Barghouti says Israel must end 'profitable occupation'
In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, veteran Palestinian politician Mustafa Barghouti, who played a key role in negotiating the latest reconciliation deal, provides new details on the unity negotiations and what comes next.
DOHA, Qatar — Creating a unified Palestinian political strategy to confront the Israeli occupation is what veteran Palestinian political leader Mustafa Barghouti wants to see out of the reconciliation deal.
Speaking to Al-Monitor on the sidelines of the Brooking Institution’s US-Islamic World Forum in Doha, Barghouti said that neither Fatah nor Hamas can impose their respective agendas on the other, and instead will have to work to form a unified platform.
“Nobody can start imposing a certain form of struggle without agreeing with others, and nobody can run negotiations on their own without agreeing with others,” he said. “We need a strategy; we need a leadership that can be able to create a unified position. People can have different opinions, but we should have one political line.”
Barghouti was a key member of the negotiating team that went to Gaza in April, forging a reconciliation deal that has since produced a long-awaited unity government under President Mahmoud Abbas.
