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Hamas, Fatah Reject Land Swaps, Abandonment of Right of Return

[Maan News-PA] Senior Hamas and Fatah officials stated their objections on Sunday to U.S. suggestions that Palestinians accept a land swap with Israel and give up the right of return. The officials said the U.S. is pushing for a final status agreement with Israel that does not include the right of Palestinian refugees to return to Israel, and maintains Israeli settlement blocs in the West Bank. Senior Fatah official Hatem Abdul Qader said, "the U.S. is trying to deceive the Palestinians through these proposals, which they think are creative, but [exist] only in their imaginations." He also said that Palestinian refugees cannot give up the right to return to their homes in what is now Israel. Senior Hamas official Salah Bardawil said that "the issue of a land swap has been proposed since the Camp David negotiations....Yasser Arafat rejected this at the time." He also stated Hamas' "categorical rejection" of the American proposals. "It's a waste of time for the U.S. administration headed by Obama to begin its political maneuvers with a rejected argument."
2009-07-21 06:00:00
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