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New Israeli incitement campaign against Hamas

by Al Bawaba (reposted)
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Sunday said that his country views the participation of Hamas in the January Palestinian elections as a threat, so long it has not disarmed and has not ditched its pledge to destroy the Jewish State.
“We warned that Israel views the participation of Hamas in the elections under the current conditions as a threat. This reality contradicts the Road Map (plan for peace) and our understandings with the Palestinians. We said that Hamas can participate in the elections only if it renounces violence, disarms and retracts its pledge to destroy the State of Israel,” the prime minister said, according to Ynetnews.

“We made it clear that, although the elections are an internal Palestinian affair in which Israel cannot interfere, the participation of Hamas will determine the nature of Israel’s cooperation with the PA during these elections, and will not allow us to extend our hand as we did during the elections for the PA chairmanship,” Sharon said.

Sharon comments came as the Israeli foreign ministry has launched an incitement campaign against Hamas with the aim of blocking this Palestinian Movement from contesting the forthcoming Palestinian legislative elections due on25 th January,2006

The ministry mentioned that Hamas had kidnapped and killed ten Israeli citizens since1989 , including Sasson Nuriel, who was abducted and killed by Qassam Brigades, the Movement's armed wing, some ten days ago.

Nuriel's abduction disproved Hamas' claims that it would cease attacks on Israeli settlements located inside the green line (the 1948 occupied Palestinian lands), which were intended to "ensure its participation in the PLC elections", it further alleged.

"Hamas' announcement of stopping Qassam fire at the Israeli settlements was a maneuver aimed at obtaining political power at a time the Movement was proceeding in exercising terrorist violence," it charged.

"There is no difference between Hamas' political and military wings as both are being run by the same persons with the same doctrines and ideologies. In addition, Hamas didn't recognize Israel's right to exist and is doing its best to impede the peace process. The Movement's charter also calls for killing Jews and adhering to fighting Israel till the Hebrew state was totally eliminated," according to the ministry.

It pointed out that Hamas' participation in the PLC polls was meant to grab power from the "moderate Palestinians championing co-existence with Israel".

"It's impossible to grant Hamas international legitimacy as long as it is still rejecting the basic standards that make it a legitimate party in the political arena. Of those criteria are renouncing "terrorism", accepting negotiations as the only solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and recognizing Israel's right to exist. And if the Islamic Movement didn’t accept such standards, it would be regarded as a dangerous Trojan horse in the Palestinian democratic process in addition to jeopardizing the peace process," the Israeli ministry concluded.

http://www.albawaba.com/en/news/189893
by Aljazeera (reposted)
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas have agreed to meet soon and improve cooperation as Israel suspended an offensive following a halt to rocket fire from the Gaza Strip.

Their first telephone conversation in more than five weeks could help put peacemaking back on track after a surge of violence that damaged hopes stirred by Israel's 12 September withdrawal from Gaza to end 38 years of military rule.

Abbas called Sharon with greetings for the Jewish New Year, which starts at sundown on Monday. Sharon expressed best wishes for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, starting this week.

A statement from Sharon's office said they "agreed to tighten cooperation between them and to work together to advance the process. They also agreed to meet soon in order to advance various issues that are on the agenda".

"Both leaders expressed hope that the new year would be more successful, a year of peace and hope," it said.

Israeli and Palestinian officials said no date had been set for a summit.

Mixed responses

Israel says it has suspended air raids, targeted killings and artillery fire in the Gaza Strip and West Bank until further notice.

"We have decided to suspend the offensive operations that we launched last week in response to rocket fire from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel," an official in Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's office said on Sunday.

The decision means the suspension "for now" of Israeli air raids in the Gaza Strip, of artillery fire towards the north of the territory and of operations aimed at eliminating resistance groups in Gaza and the West Bank, said the official, who declined to be named.

The declaration was welcomed by the Palestinian Authority, which said it would increase the chance for progress in the peace process.

Hamas dismissive

"A cooldown between the Palestinians and Israelis is in the interests of both sides," Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erikat told AFP.

"Such a cooldown will help us return to the peace process with real meaning."

Hamas, however, dismissed the move as a ploy to split the Palestinian people.

"This statement is part of the propaganda campaign to blackmail our people and to put pressure on the Palestinian Authority to fight against the factions and resistance groups," said spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri.

Soldiers faulted

Also on Sunday, Israel Radio reported that an Israeli regional commander had found soldiers who shot and killed a Palestinian youth at fault since their lives were not endangered.

In the incident on Friday, Palestinians said the 13-year-old boy was killed by soldiers when he threw stones at them in the West Bank city of Nablus.

The troops said they believed the boy was holding a gun, the radio said.

A preliminary investigation by the commander of the area found that the soldiers acted with excessive force when they shot at the youth, according to the report.

The findings will be passed on to senior army commanders who will decide whether to open a formal investigation against the troops, the radio said.

The officer who oversaw the soldiers deployed in the area at the time has been removed from operational duty, the radio added.

Travel warning

Israel urged its citizens on Sunday to avoid going on holiday in Egypt's Sinai resorts, citing intelligence warnings that they could be abducted by pro-Palestinian militants during Jewish holidays.

Thousands of Israelis ignored a similar advisory last year ahead of attacks on several Sinai resorts.

Danny Arditi, Sharon's top counter-terrorism adviser, said the latest warning was "really a pinpoint alert".

"The target is the coastal area where Israelis stay. It [the threat] is against Israelis who come to celebrate the High Holy Days," he told Israel Radio. The holidays last for about three weeks from 3 October.

Israel's Maariv newspaper said the Mossad spy service had received word of a Palestinian cell in Sinai which, backed by Lebanese Hizb Allah fighters, planned to abduct Israeli tourists and trade them for Palestinians jailed in Israel.

Arditi confirmed that hope of a prisoner swap was believed to be a factor in a plot that he said involved Palestinians and others.

There was no immediate Egyptian comment on the alert.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/CF55D1ED-C3F4-49D0-8912-2160071A4AA6.htm
by Becky Johnson

"This statement is part of the propaganda campaign to blackmail our people and to put pressure on the Palestinian Authority to fight against the factions and resistance groups," said spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri."

What the article doesn't say is that in the Palestinian Authority's own rules governing who may run in their elections, those who are engaged in either violent terrorist methods or guilty of incitement against peace are not eligible to participate in elections in the PA.

Sharon and his cabinet were referring to that violation of their own guidelines in allowing Hamas to participate in the elections. Sharon in response, said he would not interfere in the elections, but also that he would not offer to facilitate them either.
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