Palestinians outraged by ‘peace’ meeting with Israelis in Tel Aviv

Palestinian factions have condemned the participation of Palestinian figures in a meeting organized by The Israeli Peace Parliament.

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
Palestinian and Israeli flags overlook Dome of Rock and Western Wall (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Palestinian and Israeli flags overlook Dome of Rock and Western Wall
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Palestinian factions have condemned the participation of Palestinian figures in a meeting organized by The Israeli Peace Parliament, a public unaffiliated forum whose members are former representatives of a variety of political parties and movements, including former ministers and members of the Knesset.
Friday’s meeting in Tel Aviv was held under the banner “Yes to Peace,” “No to Annexation” and “Two States for Two People.”
Twenty Palestinians participated in the meeting. Among them: former Palestinian Authority economy minister Bassem Khoury; former PA health ministers Fathi Abu Mughlieh and Sameeh al-Abed; former PA local governance minister Hussein al-A’raj; and former PA prisoners affairs minister Ashraf al-Ajrami.
The Israeli delegation was represented by former Labor MK and interior minister Ophir Paz-Penis; former Knesset speaker and Jewish Agency chairman Avraham Burg; former foreign minister and interior minister Shlomo Ben-Ami; former Labor MK Colette Avital; and several former Meretz MKs.
Denouncing the gathering, Hamas said it was a “blow to all Palestinian positions rejecting US President Donald Trump’s recently unveiled plan for Mideast peace."
Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said the meeting was also a form of “normalization” with Israel that is rejected by all Palestinians. “These meetings encourage some parties in the region to normalize their relations with the Zionist entity,” Qassem said. “They also weaken the movement of solidarity with our Palestinian people.” He also criticized the PA for allowing such meetings with Israelis despite its leaders’ threats to cut all ties with Israel.
Palestinian Islamic Jihad official Ahmed al-Mudalal strongly condemned the meeting in Tel Aviv. “How can we convince the world to reject normalization [with Israel] when some of us are promoting it and involved in it?” he asked. “These meetings are intended to support Trump’s 'Deal of the Century.'”
The PLO’s Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) denounced the meeting as a “stabbing of the Palestinian people.” Friday’s meeting between Israelis and Palestinians was held under the direct sponsorship of the PA leadership and Mahmoud Abbas, the PFLP claimed.
The PFLP called on the PA leadership to dismantle the PLO’s Committee for Interaction with Israeli Society, which is responsible for organizing meetings between Palestinians and Israelis. “Participation in normalization meetings with hostile Zionists proves that the Palestinian leadership is not serious about renouncing the Oslo Accords, halting security coordination [with Israel] and suspending all meetings with the Zionist entity,” the PFLP added.
Al-Ahrar (“The Free”), a group of dissident Fatah members in the Gaza Strip, denounced the meeting as “national and immoral crime” and said it violated the PA’s position against the Trump plan. “The meeting encourages the occupation and the US administration to continue their steps to implement the Trump plan,” the group said.