The Palestinian Authority Gets Its Wish: Unity With Terrorism

Earlier this week, 13 Palestinian factions signed a “unity declaration,” agreeing to “unify the Palestinian position within the framework of...

The post The Palestinian Authority Gets Its Wish: Unity With Terrorism first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Mahmoud al-Aloul, Vice Chairman of the Central Committee of Palestinian organization and political party Fatah, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi, and Mussa Abu Marzuk, senior member of the Palestinian terror movement Hamas, attend an event at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on July 23, 2024. Photo: Pedro Pardo/Pool via REUTERS

Earlier this week, 13 Palestinian factions signed a “unity declaration,” agreeing to “unify the Palestinian position within the framework of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO).” Among the factions were Palestinian Authority (PA) leader Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah movement, and terror organizations Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

Judging from the many calls by PA leaders for unity with Hamas, the new agreement seems like a dream come true for the PA. On the one hand, the PA and Fatah have celebrated and universally defended the October 7 attack and its outcome. On the other, the PA is critical of Hamas because of the results of the war and Hamas bringing “hell” on the Gaza Strip. Another reason for the PA’s anger is that Iran-backed Hamas acted alone, launching October 7 without consulting with the PA, as documented by Palestinian Media Watch.

But at the same time, the PA realizes that Hamas is still far more popular among Palestinians, and therefore has repeatedly called for unity. The PA needs Hamas to partner with it to survive politically and not act against it as a rival.

The following are examples of PA leaders calling on Hamas to join the PLO throughout the war. The statements show: 1) the PA’s desperation facing Hamas’ enormous popularity and the urgency of getting Hamas under PA control within the PLO; 2) the PA’s frustration with Hamas for being concerned only with its own (and Iran’s) “partisan interests”; 3) and of course the emphasis on the common goal to fight and eliminate Israel, which none of the organizations even need to recognize:

Abbas’ advisor: We stand before a holocaust and hope Hamas joins national framework

PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ Advisor on Religious Affairs and Islamic Relations Mahmoud Al-Habbash: “We stand before a holocaust, facing a massacre, facing a human tragedy that is taking place before the eyes of the world, and there are still those, and more precisely the US, who are continuing to give a green light for this aggression to continue claiming more lives… We hope that the Hamas Movement, which we have considered and still consider part of the Palestinian people, will join a Palestinian national framework that will put the supreme national interests above the partisan interests.” [emphasis added]

[PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ Advisor on Religious Affairs and Islamic Relations Mahmoud Al-Habbash, Facebook page, Feb. 24, 2024]

Fatah official: Hamas can join PLO, neither Hamas nor Fatah need to recognize Israel

Fatah Revolutionary Council member Jamal Nazzal: “Now they [Hamas] need to say that the one who can save us is the PLO. The one who can save us is the plan of Palestinian [PA] President [Abbas], the plan of the PLO. This is not a reduction in the value of Hamas… It is only required to say ‘Let’s leave the matter in the PLO’s hands. Let’s leave this matter in the hands of President Mahmoud Abbas. Let’s eliminate Israel’s excuses with which it has convinced the world that Hamas wants to destroy it.” …

Official PA TV host: “Are we close to the moment when the Hamas Movement and Islamic Jihad Movement will join the PLO, as the sole legitimate representative of our people? …

Jamal Nazzal: “We need to eliminate Israel’s excuses and say: ‘Now we are in the framework of the PLO’s plan.’ This does not constitute a call on Hamas to concede on its plan or recognize Israel. There is no prerogative or obligation on Hamas or Fatah to recognize Israel, we just have to honor the PLO’s commitment.” [emphasis added]

[Official PA TV, Topic of the Day, Feb. 25, 2024]

Abbas’ advisor: We won’t exclude Hamas, “a large part of the Palestinian people supports Hamas”

PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ Advisor on Religious Affairs and Islamic Relations Mahmoud Al-Habbash: “Nationally speaking not one of us is talking about excluding Hamas or others…There is a disagreement between us and Hamas, that is true. But this disagreement does not reach the level of exclusion. Hamas is part of the Palestinian people and an important part. And a large part of the Palestinian people supports the Hamas Movement. We do not deny this.” [emphasis added]

[PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ Advisor on Religious Affairs and Islamic Relations Mahmoud Al-Habbash, Facebook page, March 3, 2024]

PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ Advisor on Religious Affairs and Islamic Relations Mahmoud Al-Habbash: “We are not interested in a continuation of the [Fatah-Hamas] rift. We want everything in terms of geography and the civilians to return to be one area – the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, Jerusalem, and the entire Palestinian people under one umbrella, which is the umbrella of the PLO and the PA that is its executive branch inside the homeland, so that we will all be freed up far from the internal disagreements in order to deal with the greatest challenge, which is the existence of the Israeli occupation.” [emphasis added]

[PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ Advisor on Religious Affairs and Islamic Relations Mahmoud Al-Habbash, Facebook page, July 5, 2024]

Abbas’ advisor: “We insist on Hamas remaining” part of the PLO

PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ Advisor on Religious Affairs and Islamic Relations Mahmoud Al-Habbash: “We do not accept the uprooting of any Palestinian or any Palestinian organization, including Hamas. We insist on Hamas remaining and all the Palestinian factions remaining, but in the framework of the Palestinian national legitimacy that is represented by the PLO, in the framework of the sole home of the Palestinian people.” [emphasis added]

[PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ Advisor on Religious Affairs and Islamic Relations Mahmoud Al-Habbash, Facebook page,  June 22, 2024]

Abbas’ advisor: Fatah wants Hamas to join “under PLO flag”

PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ Advisor on Religious Affairs and Islamic Relations Mahmoud Al-Habbash: “We don’t want to exclude Hamas from the national arena, and we don’t want to uproot Hamas from the national presence. We want Hamas under the comprehensive national umbrella. We want Hamas with us, and not against us. We want Hamas as part of the Palestinian national project, and not as a tool of destruction of the Palestinian project… We hope that Hamas will comply with the voice of reason, the voice of the national consciousness, and the voice of the national interest… We are members of one people, and Hamas is an inseparable part of the Palestinian national fabric and the Palestinian human and social fabric… Fatah extends its hand to Hamas and wants Hamas to comply. We hope that it will comply and that everyone will be under the flag of the PLO.” [emphasis added]

[PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ Advisor on Religious Affairs and Islamic Relations Mahmoud Al-Habbash, Facebook page, June 23, 2024]

Top PA official: Fatah wants “to reach a united outlook” with Hamas… that will harm” Israel

Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub: “We [in Fatah] and the brothers in Hamas must agree on political rapprochement, rapprochement in the field of struggle, and organizational rapprochement… Rapprochement in the field of struggle means that we want to reach a united outlook regarding the manner of resistance, a national outlook that will harm the occupation (i.e., Israel).” [emphasis added]

[Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub, Facebook page, June 21, 2024]

The PA’s dilemma concerning Hamas is clear. The PA wants unity with Hamas to be able to control it under the PLO and profit from its popularity. But it might be like letting the fox into the henhouse, as Hamas might take control and “thwart the reconciliation” and create “a government according to its criteria” and Iran’s wishes.

These concerns were expressed by a senior Fatah official a month ago when unity talks were still under way:

Headline: “Senior Fatah official to Erem News: Hamas is thwarting the reconciliation and wants a government according to its criteria”

“Fatah Revolutionary Council member Abdallah Abdallah accused Hamas of thwarting the Palestinian reconciliation talks according to instructions from their regional allies, and that it wants a government according to its criteria.

The senior Fatah official confirmed that Hamas is rejecting the political partnership with his [Fatah] Movement and prefers to take exclusivity over deciding the fate of the Palestinians.

Abdallah told [UAE-based news website] Erem News: ‘Hamas is the reason for postponing the reconciliation meeting in the Chinese capital Beijing after attempting to impose its conditions on the dialogue even before it began,’ and explained that ‘It is impossible to accept the dictates of Hamas and its allies.’

Abdallah explained: ‘Hamas wants to establish a new Palestinian government according to its criteria and according to its partisan vision and agendas, and it is refusing to recognize the current [PA] government led by [PA Prime Minister] Muhammad Mustafa, which is unacceptable.’

He added: ‘Hamas wants to impose its conditions on many topics, and primarily the rehabilitation of the Gaza Strip after the war (i.e., the 2023 Gaza war; see note below) and the form of government there.’” [emphasis added]

[Erem News, UAE-based news website, June 27, 2024]

The author is a senior analyst at Palestinian Media Watch, where a version of this article was originally published.

The post The Palestinian Authority Gets Its Wish: Unity With Terrorism first appeared on Algemeiner.com.