Iranian Vice-Speaker: Palestinian Nation Opposes Peace Talks with Israel

Vice-Speaker of the Iranian Parliament Mohammad Hassan Aboutorabi-Fard condemned the efforts made by the US to resume the so-called “peace talks” between Israel and the Palestinians, and said the Iranian and Palestinian nations are opposed to such negotiations.
“The experience of our long-time struggles shows that the Palestinian nation and we are not interested in welcoming the negotiations and are not optimistic about its results,” Aboutorabi-Fard said, addressing Muslim countries’ envoys in Tehran Sunday night.

He described Palestine as an issue related to the entire Muslim world, and said, “Muslim countries should stand against the Zionist regime’s big plot which is a completely western plot.”

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) in a statement on Sunday underlined that revival of the so-called “peace talks” between Israel and Palestinian groups is doomed to failure, calling it a “dangerous decision”.

“Resumption of negotiations and indication of willingness to concede in opposition to the Palestinians’ national consensus and even contrary to the decision of the PLO institutions themselves, is deeply dangerous to the Palestinian cause,” the statement added.

“We are aware of the seriousness of this action, and believe that its severe consequences will impact the rights of the Palestinian people and damage Palestinian unity,” the statement added.

“The PFLP calls upon the masses of our people, the political forces, and community groups, to engage in activities to organize and mobilize the people to express their rejection of the negotiations and pressure the Palestinian leadership to refrain from going to Washington and cancel these absurd negotiations, because they entail the risk of concessions that violate Palestinians’ fundamental constants and national rights,” it further added.

Earlier this month, US Secretary of State John Kerry claimed that he finally “convinced Israeli and Palestinian officials to return to the negotiating table.” This is while the prospects for peace appear just as unlikely as before.

Head of the Political Bureau of the Palestinian Hamas movement Khalid Mashaal had underlined in May that Washington’s efforts to restore peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians are doomed to fail since the US secretary of state has not presented any solution to the ongoing crisis.

“The US secretary of state has not presented any solution to settle the conflicts between the Palestinians and the Zionist regime and therefore the country’s efforts are doomed to fail similar to the past,” Mashaal said.

He complained that John Kerry has not adopted a serious approach to settle the Palestinian issue fairly because it has never pressured Israel as the occupier, and has just pressured the Arab sides and the Palestinian authority and presented some useless projects.

The US secretary of state has claimed to be seeking to revive direct peace talks that broke down in 2010 over the issue of Jewish settlement building in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

He hailed the Arab League’s revised Middle-East peace initiative as “a very big step forward”.

But Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh at the time rejected the plan, saying outsiders could not decide the fate of the Palestinians.

In the meetings held in early May in Washington, Arab states appeared to soften their 2002 peace plan, acknowledging that Israelis and Palestinians may have to swap land in any eventual peace deal.

Addressing hundreds of worshippers in a Gaza mosque, Haniyeh said it was a concession that other Arabs were not authorized to make.

“The so-called new Arab initiative is rejected by our people, by our nation and no one can accept it,” Haniyeh said.

“The initiative contains numerous dangers to our people in the occupied land of 1967, 1948 and to our people in exile.”

“To those who speak of land swaps we say: Palestine is not a property, it is not for sale, not for a swap and cannot be traded,” Haniyeh said.

Haniyeh said the Palestinian Authority, headed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, was to blame for inspiring the softer Arab position because it accepted the need for land swaps with Israel.