Exclusive: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to Echorouk: “We rejected the U.S. pressure aiming to stop the Palestinian reconciliation “

Palestinians are live difficult conditions in light of the continuing siege on Gaza and failure of the U.S. Department to find a final solution to the conflict after pledging promises to the Palestinians and Arabs.

And in light of the Israeli escalation of settlement and destruction of holy places, Echorouk Newspaper opens a comprehensive interview with the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, to shed light on important files about interpretations and accusations against the Palestinian issue.

“We absolutely rejected the idea of a Jewish state, because it proves the Zionist story on the nature of the region and would deprive more than a million and half Palestinian Muslims and Christians from their rights as citizens. We are aware of the malicious intent behind this requirement”, President Abbas Mahmoud says.

“If Arab and Muslim countries agreed on one plan to work at the U.S level and show the size of U.S interests our Arab and Islamic world things would change. What Israel did and still doing is illegal and we do not accept imposing facts. This is opposing every international initiative and conventions and the whole world knows that settlement and occupation are illegitimate. Palestinian refugees suffered a lot in Lebanon camps. We connected some Lebanese officials and told them that we do not accept resettlement, and ask for better living conditions including their rights to work, education and treatment”, he adds.

“Americans put pressure on us in order to prevent signing the reconciliation document and told us that Congress will take the decision to stop supporting us, however, we insisted on signing the Egyptian document. Armed militias will not remain in the Palestinian street, because our people suffered a lot. Those who work for the security services will join the work in government institutions or private market according to their efficiency”.

“Algeria hosted several sessions of our national councils and its officials contributed to resolving conflicts between the Palestinian organizations and parties, especially my brother President Abdelaziz Bouteflika who supported us with advices and who was keen to ensure the fulfillment of Algeria’s financial obligations to the Palestinian authority and Palestinian Organization of Liberation. Fifty-eight percent of the state treasury goes to our people in Gaza and 77.000 workers in the strip get their monthly wages from government which pays for electricity, water, medicines to hospitals and other things we consider to be our duty. Iran was not faithful after the victory of revolution despite our support to its struggle against Shah’s regime. It exploited the conflict between Palestinians and supported them against each others to create a civil war”.

Echorouk: Prospects of the political process and the Israeli intransigence and attempt to grab Palestinian strategic positions aiming to reach recognition of a Jewish state had consequences, including substantial benefits before entering into negotiations. What are the limits of the Palestinian position in this case?

P.Abbas Mahmoud: Our strategic aim is to end occupation in the West Bank and Gaza strip, and establish our state and its capital Jerusalem (Qods) and Israeli settlement has no legitimacy.  We categorically rejected this situation since the beginning of Israeli attempts two years ago. I made things clear to every Israeli official and during the meetings with Jewish communities in the United States, including AIPAC powerful organization, as well as the French Jewish community. I told them that there had been a mutual recognition between Israel and the Palestinian Organization of Liberation which is the legitimate and only representative of the Palestinians under Oslo Accords in 1993.

Echorouk: There had been a promotion to the U.S. position especially at the stage of the current American president Barack Obama on the grounds that he has not a clear political vision and determination to solve the Palestinian cause, and after nearly two years, it seems that there is no hope for a strong U.S position to put pressure on Israel, particularly after success of the Republicans in the recent parliamentary elections. Could you please evaluate the Arab opinion towards the American positions? And will the Arabs and Palestinians change their positions if the U.S. Department will not show decisive steps?

P. Abbas Mahmoud: Yes we become optimistic like many others after Barack Obama was elected as President of the United States leading the campaign of “Change”. I had met him in Ramallah before the elections and I told him about many things concerning the Arab Peace Initiative. He said that he would consider the Palestinian case as one of his first priorities if he will be the president and expressed astonishment because Israel did not response to the Arab initiative. We were encouraged by his historical speech at Cairo University, where he asked for a total freeze of the Israeli settlement in the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem. He appointed Senator George Mitchell as his special envoy to the peace process in an early stage of his mandate. A document of the U.S. National Security Strategy by Barack Obama to the Congress on June, 1st 2010, included a paragraph which stated that the United States seeks a two-state separation to live in peace and security, and that the Palestinian state must be independent and able to live on realted lands, a solution that may end occupation which begun in 1967. This policy was rejected by the Israeli government headed by Netanyahu, and diplomatic crisis occurred between the two countries in more than one occasion, then the powerful lobby in favor of Israel moved in the U.S asking its department to stop pressure on Israel and a large number of congressmen, including Republicans and Democrats, were recruited for this objective. The subject is not betting on the U.S. position, as if it is the only option for Palestinians and Arabs, but this does not mean ignoring the central role of USA.

Some say American Veto impeded the Palestinian reconciliation. Were American pressures and others put on the Authority to not go towards reconciliation? The reconciliation stumbled a lot. Each time Palestinians and Arabs were about to count the minutes to sign it, they were surprised by provoking positions from the two parts. Who is held responsible and why?

