Fatah, enthusiasm, and the question of separation from reality

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (left) during his meeting with Muhammad Mustafa after his appointment as Prime Minister (Anatolia)

One of the most striking things about the Fatah movement’s statement issued on March 15, 2024, and distributed by the Palestinian News Agency “Wafa,” is the accusation that Hamas is “detached from reality”!!

The writer of these lines has been following Fatah movement statements for decades as part of his specialty and interests. Perhaps he sees this statement as the most “detached from reality” and full of outdated claims. Also, the style in which it was written is not appropriate for a broad movement that has a struggling past and leads Palestinian “legitimacy”!!

The Fatah statement came due to Hamas’ opposition to the way in which Mahmoud Abbas appointed Muhammad Mustafa as Prime Minister of the Authority, and assigned him to form its government on March 14, 2024. The truth is that the objection was not from Hamas alone, as it was issued in a statement the next day in which the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine participated. Palestine, the second largest faction in the PLO, the Islamic Jihad Movement, and the National Initiative.

The statement, which came calmly and objectively, talked about the seriousness of the stage, confronting the aggression and confronting the crimes of the occupation, and the necessity of national consensus in these circumstances, and denounced the approach of exclusivity adopted by the leadership of the Authority, the organization and Fatah, which deepens the division at this defining moment. While someone from the same political and party environment is replaced.

On the other hand, “detachment from reality” was also the most prominent feature of Abbas’s book appointing Muhammad Mustafa (the head of Fatah, the organization, and the authority) as prime minister; This was the reason for provoking the Palestinian factions and issuing their statement.

In this article, we have some comments with the book of assignment and with Fatah’s statement:

An assignment that ignores the battle of “Al-Aqsa Flood”

The greatest leap from reality appeared in ignoring the battle of the “Al-Aqsa Flood,” the earthquake it caused in the Israeli entity for the first time since its establishment 75 years ago, and the fall of its security theory. Ignoring the reality of the broad Palestinian (and Arab and Islamic) popular support for this process; While the book of assignment and statement limited itself to referring to the effects resulting from the Zionist aggression on Gaza, ignoring once again the legendary heroism recorded by the resistance in the face of aggression, and the enormous losses incurred by the enemy for the first time on this scale since its establishment.

The book of assignment and statement talks about relief, provision of needs, and reconstruction, which are important matters, but completely separate from the most beautiful things of the Palestinian people, such as heroism, resistance, steadfastness, and sacrifices!!

An assignment that takes into account Israeli-American considerations

The separation from reality is evident in the letter of assignment being issued in the traditional, monotonous manner of the “State of Palestine,” as if the government’s actions would be carried out in “Switzerland,” and not in an occupied land and an occupied people, and in the conditions of the fiercest, dirtiest, and most brutal wars on our Palestinian people, including Of extermination, starvation and destruction.

This required - at least as any self-respecting political regime does - the formation of a national unity government, or an emergency government, that would unite efforts and energies in the face of aggression and the demands of this stage.

The enemy has formed an emergency government and a war council, despite its enormous capabilities and a global coalition behind it. As for the leadership of the Authority (the leadership of the organization and Fatah), it ignored all efforts to bring Palestinian unity together. It preferred to form a new government in accordance with Israeli-American-Western considerations and standards. To be ready not to stand with the resistance in the face of aggression, but to take over the Gaza Strip and take the place of the resistance after “crushing Hamas,” according to the Israeli-American plan.

It chose a person whose main criterion for acceptance was the approval of enemies and opponents. Without the slightest regard for the Palestinian popular will and the “independent Palestinian national decision”!!.. Is there anything worse than such a separation from reality?!

The matter reached the point - according to what was reported by Quds News Agency on March 21, 2024 - that a European committee of embassy employees in Ramallah was holding personal interviews with the ministers proposed by Muhammad Mustafa for his government. To ensure their qualifications and qualifications for the “job” according to Western standards, and that going to the interviews was at the request of Muhammad Mustafa himself!!

This news is reinforced by news published by Quds Press on the same day. A six-party security committee - which includes representatives of America, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the Emirates, in addition to the authorities - is studying the nominations of Muhammad Mustafa for ministers, and one of the most prominent conditions for acceptance is that the person must not have a struggle past, or have previously been arrested in occupation prisons!!

As for what makes the observer nauseated, it is when Fatah’s statement comes to talk about what it calls Hamas’ dependence on “foreign agendas”!! And even using inappropriate language asking: If Hamas wants “us to appoint a prime minister from Iran or for Tehran to appoint him for us”?! He knows before anyone else that Hamas's decision is independent, and with the recognition and affirmation of the Iranians themselves, and that convergence on the line of resistance may mean cooperation and partnership, but does not mean subordination. Those who wrote the Fatah statement should have known that “anyone whose house is made of glass should not throw stones at people”!!

Government performance exceeds the effective Palestinian forces

The disconnect from reality is evident in the letter of assignment, which asks Mustafa to lead, organize, and coordinate relief efforts in the Gaza Strip, organize the reconstruction file, and develop plans and mechanisms for the process of reunifying institutions between the northern and southern governorates as a single geographic unit.

