FULL TEXT OF FATAH POLITICAL PROGRAM AFTER IT WAS RATIFIED BY FATAH CONFERENCE

Bethlehem, August  11, 2009

As published in al-Ayyam Translation provided by The Jerusalem Media &

Communications Center

The political program said the continuation of negotiations without

achieving real progress within a set time ceiling constitutes a danger on

our rights and becomes foul play that allows Israel to use the negotiations

as cover up for the continuation of settlements and consolidation of the

occupation. The program defines eleven rules in order to engage in

negotiations with Israel and outlined five options in case of the failure of

the current dialogue with Hamas and ratified four steps to confront the

siege imposed on Gaza and talked about seven forms of struggle.

Fatah Movement rejected the alternative homeland in Jordan and refuses to

sign any agreement that does not lead to the release of all prisoners. Fatah

stressed on rejecting the principle of forceful resettlement or the calls

for the alternative homeland: there wont be resettlement in Lebanon and

there wont be an alternative homeland in Jordan.

Fatah stressed on serious work towards the release of all prisoners and we

will not sign any peace agreement until all prisoners are released. Fatah

stressed on the independence of the movement in the context of the PLO and

the PNA.

The political program of Fatah pointed out that in order to avoid a

situation where the negotiations become foul play and waste of time; we have

to make sure that the PLO abides by the following rules in order to engage

in the negotiations:

1- To link the negotiations process with real progress on the ground

according to clear and concrete indicators, mainly the complete halt of

settlements especially in Jerusalem and to stop changing the features of

Jerusalem and to stop the Judaization process of Jerusalem and these are two

conditions that must be met in order for resumption of any peace

negotiations; we need to ensure also that Israel end its incursions,

arrests, assassinations, and the end of the siege imposed on our people in

Gaza, and the removal of the checkpoints in the West Bank, and the

withdrawal until the September 28, 2000 borders as a first step towards

withdrawal until the borders of June 4, 1967; these are clear and concrete

indicators that must be seen on real grounds and to link progress in

negotiations with achieving the above mentioned steps and measures.

2- Negotiations will be on the basis of international legitimacy and its

main resolutions (181, 194, 242 and 338) and in the context of the Arab

Peace Initiative, as long as the continuation of negotiations meet our

interim and strategic goals.

3- To continue work towards holding a new international peace conference

that consolidates our rights and pushes towards quick negotiations that

result in a peace agreement that achieves our goals.

4- To insist on setting up a clear and binding time table and a time ceiling

for the negotiations.

5- To reject delaying negotiations over Jerusalem and the refugees cause or

any of the final solution issues.

6- To reject the idea of the state with temporary borders.

7- To totally reject recognizing Israel as a Jewish state in order to

protect the rights of the refugees and the rights of our people inside the

Green Line.

8- To insist on international participation during the negotiations and on a

mechanism for arbitration upon the eruption of a dispute when implementing

the agreements and this mechanism should be binding for both sides.

9- To insist on international monitoring and an international peace keeping

mechanism to guarantee the implementation of the agreement.

10- Our success in achieving our goals through negotiations requires a

national professional committee capable of negotiations that will remain

under the PLO supervision and to be monitored by a higher committee which

should include the factions and Palestinian competent figures and another

Fatah Committee to follow up the negotiations and to submit its reports to

Fatah Central Committee and Fatah Revolutionary Council.

11- We must head to popular referendum to adopt the peace agreement that

will be reached through the final status negotiations.

Fatah defined five options that it will adopt in case the current dialogue

with Hamas fails. Fatah said that the continuation of the split between the

two parts of the homeland constitutes a threat to the fate of the national

cause of the Palestinian people and Hamas bears responsibility for the

continuation of the split; we have to move forward to achieve success in

comprehensive national dialogue, mainly with Hamas, on the basis of ending

the split in Gaza and the establishment of a national reconciliation

government that organizes concurrent presidential and legislative elections

and unify the security services as national services that protect the

security of the homeland and the citizen and to handle the traces of the

split and achieve national reconciliation and release of the detainees.

Fatah stressed that the failure of the dialogue because of Hamas

intransigence does not downplay the importance and priority of the dialogue

and its continuation, but forces Fatah to adopt alternative options:

First: To restructure Fatah Movement in Gaza as deemed by the current

situation and provide full support to our organization in Gaza to confront

the split.

Second: To push the cadres and members of Fatah in Gaza to reinforce popular

action and mobilize the Palestinian masses to confront the split and

dictatorship.

Third: To expose the measures of Hamas; these measures which are not part of

our Palestinian traditions and norms, and the crimes committed against the

Palestinian people.

Fourth: To demand Arab security support in Gaza Strip during the interim

phase.

Fifth: To reinforce media action in the Arab and Islamic street to expose

the policies and measures of Hamas.

With regards to ending the siege imposed on Gaza, Fatah outlined four steps:

1- to reinforce the steadfastness of Gaza in face of the siege and grant it

priority in national support through the finances of the PNA and

international; grants and to solve the urgent problems of Gazans who reside

abroad (students and patients).

2- To launch an international humanitarian campaign against the siege and

the attempts to cause famine in Gaza and to inform the world about the

crimes against humanity that Israel commits against the citizens in Gaza and

to link the negotiations with Israel with the condition of ending the siege.

3- To start a process of gradual dismantling of the linkage of the

Palestinian economy with the Israeli market, especially in electricity,

fuel, gas, basic food items and replace them with Egyptian, Jordanian and

Arab markets.

4- to work on implementing the international agreement on Rafah Crossing and

try to develop the agreement in a manner that does not give Israel the

chance to control the crossing or the chance to close this important

crossing.

Fatah adopts all legitimate forms of struggle along with clinging to the

option of peace without limiting the options to negotiations to achieve

peace. Among the forms of struggle that can be exercised with success in the

current phase to support and activate the negotiations or to act as

alternative to the negotiations if the negotiations don’t achieve their

goals:

a- To mobilize popular struggle against settlements and its successful

modern form is the continuous confrontation in Bil’in and Ni’lin against

settlements and the wall, and to save Jerusalem and reject its Judaization.

We have the task to mobilize all citizens to engage in the activities and to

achieve Arab and foreign popular participation and offer all support from

the PNA apparatuses in order to make them succeed and Fatah popular and

official leaders need to lead the most important activities.

b- To be creative in finding new forms of struggle and resistance through

popular initiatives and other initiatives by the cadres of the movement and

to stress on the determination of our people to remain steadfast and resist

in accordance with the legitimate norms and laws.

c- To boycott the Israeli products inside the territories and abroad through

popular moves, in particular commodities that have a local alternative and

exercise new forms of civil disobedience against the occupation and work to

escalate an international campaign towards boycotting Israel and its

products and its institutions through making use of the experience of South

Africa.

d- To pose and discuss Palestinian strategic alternatives if it is not

possible to achieve progress through the current negotiations, including

poising the idea of the unified democratic state that rejects racism,

hegemony and occupation, and to develop struggle against Israeli Apartheid

and Racism or return to the idea of declaring the state on the 1967 borders

and other strategic alternatives.

e- To continue tireless work towards the release of the prisoners and

detainees and end the external siege and the internal checkpoints and

achieve freedom of movement.

f- To return to the UN and the Security Council and demand that they assume

their responsibilities in ending the conflict and ending the occupation and

to continue work towards the issuance of Security Council resolutions on the

basis of the Seventh Chapter of the UN Charter which carry the binding

character.

g- To regain our direct and strong relations with the Israeli peace camp and

reactive it to work for the sake of a just peace without confusing this with

normalization which is rejected as a policy under the occupation.