28/8/11 - Palestine statehood 'step forward': Iran

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Friday that the potential recognition of a Palestinian state by the United Nations should only be a "step forward" for the "full liberation" of Palestine.

His strong remarks calling for Israel's "disappearance" came as tens of thousands marched in the capital at a "Quds Day" rally, an annual regime-sanctioned demonstration in solidarity with Palestinians and against Israel, according to footage aired on state television.

The broadcast showed large crowds in major cities, carrying banners of "Death to Israel" and "Death to America."

"The recognition of an independent Palestinian government is not the ultimate goal... (but) only a step forward for the full liberation of the Palestinian land," Ahmadinejad said at Friday prayers at Tehran University.

"The Zionist regime is the hotbed for germs and cancerous cells. If they persist even in a very small parcel of the Palestinian land, they will move again... and harm everyone" in the region, he said in comments broadcast on television.

Ahmadinejad reiterated that the Holocaust was a "lie" which he said was used as an excuse for Israel's creation.

The hardline president, whose vitriolic attacks on the Jewish state and his dismissal of the Holocaust as a "myth" have drawn international condemnation, regularly rails against Israel.

"The goal of all believers and justice seekers should be focused on the disappearance of the Zionist regime," he said as the worshippers shouted "Death to Israel" and "Death to America."

He also warned Israelis that they "had no place" in the Middle East.

"Your era is over. It is in your interest to return to your homes... You have no place in our region and among our nations."

The Palestinians are to formally submit their request for statehood to UN chief Ban Ki-moon on September 20, when world leaders begin gathering in New York for the 66th session of the General Assembly.

The decision comes after direct peace talks with Israel ran aground late last year in an intractable dispute over Jewish settlement construction on occupied Palestinian land.

Israel is strongly opposed to such a move, saying negotiations are the only way to resolve the conflict and establish a Palestinian state -- a position backed by Washington, which has announced its intention to veto the request.

6/5/11 - Abbas at signing of Hamas unity deal: 'State of Palestine must be born this year'

Abbas at signing of Hamas unity deal: 'State of Palestine must be born this year'

 

CAIRO — Rival Palestinian factions have signed an agreement to form a national unity government in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in an effort to declare a state this year.

Representatives of 13 Palestinian factions, mainly Fatah and Hamas, signed the accord during a ceremony in Cairo on May 4. Officials said Fatah and Hamas would continue negotiations on aspects of the national unity government as well as holding elections by mid-2012. "The state of Palestine must be born this year," Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, who also heads Fatah, said.

Under the accord, the implementation of which would be monitored by Egypt, the Palestinian Authority would hold presidential and parliamentary elections over the next year in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. In the interim, Fatah and Hamas would share power and each would remain over their regions. Hamas captured the Gaza Strip in 2007.

"Four black years have affected the interests of Palestinians," Abbas said. "Now we meet to assert a unified will."

Fatah delegation chief Azzam Al Ahmad, who signed the accord, said the Palestine Liberation Organization, rather than the PA, would be responsible for any negotiations with Israel. Al Ahmad said Hamas would not be involved in talks with the Jewish state, rather Fatah's partner in the formation of a security council. He said the council would be authorized to organize what he termed a "professional" security force.
"The government's role is limited to administrative affairs dealing with the lives of Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip," Al Ahmad said.

Officials said Abbas and Hamas political bureau chief Khaled Masha'al would meet in mid-May to launch negotiations. During the ceremony in Cairo, Masha'al refused to sit on the podium with Abbas.
"We will have a meeting with President Abu Mazen [Abbas] next week, possibly in Cairo to kick-start the procedures for the reconciliation," Hamas deputy political bureau chief Mussa Abu Marzouk said.
Since the reconciliation agreement, Israel has frozen $105 million in tax revenues meant for the PA and transported to the Gaza Strip. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called on PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas to cancel the accord with Hamas.

"The agreement between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas is a hard blow to the peace process," Netanyahu said in a meeting with Quartet coordinator Tony Blair. "How is it possible to achieve peace with a government, half of which calls for the destruction of the state of Israel and even praises the arch-murderer Osama bin Laden?"