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Articles re: Barghouti's Letter to Peace Now 'Palestinians ready for historic reconciliation'"

Read the articles from Yedioth Achronoth, YNET, AFP, Ha'aretz, and Asia News...

4/8/08

YNET: "Barghouti: Palestinians ready for historic reconciliation"

Jailed Fatah leader writes letter to Peace Now activists reading, 'We are ready for reconciliation that will grant ours and your own children a life devoid of the threats of war and bloodshed'

By Attila Somfalvi

"The vast majority of the Palestinian people, myself included, are ready for a historic reconciliation based on international resolutions that will result in the establishment of two states, a Palestinian and an Israeli one, that will exist side by side in peace and security," jailed Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti said in a letter addressed to Peace Now activists on the movement's 30th anniversary. 
 
"We are ready for reconciliation that will grant ours and your own children a life devoid of the threats of war and bloodshed," he wrote, "to this end, we must reach a comprehensive ceasefire as soon as possible."  
 
According to Barghouti, the former commander of the Tanzim in the West Bank and a leader of the Palestinian uprising, the Palestinian people are "longing to realize their dream of liberty, independence and peace and are awaiting the end of the Israeli occupation. 
 
"To reach this goal (peace) the construction of settlements and the confiscation of (Palestinian) lands must cease immediately, the Palestinian institutions in Jerusalem must be reopened, the hundreds of roadblocks that have turned the Palestinian territories into a living hell and destroyed the Palestinian economy must be removed, and the policy of arrests and killings must stop, as must the siege on Gaza," he said. 
 
"Israel must also open the border crossings and release thousands of Palestinian detainees," he added.
 
Barghouti continued: "I am writing to you from my small, dark cell in an Israeli prison, where I am being held along with 11,000 other Palestinian prisoners, including women and children; thousands of these prisoners are being held without a trial.
 
"From the Palestinian people who suffer, and have lived under military occupation for 40 years - I extend my blessings to you and empower you," he wrote to the Peace Now activists.
 
Hope for a Palestinian State
"The founding of Peace Now three decades ago gave us hope that there are those in Israel who oppose the occupation, the settlements and the enslavement of the Palestinian people. (It gave us hope) that there are those who call for peace between the nations and support the Palestinians' right to establish an independent state with east Jerusalem as its capital beside Israel along the 1967 borders," he added. 
 
Referring to the 'prisoners' document', which was drafted by leaders of various Palestinian factions currently being held in Israeli prisons, Barghouti said, "Our plan determines very clearly that the goal of the Palestinian nation is to bring about an end to the occupation of Palestinian lands conquered in 1967 and the establishment of a Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital. It also presents a solution for the refugee problem based on international resolutions."
 
In his letter Barghouti claimed that the document grants Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas the authority to conduct negotiations with Israel on a permanent agreement.
 
"This agreement will lead to a referendum. It paved the way for the launching of negotiations from a unified Palestinian stance," he said. 


Ha'aretz: "Barghouti peace overture to be read at Peace Now rally"

By Mazal Mualem, Haaretz Correspondent

Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti, jailed in Israeli for his part in terror attacks during the second intifada, wrote a letter set to be read out at a Peace Now rally in Rabin Square Tuesday.

In the letter, he calls for peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

"I, Marwan Barghouti, am telling you that I and the majority of the Palestinian people are ready for a historic agreement based on international decisions that will allow a Palestinian and Israeli state to coexist, side by side, in peace and stability," Barghouti wrote in the letter.

The letter will be read by former PA official Kadura Fares at the peace rally commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Peace Now movement.


Asia News: "Cease-fire now to build peace together, Barghouti tells Israelis"

The head of Fatah's military wing writes a message to be read during demonstration to mark the 30 years of 'Peace Now'. In his letter he says that settlements must stop, Gaza blockade lifted, targeted killings ended and Palestinians must be free to move.

Jerusalem (AsiaNews) - Marwan Barghouti, perhaps the leading Fatah leader who is currently in an Israeli jail, in a letter to Israelis calls for a "total cease-fire" and, together with an overwhelming majority of Palestinians, expressed support for peace and a two-state solution.

Barghouti (in photo) heads Tanzim, Fatah's military wing. He was sentenced to five life sentences for attacks that Israel considers terrorists.

Palestinians but also Israeli labour party leaders are calling for his release, believing he is the only leader who can bring all Palestinians to a peace accord. He has also the advantage that, unlike Hamas, he has never called for the destruction of Israel.

