Fatah official: Shimon Peres was a "murderer and a criminal," Abbas attended his funeral because of international pressure
Official PA TV program State of Politics, hosting Fatah Commissioner for Mobilization and Organization and Fatah Central Committee member Mahmoud Al-Aloul, on the criticism against PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas for attending the funeral of former Israeli President Shimon Peres on Sept. 30, 2016
Fatah Commissioner for Mobilization and Organization and Fatah Central Committee member Mahmoud Al-Aloul: “Indeed in the last few days there has been a dispute and commotion, and that has a connection to the opposition that is being talked about, opposition to [PA] President [Mahmoud Abbas in general], or opposition to his going to the funeral of… [former Israeli President] Shimon Peres, the murderer and the criminal. That is what I say about him: the murderer and the criminal. If I say that he is a murderer and a criminal, that is a different matter [than Abbas’ attendance at the funeral]. I can completely understand the step taken by the president when he went to the funeral. He is the president of the Palestinian people and the responsibility placed on him is different from the responsibility placed on me. I did not go [to the funeral], and I say that he (i.e., Peres) was a criminal. The president [Abbas] is a different matter; the president has different obligations regarding this. The entire world called him. French President [Francois Hollande], who intends to hold the international conference on which we are pinning many hopes, called him. The president has obligations that other people, who are heads of [Palestinian] factions, are free of. However, they have the right to criticize and oppose.”
The French Initiative – A peace initiative proposed by the French PM Hollande’s government in 2015 aimed at reviving peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians. A one-day summit was held in Paris on June 3, 2016, attended by foreign ministers of the US, EU countries, and several Arab countries, for the purpose of advancing the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. At the end of the summit, participants issued a joint communique supporting a negotiated two-state solution and proposing an international conference before the end of the year. Israelis and Palestinians did not participate in this first summit, the purpose of which was to establish a framework for renewed negotiations between the two.
Fatah Commissioner for Mobilization and Organization and Fatah Central Committee member Mahmoud Al-Aloul: “Indeed in the last few days there has been a dispute and commotion, and that has a connection to the opposition that is being talked about, opposition to [PA] President [Mahmoud Abbas in general], or opposition to his going to the funeral of… [former Israeli President] Shimon Peres, the murderer and the criminal. That is what I say about him: the murderer and the criminal. If I say that he is a murderer and a criminal, that is a different matter [than Abbas’ attendance at the funeral]. I can completely understand the step taken by the president when he went to the funeral. He is the president of the Palestinian people and the responsibility placed on him is different from the responsibility placed on me. I did not go [to the funeral], and I say that he (i.e., Peres) was a criminal. The president [Abbas] is a different matter; the president has different obligations regarding this. The entire world called him. French President [Francois Hollande], who intends to hold the international conference on which we are pinning many hopes, called him. The president has obligations that other people, who are heads of [Palestinian] factions, are free of. However, they have the right to criticize and oppose.”
The French Initiative – A peace initiative proposed by the French PM Hollande’s government in 2015 aimed at reviving peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians. A one-day summit was held in Paris on June 3, 2016, attended by foreign ministers of the US, EU countries, and several Arab countries, for the purpose of advancing the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. At the end of the summit, participants issued a joint communique supporting a negotiated two-state solution and proposing an international conference before the end of the year. Israelis and Palestinians did not participate in this first summit, the purpose of which was to establish a framework for renewed negotiations between the two.