Session with Fattah

and the sixth annual conference for the movement. Leaders of Fattah in Gaza, Mr. Ibrahim Abu El Naja and Mr. Ahmad Hillis represented Fattah in the session . Mr. Omar Sha’aban started the meeting by introducing and welcoming the guests as well as putting the outline for this session was discussion is to revolve around four major points:

1- Peaceful process

2- The Yemeni initiative 3- National Accord 4- Sixth conference.Mr. Ibrahim Abu el Naja started the discussion by listing some of the historical facts about the Palestinian case starting from the Madrid Conference until the stormy events of June 14th. Following that, Mr. Ahmad Hellis (Abu Maher), a prominent leader in Fattah, continued where he talked directly about national accord and Palestinian internal talks and said that everyone is waiting to hear some good news about the internal Palestinian issues. He talked about the Palestinian elections which brought together all political groups, also talked about the Cairo Agreement which was approved by all Palestinian blocs.

He then talked about how the tenth government was faced by many problems as a result of the international community’s refusal to deal with it. Then he talked about the Mecca Agreement which had three axes (National Unity Government, PLO, and political partnership). After that he talked about how hamas had carried out its coup against the Palestinian legitimacy. Then there was a comment by Abu El Naja who talked about the movement’s sixth conference saying that the last one was held in August of 1989 and that such conferences for the movement are supposed to be held every five years, to be extended by three others if necessary which has been reflected negatively on the movement’s political and factional structure. He explained that there were many factors that prevented the conference from convening in the past; but that now they are attempting very strongly to succeed with convening this time and thus have formed a preparatory committee to oversee the arrangements. The conference is expected to be held this summer. Then discussion was open to the participants:1- Fattah has been targeted on the regional, Arabic and international levels.

2- Fattah has been through many catastrophes ever since the legislative elections, but the movement has never faced such problems.

3- We are not qualified to negotiate with Israel.

4- It is clear that Hamas’s decision is not independent.

5- Fattah has not approached the Palestinian streets and has not offered anything new since June 14th. Both Abu Maher and Abu We’ll addressed most of the fore mentioned issues especially concentrating on the importance of the unity of Palestinian blood, unity of the Palestinian stance, non-willingness to enter absurd negotiations, there is no real Israeli partner to the peaceful process, We’ve always asked for inquiry committees, and we are going to Yemen to thank president Ali Abdullah Saleh for proposing the initiative. Recommendations

1- Organizational restructuring of Fattah and strengthening of the movement.

2- To stop the fierce settlements in the West Bank.

3- Dealing with the Arab, Regional and International communities and not moving away from the international system.

4- Activating the role of media and working to improve it.

5- Working to remove barriers in the West Bank.

6- Reformulating alliances with Fattah partners and those of the Palestinian people.

7- Resorting to law in what is going on in Gaza Strip.Th accepting the invitation of Pal Think. Members of Fattah have also agreed to participate in another meeting where they would have more time.

Session with FattahDate: Monday 17-3-2008 Location: palthink