Jailed Fatah leader: Talks harm Palestinians

Ma'an news
August 4, 2010

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=305274

BETHLEHEM

Talks with Israel have reached an impasse and their
continuation harms Palestinian national interests,
jailed Fatah leader Marwan Barghouthi said Wednesday.

Speaking with lawyer Elias Sabbagh at the Hadarim
detention center where Barghouthi is serving several
life terms, the Fatah leader slammed what he described
as a trend which suggests talks are the alternative to
"fruitless negotiations."

Barghouthi called on rival Palestinian factions to enter
into a unity deal and "reactivate" the popular
resistance movement in cooperation with international
solidarity movements as a viable alternative to
negotiations.

"I hereby say clearly that neither direct nor indirect
negotiations are feasible because there is no partner on
the Israeli side. Israel has no leaders like Charles de
Gaulle or Frederik de Klerk, but instead there are
extremist leaders who are adherent to a mentality of
occupation, settlements, and racism," he said.

The jailed leader, who was once Fatah’s strongman in the
West Bank, further criticized the Palestinian leadership
for ignoring the prisoners’ cause. "Frankly speaking,
the Palestinian leadership is not exerting the least
effort to release us.

"The prisoners’ case is not on the agenda of the
Palestinian political echelon. They do not mention it in
international political circles. It is sad that the case
of one captured Israeli is given more attention than the
case of more than 8,000 Palestinian prisoners including
one third of the Palestinian lawmakers."

'Fatah failed to address corruption'

Barghouthi said his party’s Central Committee was
operating below expectations and that he had sent a
letter to the body detailing a four-year strategy, which
was not adopted during the Sixth Fatah Congress in
August 2009.

He said he was not opposed to Central Committee members
holding ministerial positions within the Palestinian
Authority cabinet but said he would prefer that they
remain in charge of the party.

"The major fiasco of the Sixth Fatah Congress was in the
failure to call to account all political leaders
responsible for the PA collapse in the Gaza Strip and
those responsible for Fatah losing legislative
elections. The congress also failed to question the
corrupt Fatah leaders about the movement’s properties
and money," Barghouthi added.

Speaking of the deferred local elections in the West
Bank, he said the Central Committee had "failed to
organize the movement from the inside, which is a
dangerous indicator. It is obvious they have not learned
from their previous experiences as they are repeating
the same mistakes."

Barghouthi called on Hamas to take a "courageous" step
toward reconciliation with Fatah, and said Palestinian
politics is overruled by "dominion" rather than national
liberation movements.

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