We underwent American pressures to not sign the reconciliation paper made by Egypt. We were told if you sign, the Congress would impose a financial embargo on you. I told the Americans we will sign. I sent a Fatah’s representative to do that. Our national unity is more important than any pressure. Because of that, we signed. So, who refused to sign and who impeded the reconciliation? It is Hamas movement which made a coup in the Gaza Strip. Its results serve only Israel which took division as a pretext to say there is no unified Palestinian part to negotiate with.

Our efforts continue to make the reconciliation successful. Dialogue rounds have been recently held in Damascus. It was one topic to be agreed upon. It is security topic. Yet, we were surprised by other secondary points and a non readiness to end division. Those who are still refusing to sign the Egyptian reconciliation paper are held responsible.

We valorise all the faithful Arab efforts to end the division. We hope that Hamas’ command gets free from pressures put on it by well-known regional parts which have their own agendas.

Will Hamas’ security forces in Gaza be part of the Palestinian law? Will you contain them in the Authority’s system? If so, on which basis? Will the presence of armed militias in the Palestinian street be acceptable? If the answer is no, the question is where will those brigades go?

The basis which will be implemented is the law. Security forces are professional forces submitted to the political command. There is one only legitimate arm and one authority and one security. In the West Bank, we ended with the armed militias phenomenon and any other organisation either Fatah or other is not allowed to have an armed militia. The same law will be implemented if division is over and the national unity is reached. Those who are eligible to belong to security forces will be contained. Others will be contained as it happened in the West Bank.

What are the guarantees so that Palestinian division will not come back once again? Do you find a justification to start distributing sites and rates in institutions? What is the size of the Arab role in the reconciliation process?

The guarantee is security and organisation restoration, respect of the Constitution and Democracy and ballot boxes to enable people to choose their leader. Concerning organisations, our political system must guarantee their right to participate through a total rating representation system 100 percent. There is a suggestion in Egypt to make the representation at 75 percent to allow their representatives to reach the Parliament.

I have examined the topic of reconciliation and the Arab role for many times as part of the Arab League. Egypt was assigned to perform this role. It reached a result that I have already mentioned. I think that Egypt make a lot of efforts and it deserved to be thanked by all the Arabs. I would like to remind that what is happening in the Gaza Strip has a direct impact on the situation in Egypt.

Why didn’t you insist on keeping the reconciliation inside Palestine? Wasn’t possible to solve the crisis far from complications engendered by Arab efforts and their previous positions towards the Palestinian political composition?

We wished that. Yet, we could not solve those conflicts inside Palestine because of what is happening between Gaza and the West Bank, the Palestinian refuge in many countries and the presence of a large number of Palestinian organisations in other countries.

In Algeria, you held many of our national assembly sessions. We are part of his Arab nation. We can not separate between that domestic and that exterior. We are still praying Allah to make Arab efforts unified in supporting our cause including the reconciliation.

Gaza suffers from the embargo and war. Don’t you think that necessary efforts would have been made to save Gaza and its besieged people?

We give to our people in the Gaza Strip all our support. A total of 85 percent if the Authority’s budget go to Gaza and 77,000 people earn their salaries from the Authority per month. It also pays the price of fuel of power and water plant, medicines to hospitals and others. We call on every occasion for lifting the embargo on our people in Gaza.

Israel is the occupation force. Its occupation still exists in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip which you called the Palestinian fight. Actually, it is the coup of Hamas against the Authority.

Hamas’ positions did not help us internationally and regionally to embarrass Israel and put pressure on it to lift the embargo or at least to reduce it. We have always told them go ahead for the reconciliation to be unified and to face challenges, dangers and the embargo. Tunnels will not create an economy.

We want an evaluation of the Liberation Organisation’s relations with Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Egypt and the Arab countries. Are you satisfied about them? Some believe that you are busy with your relations with the Americans at the expenses of your Arab and Islamic relation. You lost Iran which was the Liberation Organisation’s ally. Your relation with Syria and other Arab countries is cold. Can you explain that?

We want to establish the best relations with all the Arab countries. We seek to coordinate with Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Egypt. The Israeli occupation of Syria’s Golan Heights and parts of Lebanon still exists. Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Egypt are involved in finding a solution to a number of issues. We appreciate their continuing support. Algeria and brother President Abdelaziz Bouteflika who provided us with his advises. He wants that Algeria respects its financial commitments to the Liberation Organisation and the Palestinian National Authority.

We work with Arab brothers in talks and the peace process including contacts with the US.

Arab brothers are our support and the Palestine cause I the Arabs’ first cause. We want to avoid conflicts among Arabs or other parts inside those countries. This will be applied on Syria which continues its relation with us.

At the same time, we do not want any interference to deepen the Palestinian conflicts. Iran was not the Palestinian Liberation Organisation’s ally and was not faithful to us after the revolution had broken out.

There was the Iraqi-Iranian war and the American occupation of Iraq. Iran has not provided the Liberation Organisation with any support for all those years. It seized the opportunity of the Palestinian conflicts to start helping Hamas and some small Palestinian organisations in Syria.