Hamas Rejects Quartet Representative Blair's Demands: 'We Will Not Give Up Our Principles As Part Of Solving The Problems Of Gaza Residents' (Memri).
On February 15, 2015, Quartet representative Tony Blair visited the Gaza Strip and presented a series of demands to Hamas for advancing the Israeli-Palestinian political process and for rebuilding Gaza.
The most important of these demands was that Hamas accept the two-state solution as an end to the conflict; by doing so, Hamas will in effect meet the Quartet's conditions – abandoning terrorism, honoring previous agreements, and recognizing Israel.
Blair further demanded that Hamas clarify whether it is "a Palestinian nationalist movement dedicated to the achievement of a Palestinian State or part of a broader Islamist movement with regional designs that impact governments outside of Gaza" (i.e., the MB).
Calling on the Palestinians to implement the Fatah-Hamas reconciliation agreement, Blair spoke of the need to open the crossings so that Gaza could be reunited with the outside world. He also asked Israel to support the rebuilding of Gaza and to open the Israel-Gaza crossings, and asked Egypt to take the lead in the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.
Hamas officials and writers on websites that are close to Hamas rejected Blair's demands outright, claiming that they posed a danger to the Palestinian cause and stressing that even if Hamas did agree to a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders, it would neither relinquish its rights nor recognize Israel.
As for the demand that Hamas clarify its identity, some argued that Hamas was a Palestinian movement, while others stated that it was part of the Islamic ummah. Read the full story here.
No comments:
Post a Comment