Israeli Arab group calls on Abbas to renew dialogue with Hamas

Haaretz 04:11 06/08/2007
By Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondent

A top Israeli Arab group on Sunday urged Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah movement to renew ties with Hamas, severed last June when the Islamic group forcibly took over the Gaza Strip. In a Ramallah meeting with Abbas, the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee called on Abbas to create the conditions that will bring about the cessation of open hostilities between Palestinian factions.The committee's chairman, Shawki Khatib, and other members expressed the "pain of the Palestinian public in Israel" over the infighting in the Palestinian territories.

In response, Abbas reiterated his stance that Hamas must first apologize for its actions in Gaza and restore the status quo that existed in the Strip prior to its takeover. The Fatah leader described in detail events in the PA since the last general elections, and emphasized his demand at the time for the international community to respect the choice of the Palestinian electorate that elected Hamas. Those who eventually did not respect the Palestinian voters was Hamas who staged a coup against PA institutions, he said.Chairman of the Arab-Jewish Hadash party, MK Mohammed Barakeh, expressed his support of Abbas and said that the deterioration of relations within Palestinian society must end. "We support those who back a national plan to create a Palestinian state and a solution for the refugee problem," Barakeh said."If someone thinks he must redraw the face of Palestinian society before the creation of a state, he is making a mistake and committing a sin," he added.