Palestinians: "U.S. Reported Proposal As ‘Absurd’"

Vowing to keep fighting on till “our homeland is liberated”, Rantissi offered a reciprocal initiative, whereby “we will stop hunting for Israelis in return for allowing them to get out of our homeland safely”.

For Adnan Asfouri, the Hamas leader in Nablus, the American proposal “poses a threat to the Palestinians and all of Arab peoples, as it is an extension of other proposals for ending the Arab power in the region and the beginning of the end for Arab armies”.

Life in Palestinian territories is an exception among all world areas, and “we could have been living normally unless there is an occupation,” said Asfouri.

‘So Absurd’
Abdullah Al-Shami, an Islamic Jihad leader, slammed Washington’s reported proposal as “so absurd”.

“The U.S. administration should cut a long road short by pressing for an end to occupation of Palestinian territories,” in order to end resistance attacks, said Shami.

Asharq Al-Awsat reported that the United States would present Israel with the proposal and, if agreed upon, would ask Arab countries “to pressure the Palestinians into accepting it”.

‘Drama’

In the meanwhile, Palestinian Authority officials and faction leaders alike dismissed the release of 340 detainees from Israeli jails Wednesday as an empty gesture.

"This Israeli measure is very disappointing because the Israeli side is still far from having released all prisoners and has not met our demand for a timetable, Palestinian prisoners affairs minister Hisham Abdel-razeq was quoted by Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"Of course, for every Palestinian released, his family will be pleased to see him free. But the whole of Palestine wants all of them out of prison," Abdel-Raziq said.

Rantissi for his part said that the releases were a "drama" staged by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for the cameras.

"It’s a show for the media, a big trick. Sharon is showing bad faith," Rantissi said.

“f Israel doesn’t release all detainees this will destroy the hudna (truce). This is against the conditions of the hudna."

Hamas and Islamic Jihad had made the release of all the estimated 6,000 Palestinians behind bars in Israel one of the conditions of a three-month truce called on June 29 in an effort to push forward the U.S.-backed roadmap peace plan.

Mohammad al-Hindi, political leader of Islamic Jihad, also dismissed the move as "a ploy and a trick".

"We cannot participate in marketing this step. We asked the Palestinian Authority officials not to promote this trick."

Palestinian officials were conspicuous by their absence Wednesday from checkpoints where the detainees were set free, and have previously expressed their grave disappointment at what they regard as the miserly numbers involved.

Nabil Abu Rudeina, a spokesman for Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, said that Wednesday’s releases were "not enough".

"Israel has retracted from its agreements with the Palestinian side, as this step does not represent progress. We want the release of all the prisoners on a fixed timescale."

Butheina Dukmak, a lawyer from the Mandela institute which deals with Palestinian detainees issues, said that some 70 percent of those released Wednesday had in any case been due to be freed by the end of the year, and another 28 percent would have been released in 2004, she added.