Zahar: Palestine … is purely owned by the Palestinians. No person, group, government or generation has the right to give up one inch of it
November 27, 2007 6:49 am Gaza under Hamas, Hamas, Israeli-Palestinian conflictHamas: Abbas has no right to give up one inch of Palestine, Haaretz, November 27, 2007
Hours before the start of a U.S.-hosted Middle East peace conference, Gaza’s Hamas rulers stepped up their attacks on Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, calling him a traitor and saying they would reject any decisions that come out of the international gathering.
“The Land of Palestine … is purely owned by the Palestinians,” senior Hamas official Mahmoud Zahar said in a speech. “No person, group, government or generation has the right to give up one inch of it.”
“Anyone who stands in the face of resistance or fights it or cooperates with the occupation against it is a traitor,” he added. He spoke at a conference, held in Gaza City, attended by some 2,000 activists from local militant groups opposed to the U.S. conference.
Hamas and other militant groups have been holding a series of protests this week against the U.S. peace conference, underscoring the challenges Abbas faces at home as he tries to make peace with Israel.