PA against democracy: popular conference is “hostile to the PLO”

Excerpt of an editorial by the official PA daily

“This entire history, which is packed with action, struggle, legislation, and organization, and which is perfumed with the blood of the pure-hearted Martyrs, leaders, activists, and self-sacrificing fighters as one – this entire history [exists], and still the forces that are hostile to the PLO are striving to destroy it and eliminate it, and to eliminate the achievements of the PLO, after it achieved a seat as a state at the UN, as an observer waiting for a permanent seat. We say that these hostile forces want to achieve all this through a new attempt, which they gave the name ‘the Palestinian Popular Conference’ (!!!) [parentheses in source] (refers to independent Palestinian group calling to reform the PLO -Ed.), so that it will serve as an alternative to the [Palestinian] National Council (i.e., the legislative body of the PLO) and the PLO,an alternative where populism will prevail, and in which an environment will be created of bargaining and conspiring to exacerbate disintegration and backwardness. This will allow Israel to perpetuate its occupation of the land of the State of Palestine and will allow the Hamas Movement to perpetuate the loathsome [Hamas-Fatah] rift in the wounded Gaza Strip!”