Fatah leader calls for “strategic alliance” with Iran
[ 01/08/2009 - 10:30 PM ]
From Khalid Amayreh in Ramallah
In what observers in occupied Palestine view as an expression of growing frustration within Fatah over the moribund peace process with Israel and US failure to get Israel to stop its rabid settlement expansion in the West Bank, Fatah Jerusalem leader Hatem Abdul Qader on Saturday called for forging “ strategic relations” between the group and Iran.
Abdul Qader was quoted by the pro-PLO Maan news agency as saying that it was imperative that Fatah “rectify relations with Iran ” in light of “emerging political realities in the region and the deadlock facing the peace process with Israel .”
Abdul Qader made it clear that he was speaking about “Fatah” not the Palestinian Authority.
“The unprecedented challenges facing the Palestinian people and the dangers hovering over Jerusalem should make Fatah reformulate its strategic and regional alliances in a manner that would be more expedient to the Palestinian cause in general and the cause of al Quds in particular.”
Abdul Qader said he hoped that the movement’s upcoming Sixth convention, which is slated to take place in Bethlehem on 4th August, will embark on formulating fresh relations with Iran given that country’s strategic weight.
“Fatah should utilize Iran ’s strategic weight in the service of the Palestinian cause.”
He invoked the positive relations between Fatah and Iran in the early years of the Iranian revolution when the late Iranian spiritual leader Ayatollah Khomeini allowed the PLO to have its embassy in Tehran in the very same building that had housed the Israeli embassy during the Shah’s era.
Abdul Qader lauded the support lent by the former Iranian President Muhammed Khatami to the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
“Khatami was the only leader who stood with Arafat when he refused to succumb to Israeli dictates at Camp David , whereas all Arab leaders shunned Arafat.”
Abdul Qader’s remarks indicate that Fatah is disillusioned with the inability of its Arab allies, such as Egypt , Jordan and Saudi Arabia , to pressure Israel and its guardian-ally, the United States , to end decades of Israeli occupation of occupied Palestinian land.
Abdul Qader last month quit his portfolio as Minister in charge of the Jerusalem portfolio in protest against the failure of the Fayyad government to provide sufficient funds to help efforts to resist Israeli settlement activities in the occupied city.
One Fatah leader from the (al-Khalil) Hebron region told this reporter that “we thought that these Arab regimes could help us, but we discovered that they were virtual American colonies.”
“Eventually, many people within Fatah have come to the conclusion that our alliance with these regimes is more of a liability to the Palestinian cause than an asset. Yes, they give us some money, which is the crumb of the crumb of what they have, but they always refuse to exert any real pressure on Israel or the US to stop the colonialist activities such as the Judaizing of Jerusalem.”
The leader, who didn’t wish to have his identity revealed, said “at least Iran is not a slave of America . And Iran is able to say ‘No’ to Israel and the west.”
Abdul Sattar Qassem, Professor of Political Science at al Najah National University in Nablus , said Abdul Qader’s remarks reflected “the utter failure of the peace process with Israel .”
“I think Fatah is beginning to realize that their current path will lead nowhere, that Israel will never give them a state unless it is forced to, that the main function of Arab regimes is to pressure Fatah to budge to Israeli demands and dictates, not pressure Israel to end the occupation.”
Fatah repeatedly criticized Hamas for “subservience to Iran,” accusing the Iranian regime of interfering in internal Palestinian affairs.
The Fatah leadership hoped that by appearing on the side of the anti-Iranian coalition in the region, it would obtain American and western approval.
However, Fatah lost dearly in terms of Arab-Islamic public opinion as a result of allying itself with the counter-revolutionary camp led by the US and its regional allies, especially following the 2006 elections in occupied Palestine .
[ 01/08/2009 - 10:30 PM ]
From Khalid Amayreh in Ramallah
In what observers in occupied Palestine view as an expression of growing frustration within Fatah over the moribund peace process with Israel and US failure to get Israel to stop its rabid settlement expansion in the West Bank, Fatah Jerusalem leader Hatem Abdul Qader on Saturday called for forging “ strategic relations” between the group and Iran.
Abdul Qader was quoted by the pro-PLO Maan news agency as saying that it was imperative that Fatah “rectify relations with Iran ” in light of “emerging political realities in the region and the deadlock facing the peace process with Israel .”
Abdul Qader made it clear that he was speaking about “Fatah” not the Palestinian Authority.
“The unprecedented challenges facing the Palestinian people and the dangers hovering over Jerusalem should make Fatah reformulate its strategic and regional alliances in a manner that would be more expedient to the Palestinian cause in general and the cause of al Quds in particular.”
Abdul Qader said he hoped that the movement’s upcoming Sixth convention, which is slated to take place in Bethlehem on 4th August, will embark on formulating fresh relations with Iran given that country’s strategic weight.
“Fatah should utilize Iran ’s strategic weight in the service of the Palestinian cause.”
He invoked the positive relations between Fatah and Iran in the early years of the Iranian revolution when the late Iranian spiritual leader Ayatollah Khomeini allowed the PLO to have its embassy in Tehran in the very same building that had housed the Israeli embassy during the Shah’s era.
Abdul Qader lauded the support lent by the former Iranian President Muhammed Khatami to the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
“Khatami was the only leader who stood with Arafat when he refused to succumb to Israeli dictates at Camp David , whereas all Arab leaders shunned Arafat.”
Abdul Qader’s remarks indicate that Fatah is disillusioned with the inability of its Arab allies, such as Egypt , Jordan and Saudi Arabia , to pressure Israel and its guardian-ally, the United States , to end decades of Israeli occupation of occupied Palestinian land.
Abdul Qader last month quit his portfolio as Minister in charge of the Jerusalem portfolio in protest against the failure of the Fayyad government to provide sufficient funds to help efforts to resist Israeli settlement activities in the occupied city.
One Fatah leader from the (al-Khalil) Hebron region told this reporter that “we thought that these Arab regimes could help us, but we discovered that they were virtual American colonies.”
“Eventually, many people within Fatah have come to the conclusion that our alliance with these regimes is more of a liability to the Palestinian cause than an asset. Yes, they give us some money, which is the crumb of the crumb of what they have, but they always refuse to exert any real pressure on Israel or the US to stop the colonialist activities such as the Judaizing of Jerusalem.”
The leader, who didn’t wish to have his identity revealed, said “at least Iran is not a slave of America . And Iran is able to say ‘No’ to Israel and the west.”
Abdul Sattar Qassem, Professor of Political Science at al Najah National University in Nablus , said Abdul Qader’s remarks reflected “the utter failure of the peace process with Israel .”
“I think Fatah is beginning to realize that their current path will lead nowhere, that Israel will never give them a state unless it is forced to, that the main function of Arab regimes is to pressure Fatah to budge to Israeli demands and dictates, not pressure Israel to end the occupation.”
Fatah repeatedly criticized Hamas for “subservience to Iran,” accusing the Iranian regime of interfering in internal Palestinian affairs.
The Fatah leadership hoped that by appearing on the side of the anti-Iranian coalition in the region, it would obtain American and western approval.
However, Fatah lost dearly in terms of Arab-Islamic public opinion as a result of allying itself with the counter-revolutionary camp led by the US and its regional allies, especially following the 2006 elections in occupied Palestine .
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