world leaders that one of his criteria for entering into a coalition government with Hamas is the latter’s formal recognition of the State of Israel’s right to exist. This alongside a number of other demands which have contributed to his increasing popularity among Israeli and American lawmakers.
In a recent Arabic-language interview with al-Arabiya, Abu Mazen told the Islamic world what he really thinks, stating that Hamas, Fatah and the PFLP Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine) do not have to formally recognize Israel, contradicting his statements to US Secretary of State Dr. Condoleezza Rice.
Just last week, in Ramallah, Abu Mazen told Rice during her brief regional visit that Fatah will insist that the ruling Hamas Party recognize Israel as one of his preconditions to entering into a coalition agreement, along with his demands that Hamas disarm, cease terror, and honor existing agreements signed in the past by Yasser Arafat. In addition, above all, Abu Mazen has stated he will not sign any coalition with Hamas until such time as IDF soldier Corporal Gilad Shalit is released from captivity. Shalit was taken captive on June 25.
Sources in PA-controlled Gaza continue to release messages that, while they favor Shalit’s release, the move is being vetoed by Hamas politburo leader Khaled Meshal, who is based in Damascus.
Rice told reporters at a joint press conference that she has “great admiration” for Abu Mazen. She is pressuring Israel in turn to act to boost the Fatah leader’s popularity among PA residents in the hope of ousting the current Hamas-led administration. Rice recently pressured Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to unfreeze $500 million in tax-revenue funds, insisting that if the PA is permitted to collapse, anarchy would be the result and such a situation would significantly harm the fragile regional realities that exist today.
Despite American support for Fatah and pressure on Israel, reports from the PA indicate coalition talks between Abu Mazen and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyah are deadlocked, with Hamas unwilling to play Fatah’s game, unwilling to make statements that will appease the White House.
Haniyah and his senior aides remain tenacious in their refusal to recognize Israel. They insist they will never comply with such a demand.
In the meantime, the groundwork is being laid for a meeting between Abu Mazen and Olmert, one that Olmert insisted would not take place prior to Shalit’s release by the terror organization.
Published: 07:22 October 11, 2006 Last Update: 11:12 October 11, 2006 |
