Do Not Provoke Fatah!!

Author: أحمد صيام

Do Not Provoke Fatah!! This phrase was echoed by the brother leader Mahmoud Al-Aloul in a speech he gave four years ago in front of a large crowd who had taken to the streets to express their adherence to Palestinian legitimacy and the Palestine Liberation Organization as the legitimate and sole representative of the Palestinian Arab people!! Who is he targeting with that?

First, we must give brother Abu Jihad his due; he is an outstanding national leader of Fatah, the Deputy Chairman of the Fatah Movement, known for his struggles and patriotic commitment to Palestinian national rights. He was a key figure in the Western sector, and one of the arms of the martyr leader Khalil Al-Wazir (Abu Jihad), commander of the Storm Forces. He made this statement in front of crowds, the vast majority of whom were contemporary Fatah members who took to the streets in 2021 to express their support for President Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestine Liberation Organization.

In his speech at the time, Al-Aloul clarified that Fatah will not engage in side battles, and that its main battle is with the occupation. The movement – i.e., Fatah – is fully prepared to face the challenges that the occupation is attempting to impose on the Palestinian people, across all its shades and intellectual colors.

Al-Aloul's statements raise questions that have yet to be answered, despite the fragile Palestinian situation and the geographical and demographic division between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, the decaying state of Fatah, the shameful Arab situation, and the duplicitous international stance that favors the Israeli occupation and its racist policies. It is strange, if not astonishing, that brother Mahmoud Al-Aloul and the Fatah movement, as the backbone of the struggle, and the mother of the masses, especially its Central Committee and Revolutionary Council and all its frameworks, are obliged to provide answers. Particularly since more than three decades have passed since the negotiating process started to seize the legitimate Palestinian national rights, yet nothing has been achieved. On the contrary, the systematic occupying practices aimed at ending Palestinian representation in preparation for eradicating the Palestinian existence continue unabated, and the most pressing question is: when will Fatah be provoked?

For nearly two years, the Gaza Strip has been subjected to the fiercest aggression, and its people are on the brink of death, starving, thirsty, and sick. Over two million Gazans are besieged in less than forty kilometers, subjected to the most heinous genocide witnessed in modern times. Every day, live broadcasted scenes evoke horror, scenes that have provoked both the enemy and the friend!! Yet, it seems that Fatah has not been provoked yet!!

The West Bank is experiencing the ugliest processes of theft, annexation, silent displacement, and the imposition of Israeli sovereignty, as well as settlement expansion and attempts to legitimize this through legislation in the Knesset. Areas that were under the control of the Palestinian National Authority are being reoccupied, destruction operations aimed at erasing Palestinian camps – the most prominent witnesses of the Nakba of the Palestinian Arab people – are happening before the eyes and ears of the whole world. Various Palestinian gatherings are subjected daily to raids, arrests, killings, and displacement; even livestock have not been spared from the attacks of extremist settlers, and racist measures that offend the stones have become standard. The West Bank has turned into a ticking time bomb; there are no jobs, no money, no water, no energy, no food, closed gates, empty streets, broken spirits, pale faces, debts drowning people; poverty has become universal, anxiety haunts the people, waiting has become a danger, and it seems that Fatah has not been provoked yet!!

Jerusalem, the city that the Palestinian people long for to be their eternal capital, the land of Al-Isra and Al-Mi'raj, and the resurrection, is undergoing a rapid process of Judaization, unjust siege, settlement activity, land confiscation under the pretext of public benefits, identity withdrawals, and assault on the sanctity of holy places, especially the Blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque. The targeting of national and religious references is blatant, with excessive taxes crippling the Jerusalem economy, among other practices that violate the most basic humanitarian principles. And yet, it appears that Fatah has not been provoked yet!!

The prisoners face dire conditions that have reached their peak in the genocide against the Gaza Strip and tragic detention conditions, with torture, isolation, and circumstances affecting every aspect of life in prisons, from the treatment of prisoners to living conditions and the quantity and quality of food. There is also a spread of diseases and incursions into prisoners' rooms, with brutal assaults on them despite their deteriorating health conditions, in blatant violation of international laws. And again, it seems that this too has not provoked Fatah yet!!

If everything mentioned above has not provoked the Fatah Movement, its Central Committee, its Revolutionary Council, and all its frameworks, then what can provoke it to rise from its slumber and return to the forefront of the Palestinian national action? Why does the official Fatah Movement insist on remaining silent amid the barbaric aggression against the Gaza Strip, followed by aggression against the West Bank and the city of Jerusalem? Why has the popularity of the movement declined and its role diminished? Is there an intentional effort to marginalize the movement from the Palestinian scene until it becomes a thing of the past?

These questions, and perhaps more, the Fatah masses and the Palestinian people in general are waiting for answers from the members of the Central Committee, the Revolutionary Council, and the various frameworks of the movement. Is there anyone ready to answer?