Fatah official: Israel poisoned Arafat who sought peace
The Secretary of Fatah's Intifada movement in Lebanon Abu Fadi Hamad today said that the prospect for solving the Palestinian issue is not bright due to the policies and plans of the Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
He said that the Palestinian government and people are currently facing real danger, adding that there is no sign implying any future improvement in its situation, given there is no peace plan on the Israeli regime's agenda.
The goals and political plans of the Israelis' coalition cabinet and parties "are quite similar to those of the former prime minister Ariel Sharon, including invasion of Palestine, assassination or detention of combatants and Judaization.
"Israel which is reluctant to resume peace talks with Palestinians justifies itself and if it speaks of peace, it will be a peace based on its own interests that will undermine its opponent," he added.
Hamad said that the Israelis surrounded the residence of the late Palestinian leader and former Palestine Authority president Yasser Arafat, who was a determined peace-seeker, and poisoned him.
"This proves that the Israelis wish to see the Palestinian people and government become captive and homeless in their own territory.
"Neither the experience of past ceasefire, nor the agreements signed with the Israeli regime stopped their aggressions on the Palestinian residential areas and assassination of the Palestinian combatants," added Hamad.
Turning to reaching ceasefire agreement with the Israeli regime as a serious danger facing the Palestinian people and government, he said the Israeli officials are hypocrites and use ceasefire for their own benefit.
The Fatah official pointed to the Israeli prime minister's objective in drawing the final borders of his country up to 2010 as a trick and an attempt to convert the West Bank into a large prison and judaize the area.
Hamad referred to Olmert's other plan on evacuation of the Jewish Settlements at the West Bank as a hypocrisy and said that the total area of these settlements is larger than that of the city of Tel Aviv.
Some 155 small and big residential complexes have been constructed by the Israeli regime at the West Bank, which are inhabited by 430,000 Israelis.