Ousted Fatah leader Mohamed Dahlan has formally replied to the accusations made by Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas that he was involved in the assassination of the Qassam leader, Sheikh Salah Shehadi.
Abbas has accused Dahlan of being involved in the assassination of several Palestinian figures, including Shehadi and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat. Speaking to members of Fatah’s Revolutionary Council on Wednesday, Abbas claimed that: “Dahlan told us that Shehadi was to pass away within minutes. After some minutes, we heard a massive explosion. Dahlan went out and said, literally, ‘the son of a (…) fled the house one minute before the attack’.”
In response, Dahlan wrote on his Facebook page on Wednesday night that the remarks are “a complete sample of lies, delusions, craziness and ignorance about the facts of the Palestinian reality,” and pledged to reveal the details of the assassination of Arafat.
“I promise to reveal Abbas’s fabrications that he mentioned in his speech from A to Z,” he wrote on his wall.
He continued: “I will disclose facts about the most important issue, which is the assassination of Arafat. I will reveal why Arafat called Abbas the Karzai of Palestine. I will speak out about why Abbas got angry when I reconciled with Arafat.”
Dahlan explained that while he had intended to ignore Abbas and not pay any attention to his fabrications, he said: “I was obliged to defend myself after he accused me of being involved in the assassination of Shehadi.”
He asked why Abbas has delivered this accusation at a time when Gaza is witnessing an escalation of Israeli attacks, accusing Abbas of targeting the unity of the Palestinians.
Dahlan accused Abbas of trying to rewrite the Palestinian memory. “All the Palestinians know how the Qassam leader Shehadi was killed,” he wrote. “The Israeli air forces demolished a complete neighbourhood and that was the first and the last assassination attempt against him.”
He also clarified that when Shehadi was assassinated, he was not sitting with Abbas, but with EU official Miguel Moratinos and Fatah leader Sifyan Abu-Zaydeh.