PA hits back at Ahmadinejad: You have no right to speak about PalestinePalestinian Authority spokesman lashes out at the Iranian president who criticized Palestinian negotiations with Israel and PA President Mahmoud Abbas.
By Haaretz Service
A Palestinian Authority spokesman lashed out at the president of Iran for criticizing Palestinian negotiations with Israel and PA President Mahmoud Abbas in particular, Ma'an News Agency reported on Sunday.
"The one who does not represent the Iranian people, who falsified election results, who oppressed the Iranian people and stole authority has no right to speak about Palestine, its president or its representatives," Abbas spokesman Nabil Abu Rudaineh said about Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Ahmadinejad addressed a rally last week at Teheran University, where he dismissed the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, saying the fate of Palestine would be decided in Palestine and through resistance and not in Washington.
The Ma'an News Agency reported that he also said Mahmoud Abbas was a hostage of Israel who lacked the legitimacy to negotiate on the Palestinian's behalf.
"President Mahmoud Abbas came to power through free, democratic and authentic elections supervised by more than 2,000 international and Arab monitors," Abu Rudaineh said in response. "We are the ones who fought for Palestine and Jerusalem ... the Palestinian leadership did not oppress its people as did the Iranian leadership under Ahmadinejad."
Last week, Egypt canceled a visit by Iran's foreign minister to protest comments he made accusing Arab leaders of betrayal for attending the new round of Mideast peace talks in Washington.
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki had been scheduled to visit Cairo for a meeting of Nonaligned Movement members.
"Some leaders ... who follow America's orders must understand that they are betraying their nations," Iran's Fars news agency quoted Mottaki as saying.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Jordanian King Abdullah II attended the talks.
(CNN) -- The administration of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas lashed out at Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Saturday, a day after Ahmadinejad criticized Abbas for renewing direct peace talks with Israel.
"He who does not represent the Iranian people, who forged elections and who suppresses the Iranian people and stole the authority, is not entitled to talk about Palestine, or the President of Palestine," said Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesman for the Palestinian Authority, according to Wafa, the Palestinian Authority's news agency.
Ahmadinejad, speaking to thousands of people at Tehran University on Friday, said the Mideast peace talks would fail. He spoke on Quds Day, an annual holiday in Iran that marks the country's solidarity with Palestinians and calls for the end of Israeli occupation.
Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met for direct talks in Washington this week, pledging to move the peace process forward. After two days of meetings, they deadlocked over the contentious issue of Israeli settlements.
"The fate of Palestine will be determined on the ground in Palestine," Ahmadinejad said Friday. "Not in Washington, not in Paris, and not in London."
"These talks are death," he said. "There is no reason to hold talks."
Rudeineh, the Palestinian Authority spokesperson, defended the Abbas administration's legitimacy among Palestinians.
"We have fought for Palestine and Jerusalem and the Palestinian leadership has provided thousands of martyrs and tens of thousands wounded and prisoners (and) did not repress their people, as did the system of Iran led by Ahmadinejad," he said, according to Wafa.
Palestinians to Iran: Mind your own businessBy
JPOST.COM STAFF 09/05/2010 06:18
PA spokesman retorts that Iran "represses their people," after Iranian FM says those negotiating with Israel are "betraying their nations." Talkbacks (14)
The Palestinian Authority has taken a stand against Iran, after the Islamic Republic criticized the PA for relaunching direct talks with Israel, according to official PA news agency Wafa.Palestinian President
Mahmoud Abbas's spokesman, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, reportedly said that Ahmadinejad "does not represent the Iranian people, forged elections, suppresses the Iranian people and stole the authority. [He] is not entitled to talk about Palestine, or the president of Palestine."
"President Abu Mazen [Abbas] is the elected president of free and fair elections in which more than two thousand international observers [participated]," Abu Rudeineh said. "We have fought for Palestine and Jerusalem, and the Palestinian leadership has provided thousands of martyrs and tens of thousands wounded and prisoners.""We did not repress our people, as did Iran led by Ahmadinejad," Abu Rudeineh added."We are defending our national rights and our national interest, and the President and the Palestinian leadership and the PLO are the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, who knows how to defend their rights and will not allow anyone to undermine the national president or the legitimacy of the Palestine Liberation Organization," he said.
The criticism came from Libya, where Abbas is meeting with Libyan leader
Muammar Qaddafi.Earlier this week, Egypt canceled a visit by Iran's foreign minister to protest comments in which he accused Arab leaders of betrayal for attending the new round of Mideast peace talks in Washington.Iranian Foreign Minister
Manouchehr Mottaki had been scheduled to visit Cairo Monday for a meeting of Nonaligned Movement members.Mottaki said Arab leaders who attended the relaunch of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks in Washington this week were "betraying their nations."
"Some leaders ... who follow America's orders must understand that they are betraying their nations," Iran's Fars news agency quoted him as saying on Tuesday.AP contributed to this report.
RAMALLAH, September 4, 2010 (WAFA)- In response to the attacks made by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on the Palestinian leadership after the Washington meetings, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman for the Presidency, said 'he who does not represent the Iranian people, who forged elections and who suppresses the Iranian people and stole the authority, is not entitled to talk about Palestine, or the President of Palestine.”
The 'President Abu Mazen is the elected president of free and fair elections in which more than two thousand international observers. We have fought for Palestine and Jerusalem and the Palestinian leadership has provided thousands of martyrs and tens of thousands wounded and prisoners did not repress their people, as did the system of Iran led by Ahmadinejad.”
He said, 'We are defending our national rights and our national interest, and the President' Abu Mazen 'and the Palestinian leadership and the PLO is the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, who knows how to defend their rights and will not allow anyone to undermine the national president or the legitimacy of the Palestine Liberation Organization or the political and national line, on which it is. '