[Dr. Aaron Lerner - IMRA: With the great exception of President Peres, it
would appear that none of the withdrawal supporters has seen fit to say
anything so far in response to the militant words coming from the Fatah
conference in Bethlehem.

It should be noted that the question is not if murdering Israelis is
"resistance, legitimate under international law".

Yasser Arafat signed off on a commitment forfeiting that "right" in his
exchange of letters with PM Rabin. He did this on behalf of Fatah.

If the Palestinians so grossly ignore such a fundamental commitment from
Oslo then all bets are off regarding their honoring future commitments.]

Abbas: Peace is our choice, resistance our right
Published today (updated) 04/08/2009 13:53
www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=216763

Bethlehem – Ma’an – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told Fatah members
on Tuesday that “resistance” to occupation is still a legitimate option.

He was speaking at Fatah’s first general conference in two decades in the
West Bank city of Bethlehem.

"Although peace is our choice, we reserve the right to resistance,
legitimate under international law," he said in a lengthy oration during the
opening session of the conference. The term resistance is often used to
encompass both violent and nonviolent means of struggle.

He said the Palestinian side is committed to the US-backed Road Map peace
plan, but the Israeli side failed to uphold its obligation under the
document.

The largest Palestinian political party, Fatah, is expected to elect two new
leadership councils and approve a new platform at the three day meeting.

“We open the session here in Bethlehem the city where Jesus was born and the
closest city to Jerusalem.”

“It is a miracle that Fatah is still standing strong in spite of all that
has happened,” he said, hailing the meeting as a reunion after the last
conference in Tunis in 1989.

Abbas’ speech also recalled earlier days of Fatah armed struggle against
Israel, a fight which he said, compelled the “whole world to hear the voice
of Palestine.”

Preceding Abbas' words was a speech from Fatah's Chief in the Mobilization
and Organization Department, Ahmad Quriea'a. "We open this session with the
honor of all Palestinian martyrs and the honor of our late president Yasser
Arafat and their pure blood," he said, before listing some of the Fatah
members who had been killed fighting Israel in the seventies and eighties.
Following the speech there was a reading from the Qur'an and the playing of
the national anthem.

“Fatah is the mother of the dialogue and the owner of the homeland and
victory,” he said.

Striking a note on Palestinian unity, he said, “We will always protect our
nation and our homeland. We are keen on national dialogue and despite
everything we will protect the Palestinian smile and hope and we say, ‘we
are all Gaza and we are all one.’”

Several religious leaders unaffiliated with Fatah were present at the
conference, including the Mufti of Jerusalem Sheikh Taysir Tamini, several
Catholic priests and at least one member of the Greek Orthodox clergy.

Among the first topics on the agenda following the opening speeches will be
a discussion of the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip in 2007, in which
Fatah-backed forces were defeated in a brief civil war.

Sources also say the conference will address recent allegations that
President Mahmoud Abbas was involved in a plot to kill Yasser Arafat. Fatah’s
General Secretary, Farouq Qaddoumi, made the accusations in June, sparking a
firestorm of controversy. Qaddoumi is not present at the conference and has
not been nominated for a place on the Central Committee or the Fatah
Revolutionary Council.

Of the more than 2,000 delegates and observers crowded into the Terra Sancta
school hall, half are from the West Bank. A few hundred came from outside
Palestine. Some came from Gaza, even though Hamas authorities forbade them
from attending. Some members voiced their concern over the last-minute boost
in registration of delegates, from an initial planned 650, which ballooned
to 1,550. When another proposed 900 were to be registered as Fatah voters,
members in Gaza announced they might boycott the proceedings. The Central
Committee approved only a fraction of the number. The issue of the boycott
was subsumed, however, by the de facto Hamas-run government in Gaza travel
ban in Fatah members.

Arriving in Bethlehem on Monday night, Abbas sought to strike a defiant
tone, announcing that the conference would go ahead in spite of the Hamas
travel ban in Gaza.

"On the eve of the conference, after 20 years, there is a lump in our souls
that delegates from the Gaza Strip will not attend," Abbas said at the
Bethlehem Intercontinental Hotel. "However we will not be deterred from our
stance, which matches that of the Arab nation and world."

Regarding negotiations with Israel, Abbas said, "We want to uphold our
rights - our rights based on international legitimacy - and we hope our
neighbors will respond to the opportunity to achieve the peace that we all
desire."

"We hope our neighbors [the Israelis] will allow us to build a future of
peace for our nation to live in security and stability," he added.

Arab mediators failed to convince Hamas to allow Fatah delegates to the
conference to leave Gaza for Bethlehem, where the meet will be held Tuesday,
Fatah announced earlier on Monday.

Earlier this week Hamas had announced that all Fatah delegates who snuck out
to the West Bank to attend the conference would be arrested upon their
return to Gaza, as the Palestinian Authority refused to release Hamas
affiliates in exchange.