--- SEARCH ---
WEATHER
CHINA
INTERNATIONAL
BUSINESS
CULTURE
GOVERNMENT
SCI-TECH
ENVIRONMENT
SPORTS
LIFE
PEOPLE
TRAVEL
WEEKLY REVIEW
Film in China
War on Poverty
Learning Chinese
Learn to Cook Chinese Dishes
Exchange Rates
Hotel Service
China Calendar
Telephone and
Postal Codes
Hot Links
China Development Gateway
Chinese Embassies
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Permanent Mission of the People's Republic of China to the UN
Permanent Mission of the People's Republic of China to the United Nations Office at Geneva and other International Organizations in Switzerland
Foreign Affairs College
Online marketplace of Manufacturers & Wholesalers
Abbas Aims to Promote Peace Culture

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said yesterday he hoped to persuade Palestinians peaceful dialogue was the way to statehood after an Israeli pullout from Gaza that militants claimed as a victory for armed struggle.

Declaring the "jihad" or "holy struggle" of confrontation with Israel over, Abbas said it was time for what he called the "greater jihad" of economic revival, rule of law and talks with the Jewish state to achieve a lasting peace.

Abbas said he has been promoting that message at recent public rallies celebrating the first evacuation of Jewish settlements from Israeli-occupied land Palestinians want for a state.

"The people are responding in a remarkable way. The people's beliefs are changing," he said.

"All those who opposed the Israeli disengagement plan, including (armed) factions, now welcome it and celebrate it, and the pullout is taking place quietly."

Hamas, an Islamic fundamentalist group committed to Israel's destruction, has voiced another message at rallies of its own.

It, along with other militant groups, agreed to maintain a "calm" with Israel until the end of 2005 in response to a truce Abbas and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon declared last February.

But Hamas officials say Sharon's decision to scrap all 21 settlements in Gaza and four of 120 in the West Bank shows that attacks against Israelis in an uprising that began in 2000 have been effective and resistance against occupation must continue.

Hamas and Abbas's secular Fatah faction, which calls for statehood through peace talks with Israel, are vigorously competing to claim victory for the Gaza withdrawal.

With a parliamentary election scheduled for January 25, a battle of the banners has erupted on the streets of Gaza.

In the interview, Abbas called any attempt by factions to take credit for the Israeli pullout "silly and petty."

"What I am doing is not celebration," Abbas said, referring to speeches he made in the run-up to the withdrawal and during the forcible removal of Gaza's 8,500 settlers over the past week.

Also on yesterday, Israel said it completed the evacuation of all 21 Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip.

But in the West Bank, radicals opposed to ceding settlements dug in for a last stand at two enclaves that also are due to be removed today under Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's pullout plan.

(China Daily August 23, 2005)

 

Hamas Says Ready for Jan. 25 Elections
Wolfensohn Finalizes Plans for Gaza after Israeli Pullout
Israel Extracts Diehards from Gaza Synagogue
Forced Evacuation Starts
PNA to Postpone Local Polls in Pull-out Regions
Future Uncertain After Israeli Pullout
Israel Kicks off Pullout
Print This Page
|
Email This Page
About Us SiteMap Feedback
Copyright © China Internet Information Center. All Rights Reserved
E-mail: webmaster@china.org.cn Tel: 86-10-68326688