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Fatah and the "Armed Struggle" against Israel
by Khaled Abu
Toameh
February 7, 2014 at 5:00 am
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While in English Abbas was voicing
his opposition to an armed struggle, in Arabic Palestinian officials were
issuing statements in support of "armed resistance" against Israel.
When senior figures of the Fatah urge
Palestinians to be prepared for the possibility of "armed
struggle"against Israel, they are actually instructing Fatah militiamen
to be prepared to launch terrorist attacks.
In an interview
this week with the New York Times, Palestinian Authority President
Mahmoud Abbas once again expressed his opposition to an armed struggle
against Israel."In my life, and if I have any more life in the future, I will never return to the armed struggle," Abbas declared. But while in English Abbas was voicing his opposition to an armed struggle, in Arabic Palestinian officials were issuing statements in support of "armed resistance" against Israel. The officials who favor "armed resistance" are not low-level bureaucrats working in the Palestinian Authority [PA]. Rather, they are senior representatives of Abbas's ruling Fatah faction. Moreover, their names are often mentioned as potential successors to Abbas, who last month entered his 10th year of his four-year term in office. In the past, Abbas has explained his opposition to the use of violence against Israel by arguing that this has proven to be "ineffective" and could bring more "destruction" to the Palestinians. The good news is that the Fatah leadership recently repeated its support for a "popular struggle" against Israel. The announcement was made during Fatah's celebrations marking its 49th anniversary. The bad news is that Fatah is not united when it comes to the issue of resorting to terrorism against Israel. Fatah has many "rebels" and armed groups that continue openly to call for an "armed struggle" against Israel as a way of achieving Palestinian goals.
In addition, various armed groups belonging to Fatah, such as the Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, continue to maintain a presence not only in the West Bank, but the Gaza Strip as well. The group's militiamen never miss an opportunity to issue all kinds of threats against Israel, including turning Tel Aviv into a "mass of flame." Abbas has chosen not to comment on the calls by his top loyalists for an "armed struggle" against Israel. There could be three reasons for Abbas's decision to sit on the fence. First, he may be afraid of alienating these officials and other Fatah members who are eager to resort to terrorism against Israel. Second, perhaps Abbas, deep inside, does not completely oppose the idea. Third, Abbas probably wants to use these threats as a means of extracting concessions from Israel and scaring the international community into forcing Israel to accept Palestinian demands. The statements in favor of an "armed struggle" are aimed at preparing the Palestinian public for another round of violence with Israel if and when the US-sponsored Israeli-Palestinian negotiations fail. Abbas may be ignoring these statements, but many Palestinians listen very carefully to the messages coming out of their top representatives. When senior figures of the Fatah such as Rajoub and Tirawi urge Palestinians to be prepared for the possibility of an "armed struggle" against Israel, they are actually instructing Fatah militiamen and supporters to be prepared to launch terrorist attacks. Just last week, Rajoub told the Iranian TV station Al-Alam that, "The option of resistance, including armed resistance, remains on the table." Tirawi, for his part, sent the following message to the Palestinians: "This who think that the negotiations [with Israel] will bring us anything are mistaken. We must return to the cycle of action. This means resistance in all forms. Fatah has not abandoned the option of armed struggle." Al Aloul, in a similar message, emphasized, "Fatah has not abandoned the armed struggle as a legitimate right. Fatah's sixth conference, which was held in Bethlehem in the summer of 2009, reaffirmed this point." It is almost unheard-of for Hamas to say a good word about Fatah. But the increased talk about resorting to terrorism against Israel has prompted Hamas to heap praise on Fatah's leaders. Referring to the Fatah calls for renewed violence against Israel, Hamas leader Musa Abu Marzouk commented, "These are positive statements, especially in light of the fact that the three officials are members of Fatah's central Committee." Obviously, there are some in Fatah who still believe in suicide bombings and rocket attacks as a way of forcing Israel to make concessions. These Fatah officials have forgotten that Palestinians paid a heavy price for "militarizing" the Second Intifada, and are now willing to send young men and women once again to "sacrifice" themselves for the Palestinian cause. It is nice to read Abbas's calming and moderate statements in the New York Times. But one should also not ignore the other voices coming out of his inner circle.
