Haaretz
Nisan 21, 5765
ROME - Israel's planned
withdrawal from the Gaza Strip this summer won't be total and won't bring
about peace and stability in the region, jailed Palestinian uprising
leader Marwan Barghouti told an Italian newspaper.
In an interview
with Corriere della Sera, Barghouti, a leader of the Fatah movement, also
said that militant groups did not get much in return for observing a truce
with Israel that was declared in February.
"The withdrawal from
Gaza has been obtained thanks not to the skill of the negotiators but to
the arms of the intifada," he was quoted as saying. "It is partial. If the
situation remains as it is, it won't bring about peace and
stability."
As part of the disengagement plan, all Gaza Strip
settlements and four north West Bank settlements will be
evacuated.
"It is impossible to give up the option of resistance
for as long as there is occupation," said Barghouti, who is serving five
consecutive life terms in an Israeli prison for involvement in deadly
attacks.
"What have we had in return (for the truce)? New
settlements, a siege, checkpoints and thousands of prisoners still in
jail," Barghouti was quoted as saying.
"There are elements in the
Israeli society who seek a real peace, who reject occupation," he said.
"They are our future interlocutors."
Barghouti also said he
supports Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas' efforts to reform
and crack down on corruption after the death of Yasser Arafat, and urged
the Palestinian leader to finish the job within a year.
"If he
carries out his reform plan, I will stand by him, like the majority of
Palestinians," Barghouti said. "But he must make no compromises, there
must be no exceptions."
Corriere della Sera did not specify how it
got the interview with Barghouti.