News: Fatah Conference First Day: Right to Resistance

First Day of Fatah Conference: Peace and Resistance

More than 2,000 delegates gathered in Bethlehem on Wednesday for the first day of a three-day conference designed to reform and rejuvenate the Fatah party. The Bethlehem meeting, the first party conference in two decades, is expected to see Fatah tackle issues such as its aging leadership and revitalize the party, largely paralyzed by political infighting. One of the main aims of the conference is to elect a new central committee and a ruling council, in the hopes of giving more voice to a younger generation of leaders.

The meeting opened with a lengthy speech by Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, in which he reiterated the parties founding principles of the right of “resistance” against Israel that is “legitimate under international law.” Instead of the armed resistance struggle that Fatah once embraced, a new draft of Fatah's program calls for forms of resistance along the lines of civil disobedience against the expansion of Jewish settlements and the separation barrier.

Most of the speech was historical, highlighting specific moments in Palestinian history, including a 1981 truce between PLO guerillas and Israel that followed 15 days of clashes. In addition, he recalled the 1988 Declaration of Independence passed at a meeting of the Palestinian National Council in Algeria, which he called a “brave decision.” He also defended the legacy of the Oslo peace accords signed by his predecessor, Yasser Arafat, in the 1990s and insisted that Oslo itself did not fail, but Israel forced it to fail.

Commenting on Palestinian unity, Abbas said, “We will always protect our nation and our homeland. We are keen on national dialogue and despite everything we will protect the Palestinian smile and hope and we say, ‘we are all Gaza and we are all one.’” Disunity, however, had already negatively affected the conference prior to its start. Hamas refused to allow 400 Fatah delegates based in Gaza to attend unless Fatah releases hundreds of Hamas activists detained in the West Bank.

Meanwhile, the Israeli defense establishment is closely monitoring the Fatah congress, but has vowed not to intervene in Palestinian internal issues in hopes to offer legitimization to Palestinian decisions. Nevertheless, the Defense Minister Ehud Barak warned that “the decisions will testify to the Palestinian side's readiness in terms of continuing the negotiations with Israel.” Speaking at the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Barak noted that Israel would insist on keeping the settlement blocs as part of any solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as well a solution to the refugee issue outside the boundaries of the Jewish state.

HEADLINES

EU protests evictions of Palestinians from east Jerusalem (The Jerusalem Post)

Mideast media say Gaza overshadows conference (BBC)

Why Lieberman, Israel's anti-Arab leader, could resign (Christian Science Monitor)

'Israel soon to be larger than Diaspora' (Jerusalem Post)

Settlers: State colluding with left-wing groups against us (Ha'aretz)

Palestine and the Palestinians

Israel: Hamas preventing Palestinian patients from leaving Gaza (Ynet)

13 wanted Palestinian terror suspects arrested in West Bank overnight (Ynet)

Palestinian killed in tunnel collapse in Rafah, two wounded and three missing (IMEMC)

Palestinian economy isn't recovering thanks to Israel, but in spite of it (Ha'aretz)

Hamas: Fatah was complicit in Israeli war on Gaza (Ma'an)

Backgrounder: Palestinian Fatah General Assembly (Xinhua)

The continuing Nakba (San Fransisco Chronicle)

Israel

Report: Prisoners, guard injured in jail clashes (Ma'an)

Gay shooting inflames debate in Israel (Guardian)

FM: Israel must keep Golan (Jerusalem Post)

Ex-Chicago rabbi indicted in tax-fraud case arrested in Israel (Chicago Tribune)

Israel Central Bank Sees ‘Limited’ Inflation Danger (Bloomberg)

Zawahri: Israel must be wiped off map (Jerusalem Post)

Netanyahu Wins Key Parliament Votes (New York Times)

Israel: Hamas preventing Palestinian patients from leaving Gaza (Ynet)

The Neighbors

Sader abduction may be linked to contacts with Israel by associate (Daily Star)

UNIFIL to build fence on Blue Line to guard against Zionist cows (Daily Star)

Smugglers kill Egyptian border guard near Israel (Reuters)

Jordan rejects US call to improve ties with Israel (Forbes)

Lebanese Druze leader: I won't ally with Hezbollah (Ha'aretz)

Sudan journalist facing lashes for wearing trousers back in court (Gulf News)

US Foreign Policy

Presidential Medal of Freedom Honoree Draws Criticism from Jewish Groups (ABC)

Bill Clinton Meeting North Korea Leader, Media Reports (New York Times)

Obama to welcome Egypt's Mubarak Aug 18 (AFP)

Obama says Kuwait has been an 'outstanding host' (AP)

International Relations/Law

EU gives 12.75 million Euro for PA salaries and pensions (Ma'an)

Qaeda tells Obama conditional truce offer stands (Washington Post)

Eastern Orthodox Patriarch opposing Israel (Examiner)

UK upholds complaints on Press TV anti-Israel bias (Jerusalem Post)

Arts and Activism

Israel offers tax incentives to boost local films (Reuters)

Peace group: Ban of foreign aid to NGOs will harm hospitals, universities (Ha'aretz)

Commentary

Crawley: The continuing Nakba (San Francisco Chronicle)

DiMaggio: Obama and the settlements (Counterpunch)

Aloni: And who shall I say is calling? (Counterpunch)

Said: Spirit of inquiry (Al-Ahram)

El-Amir: The Iranian conundrum (Al-Ahram)

Nassar: Exporting crises (Al-Ahram)

Eldar: Palestinian economy isn't recovering because of Israel, but in spite of it (Ha'aretz)

Kaplan: Losing Patience with Israel (The Atlantic)

Views expressed on this post or on linked web pages do not represent the Palestine Center, the educational program of the Jerusalem Fund for Education and Community Development. All content is for educational purposes only.

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