The book completely ignores the facts on the ground in the Gaza Strip. It is not related to an earthquake that struck a region in a country, as is happening in Japan or Turkey, and its repercussions must be treated. Rather, there is a brutal, destructive occupation and aggression that wants to reshape the political system in the Gaza Strip according to Zionist standards. There is an established heroic resistance around which the masses rally, as indicated by opinion polls conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research in Ramallah, the results of which appeared in December 2023 and March 2024, which predict a Hamas victory, expect Hamas to take control the day after the war, and favor Hamas also controls the Gaza Strip, with popular majorities of approximately two-thirds.

These are the same polls that do not give more than 11% of the control of the Ramallah Authority, led by Abbas, over the Gaza Strip. Therefore, the one who is disconnected from reality is the one who bypasses the resistance and Hamas, and ignores any prior national understanding with the forces that are popularly and effectively entrenched on the ground, in the hope that the occupation and the Americans will create a better environment for him to replace the resistance.

"Sloganical" partnership

The mandate book talks about promoting a culture of partnership, dialogue, openness, inclusiveness, and participation in decision-making, and emphasizes taking the necessary measures and preparing for the presidential and legislative elections.

Far from this “romantic” language, the letter of appointment itself and the appointment of Muhammad Mustafa contradicted the spirit of partnership. While the practices of the leadership of the Authority and Fatah continued to monopolize power, the PLO and its institutions over decades, evading and canceling any truly representative electoral entitlements, excluding effective Palestinian forces from participating in the decision, abolishing the Legislative Council, suppressing freedoms in the West Bank, and persecuting the resistance and its symbols.

The contradiction and separation from reality is evident in the request of the assignment writers to provide all possible support to the judicial system and enable it to perform its role. While Abbas, who sent the assignment letter, carried out a judicial “massacre,” he established a constitutional court at his whim, used it to disrupt the Legislative Council, tightened his grip on the Supreme Judicial Council, and used the judiciary to restrict unions and opponents.

The contradiction and separation from reality is also evident in the book’s talk about reforming institutions, leading to a transparent governance system, while Abbas, during the past 17 years, destroyed institutional work, dominated the legislative and judicial authority, established individual rule, and issued more than 400 laws and presidential decrees. And ignoring all calls for reform, political partnership, and rebuilding the PLO.

Betting on a dead horse

The separation from reality is evident in the fact that the Fatah leadership has been insisting for more than 30 years on the path of peace settlement that has died and is dead, and which the Israelis have used as “toilet paper” to Judaize the land and the sanctities. This separation is also evident in the insistence on security coordination with the enemy, even as it practices its brutality, destruction, and massacres against our people, and even in violation of the Palestinian consensus against this coordination. Rather, in violation of the decisions of the National Council and the Central Council to stop this coordination.

Compass crisis

The crisis of identity, compass, and political positioning among those who wrote the Fatah statement came when they accused Hamas of causing the Nakba that the Palestinian people are experiencing, especially the Gaza Strip. In a language that fails (in the heat of battle) to differentiate between the brutality of the enemy and the heroism of the resistance!!

According to opinion polls of the Palestinian people in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, 84% of the blame for Gaza’s suffering is placed on the Israeli occupation and the Americans, and those who put the blame on Hamas do not exceed 7%, even after five months of massacres and destruction. That is, Fatah stood against the overwhelming majority of the Palestinian popular vision, and chose to blame the enemy and its allies.

On the other hand, the vast majority - 71% - still believe that Hamas’s decision to launch Operation “Al-Aqsa Flood” was correct. Although 78% of those surveyed from the Gaza Strip said: At least one member of their family was killed or injured. In fact, a large majority of about 75% believes that the October 7 attack revived international interest in the issue and gave better opportunities for recognition of the Palestinian state, something Abbas and his authority failed to do for thirty years.

Consult the Security Coordination Department!

Fatah's statement departs from any degree of realism when it is surprising that Hamas did not consult the leadership of Ramallah or Fatah regarding the "Al-Aqsa Flood" operation!! It is as if this major strategic process requires consultations such as choosing a bride or purchasing real estate!! Fatah knows before anyone else that the success of military operations of this type lies in their absolute secrecy, to the point that even senior leaders in Hamas themselves were not aware of them.

This is without going into the fact that it would be ridiculous and ridiculous to consult those who practice daily security coordination with the enemy and pursue the resistance. Then what consultation is the statement talking about for the leadership of an authority that has turned a deaf ear to all forms of institutional reform, national partnership, and reform of the Palestinian home! This is without also going into the question of Fatah whether it consulted the Palestinian people and its factions active in the disaster of the Oslo Accords and its concession, in the name of the Palestinian people and against its will, of more than three-quarters of Palestine to the Zionist enemy... and others.

Where is the will of the Palestinian people?

Finally; The insistence on ignoring reality and separating from it is evident in the insistence on continuing to hold the reins of power, despite a large majority of the Palestinian people standing by the resistance and its program, and despite the fact that about 84% of the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip are calling on Abbas to resign, and 65% see the authority as a burden. On the Palestinian people, and 58% even supported the dissolution of the Authority itself.

In short, Abbas and his authority are in one valley, while the Palestinian people are in another valley.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Al Jazeera.