Time to abandon the illusion of negotiations with Netanyahu

Mustafa El-Barghouthi, the Secretary General of the Palestinian National Initiative movement and an elected legislator, has reiterated that Jerusalem is the eternal capital of the Palestinian people. “All of the Israeli occupation authority’s actions in the city are illegal, void, and do not lend any legitimacy to the ongoing attempts at its Judaisation,” he said in a written statement to the media.

Claims by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Jerusalem is the “united and eternal capital of Jews everywhere” are, said El-Barghouthi, “further evidence of his expansionist mentality and a rejection of a just peace”. Jerusalem, he added, is an integral part of the Palestinian land occupied by Israel in and since 1967.

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According to the Palestinian MP, “It’s time to abandon the illusion of negotiations with a government that is led by Netanyahu, as this government is using them as a cover for its ongoing settlement plans.” The solution, believes El-Barghouthi, lies in the escalation of popular resistance with the involvement of all segments of Palestinian society along with boycotts and sanctions against Israel, “as happened with the apartheid regime in South Africa”.

He explained that Netanyahu seeks to deceive the public by claiming a desire for peace, while continuing his Judaisation policies in Jerusalem, stealing the land, establishing settlements in the West Bank and imposing so-called facts on the ground. “That no longer fools anyone,” he said.

Calling upon the countries of the world to assume their responsibilities, stop the application of double standards and impose a boycott and sanctions against Israel, he said that “Arab countries should be the first in line to do exactly that”.