As is usual when Abbas opens his mouth, he is lying.RT: Today, the other part of the Palestinian resistance, Hamas, is increasingly leaning towards a political solution of the problem rather than a military one. Have you noticed the shift?
MA: Yes, we have. Moreover, that’s something we have agreed on. A number of Hamas members support this stance. That’s what we agreed on during our meeting in Cairo, and several months ago at the summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation we reaffirmed that the Palestinian people have the right to non-violent resistance. We are going back to the negotiating process. There is no disagreement on this between us and Hamas leaders, though some keep saying that they don’t consider a peaceful solution the only option and don’t rule out military struggle. But all this talk stopped at the Cairo meeting, which was sponsored by the US and Egypt. Now this is Hamas’s official stance. Pay no attention to the odd Hamas members that say different.
RT: Can these odd dissident voices affect the reconciliation process?
MA: No. This is an entirely different topic. We agreed on all the political aspects of the reconciliation. The main thing – and we have agreed on this – will be to set up an interim government with me as its head. So here’s the compromise: after Fayyad’s government stands down, which is what Hamas wanted, I will become the head of the new government, which Hamas has no objections to. They were the ones that insisted I lead the independent interim technocratic government. The next step will be to hold a general election. These are the two main steps of the reconciliation process, and they are being carried out simultaneously. That’s what we agreed on, but I do not know what prevents us from launching the process. That’s all I have to say on this issue.
RT: The EU is said to be considering a move to take Hamas off the list of terrorist organizations. Do you think that this may be an attempt to legitimize the Hamas-led government?
MA: I don’t think so. After the recent developments, the chances are quite high that the Hamas government may be recognized as legitimate. If Hamas is committed to the ceasefire and if it openly pledges to stick to the peaceful popular resistance, I don’t see much difference between their policy and ours. In this case, there is no need to label them as a terrorist organization.
RT: But you didn’t target Israel with rockets….
MA: Neither we nor Hamas did. Not any longer. After the Second Intifada, we decided to give up on armed resistance. And let me be totally frank with you: we don’t want to launch any armed resistance whatsoever. Hamas has said the same. Yes, there were clashes in the past, but they have stopped – and I’m grateful to Allah for that.
Hamas last shot rockets at Israel only a mere four months ago. And, incidentally, so did Fatah's Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades in Gaza.
So in that sense, Abbas is right - they are both the same in supporting terror attacks against civilians.
And those "odd Hamas members" that support terror? Well, it's only their official spokespeople. And to this day both Fatah and Hamas websites glorify "martyrdom" operations against Israeli civilians.
Abbas is really beneath contempt.