Al-Jazeera Interviews Palestinian Officials on Gaza Blasts

Al-Jazeera Interviews Palestinian Officials on Gaza Blasts
By: iStockAnalyst Sunday, July 27, 2008 6:54 AM
Email
Comments (0)
Post Comment
Bookmark It
Text of report by Qatari government-funded, pan-Arab news channel Al-Jazeera satellite TV on 26 July
["Midday" news programme, featuring an interview with Azzam al- Ahmad, head of the Fatah bloc in the Palestinian Legislative Council, via satellite from Ramallah, by Layla al-Shayib in the studio; and an interview with Mahmud al-Zahhar, a leading member of the Hamas movement, via satellite from Gaza, by Al-Habib al- Ghuraybi in the studio - live]

[Al-Shayib] Azzam al-Ahmad, head of the Fatah bloc in the Palestinian Legislative Council, is with us from Ramallah. Mr Al- Ahmad, we have heard your reply to Hamas's accusations against you. Who do you think is behind what happened in Gaza yesterday?

[Al-Ahmad] I can definitely say that conflicts within Hamas - and I do not want to mention names - were the reason for the deterioration of the security situation in Gaza. Fatah has absolutely nothing to do with these explosions because we in Fatah have a clear strategy we will never abandon. It says differences and divisions in the Palestinian arena can be solved only through dialogue. Therefore, it is not possible for us to carry out such operations. Hamas reacted by detaining more than 170 persons since morning today. By the way, some of them belong to Hamas and others to the Army of Islam and other factions. Hamas also raided the headquarters of Deputy Ziyad Abu-Amr although he was one of the candidates who were named and supported by Hamas in the elections. Why did they raid his office? Did Dr Zakariya al-Agha carry out bombings in order to raid his office? The houses of journalists and the headquarters of the Bar Association and the Fatah parliamentary bloc were also raided. All this proves that Hamas is trying to aggravate the crisis instead of heeding President Abu-Mazin's [Mahmud Abbas] call for dialogue.

[Al-Shayib] Some in Hamas say that following the recent calm agreement some Palestinian parties are trying to depict security in Gaza as fragile. What is your opinion?

[Al-Ahmad] No, this is not accurate. With regard to calm, President Abu-Mazin was the first to call for it. By the way, we tried to reach a calm agreement even before the Gaza coup. I represented Fatah in the dialogue held in Gaza with Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and the Popular Front [for the Liberation of Palestine]. They were convinced of the need for calm only after we had paid a heavy price. They always become convinced at the wrong time. We could have avoided the human and material losses inflicted on the Palestinian people. Hundreds of people were martyred. President Abu-Mazin also played a key role in urging the Egyptian leaders, Israel, and the United States to reach the calm agreement. Therefore, we are for calm and for commitment to it. We are also for expanding the calm agreement to include the West Bank in the hope that we can deny the Israeli side of its pretexts as it is trying to avoid the implementation of its commitments.

[Al-Shayib] How can this problem be solved quickly to avoid further exacerbation of the situation? Some in Hamas say justice should take its course on this issue. Do you agree with this opinion?

[Al-Ahmad] Yes, but not only on this issue. All issues, all crimes, all killings that took place in Gaza, and all violations of the law in Gaza should be subject to law when reconciliation is sought. Even if the leaders of factions are the ones who issued the decision to commit these crimes, they must be exposed regardless of their affiliation with Hamas, Fatah, the Popular Front, or the Democratic Front. Law and the supremacy of the law are the basis. Therefore, we call for the implementation of the Arab League resolution by restoring Palestinian unity, ending the state of division, and committing to law. This is the crux of the Yemeni initiative, which was adopted by the Damascus summit and on whose basis President Abu-Mazin called for a comprehensive national dialogue. Dialogue is the only way to solve internal Palestinian differences.

[Al-Shayib] Azzam al-Ahmad, head of the Fatah bloc in the Palestinian Legislative Council, in Ramallah, thank you very much.

