2020: Fatah and Hamas unity is “a new stage” in Palestinian “resistance”

Official PA TV program Topic of the Day, hosting Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub, PLO Executive Committee member Bassam Al-Salehi, Hamas Political Bureau Deputy Chairman Saleh Al-Arouri, Palestinian National Initiative party official Muhammad Al-Hindi

Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub: “The topic of popular resistance (i.e., term used by Palestinians, which also refers to the use of violence and terror) is an issue that is not new, and we are not inventing this activity. The activity of resistance has existed from the first day of the [Israeli] occupation”, and I think that this is one of the expressions of which we all are very proud, because this popular activity has a  nature which was human, cultural, peaceful, and the like during previous years, and is carried out in the entire homeland.  Its most prominent Martyr is [former PA Deputy] Minister [of Prisoners’ Affairs] Ziad Abu Ein (see note below –Ed.) – this organization [Fatah] has existed and it still stands and leads popular activity and the like. However, the recent challenges have necessitated that there be more comprehensive activity in the geographical, political, and social sense. The situation of agreement, whether it was- When I and brother Saleh Al-Arouri [of Hamas] went out, it was an additional sharp positive turning point for the benefit of our Palestinian cause.” 

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Hamas Political Bureau Deputy Chairman Saleh Al-Arouri: “Our Arab and Islamic peoples certainly and absolutely do not agree to normalization or relinquishing the Palestinian cause, the Palestinian people, our struggle, our hopes, our holy sites, our land, and our history. There is no way!  And whoever turns to normalization with the enemy (refers to peace agreements between Israel and the UAE and Bahrain; see note below –Ed.), relinquishes this cause, and stabs  this people [Palestinians], its history, and its holy sites [in the back], (and people who turn to normalization with Israel) are acting on their own and do not represent anyone!” 

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Jibril Rajoub: “As part of this we call on our community in the diaspora, we call on all the democratic forces – Tuesday [Sept. 15, 2020] needs to be a day of rage, a day of action. Without this occupation feeling that its occupation has a political price, an economic price, and a security price, it will not be able to give up on its unilateral aggression, except through [Palestinian] resolution, strong will, and national unity.” 

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Palestinian National Initiative party official Muhammad Al-Hindi: “Without a doubt we want to start a new page and start a new stage, and regarding this experiment – failure or victory is in our hands… if we place the Palestinian people in the framework of struggle and confrontation, then this confrontation- it is true that the popular resistance is what was approved at that [earlier] stage, but this [new] framework is confrontation with the enemy. This is a framework of struggle. If the Palestinian people will be in this framework, it will give a new spirit to the friends of the Palestinian people and to the peoples of the Arab and Islamic nation.” 

Ziad Abu Ein died on Dec. 10, 2014 at ‎a demonstration in the West Bank that ‎turned violent. Immediately following his ‎death, PA and Fatah leaders claimed that ‎Abu Ein was murdered. Footage from the ‎event shows Abu Ein in an altercation with ‎an Israeli soldier who grabbed Abu Ein by ‎the neck, and later shows Abu Ein on the ground clutching his chest in pain. The ‎autopsy, which was overseen by Israeli and ‎Palestinian pathologists, revealed that the ‎cause of death was a heart attack, but ‎disagreement remains over the extent to which the altercation with Israeli forces may have caused ‎the heart attack. Palestinians have ‎continued to describe Abu Ein's death as a ‎‎"murder" and "assassination" by Israel.‎ 

The terms "peaceful uprising/resistance,” and “popular uprising/resistance" are used by PA leaders at times to refer to peaceful protest and at times to refer to deadly terror attacks and terror waves. For example, ‎Mahmoud Abbas defined as “peaceful popular” the murderous terror during the 2015-2016 ‎terror wave (“The Knife Intifada”), in which 40 people were killed (36 Israelis, 1 Palestinian, 2 Americans and 1 Eritrean) and hundreds wounded in stabbings, shootings, and car ramming attacks. Abbas said: "We want peaceful popular uprising, and that’s what this is." https://palwatch.org/page/9276

Israel-UAE peace agreement (Abraham Accords) – an agreement normalizing diplomatic ties between Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which was announced on Aug. 13, 2020, under the mediation of US President Donald Trump. Pursuant to the agreement, the countries will discuss bilateral cooperation on a number of topics. In exchange for the agreement, Israel agreed to suspend its previously announced plans to apply Israel's civilian law to parts of Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley as per the Trump peace plan. The US announced that “Muslims throughout the world who wish to come in peace to pray at the Al Aqsa Mosque, will now be able to fly to Tel Aviv through Abu Dhabi to do so and will be welcomed.”