We ask those who are discussing with Israel to stop. These meetings are not necessary and lead to deforming the goals of the Intifada. The Intifada didn't break out to improve the conditions of the negotiations but to decisively put an end to the Israeli occupation. We are not against the principle of negotiations but the stopping of the Intifada cannot be a condition for restarting discussions.
We have today a Palestinian uprising which has matured and we are determined to intensify it and continue it. It's the only means of increasing our chances of liberating our land. The greatest success already won by the Intifada has been to attract international attention to the Palestinians opposition to the Israeli settlements, which are illegal from the point of view of international law. A large number of Jewish settlers have abandoned the Occupied Territories. The Intifada has already made it difficult for the settlers to remain in the occupied zones. Of course Israel is trying to assassinate the leaders and the fighters of the Intifada. It thinks that the elimination of the leaders is the only means of containing the uprising. But it also knows that it won't be easy. We don't see the interest of the present discussions and we don't think that they serve the Intifada. We are against these manoeuvres [the Israeli-Palestinian discussions] because they give a false impression to the world and can only serve the interests of Barak."
Extracts from an interview given on December 2, 2000 by Marwan Barghouti to arabia.com, an Internet information service.