http://www.islamonline.org/English/News/2005-09/16/article04.shtml
“It has no credibility as he (Sharon) goes on with his policy to build the barrier and the settlements,” Khatib said.
Palestinian officials blasted on Friday, September 16, Israeli Premier Ariel Sharon’s speech at the United Nations as only a PR stunt to cover up for settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank and make diplomatic gains from the Gaza Strip pullout.
“This was a public relations speech to exploit the withdrawal from Gaza and to realize diplomatic gains, no more,” Palestinian Planning Minister Ghassan Al-Khatib told Agence France Presse (AFP).
Sharon, a 77-year-old ex-general, told the UN General Assembly on Thursday, Sharon, that it was now up to the Palestinians to prove their desire for peace after Israel’s withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.
“The most important test the Palestinian leadership will face is in fulfilling their commitments to put an end to terror and its infrastructure (and) to eliminate the anarchic regime of armed gangs,” he said.
Khatib branded the speech as “deceptive”.
“Israel is asking us to assume our responsibilities in the Gaza Strip when the fact is that Israel has maintained its domination on its borders and its movements, making Israel responsible as an occupation force,” he said.
Israel completed its withdrawal from the Gaza Strip on Monday, September 12, ending its 38 year-old military presence in the impoverished area.
It closed the Rafah border crossing to Egypt, Gaza’s only exit to the rest of the world, and plans to open a new crossing where it can still monitor the passage of goods.
The Palestinians insist that even after the departure of the last Israeli soldier, the Gaza Strip would remain occupied as long as Israel retained control of land borders, air space and territorial waters.
Al-Quds
The Palestinians also lambasted Sharon’s statements regarding the status of Al-Quds (occupied East Jerusalem).
Sharon told the UN the Palestinians have the right to establish their independent state but maintained that Al-Quds would remain the capital of Israel.
There are around 230,000 Palestinians living in Al-Quds, home to Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest shrine in Islam.
The status of the holy city has long been one of the thorniest issues of the Arab-Israeli conflict as Jews claim that their alleged Haykal (Temple of Solomon) exists underneath Al-Haram Al-Sharif, whish was the first qiblah (direction Muslims take during prayers).
Israel captured and occupied Al-Quds in the six-day 1967 war, then declared its annexation, in a move not recognized by the world community or UN resolutions.
Settlement Building
Khatib said Sharon’s speech lacked credibility given Israeli plans to expand settlements and its West Bank separation barrier.
“It has no credibility as he goes on with his policy to build the barrier and the settlements,” he told AFP.
Palestinian national security advisor Jibril Rajoub agreed, reported the Israeli daily Haaretz.
“The message that everyone in the street got was building settlements, what’s happening in Al-Quds (Jerusalem) and the separation wall,” he said.
Palestinian experts have warned that Israel is exploiting its Gaza pullout to multiply settlements in the occupied West Bank, scuppering the already stumbling peace process.
According to the Israeli Interior Ministry, the population of Jewish settlements in the West Bank has grown by 9,000 since the beginning of this year taking the overall number of settlers to 246,000 scattered across 116 settlements surrounded by up to 2.4 million Palestinians.
An Israeli spokesman recently said his government issued confiscation orders to seize Palestinian-owned lands to link Maale Adumim, the biggest Jewish settlement in the West bank, to occupied Al-Quds.
The Israeli occupation army has since January issued more than 150 decrees confiscating some 13,350 square meters of Palestinian land in the West Bank, including the holy city.
Palestinians have repeatedly vocalized fears that Sharon devised the Gaza plan as a ruse to cement Israel’s hold on most of the occupied West Bank, where 246,000 settlers live among 2.4 million Palestinians.
Sharon has made no secret of his intention to cement control over parts of the occupied West Bank, especially on the outskirts of Al-Quds, in exchange for the Gaza withdrawal.
Actions Not Words
“It’s not enough to make declarations. You have to end the occupation and settlements on Palestinian territory,” Erekat said.
Khatib said the Palestinians were hoping Sharon would announce Israeli readiness to go back to peace talks on the basis of the internationally-backed roadmap peace blueprint.
Sharon told the world body that Israel was committed to the peace plan but did not talk about the resumption of negotiations to implement the blueprint.
The peace plan, which calls for an end to all Israeli settlement activity and paves the way to the creation of a Palestinian state, has made next to no progress since its launch in 2003.
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said the Palestinians need to see actions rather than words.
“The Palestinian Authority calls on the Israeli government to re-launch the peace process with a view to a permanent solution that establishes frontiers as well as the status of Jerusalem and of Palestinian refugees,” he told AFP.
“It’s not enough to make declarations. You have to end the occupation and settlements on Palestinian territory.”
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http://www.aljazeerah.info/16o/I%20Came%20Here%20with%20a%20Message%20of%20Peace%20Said%20Sharon%20By%20Rami%20Almeghari.htm
By Rami Almeghari
Al-Jazeerah, September 16, 2005
Coincident with the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon