PA groups: We’ll fight gov’t recognizing Israel

Spokesperson for four armed Palestinian groups, including Popular Resistance Committees and al-Aqsa Brigades, says, ‘Any government that recognizes Israel will become a target for our fighters. We will fight it with all means necessary and deal with it as though it were a derivative of the occupation’

Ali Waked
Published: 09.24.06, 16:28 / Israel News

Opposition to Palestinian unity government mounts: Four armed Palestinian organizations issued a joint statement Sunday saying they would harm any PA government that would recognize Israel, as demanded by President Mahmoud Abbas.

The Popular Resistance Committees, al-Aqsa Brigades, Abu Rish Brigades and another Islamic group (Tawhid) – said they would back any government that would not recognize Israel and fight any government that does.

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Resistance Committees spokesperson Abu Abir, who spoke on behalf of all four groups, said, “Any government declaring its recognition of Israel will become a target for our fighters. We will fight such a government with all means necessary and deal with it as though it were a derivative of the occupation.”

Abu Abir said the groups would support a unity government that would uphold the Palestinian national principles, mainly the “non-recognition of the Zionist entity.”

The spokesperson called on the Palestinian organizations rally around the armed resistance as ‘a strategy for battling internal and external plots.’

“The Palestinian resistance has the right to fight Israel with all the means at its disposal until the occupation ends, the Palestinian refugees return to their homes and the prisoners are freed,” he said.

Talks to resume this week

It should be noted that the statement is apparently a continuation of the struggle between Hamas and Fatah regarding the recognition of Israel - a dispute that continues to stand in the way of a Palestinian unity government. However, the majority of Abu Rish and Al Aqsa Brigades members are still affiliated with Fatah, while only small groups within these organizations act in cooperation with Hamas, meaning that the statement was not issued on behalf of the four groups in their entirety.

On Monday or Tuesday at the latest Abbas is set to travel to Gaza for the renewal of talks with Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh regarding the establishment of a unity government.

Meanwhile, Fatah officials have denied claims that the talks are focusing on the demand that Hamas recognize Israel. Fatah leader Hussein Al-Sheikh said his organization is not demanding that Hamas adopt this stance, apparently in response to recent polls showing that while the Palestinian public supports a unity government that would facilitate the lifting of the economic siege, more than 60 percent of respondents said they support the government’s position according to which it should not recognize Israel.

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