Related Topics: Israel
| Khaled Abu
Toameh
Iran's Silent Executions
by Mitra
Pourshajari
February 7, 2014 at 4:45 am
Translated by Shadi Paveh
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friends to like this.
"It is the other prisoners who
should be upset that they are housed with your father." — Iranian judge,
speaking of political prisoner Pourshajari.
Right then and there, right in front
of me, he sentenced some people to death.
Sadly manyw ho call themselves human
rights advocates, who should be defending every innocent person, regardless
of his beliefs, only defend those with similar beliefs; they think my
father's situation, and others like him, are not their business.
Excerpts from a January 20, 2014 interview with Mitra Pourshajari,
courtesy of Reza Parchizade.After I did not hear from my father, Mohammad-Reza Pourshajari, for a few days, the police broke the lock and entered his house. The place was ransacked; there was no sign of my father. It did not look like a robbery; the only items missing were books, my father's writings, his computer, our family albums and the satellite receiver. They had taken these things in such an aggressive way that they had left their footprints all over the furniture. Yet this happened so quietly that none of the neighbors heard anything-- or maybe they did and were just too afraid to speak up. A week later a ,person -- I have never found out who -- told me that my father was in the prison ward under the control of the Sepah, and that he was being tortured for hours every day. They asked me to go and introduce myself to the Department of Intelligence, to the their headquarters in Mashhad. I asked them to request my presence in writing, but they said that if I did not show up, I would never see my father again. I went to the intelligence services twice a week for interrogation, but the only purpose was to ensure my absolute silence regarding my father's arrest. They said I was not to report it to the media. They told me that I could not untie the ropes that they had bound my father with. They said that as I lived inside Iran, there was nothing the international media or organizations could really do for me. They said that they wanted me to see him, and ask him to request a pardon from the Supreme Leader and ask for his forgiveness. They said if he does that, then he can go back to his life with me. I did not believe them. After about nine months, they took my father to appear in Revolutionary Court. Both his hands and feet were shackled; I had difficulty recognizing him. This courtroom had no lawyer or jury. After four or five hours, the court decided to postpone my father's trial for six months. Then he was sentenced to four years in prison. After they saw my father's file they started treating me as if my father had committed the worse type of huge crime. They would throw me out of the room, call us "filth" and say that my father and I disgusted them. They said they had no idea how I could expect my father to have the same rights as the other prisoners. After my father was transferred to Ghazahassr prison, I went to see the judge and asked him to explain why he was enforcing my father's sentence in the manner he was; why was my father was being housed in Ward 7 of the central prison, which houses the most dangerous and violent criminals, when my father was in fact a political prisoner, when there is a regulation that prisoners must be housed together according to their crime. The judge said: "It is the other prisoners who should be upset that they are housed with your father; not your father. Because those other prisoners are human; they committed crimes because of poverty and lack of knowledge, but your father wrote what he did and insulted the Leader using his education and with knowledge." Then he added: "You should go and thank God that you and your father's fate were not in my hands or you would both be dead." When I asked him what his reason was for wanting to kill us, he said because I was a Baha'i. I informed him that I was not a Baha'i because the Baha'i faith has Islamic roots and I disagreed with Islam. Right then and there, right in front of me, he sentenced some people to death. Inside prison, my father was denied a lawyer as well as his medications. When I took clothes for my father, they would not allow it. The prisoners who are "reformists" or of the Green Movement, according to my father, do not have these problems. They are even put in charge of some wards, allowed more visitations and have better access to health care and medication. I had been giving the media information about my father's case, but the number of people who worked on it was so small that the news was lost among all other news. The news inside Iran has always been full of news about insignificant and daily issues about the reformist political prisoners. News of political prisoners like my father, who do not belong to the "reformist" or Green Movement, is lost, even though the number of prisoners like my father is by no means small. In the end, the authorities threatened me so much that I decided to leave Iran. I was afraid of being arrested, and wanted to be free and escape the repressive place where my voice is not heard. I thought I could help my father and others like him better from outside Iran. I wanted to be the voice of all those who are in pain. We do not even know the names of one tenth of the victims because so many people choose not to go against the strong, oppressive, regime. My father is suffering in prison just for writing his personal opinions about the government; he blogged about the situation inside Iran under the alias Siavash Mehr. There have been many great people who have helped me, but then there are other people, organizations and media outlets that have shown absolutely zero interest in even asking. The BBC, for example, never wanted to speak about my father even once, and individuals such as Shirin Ebadi have never agreed to work with me. Now Mr. Abdolkarim Lahiji, head of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), wrote in an e-mail that, "It will harm your father if we deal with this publicly, but I will help him non-publicly." This was very interesting to me. I left my country so that I could scream this injustice out loud to the world, and now, while my father deteriorates in prison from lack of medication and medical attention, Mr. Larhiji is going to help my father "non-publicly." How can going public possibly hurt my father any further? The last time I spoke to my father, he told me that at times the authorities take him out of prison, pretending that they are taking him to a medical facility, but he is never taken for medical care. He said all he gets when he returns from these outings is the sores from the chains they use to shackle him. Surprisingly, many political activists advise me to remain silent. For example, Mr. Mohammad Norzade told me that my father was involved in some dangerous issues and that it would not be a good idea to take his case to the media, and he asked me to remain silent. Sadly, many who call themselves human rights advocates, who should be defending every innocent person regardless of their beliefs, only defend those with similar beliefs; they think my father's situation, and others like him, are not their business.
