Panel discuss prospective Palestinian unity talks

A political panel was held Sunday in Qodsna office with experts in the Palestinian and Middle East affairs on attendance.

All of the participants in the panel were of the consensus that the unity talk offer by any Palestinian group would flash a ray of hope for the Palestinian issue.

The experts however believed that Abu Mazen's offer for national unity talk was actually an effort to garner some legitimacy for his compromise talks with the Israeli side, arguing that Hamas has already put forth the talk offer, but now that Abbas has come under the pressure of public Palestinian opinion, he has resorted to the offer to pick some legitimacy to continue his compromising efforts.

 The experts also tied Abbas' offer to Annapolis confab, saying that the offer could be considered as part of a US-Israeli project.

The experts however noted that all the Palestinian groups are in dire need of unity talks and that prospective unity talks would provide them a golden opportunity at time when Israel faces stiff conditions in every account.

The experts also regarded Israeli war minister Shaul Mofaz' intimidating remarks against Iran as timed to scuttle any Iranian efforts to promote unity among the Palestinians.

The experts also discussed the theory that America no longer considers Israel as a proxy to secure its interests in the Middle East, noting that the Annapolis conference was a vehicle to make Israel understand it must abandon Great Israel dreams and must concede part of Beit ul-Moqaddas to the Palestinians.

Saudi's opposition to choosing an Arab country as venue for the talks and the country's insistence that any prospective Palestinian unity talks be held under Arab League eyes were among other topics discussed in the panel.

Saa'd Allah Zarei: Israel on weakest point in its history   

Israelis at the moment are in weakest position in history and could not make decisions either on war or peace, said Sa'ad Allah Zarei, an Iranian expert in Middle East affairs, in a political panel held by Qodsna Sunday.

The following is excerpts of his speech in the panel.

There is no desire for war among Israelis because they have bitter experiences from their previous wars, including the 33-day war with Lebanon's Hezbollah.

During their two wars from 1982 to 2006, the power of Israel has rapidly slowed down. It is likely that the Israeli 33-day war with the Lebanese Islamic Resistance Movement, Hezbollah in summer 2006 was a test to show the extent of the regime's decay.

When the 33-day war occurred, the Israelis were forced to admit defeat.

Their defeat revealed that the current Israeli regime is not the one touted before and needs a major overhaul.

They are too weak to decide for war or peace and therefore the Israelis not only don’t have any desire for peace but also they hate any peace deal.

The current situation of Israeli regime is different from its situation on 1991 Madrid and 1993 Oslo. Israelis are now suffering from a serious decline in their position. One day they are seeking war and the other day they want peace. One day they threaten to launch military attack against Iran and immediately deny it, so all of these events show that Israel suffers unbalance among its community.

Why Palestinians need national dialogue?

Peace inside the Palestinian territories essential, regardless of who has called for it. Palestinians restricted by their enemy must focus their capabilities on unity. We welcome the Palestinian Authority chief Abu Mazen's call for renewing national reconciliation talk.

The Islamic republic of Iran has always been concerned about the discords among the Palestinians. It was Iran that convened Palestinians in Mecca to form national unity government. These efforts failed, however Iran always supports any national dialogue.

Another reason the Palestinians need national dialogue is that the situation is prepared for gaining their rights as Israel is in a weak position.

If the Palestinians either Abu Mazen or Haniyah or the Hamas government do not withdraw some of their demands, the national dialogue will fail.

Fekri : PLO and not Fatah would talk with Hamas   

Ali Zareh Fekri an expert in Palestinian affairs believed that Palestinian national dialogue would not be held between Fattah and Hamas and rather it will be held between Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas.

Pointing to remarks of Zyad Abu Ein, deputy minister of the installed government in West Bank, he said the Fattah leaders revived PLO as a rival to Hamas.

Pointing to the negotiation between Syria and Israel, the expert said the negotiations will not bear results because Syria never ignores the Jolan area while Israel never will accept any preconditions.

"Proposal of national dialogue in this period of time is the last resort for Israelis and even Abu Mazen," he added.

"National dialogue can help Abu Mazen in internal arena and also convince Arab worlds."

Abu Mazen seeks legitimacy through negotiation with Israel - Kanaa'ni-Moqaddam   

Hussein Kana'ni Moqadam, secretary of the political committee of Hezbollah in Tehran believes that the Palestinian national dialogue proposed by the Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) is an effort by him Abu Mazen to prepare the grounds for peace with the Israeli side.

Speaking in Qodsna political panel about Abu Mazen's intentions behind offering to renew Palestinian internal negotiations, Kanaa'ni Moqaddam delivered a brief history about the negotiations and peace process between the Israelis and Palestinians.

According to him, at least 22 or 23 peace deals have been signed between Palestinians and Israelis since 1967 in which the Israelis have always followed the below aims:

1- Opposition to formation of Palestinian state

2- Refusal to return Qods to Palestinians

3- Refusal to withdraw from Jolan areas

4- Rejection of Palestinians right of return

5- Refusal to recognize Palestine and their people

6- Refusal to halt settlements expansion

Describing the aims of AbuMazen from national dialogue offer, the political expert noted that Abu Mazen proposed his plan in the context of U.S- Israeli programs and Annapolis ratifications.

According to the expert, five factors to be considered in a negotiation plan are as follows.

1- The Sides who take part in negotiation should have legitimacy and be approved by national fronts – the condition is not seen in Palestine.

2- Topic of negotiation must be clear – Not seen in the Palestinian case

3- Observer of the negotiation - America announced its readiness.

4- Place of the negotiation - In this plan, Amman and Doha announced their readiness.

5- Guarantees - the guarantee of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations is that it must be approved by resistance groups and the Palestinian people.

America and Israel and some Arabs are supporters of Abu Mazen while resistance movements and the people support Ismael Haniyeh, the elected prime minister of the Palestinian government. If the people refuse to approve the case, the negotiation will not bear results.

The Israeli side too has no plenipotentiary authority and faces with problems and objections.

There are parties like Likud and Miretz in Israel that deter Israeli authorities to make general decisions.