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In a recent TV interview, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas criticized Hamas, saying: "We could have avoided the 2,000 martyrs, the 10,000 wounded, the 50,000 homes..." Hamas lied about its responsibility for the three kidnapped Israeli teens, he told the Palestinian Authority TV interviewer. The interview aired on August 28, 2014.
Following are excerpts:
Mahmoud Abbas: First of all, people should know that from the first day of this aggression against Gaza, we took action on the Arab and international levels in an effort to end it.
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Everything that happened could have been avoided. We could have avoided the 2,000 martyrs, the 10,000 wounded, the 50,000 homes... All of this could have been avoided.
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[Hamas] did not agree, or did not feel, that we must demand an immediate ceasefire. We were making demands. That's fine. We all have demands. The Palestinian delegation placed the demands on the negotiations table, but these demands had to be postponed a little, until after the ceasefire. The ceasefire was the number one priority. It was the most important of all. We had to demand an immediate ceasefire, and later discuss the other demands, whatever they may be – the airport, the seaport, the settlements, the prisoners... All these issues were on the negotiations table.
However, things went from bad to worse, I am sad to say – one day, 10 days, 20 days, 30 days, and finally, 50 days. Ultimately, we got to where we got. Then we went back to talking about an immediate ceasefire, followed by [discussion] of the demands. Well, this had been my position from day one.
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We do not want to face a massacre every couple of years. We want an immediate political solution, which will give us a state on the 1967 borders.
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Interviewer: What changed [in the Egyptian initiative]?
Mahmoud Abbas: Nothing. We were the ones who asked for the Egyptian initiative. Many people said that they did not want this initiative, but we asked for it. The Palestinian Authority demanded this initiative. We said that the number one priority is the ceasefire, followed by an implementation of the 2012 agreement and other agreements. It was included in the [draft] agreement.
Now, we have accepted a ceasefire, and have agreed that the other issues would be discussed a month later. There is no difference [between the two drafts]. The only difference lies in the losses and torment we suffered, in order to reach this outcome.
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Whenever two countries are in dispute, their solution is to interfere in the Palestinian cause. We have known this since the 1970s. Unfortunately, all countries seek a Palestinian horse to bet on. They all want to put their two cents in. We hope that nobody will interfere in our domestic affairs. If they want to help us, they can give us aid or a word of support, but they must not interfere in our affairs.
If they [Hamas] want to be the decision-makers on war and peace - let them act on their own. This would turn our so-called reconciliation and unity government into a laughing stock.
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I categorically reject this. This is unacceptable. Decision-making regarding war and peace is in the hand of the Palestinian Authority, or else, there will be anarchy.
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All the aid [to Gaza] – water, electricity, and so on – must be channeled through the Palestinian National Authority. I have no objection for the aid to be subject to U.N. supervision. Some people talk about Israeli supervision, but Israel has nothing to do with this.
Everything that goes to Gaza must come to us first, and we will rebuild and deliver the aid to where it should go rather than to the black market.
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Israel said that Hamas [kidnapped and murdered the three Israeli teens], but we said that we had no evidence of that. We said that we believed Hamas. We had no information that it was Hamas that did this. I asked them: "Was it you?" They said: "No." so I said: "Fine, it's not them." Then I was surprised to hear a speech by a man of authority, Saleh Al-'Arouri, who said: "We kidnapped them in order to carry out an Intifada in the West Bank."
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I was really surprised. When people told me that Al-'Arouri had said this, I said that the highest authority, the head of the political bureau [Khaled Mash'al], had told me that they had nothing to do with this. But then, Khaled himself appeared and stated: "Well, we did it, but it was not a decision of the [Hamas] leadership." Can such an operation be anything other than a decision by the leadership? It would be better if you and your men shut up.
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Our position is as follows: The Palestinian people is not ready to suffer a massacre every couple of years. Either there is a solution, or there is not. Either there is a political solution, or there is not, but they cannot continue to procrastinate, with all these ups and downs... We have been doing this for 20 years, and it has gotten us nowhere.
Now we say: Our state's borders are the 1967 borders – do you agree or not? The U.S. said "yes," by the way. All that is left now is to delineate the 1967 borders. Later on, we will discuss the rest of the issues of the final stage. Delineation of the borders should take no more than half an hour, but I will give you a week or two, even a month. If you accept this – fine.
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There can be no more Area C and Area B – only the 1967 borders. Either we get it, or we don't. If you refuse to give me these borders – you'll be hearing from us.
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I will not declare war, but there are things I can say and things I can do. I am fed up to here with it.
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Everything that is going on in Iraq and in Syria... People talk about ISIS and Jabhat Al-Nusra, but we don't have anything to do with that. All I do is watch and feel pain. I feel pain for these countries that are being torn to shreds, in the name of the "New Middle East" and the "Constructive Anarchy."
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