The meeting of the general secretaries of the Palestinian factions kicked off on Sunday in New Alamein to discuss Palestinian developments, ways to restore national unity, and ending division, in light of the major challenges facing the Palestinian cause.
The Palestinian factions participating in the meeting and the accompanying delegations stressed the need to come up with resolutions to strengthen national unity and support the steadfastness of the Palestinian people.
This is to face the daily attacks by the Israeli occupation and its settlers on cities, villages and camps, and the violations committed by the occupation government against the city of Jerusalem.
They stressed the need to strengthen Palestinian unity within the framework of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), the sole and legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.
Speaking to the opening speech, President Mahmoud Abbas said that the coup d’état of 2007, and the odious division it has brought upon Palestine, its people and its cause, is a new catastrophe that must be ended immediately and without any hesitation or delay.
Unity and joint action, to achieve the goals, must be based on clear principles and foundations to end division, achieve unity and put the house of nation in order, he added.
Abbas stressed that the PLO is the legitimate and sole representative of the Palestinian people and must be committed to it, its political program and all its international obligations.
He added that the world recognizes the PLO as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, and more than that, it is the national and political entity of the Palestinian people, with Jerusalem as its capital, the protector of the independent national decision and national identity.
Abbas stressed that it is not permissible for any Palestinian to have reservations on this organization and its national and political program, but it is a duty of consensus.
He added that the barbaric Israeli aggression requires us all to rise to the level of true national responsibility and to work to arrange the national home to confront this occupation that targets the Palestinian existence and its rights and sanctities.
President Abbas pointed out that peaceful popular resistance is, at this stage, the best way to continue the Palestinian struggle and achieve national goals, and that choosing this method of national struggle is not a random choice, but rather a considered choice based on historical facts and experiences.
He stressed that the Palestinians must agree on this resistance in order to confront the aggression of the occupiers, and the international community must provide international protection for the Palestinian people in the face of those who attack them.
He stressed the need to work to end the division and to restore things to their proper shape within the framework of one State, one system, one law, one legitimate weapon, one Government and the interests of our people and our national cause.
Regarding the holding of elections, the President said that elections are the only means of transferring responsibility and national participation, and we want to hold the presidential, legislative and National Council elections today before tomorrow.
Our people in occupied East Jerusalem can participate in these elections without any obstacles, as happened in 1996, 2005, and 2006.
He stressed that Israel is the one that is holding up these elections, and that is why we are calling on the international community, led by the United States (US) and the European Union (EU), to oblige Israel to hold the democratic elections in Jerusalem.
For his part, Head of the Hamas Political Bureau, Ismail Haniyeh called for the need to adopt an effective national plan that responds to the existential challenges imposed by the current Israeli government in its dimensions related to the occupation or the internal Palestinian situation.
He pointed out that the Oslo phase has ended, and today the Palestinian people are facing a new political and Field stage.
Haniyeh said that the main contradiction is with the Israeli enemy and the current stage is the stage of National Liberation.
The political partnership based on the Democratic electoral option is the starting point for building national unity and arranging the Palestinian house with all its components and levels, he concluded.
