Hamas steps up anti-Annapolis talk: Abbas has no right to give up one inch of Palestine - Haaretz

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Wed., November 28, 2007 Kislev 18, 5768

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Hamas steps up anti-Annapolis talk: Abbas has no right to give up one inch of Palestine

By News Agencies

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 yesterday. "No person, group, government or generation has the right to give up one inch of it."

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"Anyone who stands in the face of resistance, 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 Annapolis 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.

Hamas violently seized control of Gaza from Abbas' forces in June, leaving Abbas in charge of a pro-Western government based in the West Bank. Abbas' lack of control over Gaza has raised questions about his ability to carry out any future peace deal.

While moving to bolster Abbas, Israel has stepped up pressure on Hamas since the Gaza takeover, carrying out numerous airstrikes and ground incursions to halt Palestinian militant attacks.

Hamas' criticism of Abbas has grown increasingly heated - and personal - ahead of the Mideast conference. Ismail Haniyeh, prime minister of Gaza's Hamas government, was among a series of Hamas leaders to sign a document yesterday stating that Abbas has no right to make concessions in peace talks.

"The people believe that this conference is fruitless and that any recommendations or commitments made in the conference that harm our rights will not be binding for our people," Haniyeh said. "It will be binding only for those who sign it."

A senior member of the militant movement Islamic Jihad, Mohammed al-Hindi, said at the gathering, "Our jihad and sacrifice will bring us the great victory we are looking for."

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