Hamas official slams Obama's UN speech on Jewish state

The deposed prime minister of the Hamas government in Gaza Ismail Haneya Friday slammed the remarks by U.S. President Barack Obama at the UN General Assembly on recognizing the state of Israel as a Jewish state.

Haneya, before dozens of Palestinian worshippers at Friday's prayer near his house at the Shatti (Beach) refugee camp, condemned Obama's statement that a Jewish state has to be established, saying "he is forging history and deceiving the Arabs and the Palestinian people."

"Talking about a Jewish state means dropping the right of return and threatening the future of the Palestinians (living in Israel) since 1948," Haneya said.

The Arabs and the Palestinians "reject the political conception of the U.S. administration by unclearly talking about the Palestinian state and mentioning definitely a Jewish state on the Palestinian land," he said.

Meanwhile, Haneya said "repeating his (Obama) statements about the Palestinian state with a loose language doesn't mean anything in the political conception of the Palestinian people."

In Thursday's speech before the UN 65th General Assembly convention, Obama said it is time to relaunch the negotiations without preconditions related to the permanent status issues, which have a clear goal, two states living side by side in peace and security, a Jewish state for Israel and another independent Palestinian state within coherent borders.

Haneya noted Obama expressed his hope to establish an independent Palestinian state without talking about the nature and the borders of this state, although his administration sponsors the talks with Israel, Haneya noted.

"May be America's promise to establish a Palestinian state means establishing a torn state without sovereignty, armless and without independence, while the Zionists keep having control on the water and the capital," said Haneya.

Source: Xinhua