10 March 2000

In the name of God, the Merciful, the Mercy-giving

The so-called breakthrough in the
Zionist-Palestinian talks, a new deception

Events of he past few days have now yielded the news that the Palestine Authority (PA) and the Zionist enemy have agreed that they will sign an accord on a framework for an agreement on the final status of Palestinian territories by the end of this coming May, and that they will carry out the third part of the second redeployment of Zionist troops this April, instead of by its original deadline of last January 20th. The sides have further agreed that the third redeployment of Zionist troops will be completed after the conclusion of the framework accord, and that the sides will sign an agreement on the final status of the Palestinian territories on 13 September this year.

These news reports thus indicate that the Palestine Authority has yielded to the conditions laid down by Zionist Prime-minister Ehud Barak concerning the talks.  In particular, the PA has backed down on its demands concerning the three villages in the Jerusalem area -- Abu Dees, al-Ram, and al-`Ayzariya - included in the 6.1 percent of land designated for Zionist redeployment.  This capitulation on the part of the PA is the real reason for the recent "breakthrough" in the Palestinian-Zionist negotiations.

The conviction has grown day by day over the course of following each stage of the negotiations between the Palestine Authority and the Zionist enemy that the PA's positions, and its apparent insistence upon them, are meant only to throw dust in our eyes.  They are nothing but public-relations stunts aimed at winning over local public opinion, and deceiving the people about the real position of the PA, and about how far they are willing to go in making concessions and squandering the rights of our people and our nation.  All the while this show goes on, the rate of Zionist colonization accelerates, topping that of Barak's predecessor Benjamin Netanyahu, particularly as regards Jerusalem, specifically in Jebel Abu Ghunaym and Ras al-`Amoud.  In practice, this means that the Palestine Authority looks the other way as the Zionist

enemy deepens its actual hold on the land, imposing situations ahead of time that will become part of the final settlement, trampling upon the very essence of the Palestinian cause, and most importantly upon Jerusalem, the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their land, the removal of the Zionist colonies, and other such matters.

Barak's release of several detainees, his opening of the so-called "secure northern corridor," and his payment of some of the funds due to the Palestine Authority, are only an attempt to deceive our people and distract their attention from the reality of the PA's concessions, its dangerous squandering of the rights of Jerusalem and the refugees, its frightful silence over the escalation of Zionist settlement, and its abject submission to Barak time after time, giving him every little thing he wants.

Barak managed his negotiations with the PA with great skill.  He made clever use of the different tracks of negotiations -- with Syria and with the Palestinians -- now starting this track while slowing down the other in order to win new concessions from the Palestine Authority.  The PA always feared that starting up negotiations on the Syrian track would lead to the neglect of their own talks with the Zionists.

The Palestine Authorities only deceive themselves with their renewed talk about American guarantees and about their faith in the American stewardship of the negotiations.  The US Administration has always emphasized that it can only support and align itself with the Zionist entity.  Indeed, what else could be the case as the grip of the Administration grows more and more feeble as the President approaches the end of his term?

We believe in the consciousness of our Palestinian people and their detailed knowledge of the true nature of the Palestine Authority, of its squandering of their land and holy places. We believe that all the means of misinformation and deception employed by the Palestine Authority to cover up the positions it is really taking will never deceive our people. Our people reaffirm every day that they continue to rally around the program of the resistance, as shown all the time by the mass movements rejecting the Oslo agreements and by all the fair elections that take place on our Palestinian lands.

Islamic Resistance Movement – Hamas - Palestine