President Mahmoud Abbas chairing a meeting for Fatah Central Committee in Ramallah. (WAFA Images / Thayer Ghanayem) 

RAMALLAH, July 8, 2018 (WAFA) – President Mahmoud Abbas saluted on Sunday the Palestinians who have been holding protests demanding their right of return to their homes they were forced out from in 1948 and against the most recent American so-called deal of the century, saying the deal will not pass.

Speaking at the opening of a meeting for his Fatah Central Committee held in Ramallah, Abbas said that the Arab countries have assured him that they are against the American deal, which is also opposed by several other countries in Europe, Asia, African and other places.

He also asserted that the money the Palestinian Authority (PA) pays to families of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails or those killed or injured by Israel will not stop despite Israeli opposition and its passing a law last week that allows its government to cut from the tax revenues it collects on the PA’s behalf the amount the PA pays to the families.

Following is an unofficial translation of President Abbas’ opening remarks:

“As we begin this session, we must first salute and show respect for the brothers and their acts during the last period in the March of Return, in the protests against the deal of the century and in Khan al-Ahmar.

“We are truly proud of the marches and activities that they have done. May God have mercy on the fallen martyrs and wish the wounded speedy recovery and the prisoners freedom from the occupation prisons.

“Among the issues we must focus on in the coming period are these protests and how to approach them because we have ahead of us the deal of the century, which, as you know, we have taken a position regarding it and we have assured the world that we are against it, that we will not accept it and we will not allow it to pass. We want to affirm that our Arab brothers have assured us that they are against the deal of the century, in addition to that, there are countries in the world - in Europe, Asia, Africa and also others - which began to realize that the deal of the century cannot pass.

“The second point is the decisions taken recently by the Israeli government and the Knesset regarding the cutting of funds and the way they deal with us. We are waiting and watching and we will take the measures that are necessary for our interest in this regard. We will not allow anyone to interfere with the money that Israel is against us paying to the families of martyrs and prisoners. These are our martyrs, our wounded and our prisoners, and we will continue to pay them. This is something we started in 1965.

“There is the issue of national reconciliation. As you know, our brothers in Egypt are now talking to Hamas about reconciliation. Whenever we meet with the Egyptian officials and on more than one occasion, we expressed our opinion and our position. There were some brothers in the last period who also spoke to the Egyptians about reconciliation. We assured our Egyptian brethren that the bottom line is that if Hamas wants reconciliation, either we will be in charge of everything and be responsible for it, or if they want to take everything, they have to carry the whole thing. This is something that must be made clear in the coming period. Therefore, I say that there must be a meeting of the Central Council next month to discuss all these issues and to take the appropriate measures regarding these situations.

“The Minister of Education has informed me of the results of the secondary school exams. As usual, the results were good and the success rate was good. This pleases us and we are happy for our people as they look for the future in their children.”

M.K.