RAMALLAH – A video showing Palestinian businessmen and tribal figures in the Hebron governorate attending an iftar banquet in the presence of Israeli officers has sparked controversy and sometimes justified, often rejectionist and traitorous reactions.

The video dates back to last Friday, and one banquet participant says they were invited to breakfast only to know at the last minute that Israeli officers had been invited by the host.

We condemn the treasonous iftar meeting that brought together those who claim to represent some tribes from the Hebron governorate with officers from the occupation army, specifically from the Civil Administration and former officers of the Israeli Prison Service. We call on our people everywhere, especially in the struggling Mount Hebron, to isolate the symbols of treason and boycott them popularly. 1/5🧵 pic.twitter.com/ZTZFY5eTzy

— BDS (@BDS_Arabic) April 2, 2023

Call to isolate participants

In addition to a torrent of criticism and accusations of participants on social networks, the most severe position was taken by the Palestinian National Committee for the Boycott of Israel (BDS), which condemned that participation, calling the meeting "treasonous" and calling for "the isolation of symbols of treason and their popular boycott."

The committee considered such "shameless" meetings with "representatives of the occupation" not to take place in a vacuum, but in the context of "the exacerbation of official normalization" represented by the continuation of security coordination, and the recent normalization meetings with the participation of official Palestinian bodies, the latest of which was the meetings of Sharm el-Sheikh and Aqaba.

Several Palestinian factions and civil society organizations criticized the participation in the iftar, and the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) said that it was "unacceptable normalization, and contradicts the values of our people in boycotting the occupation, fighting it and confronting its terrorist policies."

Fahmi Shaheen, a member of the political bureau of the Palestinian People's Party, condemned "any meetings of any kind with representatives of the occupation and its institutions."

Shaheen added in his speech to Al Jazeera Net, "These meetings can not be justified, and the human being to be careful."

"We reject and condemn all forms of normalization and cooperation with the occupation and the representatives, whatever the arguments, in light of this circumstance in which the Palestinian people are subjected to an open and bloody war at the hands of the governments of the occupation state," he said.

Press coverage: "Normalization breakfast.. Reactions condemning the participation of Palestinian tribal figures in an iftar party attended by officers of the occupation army. Here are the pic.twitter.com/f5utLepqqh details

— Quds News Network (@qudsn) April 2, 2023

That's what happened.

Al Jazeera Net spoke to a Palestinian businessman, who was invited to break the fast, to find out the details of what happened.

Mohammad Ghazi al-Herbawi, head of the Palestinian Businessmen Forum in Hebron, said he was invited to break the fast, as in previous years, by a businessman from the town of Yatta, south of Hebron.

He added that the author of the invitation "lives behind the separation barrier, that is, Israeli areas, and I have been in contact with him for decades."

"He is a customer of mine, where I own an exhibition to sell gold, and from me he bought gold for all his children, so I got a relationship between us and attended a group of events for him, and I broke my fast with him more than once in Ramadan and others," al-Herbawi said.

He also says that the host had extensive relations with businessmen and tribal elders in the Negev, all of whom were invited to break the fast.

Al-Herbawi explained that he and other businessmen arrived at the place of the call to prayer about 10 minutes before the call to prayer, and about five minutes before breaking the fast, two Israeli Civil Administration officers: the administration officer and his assistant entered the Hebron area.

"I was surprised, and the businessmen with me, by the presence of the two officers, and we hated to be put in this situation, and we could not act or leave," he said.

Everyone had breakfast and left "without us having any conversation with the officers or any discussion", he said.

Regarding the accusations of normalization against the participants, Herbawi said, "Whoever wants to print it is not at an iftar banquet with 70 people, I was the president of the Chamber of Commerce and we had to hold meetings, but with a representative of the Palestinian liaison (the official point of contact with Israel)."

Druze Sabri Shehadeh from Yarka, who is the director of the IPS administration, is known for his hatred of prisoners to the extent that the basis of his demands was to prevent prisoners from eating "with spoons".
He was present at a group iftar with officers of the Israeli Civil Administration in Hebron and appeared in the video posted yesterday. pic.twitter.com/Nsf4OiRrm6

— Reversing (@akstyar) April 2, 2023

Communication legislation

Dr. Bilal al-Shouki, a professor of political science at Hebron University, said that regardless of the circumstances of the recent meeting, meetings between Palestinian businessmen and Israeli security personnel are frequent, not new.

In explaining the magnitude of the interaction with the aforementioned iftar, he believes that "the interaction of the street with the last iftar is more emotional than an indication of a real vision in this street."

"The normalization between some Palestinian parties and the occupation is not linked to businessmen only, but to a general context implemented by some official bodies without any kind of blame," he said.

In light of this paradox, Shobaki wonders how much space Palestinian public opinion moves to express its rejection of such steps: The space seems too narrow.

The Palestinian academic believes that many parties, especially the occupation, have been able in recent years to "break the psychological barrier in communication between Palestinians and Israelis," pointing to the increase in positive comments on the "coordinator" Facebook page, referring to the official of the Palestinian Affairs Coordination Unit in the Israeli government.

While those who meet with Israeli officers believe they are seeking to improve a relationship in order to facilitate their business, some Palestinian commenters on the coordinator's page believe that their comments may help them obtain work permits, for example, according to Shobaki.

The Palestinian analyst believes that the Palestinians are facing "a new political culture that legitimizes communication with the occupation, and this same justification is promoted by official frameworks."