Ben-Ami says Israel, US must talk to Hamas if they want peace, signature campaign in Europe to recognize Hamas

Ben-Ami: Israel, the USA must talk to Hamas if they want peace

[ 27/02/2009 - 10:06 AM ]

GAZA, (PIC)--

Former Israeli foreign minister Shlomo Ben-Ami has urged both the Israeli occupation government and the USA to change their policy of isolating the Hamas Movement, adding that they should deal with Hamas if they want peace in the region to progress.

In press statements he issued Thursday, Ben-Ami asserted, "I concluded hat dialogue with Hamas Movement is necessary since the Movement won a land-slide victory in the PA elections in 2006 and formed the "tenth" PA government".

Ben-Ami's remarks came in the aftermath of a letter sent by 14 political figures and former negotiators to the British Times newspaper urging the USA and Israel to include Hamas in the Middle East peace process.

Ben-Ami, who served as foreign minister in the Israeli occupation government from (2000-2001), and Alvaro De Soto, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East, among other figures, have put their signatures to the letter.

According to the letter, there will be no meaningful peace process in the region if the USA, Israel, and the EU keep on talking to representatives of certain section of the Palestinian people while trying to isolate and destroy the other "strong" players, alluding to Hamas Movement.

They alleged that integrating Hamas into the peace process wouldn’t mean "closing eyes to attacks on civilians", but, they opined, the integration would enhance chances of "pragmatic figures" in the Movement to settle difficult issues and reach a peace agreement.

"The latest war on Gaza [that reaped lives of around 1500 Palestinian civilians, and wounded close to 5500 others, mostly children and women] proved that attempts to isolate Hamas Movement wouldn’t succeed and wouldn’t achieve stability in the region", the letter highlighted.

New signature campaign in Europe to recognize Hamas launched

[ 26/02/2009 - 09:00 PM ]

PARIS, (PIC)--

A group of French anti-racism activists have started a campaign to collect signatures demanding the European Union to immediately recognize Hamas Movement as a legitimate Movement, and to remove it from the EU list of terrorist organizations.

According to the activists, Hamas was duly and democratically elected by the Palestinian people in transparent and honest elections in 2006, and thus, they added, the international community must respect the democratic choice of the Palestinian people.

The campaign, the organizers explained, was targeting candidates of the next EU parliament who would contest the elections in June this year.

High-profile International and European personalities, including Franswa Hotarat, professor emeritus from the Catholic Lovan University, and the Irish Noble Prize Laureate Mairead Maguire among other famous figures across Europe have put their signature to the campaign that also bore hundreds of signatures from different European countries, including Germany, Belgium, Austria, Spain, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Holland, Portugal, Romania, UK, Sweden, USA, Canada, Brazil, Venezuela, Cuba, Mexico, South Africa, Syria, Lebanon, Morocco, and Libya.

In 2006, More than 1000 American and European observers led by former US president Jimmy Carter witnessed the Palestinian elections that Hamas won, and described it as most transparent in the region.

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