Iran Elections vs Fatah Elections

Aside from saying "Fiddle"
All I have to say is Fatah is in trouble and this will end in tears

Former Palestinian Authority prime minister Ahmed Qurei (Abu Ala) dropped a bombshell when he announced that the forgery in Iran's recent presidential election was nothing compared to what happened in Fatah.

Qurei, who failed to be reelected to the Central Committee, said that there was growing discontent in Fatah over the alleged fraud.

"There are many big question marks about the election, the way it was conducted and the way the votes were counted," Qurei told the London-based Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper. "There were behind-the-scenes arrangements that removed some names and added others to the [winning] list."

Pointing out that three of the candidates who were elected were former security commanders who used to work closely with Israel, Qurei asked: "Was it by coincidence that these men won?" He said that the election of these candidates - Jibril Rajoub, Muhammad Dahlan and Tawfik Tirawi - showed that "someone wants to see rubber stamps" among the Fatah leadership.

"This is a harsh and difficult phase and there are offers for a temporary state without Jerusalem and the refugees," Qurei said. "Apparently there are some people who have taken this into consideration."

Earlier, every member of Fatah's Higher Committee in the Gaza Strip submitted their resignations, in protest against what one of them described as "massive fraud" in the election for the Central Committee.

The resignations are seen as a serious embarrassment for Abbas and Fatah

"The Fatah leaders in the Gaza Strip reject the results of the vote," said Ahmed Abu Nasr, a senior Fatah official. "These elections have damaged Fatah's reputation."

He added that dozens of Fatah delegates from the Strip who were denied the right to cast their ballots were demanding the establishment of a commission of inquiry to look into their allegations.

Many Fatah members were shocked late Wednesday when they discovered that one of Abbas's old-time colleagues, Tayeb Abdel Rahim, was added to the list of winners at the last minute.

Preliminary results had shown that Abdel Rahim, a prominent representative of the Fatah old guard, did not get enough votes. source

Abbas Decides to Look Democratic

Ya gotta love it. July 15th the, "I won't call a FATAH conference, cos I might get replaced, term ended in January, President Abbas" handed down the orders to ban Aljazeera from broadcasting in Palestine. Original report here. Why? because Farouq Qaddoumi, the secretary general of the Fatah’s central committee accused Abbas of working with Israel's Sharon to murder Yassir Arafat, and he has proof. So, as most dictators do, rather than attempt to defend himself, he bans Aljazeera for carring the report, in other words for reporting "news" he did not like. Now that the story is being covered by many other news organisations, and after looking like an eejit, he's had a re-think and allowed Aljazeera to begin broadcasting again.

Palestine lifts Al Jazeera ban in West Bank

Ramallah, West Bank: Palestinian authorities on Sunday allowed Al Jazeera to resume operations in the West Bank, four days after banning the Arab satellite station over a report linking President Mahmoud Abbas to the death of his legendary predecessor, Yasser Arafat. link

Al-Jazeera BANNED From West Bank

Well, well, let us all see if America has anything to say about this like they did about Iran. Al-Jazeera news television station has been banned by Abbas from operating in the West Bank. Yup, the television station has been taken off the air because it dared to air an allegation from a top PA official against Abbas, you can read it here. So much for free speech or even news. Abbas must protect his kingship at all costs including banning the media, Instead of confronting and proving the allegations are wrong. So here's my question: Where's the outrage from the West on the banning of media, one wonders? Or is that only reserved for governments they don't like, for instance Iran. Pot-Kettle-Black

Al-Jazeera banned by P.A.

JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Al-Jazeera television has been banned from operating in Palestinian territory.

The Qatar-based Arabic news channel was banned in the West Bank by the Palestinian Authority Wednesday, after the government accused it of incitement for broadcasting allegations against PA President Mahmoud Abbas, according to news reports.

The allegations broadcast Tuesday and attributed to a senior Fatah official claimed that Abbas conspired with Israel to kill Yasser Arafat in 2003. source

BREAKING NEWS~Abbas Killed Yassir Arafat

FATAH senior official Farouq Qaddoumi, the secretary general of the Fatah’s central committee says President Abbas helped to murder yassir Arafat. No matter how you look at this, FATAH is in trouble. Never mind about reconciliation with HAMAS, they have their own serious problems within, and have for some time. Perhaps if Abbas would stop working with Israel and the US as an agent against this own people, then he would have much more support and less internal problems:

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud ‘Abbas was party to the plot to assassinate the late Palestinian leader Yassir Arafat, a senior Fatah member said on Monday.

Abbas conspired with the Israeli authorities to assassinate Arafat, who died in November 2004, Farouq Qaddoumi, the secretary general of the Fatah’s central committee, claimed at a news conference in Amman on Sunday.

According to Qaddoumi, shortly before his death Arafat entrusted Qaddoumi with documents about a secret meeting between senior Palestinian officials, Israeli officials and American intelligence officers.

The participants of that meeting included ‘Abbas, former Palestinian preventative security chief Muhammad Dahlan and Ariel Sharon, who was Israeli prime minister at the time.

They planned to assassinate Arafat and other leaders of Palestinian factions, Qaddoumi said.

According to the documents, Sharon told ‘Abbas and Dahlan they must work together to kill “all the military and political leaders of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Fatah-affiliated Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades.”

Sharon, according to a summary of the documents presented at the news conference, said that “the first step should be to kill Arafat by poisoning him.”

Sharon said he did not want to expel Arafat without guarantees from the receiving country that the Palestinian leader would be put under house arrest. Without such a guarantee, “Arafat would go back to living on an airplane,” Sharon said, referring to Arafat’s extensive travels around the Middle East before he came to the Palestinian territories in the early 1990s.

Qaddoumi said he urged Arafat to leave the Palestinian territories at the time, but Arafat refused.

‘Abbas proposed, according to the documents, that Israel press Arafat into accepting the assassination of other “resistance leaders.”

Arafat was co-founder of Fatah, and later became the movement’s leader. He took Fatah from armed resistance to peace talks with Israel early 1990s.

Qaddoumi, who is also head of the political department of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), accused ‘Abbas of despotic behavior within Fatah.

Qaddoumi’s accusations mark a new high in the tension between rivaling Fatah members.

Qaddoumi represents a segment within the Fatah organization that refuses to recognize the Oslo Accords that led to the creation of the Palestinian Authority, and views Israel as an occupier and not as a potential partner for peace talks.

The run-up to the upcoming Fatah conference was marked by heated disputes within the organization over the venue. The final decision to hold it in Bethlehem was criticized by Qaddoumi, who refuses to hold the conference under what he calls the embrace of the Israeli occupier. He has reportedly proposed to hold a separate conference outside the Palestinian territories to compete with the main gathering.

“I think this is the last thread between Qaddoumi and Abu Mazen,” Shurab told The Media Line, referring to ‘Abbas by his nickname. “In making these statements, Qaddoumi cut any channel between him and Abu Mazen for reconciliation.” entire article here