Haniyeh: US, Israel conspiring against us
Haniyeh says 'unfortunately the Americans are on Israel's side,' in address to Palestinian parliament; Palestinian PM speaks of 'international network' conspiring with Israel 'to suffocate and starve us'
Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said Thursday afternoon that US President George W. Bush gave the green light for a conspiracy against the Palestinians during talks with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in Washington on Wednesday.
Addressing the Palestinian parliament in Gaza and Ramallah, where rival factions met to discuss ways to avert an internal crisis, Haniyeh condemned Israel's unilateral plan to withdraw from the West Bank. Haniyeh said Olmert's plan to withdraw settlers from isolated settlements and draw final borders with or without negotiations endangers the whole region.
Haniyeh in Palestinian parliament builing in Gaza (Photo: Reuters)
"We will fight the Israeli plan and continue the struggle until the establishment of a Palestinian State within the 1967 borders," he said. "Israel is trying to set up a country with a Jewish majority, and preserve Jerusalem as its capital. This shows the Israeli government wants to maintain the occupation. Unfortunately, the Americans are on Israel's side …and gave the Israelis the green light for a conspiracy against our people."
Haniyeh said the Palestinian government won't comply to international demands that it make concessions in the pursuit of peace with Israel.
Haniyeh spoke of "international plotters" who conspired with Israel to "set up a network against the elected government to suffocate and starve us."
Haniyeh blamed US pressure for a decision by international donors to cut aid to the Hamas-led Palestinian government
"Our unity is a religious must and a political necessity. Internal clashes harm our image in the international community. There will be no Palestinian civil war; Palestinian blood is holy," he said.
Haniyeh added that a security unit set up last week by the government in defiance of Abbas was not meant to irritate rival factions. The Palestinian parliament will be asked to approve the integration of the unit into the security apparatus, he said.
In a clear sign of his intention to prevent the rivalry between the two main parties from spilling more blood, Haniyeh praised Abbas's Fatah party as "a body that preserved Palestinian interests over the years."
