By Eyad Khalifa
Albawaba.com - Amman
The deputy head of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) politburo, Moussa Abu Marzouk, has called on the Palestinian Authority to “unite with its people in order to protect itself against Sharon’s oppression and the US pressures."
The Palestinian opposition leader stressed that his movement, which has recently claimed a series of suicide attacks on Israeli targets, would continue with resistance until the Israeli occupation forces were driven out of the Palestinian lands.
Following are excerpts from the interview
Q. How do you perceive the arrests, which the Palestinian Authority has recently launched against Hamas and Jihad activists?
A. We in Hamas and all the spectrum of our Palestinian people reject such arrests, and see that the PA is serving as a proxy for the Zionist occupation forces by conducting them. They are, thus, providing the occupation and the Jewish settlers with security, while terrorism is the daily practice against the Palestinian school children and Mujahideen.
The PA should integrate with the Palestinian people, should it want to protect itself against Sharon’s oppression and US administration’s pressures. The Authority should do all it can to protect its people rather than to succumb to threats by the Zionists and the US, who plan to undermine the Palestinian resistance and stop the Intifada.
Q. Do these arrests ring an alarm bell signalling a halt of coordination between the PA and the Islamic and nationalist movements in Palestine?
A: In fact, the PA since the beginning of the Intifada has been adament over its political options, that is, the return to the vicious circle of negotiations over a peaceful settlement. This situation has been posing a threat on the relation between the PA and the resistance movements. We hope that the PA’s rush to please our people’s enemies including the Zionists and Americans won’t lead to breaking the ties between the Authority and the resistance groups.
Q: Some see that the latest operations have undermined the last chance for peace, particularly in view of the presence of US envoys?
A. The US delegation’s mission is specific and clear and has nothing to do with reaching comprehensive and just peace. It is just an American new attempt to serve the security of the Zionist regime by stopping the Intifada and resistance. It is an attempt to take the PA and Palestinian people back to the settlement labyrinth, which won’t achieve the hopes and aspirations of our people. The US administration has taught us that it does not care for anything except the Zionist interests. Therefore the martyrdom operations have come in the right time.
Q. Does Hamas intend to continue its martyrdom operations despite PA and Israeli measures?
A. The resistance will continue as long as there is occupation of our lands and our rights are expropriated. As for the nature and timing of these operations, they depend on field and political factors that do not affect the core of resistance continuation until the occupation forces are driven out of Palestine -- Albawaba.com
