PNI Tours Evacuated Settlements in Jenin District

Barghouthi: Our people seek the removal of all illegal settlements, not only four tiny ones

25 August 2005

Jenin:  Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi, General Secretary of the Palestinian National Initiative, made a visit to Jenin with a delegation from the Initiative on Thursday .

Dr. Barghouthi’s also viewed the evacuated settlements in this area and visited the nearby villages of Ya’bad, Silat al-Dhahr, and Sares.

Dr. Barghouthi listened as people talked about their suffering and daily worries, and he witnessed the demolition of houses in the four evacuated settlements.

Barghouthi confirmed that what is happening there is not beneficial to the Palestinian national interest, which is to end the occupation of all Palestinian land and to dismantle all settlements and the Apartheid Wall.

He added that the Palestinian people have endured thousands of their compatriots killed, wounded, and imprisoned, and millions of people suffer daily from the occupation.  Evacuating only a few hundred settlers from four settlements, out of 420,000 settlers in over 240 settlements, and turning the evacuated settlements into Israeli army bases, is not a move toward peace but a mere public relations stunt that will have very little effect on West Bank Palestinians as Sharon continues to build illegal settlements and the Apartheid Wall.

Dr. Barghouthi met with members of the elected local council in the village of Ya’bad and heard their problems and fears due to the ongoing siege.

He also participated in a public meeting in Ya’bad and gave a lecture about social and political action.  Afterwards he participated in a similar public meeting in Sares.

Dr. Barghouthi said that his fears have been confirmed and that the disengagement plan will transform the Gaza Strip into a giant prison for the foreseeable future.  It was merely a ploy to allow Sharon to consolidate his illegal stranglehold on vast and vital areas of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem and an enormous area surrounding Ma’ale Adumim settlement, which will effectively cut the West Bank in two and deprive the future Palestinian state of its economic and cultural capital.  It will, in effect, destroy the chance for a negotiated two-state solution.

Sharon stated explicitly that the disengagement included plans to speed up construction of the illegal Apartheid Wall, and he has done so even against the advice of Israel’s biggest sponsor, the American government.

Such provocations, as well as the murder of five people, including two children, in Tulkarem this week by an Israeli assassination squad, show that Sharon has no interest in peace, coexistence, or a fair negotiated two-state solution.