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del.icio.us Digg It!  new Last update - 04:23 28/11/2007 Iran: 'True owners of Palestine' absent at Annapolis conference By Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondent Tags: Annapolis, Iran, Hamas  The Annapolis conference was a "bargaining session" at which the real stakeholders were not even present, an Iranian government spokesman said Tuesday. "The conference is taking place in the absence of the true owners of Palestine," said Gholam-Hossein Elham, according to the Iranian news agency IRNA. Elham added that leaders of the Palestinian factions opposed to Annapolis would meet in Iran in another 10 days. "Iran is the home of all the fighting Palestinian factions who aspire to liberate their land from the grip of the thieving occupier," he said. Advertisement It is not clear whether this meeting will be in addition to or in place of a meeting of Palestinian rejectionist groups that had originally been slated to take place in Damascus. That meeting, supposed to be Tuesday, was postponed, and Hamas rejected an Iranian offer to host it in Tehran. Meanwhile, speaking at the largest protest in Hamas-run Gaza, leaders of the Islamist group which seized the enclave from Abbas' forces in June said he had no right to make concessions to Israel at the conference. "Let them go to a thousand conferences, we say in the name of the Palestinian people that we did not authorize anyone to sign any agreement that harms our rights," Mahmoud al-Zahar, a Hamas leader, told a cheering crowd. "Anyone who does so will be judged by history as a traitor." Speaking to the Tuesday rally, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said his group would not disarm. "We will stand firmly in the face of policies that attack the will of our people, our factions and our weapons of resistance, Haniyeh said. We reaffirm the legitimacy of resistance and support it as a natural right." Haniyeh also expressed dismay over the participation of 16 Arab nations, including Saudi Arabia and Syria, a key Hamas patron, at the U.S. summit. He said the Arab masses "will reject ... any concessions to the Zionist enemy. "We are sure that the Annapolis conference will not change the reality of history and geography, he added. Any conference that goes beyond this reality is doomed to failure." After Haniyeh's speech, the Gaza protest gained strength, beginning with several thousand pro-Hamas university students and quickly growing into tens of thousands of people. "History will have no mercy on you," the crowd shouted in a reference to Abbas. Waving Palestinian flags as well as the green Hamas banner and black flag of the Islamic Jihad faction, protesters shouted "Abbas is a traitor." Islamic Jihad officials did not spare their criticism either. The organizations's chairman Ramadan Abdullah Shalah said that "the Annapolis summit is an Arab-Zionist celebration of Israel's 60th anniversary. It strives to destroy the Palestinian struggle with the blessing of the Arab world and especially of the Saudis." "There will be no concessions over one inch of Palestine. We will defend this land by our flesh and we will water it by our blood," Islamic Jihad leader Mohammed al-Hindi told the rally. In Lebanon, several hundred Palestinians protested at the Ain al-Hilweh camp, home to 70,000 refugees, chanting "Overthrow the Arab traitors," in reference to Arab states such as Saudi Arabia and Syria which are attending the conference. Related articles: Israel, PA agree to strive for accord by end of 2008 Special Haaretz TV coverage of the Annapolis Conference ANALYSIS / Fear of Iran brought Arab leaders to Annapolis Full text of Bush, PM, and Abbas speeches, and joint statement Bookmark to del.icio.us Breaking his silence The Annapolis summit provoked Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to lash out at Israel. Israel's school daze Education Ministry data reveal a gap in test scores between Jewish and Arab schools.   1.   Since When Does Hamas, Etc. Speak For All Palestinians? NEVER!! 04:51  |  Proud Pal Defender 28/11/07   2.   Ahmadinejad 05:42  |  Tareq 28/11/07   3.   True owners mind their own property. 06:04  |  Fortuna Benmayor 28/11/07   4.   no aboriginal leaders from US 06:19  |  Billy Jack 28/11/07   5.   Isn`t It About Time That Someone Told Iran To Shut Up? 07:19  |  Yosemite 28/11/07   6.   PPD 07:57  |  Israeli 28/11/07   7.   RIGHT! GOD ALMIGHTY, TRUE OWNER OF HOLYLAND MADE HIMSELF ABSENT F 08:12  |  VOICE of MOSHIACH))) 28/11/07   8.   True owners absent? 08:20  |  Yohan Dahal 28/11/07   9.   #3 FB True owners mind their property. 08:30  |  keith 28/11/07   10.   To Tareq # 3 Read AUTHENTIC HISTORY first 08:52  |  Dagma 28/11/07   11.   to Ahmadare-jendeh self styled "president" of Iran 09:01  |  Persian Prince 28/11/07   12.   IRAN : MULLAHS NEED AN EXTERNAL ENEMY TO SUBDUE THEIR CITIZENS 09:03  |  * B.HEDDEM * 28/11/07   13.   The word `Palestinian` can be confusing....... 09:46  |  Dolly 28/11/07   14.   `THE REJECTONIST` 09:56  |  dr danielito 28/11/07   15.   PPD 10:32  |  Not either 28/11/07   16.   The left hand does know what the right hand is doing 10:53  |  Natallie Durson 28/11/07   17.   #2 Tareq--I Hope Palestinians DON`T Repeat The Hamas Error. 11:20  |  Proud Pal Defender 28/11/07   18.   Let us have Palestinians elections now 11:20  |  jo 28/11/07   19.   Hamas and peace 12:20  |  Sabra 28/11/07   20.   To Keith # 9 - Jews DID NOT ABANDON PALESTINE 14:13  |  Dagma 28/11/07   21.   saving lives 15:54  |  izaak 28/11/07   22.   Keith`s beliefs #3 - re: from Dagma 22:10  |  William 28/11/07

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