From Jerusalem Post Breaking News from Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World: Aug. 15, 2005 19:39 Updated Aug. 15, 2005 21:13 By KHALED ABU TOAMEH ...
The Israeli disengagement from the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank is the first step toward a withdrawal from all the territories occupied in 1967, including Jerusalem, Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas told reporters in his office in Gaza City on Monday.
.... 'The withdrawal should not be only from the Gaza Strip, but also from the entire West Bank, including Jerusalem. ....'
Abbas's remarks came as thousand of Palestinians took to the streets in various parts of the Gaza Strip to celebrate the beginning of the disengagement. Most of the celebrations were organized by Hamas and the Islamic Jihad.
Abbas, who received phone calls from several Arab presidents and monarchs congratulating him on the beginning of the pullout, chaired a meeting of the PLO executive committee on Monday to discuss the latest developments surrounding the disengagement.
...The committee ...said the Palestinian leadership wanted the celebrations to serve as a strong incentive for the international community to put more pressure on Israel to withdraw from the West Bank and Jerusalem.
....Dahlan said the PA had set up eight committees to run the settlements after the disengagement to assure that they will serve the public interest and all other sectors.
Dahlan lashed out at Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz, who was quoted on Monday as saying that Israel would retain control over major settlements in the West Bank. "Israel's policy is to ignore the basic legitimate rights of the Palestinian people. We have the right to live in our territories that Israeli occupied in 1967 and to have Jerusalem as our capital," he added. "The settlements, refugees, Jerusalem, water and borders are final status issues and will be resolved through negotiations."
Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal said in a message to the Palestinians that the disengagement was the first step toward "liberating Jerusalem and achieving the right of return for all refugees."
In an interview with the Gaza-based Voice of Al-Aksa radio station, Mashaal, who is based in Syria, said: "Jerusalem is next, the right of return is next. This land cannot exist unless it's under Islamic and Arab rule. Patience is the only way to achieve our goals." Mashaal said Hamas would not lay its weapons after the disengagement, saying his movement did not trust Israel. "In the past, Israel has returned to areas it withdrew from," he added.
... The celebrations have worried some Palestinians, who argue that they are diverting attention from Israel's measures in the West Bank and Jerusalem. One of the critics is Ali Jarbawi, professor of political science at Bir Zeit University, who wrote in the Ramallah- based Al-Ayyam newspaper against the "slide in the Palestinian official and popular agenda which emphasizes with utmost exaggeration the Gaza Strip while relegating Jerusalem and the West Bank to a secondary status." ...."Our slogan should be 'Jerusalem and the West Bank First', rather than Gaza First." ....
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