The Palestinian Authority that administers the West Bank does not represent Palestinians. Instead, the resistance movement, Hamas, is an active force on the Palestinian scene whose presence cannot be ignored, Former Jordanian Foreign Minister Marwan Muasher said.
Speaking at the media forum organized by the Centre for Defending Freedom of Journalists (CDFJ) in Jordan’s capital, Amman, Muasher stressed the clarity of opinion polls in this context, referring to a recent poll conducted by the Palestinian Centre for Policy and Survey Research (MAS), revealing that 88% of Palestinians do not support Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas remaining in office and 60% of respondents voted for Hamas to govern Gaza.
Muasher stressed that Hamas has become an effective force on the Palestinian scene whose presence cannot be ignored, and Jordan must communicate with it on an official level.
Any political process to resolve the crisis must specify the ultimate goal of ending the Israeli occupation within a specific timeframe, he said.
“The negotiations should stipulate that the UN Security Council will recognise the State of Palestine on the basis of the 1967 borders before the start of the negotiations, and that [Israeli] settlement construction should be completely frozen, as there is no meaning to any peace process in light of the continuation of the settlements,” Muasher added.
The displacement of Palestinians represents a major economic and security threat to Jordan. We don’t want to reach a scenario in which it sees thousands of Palestinians on its borders, he added.