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June 2009 - News
June 2009

Pro-Hamas demonstrators denounce Abbas in Damascus

Pro-Hamas demonstrators denounce Abbas in Damascus

Pro-Hamas supporters staged a sit-in opposite the offices of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) in downtown Damascus on May 14. The protest, which denounced talks taking place between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israel, came as the Fatah leader touched down at Damascus Airport to start a two-day visit to Syria.

While Abbas met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, demonstrators raised flags and banners in the Syrian capital with slogans accusing Abbas of giving up on the right of return by re-entering into negotiations with Israel.

The sit-in was led by Tareq Hammoud, leader of the Palestinian Return Community and son-in-law of Hamas Political Bureau Head Khaled Meshaal.

“Palestinian refugees do not consider the PLO to be the legal representative of the Palestinian people,” Hammoud told Syria Today. “We reject any movement or action by Mahmoud Abbas which is done in the name of the Palestinian people and we reject his steps towards finding a political solution.”

Hammoud said the only acceptable condition for talks with Israel is one that “guarantees the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homeland”. He added that Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine General Command (PFLP-GC) would refuse to meet with Abbas if asked.

During his meeting with Assad, Abbas discussed the new Middle East peace push and inter-Palestinian reconciliation. Abbas’s visit to Damascus was the latest in a flurry of Middle East diplomacy ahead of his trip to Washington on May 27.

Abbas’s meeting with Assad came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Jordan’s King Abdullah II for discussions to help kick-start the stalled peace process.

Syria hosts some 450,000 Palestinian refugees, the majority of whom live in Damascus. The Syrian government issues Palestinians with temporary Syrian passports and allows them to work in low-level government jobs.