Palestinians Fear
the Worst After
Sharons Re-Election
Palestine Media Center- (PMC)
The Palestine National Authority
(PNA) said the Palestinian people feared the worst after Ariel Sharons
Likud party easily won Israels general elections Tuesday, with
right-wing parties scoring a clear majority.
During Tuesdays vote,
Palestinians were confined to their homes by an Israeli military curfew.
The PNA chief negotiator
and cabinet minister Saeb Erekat told reporters Wednesday, You
have Sharon in a new government, a war against Iraq imminent, the disappearance
of the peace process, all these factors.
But nevertheless, I
would like to say that we respect the democratic choice of the Israelis
and we call on whoever is in the new government to resume negotiations,
he added.
PNA minister of culture and
information, Yasser Abed Rabbo, said that the Israelis have committed
an historical mistake, which both Palestinian and Israeli peoples will
regret and pay dearly for.
President Yasser Arafats
media advisor Nabil Abu Rudeina said, the results did not surprise
us, this is the choice of the Israeli people.
The important thing,
however, is whether this government will last, if the occupation will
last on our land or if (the government) will agree to come back to negotiations,
he said, urging the international community to pressure Sharon to opt
for peace talks with the Palestinians.
In Gaza City, Hamas founder
Sheik Ahmed Yassin said Sharons victory meant Israelis are not
ready to make peace.
The Israeli people
are looking for a violent leader who is able to kill and destroy the
Palestinian people, but they will lose, Yassin said.
Futoon Qadri, 27, a resident
of the West Banks largest city of Nablus, said she didnt
think her life could get much worse, regardless of the outcome of the
vote.
Nablus has been under curfew
for extended periods since Israeli troops reoccupied the city in June.
There hasnt been a break in the curfew for the past 10 days.
There's nothing that
would give me hope for the future, and that's how life is going to continue,
said Qadri.
Before the polls closed,
Palestinian homemaker Yasmin Ahmed read the Israeli dailies Haaretz,
Jerusalem Post and Yediot Ahronot online at the Future Internet Cafe
in Ramallah.
The Israeli election
plays a big role in my life, she said, explaining that her husband
is imprisoned by Israel. Therefore, I hope a new Israeli leader
will help will find a solution (to the conflict) that will end the suffering
of my husband.
But most at the cafe were
resigned to Sharon staying in power. Sharon will be the leader
of Israel, and he is not a man who is seeking peace at all, said
Osama Shamashneh, a 23-year-old accountant.
Bush: We Will Continue
to Seek Peace
Meanwhile, US President George
W. Bush vowed Tuesday to press on with efforts to foster peace between
Israel and the Palestinians.
We will continue to
seek peace between a secure Israel and a democratic Palestine,
he said in his annual State of the Union address before a joint session
of the US Congress.
Last June, Bush outlined
his strategy for securing peace in the Middle East, calling for the
creation of an independent Palestinian state living side by side with
Israel.
At the weekend US Secretary
of State Colin Powell said that any Israeli government put together
from disparate parties over the coming days must move toward creating
a genuine Palestinian state.
Addressing the World Economic
Forum in Davos, he told the Israeli leadership: You have to do
more to deal with the humanitarian concerns of the Palestinian people,
and you have to understand that a Palestinian state, when its
created, must be a real state, not a phoney state thats diced
into a thousand different pieces.
Russia Calls For Immediate
Adoption of Roadmap
Russian Foreign Minister
Igor Ivanov demanded Tuesday an urgent meeting of the so-called Middle
East quartet in order to approve the roadmap.
The quartet comprises representatives
of the United States, the European Union, United Nations and Russia.
Russia thinks that
it is very important that the international quartet, without delay,
meets to present a road map for a gradual solution to the Palestinian-Israeli
violence, said Ivanov.
The international community
must not lower its guard concerning the Middle East problem, Ivanov
said following talks with the visiting Organization of the Islamic Conference
(OIC) Secretary General Abdel Wahid Belkeziz.
However Israeli Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon has rejected any discussion of the roadmap,
which would see the creation of an independent Palestinian state within
three years.
Arab Reaction
Egyptian President Hosni
Mubarak said in remarks published Tuesday that he wanted to step up
contacts with Ariel Sharon.
We have to deal with
the Israeli prime minister in a new way in order to relaunch the
Mideast peace process, Mubarak told Al-Ittihad newspaper.
Sharon will be re-elected
and we must speak to him because it would be inopportune to stay quiet.
We have some contacts
but we have to intensify them to explain better to him (Sharon) the
situation and its seriousness, he added.
His attitude could
develop, the elections could open up a new chance to relaunch the peace
process and put an end to the violence, Mubarak said of the Palestinian
intifada, or uprising, against Israeli occupation.
However, Arab League chief
Amr Mussa said Tuesday he did not expect any shift in Israeli government
policy if, as expected, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon wins its general
election.
Mr Sharon tomorrow
will be no different to Mr Sharon yesterday, Mussa told reporters
in Berlin after talks with German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer.
He said Sharons government
already did not do much to prevent the further occupation of Palestinian
territory.
Having a different kind of
government -- unity, minority or majority -- did not automatically mean
a new opening toward peace, he added.
We need a government
that is committed to a balanced peace, a fair peace. Would this be the
case if Sharon were in it? Said Mussa. I don't think so.
29/01/2003