by Bassam Tawil • June 21, 2019 at 5:00 am
How does Abbas explain his opposition to the use of weapons and terrorism against Israel while his own faction displays rifles and a hand grenade and a map where Israel is completely ignored?
Fatah is, in other words, calling for a new Intifada [uprising] against Israel because the US is seeking ways to help the Palestinians. This is nothing less than loony.
In several interviews over the past few years, Zakariya Zubeidi made it clear that he never had any intention of renouncing terrorism. In one interview, he said that the Palestinian "resistance" could coexist alongside negotiating with Israel.... Recently, Zubeidi told an Israeli TV correspondent that he "misses the intifada and the revolution."
By its very own words and actions, Fatah makes it plainly clear that it is anything but moderate and pragmatic. This is the same faction that is supposed to be Israel's peace partner and whose leaders are welcomed around the world as advocates of peace and coexistence. If this is moderation, one wonders: how do Palestinians define extremism? The international community might check Fatah's communications in Arabic before answering that question for themselves.
Earlier this year, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' ruling Fatah faction expressed outrage because Israel arrested Zakariya Zubeidi, one of its senior terrorists, for carrying out shooting attacks against Israelis between 2016 and 2019. Zubeidi was a leader of Fatah's Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terrorist group during the Second Intifada (2000-2005). In 2007, Zubeidi was pardoned by Israel as part of a deal signed with the PA, in which he and other terrorists signed a pledge to refrain from terror activities. Pictured: Zubeidi (third from left) on December 30, 2004 in Jenin. (Photo by David Silverman/Getty Images)
The Palestinian ruling Fatah faction, headed by Palestinian Authority President and PLO chief Mahmoud Abbas, is often described as a "moderate" and "pragmatic" group. There are many reasons and sufficient evidence to believe, however, that this assumption is unrealistic, if not totally false.
Before examining the rhetoric and actions of Fatah, one might do well to consider the group's emblem, which depicts two fists holding rifles, and a hand grenade in the middle. In the background is a map of Israel (with no mention of Israel); the emblem is accompanied by a caption reading: "Revolution until victory."
Why any group that proudly uses rifles and a hand grenade as its symbol is described as "moderate" and "pragmatic" remains a mystery. Could it be because it is an anti-Israel group that calls itself the Palestinian National Liberation Movement and was established with the declared goal of "liberating Palestine" -- specifically meaning, destroying Israel?
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