Barghouti's message will be read today during a demonstration to mark the 30th anniversary of 'Peace Now', Israel's leading peace organisation.

"I, Marwan Barghouti, am telling you that I and the majority of the Palestinian people are ready for a historic agreement based on international decisions that will allow a Palestinian and Israeli state to coexist, side by side, in peace and stability," Barghouti wrote in the letter.

"To reach this goal the construction of settlements and the confiscation of (Palestinian) lands must cease immediately, the Palestinian institutions in Jerusalem must be reopened, the hundreds of roadblocks that have turned the Palestinian territories into a living hell and destroyed the Palestinian economy must be removed, and the policy of arrests and killings must stop, as must the siege on Gaza," he said. 

"Israel must also open the border crossings and release thousands of Palestinian detainees," he added.


AFP: "Barghuti says Palestinians ready for peace"

Jailed senior Palestinian leader Marwan Barghuti said on Tuesday Palestinians were ready for peace with Israel in a letter congratulating the Israeli Peace Now movement on its 30th anniversary.

"The vast majority of the Palestinian people, myself included, are ready for a historic reconciliation based on international resolutions that will result in the establishment of two states," he said in a letter to the group.

"We are ready for reconciliation that will grant ours and your own children a life devoid of the threats of war and bloodshed... to this end, we must reach a comprehensive ceasefire as soon as possible," he wrote.

Peace Now on Tuesday celebrates 30 years of pressing for peace with the Palestinians and campaigning against Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

Barghuti, a senior West Bank leader considered to have been the mastermind of the second Palestinian uprising in 2000, was jailed in 2004 and is serving five life sentences in an Israeli prison for his role in deadly attacks.

But the senior member of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah party remains popular in the occupied territories, and is often spoken of as a successor to Abbas.

Israel does not release prisoners with "blood on their hands" -- those convicted of involvement in deadly attacks -- but some ministers have proposed trading Barghuti for a captured Israeli soldier being held in the Gaza Strip.


ISRAEL RADIO NEWS 7:00 AM Hebrew Report

* Barghouti:  Marwan Barghouti, a Fatah leader imprisoned in Israel, said that the majority of the Palestinian people was ready for an historic reconciliation with Israel and to ending the bloodshed. In a letter that he sent to Peace Now to mark 30 years since its establishment, Barghouti wrote that the prisoners' document that he initiated would be the basis for an arrangement between the two peoples. However, Barghouti demanded in his letter that Israel immediately cease construction in the settlements and its military activities in the territories, that it immediately release all the Palestinian prisoners and remove the roadblocks in the territories and lift the siege on the Gaza Strip. 


Yedioth Ahronoth: "Barghouti: I am Prepared to Seek Reconciliation with Israel"

by Yuval Karni -- On the day of its thirtieth anniversary, Marwan Barghouti sent a special letter to Peace Now in which he declared his commitment and the Palestinian people's commitment to achieving an historic reconciliation with Israel.

   "I say to you that I am prepared, and like me the overwhelming majority of the Palestinian people, to [achieve] historic reconciliation that is based on the international resolutions that might promise two states, Palestinian and Israeli, that live alongside of one another in security and peace and which will give our sons and your sons a life without the threat or war and bloodshed," wrote Barghouti, who was convicted of the murder of five Israelis, in the letter that was passed on to the Peace Now leadership by means of Fares Kadoura, formerly the Palestinian minister for prisoner affairs. Barghouti has been at the center of a debate following demands by cabinet ministers to release him from prison and to hold peace negotiations with him.

   Taking a personal note, Barghouti wrote about the conditions of his incarceration: "I am writing to you from the small and dark solitary confinement in which I am, in the Israeli occupation's prison, among 11,000 Palestinian prisoners. from the suffering and agonies of the Palestinian people for the past 40 years under military occupation, I send you my congratulations and support. The establishment of Peace Now three decades ago provided us with hope that there were people in Israel who were opposed to the occupation and to the settlements and the enslavement of the Palestinian people and who call for peace between the peoples."

   This evening Peace Now will hold its central event in Rabin Square to mark its 30th anniversary. The event will be held in two large tents that will house photographs documenting the work that the movement has done in the past 30 years. Debates between Israeli and Palestinian representatives will also be hosted. Education Minister Yuli Tamir, one of the founding members of Peace Now, and Minister Meir Shetrit will attend the festive event.