Palestinian leadership groups call for “intifada” and “popular resistance” against Israel

Text posted on the official Fatah Facebook page

Posted text: “In the name of All Merciful Allah

A statement from the [Palestinian] National and Islamic Forces (see note below -Ed.)

No voice surpasses the voice of the intifada

A call to come out against the attacks of the settlers and the occupation army

O masses of our heroic Palestinian people

O masses of our lauded Arab and Islamic nation

O heroes of the intifada and the brave resistance

O all free people and people of honor in the world

The leadership of the National and Islamic Forces held a leadership meeting in the town of Beita that is standing firm and resisting, in the presence of the national action factions in Beita…

The forces emphasized the following:

…

It is important to continue the mass-participant popular activities as part of the constant popular resistance (i.e., term used by Palestinians, which also refers to the use of violence and terror) to the occupation, as a sign of rejecting the settlement enterprise and the imposing of facts on the ground. We note the significance of extensive participation in the activities this coming Friday [Aug. 6, 2021] at all the friction points.”

Palestinian National and Islamic Forces - an unaffiliated coordinating body comprised of representatives from factions in the PLO and outside the PLO. The Palestinian National and Islamic Forces were established in 2000 shortly after the start of the PA terror campaign (the second Intifada, 2000-2005), under the authorization of Yasser Arafat and the leadership of terrorist Marwan Barghouti. During the PA terror campaign it played an active role in coordinating political efforts and terror attacks against Israel, but since the end of the campaign it has been less significant and its activity is primarily centered in Gaza.

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