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[ 15/12/2010 – 05:31 PM ] BEIRUT, (PIC)– Hamas’s Lebanon representative Ali Baraka said Tuesday at the Bristol Hotel in Beirut marking Hamas’s 23rd founding anniversary that his movement is committed to all national rights, chiefly the right for Palestinian refugees to return to their land. “The way of resistance is the only way to free our Palestinian land and restore our holy sites.”
Baraka called on Arab nations to withdraw their peace initiative with Israel, also appealing to the Fatah party to make a comeback to armed resistance in light of a failed settlement process. The door for national reconciliation remains open, he said. It is the natural response to Israel’s arrogance.
The Hamas leader confirmed the position that Palestinians forced to live in Lebanon are guests, having rights and duties, but they are committed to returning to their land and refuse to resettle, and they will not take sides in the state’s internal conflicts.
Baraka called on the Lebanese government and other political powers to restore the civil rights of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon and pick up the pace in reconstructing the Nahr El Bared camp and ending the military situation there.
He stressed the importance of sticking to the UN Refugee Works Agency as a witness to the refugee crisis, at the same time calling on the agency to improve its services in all areas.
Baraka went on to push for a unified Palestinian represetation in Lebanon to handle liason with the Lebanese government and maintain security and stability in refugee camps.
The occasion gathered several former ministers, ambassadors, diplomats, businessmen, and party representatives, among them lawmaker Mohammed Qubani, standing in for Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Al Hariri.
International relations official Osama Hamdan touched on the role of Hamas and the importance of its institutional work, and announced that the task of representing the party in Lebanon would be passed on to Ali Baraka.
River to Sea
Uprooted Palestinian
Exciled-Palestiniane 