Related Topics: Iran
| Mitra
Pourshajari
Iran: Political Prisoner Mohammad-Reza Pourshajari's Life in Grave Danger
by Mitra
Pourshajari
February 7, 2014 at 4:30 am
Translated by Shadi Paveh
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friends to like this.
The authorities are refusing the
transfer of Mr. Pourshajari to a medical facility and are depriving him of
all his medications, in the hope that he will soon die.
"To [the prison authorities],
the doctors' opinions are of no importance; they completely ignore them....
All Iranians are forced to obey and do whatever pleases the system." —
Mitra Pourshajari
The Islamic Republic Wants to Make Sure My Father Dies in Prison: A LetterSadly, the news that my father had another heart attack reached me yesterday. They transferred him to the prison infirmary. Three doctors by the names of Amhedi, Nejad Bahram and Ghalizade were of the opinion that my father needs to go to a city hospital outside of the prison infirmary, one with the proper equipment. They said that any further hardening of his arteries will cause his heart to stop, that death will surely follow. Last month Dr.
Amhedi and Dr. Nejad Bahram signed a document asking for my father's release
from prison, deeming his treatment there "criminal." This, of
course, was strongly opposed by those in charge of the prison, the prosecutor
and the judge. But the prison authorities do not listen to the warnings of
doctors in charge of the prisoners, not even in emergency situations. They
are completely indifferent to the physical conditions of the political
prisoners. To them, the doctors' opinions are of no importance; they
completely ignore them.According to a few doctors, keeping my father in prison longer will cause more heart attacks and death. But the Islamic hardliners of Iran close their eyes to the harsh mistreatment of political prisoners. This is how they fight against those who have political opinions: by imprisonment, torture, executions and many other crimes. This is how they stop the opposition so that no one dares to criticize the regime. All Iranians have to obey and do whatever pleases the system. In conclusion I, the daughter of a political prisoner, via this letter, would like to announce that if any unfortunate things should happen to my father, Mohammad-Reza Pourshajari, the first person I hold absolutely responsible is Ayatollah Khamenei. Mitra Pourshajari, February 18, 2013 Note: On September 12, 2010, Mohammad-Reza Pourshajari, a writer who blogged about the situation inside Iran under the alias name of Siavash Mehr, was arrested at his home at city of Karaj, and sent to the infamous Rajai-Shahr prison, where the American Pastor Saeed Abedini is also now being held, to the ward under the control of the Sepah. After seven months of continual torture, he signed a "confession," then tried to commit suicide by cutting himself with the broken lens of his eyeglasses. Because of his activism, and communicating with those outside of prison, he was transferred to the central prison in Karaj: the Ghazahassr Prison. There, he was sentenced to four years, allegedly for "insulting the Supreme Leader, for acting against national security and for insulting the sacred religion of Islam." During all this time he has been denied an attorney. At present, he is suffering from severe heart complications. The authorities are refusing the transfer of Mr. Pourshajari to a medical facility and are depriving him of all of his medications, in the hope that he will soon die.
Related Topics: Iran
| Mitra
Pourshajari
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