[Al-Ghuraybi] Dr Mahmud al-Zahhar, a leading member of the Hamas movement, is with us from Gaza. Dr Al-Zahhar, you might have heard Mr Al-Ahmad. He said and even emphasized that what happened was the result of internal conflicts and an attempt by Hamas to cover these conflicts.

[Al-Zahhar] In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. He said what happened was definitely the result of internal conflicts. In turn, I say Azzam al-Ahmad is definitely not telling the truth. If he has any information about internal conflicts within Hamas, let him tell us between who and who these conflicts are. This is a game indicating that they committed the crime and are trying to blame Hamas for it. Abu-Rudaynah [Palestinian president's adviser] today said these operations will continue because differences within Hamas continue. These are their claims as if they have information and as if one does not know what is going on in his house. The second point is that the so-called Brigades of Return, which belong to Fatah, have claimed responsibility. Third, he called for justice. We will apply justice this time. We were overwhelmed with mercy for them in the past. We were sorry for them because they were deceived with the money paid to them, but now we will announce facts to the public as they become available. He spoke about justice and law. What is going on in the West Bank? Did they not cooperate with the Israeli entity every minute to destroy Hamas? They arrested Husayn Abu-Kuwayk but we threatened them that if he was not released, another person would be arrested here. Therefore, they released him on the same day but Israel arrested him the next day. They have a programme which they called the programme of security cooperation with Israel. All martyrs today except the little girl were targeted more than once by the Israeli side. They are one of the tools of occupation in the West Bank.

[Al-Ghuraybi, interrupting] If we adopt this factional logic, we might as well ask about Fatah's interest in sowing chaos in Gaza.

[Al-Zahhar] This is clear. The Palestinian television is now chanting for the Fatah revolutionaries and airing pictures of martyrs. What does this mean? Fatah's interest is clear. Azzam al- Ahmad denied this and said he wanted calm. Where is the calm he wants? All those arrested belong to Fatah. In this case, we will say only what the Brigades of Return said to him. We will pursue them. Some of them were arrested and the others will be pursued. We will place facts before all people. If Fatah is responsible, it will have to bear the consequences on the level of leaders and personnel.

[Al-Ghuraybi] Azzam al-Ahmad said the same thing. He said we appeal to law but on condition that justice is fair and neutral.

[Al-Zahhar] Our experience with them on the issue of fair and neutral justice is clear. They asked all personnel of the judiciary not to work. They disrupted work at courts and left the Gaza Strip without judiciary. What sort of neutral justice does he want? Besides, why do they not activate the judiciary in the West Bank? Why are people are arrested, shops closed, and houses knocked down? Some collaborated with Israel and were arrested but none of them received a court verdict? It is well known that Fatah has ruined all civil and military courts in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, so what sort of justice does he want? The judiciary he respects is only the Israeli judiciary.

[Al-Ghuraybi] How much will this incident influence the Palestinian reconciliation efforts?

[Al-Zahhar] Azzam, who spoke a minute ago, was the one who signed the Sanaa agreement. You could have asked him what happened in the media between him and the group around Abu-Ammar [Yasir Arafat] which had continuous contacts with Israel. They exposed themselves in the media. One told the president he had no knowledge while the second told him he had knowledge. What dialogue are they talking about? How can one imagine Abu-Mazin hugging and kissing one from Hamas after having hugged and kissed Olmert? How can these two things be reconciled? How can a person's programme that supports the United States and Israel be in harmony with the programme of resistance, confrontation of Israel, and opposition to the US project in the region? Such reconciliation cannot take place. This is what we warned of and what we called national truce. If Fatah manages to collect funds from Dayton and some other parties to destroy Hamas for its so-called coup - they are the ones who tried to turn against Palestinian legitimacy - what dialogue will then make sense?

[Al-Ghuraybi, interrupting] Your point is very clear. Dr Mahmud al-Zahhar, a leading member of the Hamas movement, thank you very much.

Originally published by Al-Jazeera TV, Doha, in Arabic 1304 26 Jul 08.
(c) 2008 BBC Monitoring Middle East. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.Story Source: BBC Monitoring Middle East