Fatah moves 'to remove, defeat occupation'
Khaled Abu Toameh , THE JERUSALEM POST Aug. 9, 2009
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Fatah's sixth General Assembly on Sunday approved a political platform that
emphasizes the Palestinians' right "to resist occupation in all forms."

The conference, meeting in Bethlehem for the fifth straight day, also
endorsed a resolution that defines Fatah as a "national liberation movement
whose goal is to remove and defeat the occupation."

In a statement, Fatah said that despite its commitment to a just peace, "we
won't abandon any of our options, and we believe that resistance, in all
forms, is a legitimate right of occupied people in confronting their
occupiers."

The statement also stressed the Palestinian refugees' right to return to
their original villages inside Israel.

Tayeb Abdel Rahim, a senior Fatah operative and aide to Palestinian
Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, said Fatah will continue to be a
liberation movement as long as it hasn't achieved the aspirations of the
Palestinians.

He reiterated Fatah's decision not to resume peace talks with Israel unless
the Israeli government halted settlement construction, accepted the
two-state solution and fulfilled all its obligations in line with the
various agreements signed with the Palestinians.

Abdel Rahim said Fatah was committed to the peace process, but there would
never be a permanent solution without the release of all the prisoners from
Israeli jails.

Also Sunday, more than 2,000 delegates began voting for new members of
Fatah's key decision-making bodies, the Central Committee (21 seats) and the
Revolutionary Council (120 seats).

Ninety-six candidates were running for seats on the committee, while 617
presented their candidacy for the less important Revolutionary Council.

More than half of the candidates running for the Central Committee are known
as representatives of Fatah's old guard. The committee has long been
dominated by veteran officials who have stubbornly blocked the emergence of
a new leadership.

Among the old guard operatives seeking seats in the committee are many
former Yasser Arafat loyalists such as Nabil Sha'ath, Saeb Erekat, Sakher
Bsaisso, Ibrahim Abu Dakka, Ahmed Abdel Rahman, Abu Maher Ghnaim, Ahmed
Qurei (Abu Ala), Ismail Abu Jaber, Tayeb Abdel Rahim, Intisar al-Wazir (Umm
Jihad), Jibril Rajoub, Hakam Balawi, Rafik Natsheh and Rouhi Fattouh.

For the first time in 20 years, several young guard Fatah activists have
also presented their candidacy as members of the Central Committee. They
include Muhammad Dahlan, Marwan Barghouti (in an Israeli prison serving five
life sentences for five murders and 40 years for an attempted murder), Husam
Khader, Muhammad Hourani and Kadoura Fares.

Elections for the two bodies were originally scheduled for Friday, but were
postponed following a row over the participation of Fatah representatives
from the Gaza Strip in the vote.

Hamas has banned some 400 Fatah members from leaving the Gaza Strip to
attend the conference. Some Fatah delegates complained that Hamas had
confiscated their cellular phones and personal computers to prevent them
from casting their ballots.

However, Fatah leaders said that their colleagues in the Gaza Strip did
participate in the voting on Sunday afternoon, but refused to say how they
did so.

Some of the delegates expressed disappointment that the conference was
concluding its meeting without a detailed report about Fatah's financial and
administrative conduct.

Husam Khader, a Fatah legislator from the Balata refugee camp near Nablus,
said the failure to present such a report reflected his faction's
"incompetence."

The Fatah leadership justified the absence of a report by saying that
Abbas's opening speech at the conference was sufficient.

Some Fatah officials said that the conference paved the way for the
establishment of new Fatah-controlled institutions that would function
separately from the PA.

Abbas Zaki, the PA representative to Lebanon, said that these institutions
would actually serve as a government alongside the government of Salaam
Fayad.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Sunday was critical of the positions
expressed at the Fatah General Assembly in recent days, saying at the start
of the weekly cabinet meeting that "the rhetoric coming from Fatah and the
positions being expressed are grave and unacceptable to us."

"Still," he said, "it must be understood that there is no solution in the
Middle East other than a comprehensive [peace] deal, which includes us and
the Palestinians."

Fatah's sixth General Assembly has issued several hard-line resolutions,
saying it would not renew peace negotiations with Israel until all
Palestinian prisoners are released from Israeli jails, all
settlement-building is frozen and the Gaza blockade is lifted. It also vowed
to struggle against Israel "until Jerusalem returns to the Palestinians void
of settlers and settlements" and pinned the blame for the 2004 death of
Arafat on Israel.

Barak called on Abbas to enter serious negotiations with Israel and on the
US and President Barack Obama to lead the way for peace in the region.

Jerusalem Post staff contributed to this report.