Fatah’s statement was strongly rejected by many Palestinian groups, intellectuals, and academics, as it provides a political cover for the Israeli genocide in Gaza.
The Palestinian group Fatah, which dominated the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah, has reportedly deplored and expressed its shock at an earlier statement made by the Palestinian Resistance movement Hamas and other Palestinian groups.
Palestinian groups had, on Friday, slammed a decision by PA President Mahmoud Abbas to form a new government without a national consensus, describing that decision as “a reinforcement of the policy of exclusivity and a deepening of division.”
The crisis started following a decision on Thursday by Abbas to accept the resignation of Mohammed Shtayyeh’s government. Shtayyeh explained that decision by stating that “the next stage and its challenges require new governmental and political arrangements that take into account the new reality in Gaza”.
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The resignation of the government then was understood to be done at the behest of the United States and its allies, who have been urging Palestinian ‘reforms’ as a prerequisite to the return of the Palestinian Authority to Gaza.
Some Palestinians, however, hoped that a new government could, however nominally, reflect a degree of consensus and unity among Palestinians. However, this was not the case, as the PA’s new government seemed a reproduction of Fatah’s dominance over all previous governments under the leadership of Abbas.
Expectedly, Palestinian groups lashed out at the decision, accusing Abbas of “taking individual decisions and engaging in superficial and empty steps such as forming a new government without national consensus”.
Fatah quickly responded, but instead of focusing on the issue of government, it accused the Palestinian Resistance in Gaza of being ultimately responsible for the Israeli genocide in the Strip.
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The statement said that Hamas has “caused the return of the Israeli occupation of Gaza” by “undertaking the October 7 adventure”.
This led, according to the statement, to a “catastrophe even more horrible and cruel than that of 1948”, a reference to the Zionist displacement of nearly 800,000 Palestinians from their land in historic Palestine.
“The real disconnection from reality and the Palestinian people is that of the Hamas leadership,” said Fatah, accusing Hamas of not having itself “consulted” the other Palestinian leaders before launching its attack on Israel
This is not the first time that Fatah or prominent Fatah leaders, such as Abbas’ Advisor for Religious Affairs and Islamic Relations, Mahmoud al-Habbash, have accused Hamas, not Israel, of being responsible for the genocide in Gaza.
Fatah’s statement was strongly rejected by many Palestinian groups, intellectuals, and academics, as it provides a political cover for the Israeli genocide in Gaza, which has caused a famine and killed and wounded well over 100,000 Palestinians.
Some of the critical voices came from Fatah itself, namely the military arm of the Fatah movement, Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, which is directly involved in armed resistance in the Gaza Strip but also in the northern West Bank.
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“Today, we face a paid group that has singled out our great movement, Fatah, and its decisions to write a poisoned statement that holds no value,” the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades said in a statement.
“We affirm our outright rejection of any government formed under American-Zionist dictates which derives its legitimacy from the senile agent of the (PA) headquarters who tyrannizes over the sons of the Palestinian people against their will,” the statement added.
“The work of the resistance to liberate the land and to work towards the release of prisoners by all means is a right guaranteed to every Palestinian,” it concluded.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
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