PFLP accuses Hamas and Fatah of lying about unity

From AFP Arabic:

Rabah Muhanna, member of a political arm of the movement of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine accused Fatah and Hamas of "lying" at the expense of the Palestinian people on Tuesday.

Rabah Muhanna said in a press statement that "Fatah and Hamas are lying to each other and to the masses of our people; and any future meetings [between them] would be a lie to the masses and they should stop wasting everyone's time."

"The experience of dialogue and the bilateral agreements between the two groups confirms that this approach will not end the division. The Doha Declaration is a clear example of this," he said.

He called for "the masses of our people in the West Bank and Gaza," to "move to reject this division and polarization of mutual arrests and media [attacks], especially in the West Bank, where the arrests and security coordination are hateful and shameful to any nation."

Fatah responded predictably, slamming Muhamma. An official scoffed at Muhanna's statements, saying they were inflammatory and defamatory. He also said they were hypocritical and political deception and a "concealment of the truth." The official said it was unacceptable "to act in the the role of a professor carrying his red pen....the aim is really to gain narrow partisan advantage."

Of course, every sane person can see that Hamas and Fatah have still not done one concrete move towards unity since the original announcement last May and Ruhanna is just speaking out loud what most Palestinian Arabs know quite well but are too afraid to say. Hamas and Fatah like the status quo and the power they have in Gaza and the West Bank and they will not jeopardize that.