Fatah leader calls for Abbas to travel to Gaza to join the resistance

Marwan Al-Barghouti, a senior Fatah leader detained in an Israeli prison, called on Tuesday for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who also leads Fatah, to immediately go to Gaza and take part in the battle of “resistance” against the Israeli occupation.

Al-Araby Al-Jadid news website quoted Barghouti as saying in a statement sent from prison that Abbas should fight in Gaza to be part of the battle of “lifting the siege and reconstructing the Gaza Strip”.

Barghouti, one of the leaders of the First and Second Intifadas, has spent 12 years in the Israeli prison of Hadarim, serving five life sentences. In his statement he conveyed: “Great greetings to the martyrs of the Israeli savage aggression, to the Palestinians and the resistance factions.”

He called for lifting “the aggressive siege of Gaza, opening all crossings and [particularly] the Rafah Crossing.” He called for the Palestinian Authority security services to protect all Palestinian citizens in all parts of the country.

According to Al-Araby Al-Jadid, the senior Fatah leader and MP for Fatah also called for a “comprehensive popular movement to support resistance and condemn the Israeli aggression.”

In addition, he called for the Palestinian leadership to turn to the UN again and join all the relevant international conventions, including the International Criminal Court, which could offer protections to the Palestinians and reinforce their resistance.

Barghouti condemned the “Israeli aggression” against Palestinians, Arabs, Muslims and all free people of the world. “The path to freedom and dignity is paved with sacrifices,” he stressed. “Nations do not surrender beaten or coexist with the occupation.”

He also called for maintaining national unity amongst Palestinians because “unity is the only way to achieve victory for the occupied.”