organization:fatah central committee

Internal differences within Fatah reach their peak - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East
▻http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/06/palestine-fatah-internal-rift-abbas-dahlan.html

A senior member of the Fatah Central Committee told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, “Fatah held meetings in several Arab capitals earlier this year to achieve internal unity, but Abbas stated as a condition Dahlan’s non-return to the movement’s Central Committee, of which he was expelled in June 2011.”

On April 17, an initiative was issued by Fatah leaders in Gaza to unite the movement, in light of the organizational weaknesses within its leadership. But Fatah’s parliamentary bloc described in mid-May this initiative as fragile and warned against any declarations made on behalf of the movement to implement foreign agendas, in reference to regional and international interference in Fatah’s affairs

Read more: ▻http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/06/palestine-fatah-internal-rift-abbas-dahlan.html#ixzz3fJ2QhCVJ

’Settlers in the West Bank bring an end to two state solution’

▻https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/19411-settlers-in-the-west-bank-bring-an-end-to-two-state-solutio

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/images/article_images/middle-east/Israeli-policemen-stand-guard-in-West-Bank-town-of-Nabi-Saleh-on-February-6,-2015-Halamis-Jewish-settlement.jpg

Some 651,000 Israeli settlers lived in 185 illegal settlements and 220 unauthorised locations in the West Bank and Jerusalem at the start of 2015, representing 21 per cent of the area’s total population and making the “two state solution unachievable”, a senior Fatah member warned.

In his newly released book entitled “Israeli settlements and the erosion of the two-state solution”, Fatah Central Committee member Mohammed Shtayyeh said there were 6.1 million Jews living in historical Palestine, with the number of Palestinians reaching the same figure in the same year, adding that in 2020 the Palestinians will make up to 53 per cent of the population of historical Palestine.

#israël #palestine #colonisation #occupation# démolition #destruction

Hamas pushes Abbas to join ICC
▻http://middleeasteye.net/news/exclusive-hamas-pushes-abbas-join-icc-316559675

The document already contains the signatures of the PLO executive committee, Fatah Central Committee and other PLO organisations such as the Popular Front and the Democratic Front. But Abbas himself is resisting, as a result of the forceful opposition of the United States and the European Union.

A tape in which Erekat criticised Abbas’s refusal to join the ICC was leaked recently. In it, Erekat is alleged to have criticised Abbas for stalling on the question of the ICC. Since then, Erekat has been at the forefront of a campaign to force Abbas’ hand. The PLO held a meeting recently in which all Palestinian factions put their name to joining the ICC.

Until now, Abbas has resisted pressure to sign the Rome Statute of 2002, the treaty that established the ICC, arguing that to do so would be to expose Palestinian militant groups to prosecution in the international court.

The Hamas decision has obliterated this line of defence, informed sources told the MEE. A source said the movement decided it would not allow itself to be used as an obstacle to a prosecution against Israel for war crimes. Secondly, the source said, Hamas is confident it would be able to rebut a prosecution of war crimes in the ICC.

‘Netanyahu won’t act without a cane to his ass’ — Erekat says, urging ICC on Abbas
▻http://mondoweiss.net/2014/06/netanyahu-without-urging.html

Erekat urges Palestinian factions to sign request for ICC membership -
Palestinian Islamist groups might sign on too, even if this means cases at the ICC against them, not just against Israel.
By Amira Hass | Aug. 5, 2014
Haaretz
▻http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.608878

Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat is urging the PLO and the various Palestinian factions to sign a document supporting a State of Palestine as a member of the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

The signatories are members of the PLO Executive Committee, the Fatah Central Committee — including former Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia — and other heads of PLO organizations such as the Popular Front and the Democratic Front. Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki has also signed, sources in Ramallah say. Malki will visit the International Criminal Court in the Netherlands on Tuesday.

According to the source, Erekat said that if Hamas and Islamic Jihad did not sign, he would demand that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas order the signing of the Rome Statute of 2002, the treaty that established the International Criminal Court.

Abbas is known to staunchly oppose joining the ICC, both out of concern that steps would be taken against Palestinians and because of the strong opposition of the United States and European countries.

Since the United Nations accepted Palestine as a nonmember state in 2012, Palestinian human rights organizations and political groups such as Mustafa Barghouti’s Palestinian National Initiative have urged membership in the ICC. They say this will help end what they consider Israel’s impunity.

The many civilian deaths and destruction in Gaza have bolstered the Fatah grouping that has long supported joining the criminal court. But representatives of a number of European countries have expressed concerns about the latest move, a Palestinian diplomatic source said.

According to that person, the effort clashes with a conference of donor nations to rebuild Gaza due on September 1. The source said the signers of the document saw no contradiction between the two efforts.

Internal rift rattles Abbas’ Fatah (yet again) -
Abbas versus Dahlan
Haaretz By Amira Hass | Mar. 17, 2014 |
▻http://www.haaretz.com/news/features/.premium-1.580153

Last Wednesday, while Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman was calling for an occupation of the Gaza Strip, Palestinian television saw fit to broadcast a long-winded speech by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in which he verbally attacked Mahmoud Dahlan and his supporters in the Fatah movement in terms unprecedented even in the long history of mutual attacks between the two. Dahlan himself (who was ousted from the Fatah Central Committee in 2011 and is living in Dubai) answered the attack with a Facebook post rejecting the accusations against him. His associates say he will be answering the accusations at greater length after Abbas returns from his meeting with United States President Barack Obama.

Forget about reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah, forget about a framework agreement the U.S. is cooking up between Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organization – the hottest story now is (once again) the internal antagonism within the movement that is supposed to be leading the Palestinian people to independence.

Abbas delivered his speech at a meeting of the Fatah Revolutionary Council on Monday, March 10. Present at the meeting were not only about 120 council members but also Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah and a number of cabinet ministers. All those present rose to their feet simultaneously in a standing ovation − a sign of their unreserved acceptance of what was said.

Beyond the direct attacks on Dahlan and his supporters in the Fatah movement, and the message these attacks sent to the rulers of Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, Abbas said: “If I were to detail all the pressure applied to me during the past three or four years, you would be concerned for my health. But I am acting for the benefit of my people and I want nothing [for myself]. I am 79 years old and am not prepared to end my life as a traitor, and I am not prepared to let anyone vilify the Fatah movement, of which I am one of the founders … It has become a grandchild of ours, the son of our son who is dearer than the son.”