Hamas Movement on Wednesday described PLO executive committee member Yasser Abed Rabbo's statement during a TV program called "Face the Press" that a referendum was a must whether the Palestinian national dialogue produced an agreement or not as "serious".
Sami Abu Zuhri, Hamas spokesman, said that making the referendum a must meant that the dialogue was not intended as a mean towards national understanding but rather an attempt to impose concessions on the Palestinian people, including recognizing Israeli occupation, which strips the dialogue of its meaning and wipes out any value for such a dialogue.
He added, in a press release distributed to reporters, that the statement revealed that the PA was not concerned with success of the dialogue but rather was interested in bypassing the Hamas-led government and its political program.
He expressed dismay that PA chief Mahmoud Abbas was surrounding himself with an entourage such as Abed Rabbo, who gave up the right of return for Palestinian refugees in the infamous Geneva document and who allows himself to speak in the name of the Palestinian people and threaten the Palestinian government, which was elected by 60% of the people, that the PA chief would dissolve it if it does not endorse the national document.
