Palestinian politicians fear that Palestinian national cause is being lost due to infighting

Friday November 16, 2007 15:15 by Ameen Abu Wardeh - IMEMC News

Several Palestinian politicians have voiced their fears that the internal fighting between Palestinian factions is beginning to supersede the national cause of the Palestinian people.  Some have even called for a ‘people’s judgment’ on the two main factions, Fateh and Hamas, in a bid to bring an end to the infighting.

Dr. Mustafa al Barghouthi, secretary general of the national Palestinian initiative, stated that he doesn’t have much optimism, in light of the latest escalation in internal fighting.  Dr. Barghouthi said that the internal fighting has weakened the spirit of the Palestinian people, when their spirits need to be strong to combat the Israeli occupation.  He called on the Palestinian people to put their national interest in front of their partisan interest, and called for early elections.

Barghouthi said that there are many possible initiatives that have been presented by various neutral parties, adding that the fate of the Palestinian people cannot be tied to one of the two major parties, or to both of them. 

“The situation is dangerous”, said Barghouthi, “I am afraid that our division as a people will allow Israel the pretext to put an end to our national cause.”

He stated that the two major parties, Hamas and Fateh, are struggling to control an Authority that doesn’t actually exist.  Israel controls the Palestinian territories, said Barghouthi, and has managed to lure the Palestinians with this false ‘authority’.  But the West Bank and the Gaza Strip remain under Israeli occupation, so, according to Barghouthi, there is absolutely no justification for Palestinian factions to struggle against each other for a power that doesn’t actually exist.

Barghouthi added that the only option left is a renunciation of violence by all sides, an end to the unilateral measures taken by the two main rivals, and the acceptance of early elections by all sides.

And Barghouthi is not the only Palestinian politician who has voiced concern over the ongoing internal fighting.  Khaleda Jarrar, a Palestinian legislator with the leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine stated Friday that she, too, is pessimistic about the escalating internal violence.

She said there should be a renewal of moral responsibility on the part of the Palestinian people, who are suffering on a daily basis from Israeli attacks and invasions in the West Bank, and hunger and closure in the Gaza Strip.  Jarrar added that the sole beneficiaries of the internal fighting are the U.S. and Israel, who are being given the justification to decide whatever they want during the upcoming peace conference, and simply impose it upon the Palestinian people.

She demanded that the Hamas movement take seriously its social and national responsibilities, and to stop arresting Palestinians from the Fateh movement in the Gaza Strip.  She also stated that the Fateh party in the West Bank should cease the politically-motivated arrests of Hamas members, and stop colluding with the Israeli occupying authorities.

Jarrar called on Fateh to stop applying the American interpretation of the ‘Road Map’ plan, and stand by the Palestinian basic demands: the right of the refugees to return, the establishment of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital, and the release of all Palestinian political detainees being held by Israel.

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