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No Ceasefire Under Occupation: Hamas Founder
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"Ceasefire
talk is an insult to Palestinians," said Sheikh Yassin
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By
Mustafa al-Sawwaf, IOL Correspondent
GAZA
CITY, December 9 (IslamOnline.net) - Hamas founder and spiritual
leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin insisted that the Israeli occupation is the
one and only reason triggering the Palestinian resistance and as long
as that occupation continues, the Palestinians have no other option
but to continue their resistance.
In
exclusive, lengthy statements to IslamOnline.net on Monday, December
8, Yassin also denied that his movement caused the latest round of
inter-Palestinian dialogue - sponsored by Cairo - to end in failure.
Hamas
rejects authorizing the Palestinian Authority to speak on behalf of
the Palestinian people, he stressed, citing previous experiences that
led to nothing.
Sheikh
Yassin put the blame on Israel for the failure to reach a ceasefire or
at least spare the lives of civilians, with the Israeli government
outright dismissal of any unilateral peaceful move from the
Palestinian factions.
"We
have already declared a truce before. How did the Israelis react? They
continued demolishing our homes, detaining, killing and starving us to
death. We are ready to spare what is known as Israeli civilians if
Israel spares our people," averred the Hamas founder.
"The
clear truth now is that Israel is not leaving us any other option but
to resist the occupation," he added.
Sheikh
Yassin rejected what Cairo and the PA were trying to secure, under the
banner of "a unified Palestinian leadership", namely,
delegating the PA to negotiate with Israel on behalf of the entire
Palestinian people.
"How
could we delegate those who give up the Palestinians’ right to
return as stated in the so-call Geneva Agreement?" Yassin
wondered.
"Five
million Palestinians are being deprived from their right to return
home and Israel is to be given joint sovereignty over occupied East
Jerusalem.
"Our
brothers in the PA want to negotiate, so be it. But we would not
accept what they agree upon if it is against the best interest of the
Palestinian people. Those who participated in Geneva are mostly from
the PA, so, the PA is a partner to that infamous agreement,"
stressed the Hamas spiritual leader.
"Therefore,
we can not delegate any one to make crucial decisions because they
must come from the Palestinian people themselves. They never polled
the people. Let us act like any other world country and put any
agreement to public referendum," he added.
Touching
upon Hamas relation with Cairo and whether it may be negatively
affected by the failure of the Cairo talks, Yassin insisted that the
resistance faction - he created prior to the first Intifada in 1987 -
"appreciates and values Egypt’s efforts to help the Palestinian
factions reach a unified stance. But we can’t compromise".
What
Is A Ceasefire?
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Yassin, right, cast doubt on Qorei's expected meeting with Sharon
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On
the issue of a "truce" or a ceasefire with Israel, Yassin
underlined that any such agreement without an Israeli withdrawal from
occupied Palestinian territories would by "unfair" for the
Palestinians.
"What
is a ceasefire? We are under occupation. If we stop resisting that
occupation, then we are giving it a sort of legitimacy.
"Talking
about a ceasefire - under occupation - means asking the Palestinians
to accept that occupation and live with it, and this is an insult that
we don’t tolerate," he maintained.
"We
can not repeat our past mistakes. We declared a unilateral ceasefire
before and committed ourselves to it, but the enemy did not respect
it.
"Washington
now wants the Palestinian scene to be calm during its presidential
election year and to focus on dealing with the Iraqi quagmire. This is
an American-Israeli goal, but it’s not acceptable to us,"
clarified Sheikh Yassin.
On
the expected meeting between Palestinian Premier Ahmed Qorei and
Israeli counterpart Ariel Sharon, he sounded pessimistic such a
meeting would yield any positive results.
"Sharon
my remove a military block or two, open the road between two cities or
any other such cosmetic moves. These are not solutions. Israel must
give in to the legal demands of the Palestinians and end its
occupation of their lands.
"We
are faced with major Zionist schemes, supported by (U.S. President
George) Bush. Palestine is not enough for the Israelis, they want
their so-called Greater Israel, from the Nile to the Euphrates,"
cautioned the Hamas leader.
"Arabs
must support the Palestinians to stop Israel’s expansionist zeal, or
else once finished with us, Israel will look for others’
homelands," concluded Sheikh Yassin.
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