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Barghouti warns of third intifada if occupation continues

In interview aired by Channel 10, convicted Fatah terrorist and revered Palestinian figure says Abbas is the most comfortable partner Israel could have, stresses that he would not give up claim to right of return.

By JPOST.COM STAFF

DECEMBER 26, 2012 21:43

In an interview from his prison cell, convicted Fatah terrorist Marwan Barghouti told Channel 10 that if he was Palestinian Authority president, he wouldn't be able to promise that there would not be a third intifada, as PA President Mahmoud Abbas has done.

Channel 10 aired the interview - jointly conducted with Haaretz - on Wednesday night, marking the first Israeli interview of its kind after the ten years of prison time that the revered Palestinian figure has served.

He warned that if the occupation continued, there will be a third intifada, but it will be a popular non-violent uprising.

The interview was conducted several days into Operation Pillar of Defense, and Barghouti predicted that the conflict would strengthen Hamas.

He described Abbas as the most comfortable partner Israel could have, and said he had no choice but to go the United Nations General Assembly with the Palestinian statehood bit, otherwise "he would go home."

"You read the polls and understand that I am Abbas's replacement," he said.

Barghouti recalled that Abbas had said that he would give up any claim to Safed, where he had lived as a child. Abbas was asked during a channel 2 interview in March if he would like to return to his birth town of Safed. He responded: "Palestine now for me is the '67 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital...I believe the West Bank and Gaza is Palestine and the other parts are Israel."

Barghouti stressed that he himself would not give up the claim to the right of return, which he called a sacred right of the Palestinians.