Letter from Palestine: Political collaboration of the Palestinian authority

i received this this morning and asked to put here on my blog...

Palestinian Nationalists, Activists, and Comrades

While our brothers and sisters in Gaza are facing massacre and ethnic cleansing, starvation and painfully slow deaths at the hands of the Zionist occupation, the “Palestinian” Authority is reaching higher levels of political collaboration then ever before.

During the end of February, beginning of March this year the occupation forces where forced to stop their attempted entry into the Gaza Strip because, according to their own officials, of the international pressure, and the unexpected upheaval of Palestinians in the West Bank and the 1948 lands.

Having learned from their earlier mistakes, now the occupation has started a PR campaign with its bombardment, but hasn’t had to worry about the rush of the Palestinians to nearby checkpoints and settlements. The security forces of the so called “Palestinian” Authority have been busily working around the clock to stop these protests and demonstrations from ever reaching their designated points. For the first three days of the Zionist offensive, Palestinians in the WB tried to organize in their cities, only to be curbed by the Palestinian National Guard, the Preventative Security force, Intelligence (mukhabarat), Military Intelligence and the Police before reaching their destinations. The city activities have been crippled by the arrests of hundreds of activists. The cities of Ramallah, Bethlehem, Hebron and Nablus have bore witness to this. The security forces have members dressed in civilian which attend the demonstration posing as protesters. Yet when an activist says an anti-PA slogan or “to the checkpoint” he or she is immediately sprung upon by these security forces and dragged into the nearest security vehicle. When a “peaceful” demonstration is active (pan-pounding, silent, or candle) these undercover agents instigate with police found at the scene, so police have a legitimate excuse to squander the gatherings. Security forces also tend have special treatment of Islamic activists, whenever an arrest is initiated for a Hamas or Islamic Jihad activist, harsh beat downs with fists, steel-tow boots, night-sticks, and rifle-butts are present. These security forces also tend to attack people with cameras, being press or just snap-happy civilians, to ensure no media coverage of these events reaches public eyes.
Most city activities are being pushed by their coordinators towards using sit-down and silent methods to avoid the vandalization of their activities by the PA.

On the fourth day (today) demonstration in townships where also repressed, although these are designated “B” areas (according to the Oslo accords) where Palestinian security forces are not allowed to leave their offices (armed or unarmed) without Israeli coordination, they attacked the demonstrations before they reached the designated “C” areas (Israeli control)[most Palestinian towns and even cities have B and C areas depending on proximity to Zionist locations]. These townships, far from ”complete” PA control, have seen the PA repression which is something that has shocked our masses and cemented feelings of helplessness and hopelessness.

Both Mustafa Barghouti, PLC deputy for the Palestinian Initiative and former minister of information, and Khalida Jarrar PLC deputy for the PFLP and former head of al-Dameer Human rights Org., have publicly criticized these actions of the security forces. Jarrar is also credited by the activists of the WB cities for her role in their releases, including tens of female hamas activists who where mercilessly beaten prior to arrest, and popular fateh figures unimpressed with the methods of Mahmoud Abbas and his forces.

The actions of the PA are destroying the sacred right of Palestinians to protest, killing freedoms of speech and press, and seem like Abbas is intent on creating a “respectable Arab regime” like those of Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, in other words, dictatorship and tyranny. For the political collaboration of the PA can no longer be described as necessities for moving towards negotiation.

With talks of the nearing Zionist land invasion of the Gaza Strip, the people in the West Bank have been unable to divert Israeli rescources to protecting settlements and checkpoints instead of to the coasts of Gaza due to the actions of the PA… the land invasion has been expected to be much bloodier then the air raids which have already cost the lives of hundreds. The people in the WB will be enable to even protest at a local checkpoint or voice their criticism of Abbas’s lack of willingness to work for REAL unity and resistance, even peaceful resistance at that.

Although the villages have been active due to the lack of PA in their proximity, it seems not enough for coordinated large scale activities in the West Bank.

The answer to the problem is easy on paper, but life risking in action. That is of course the attempt to reach checkpoints, and when (and not if) the PA security try to stop these actions, met with equal force and violence. For the psycke of the PA security agent is rarely that of a person who willingly takes action, and when arresting activists (that aren’t Islamic) they always apologize and give the same lame excuse… “we are just obeying orders”.

January/3/2009
Friday prayrs ended and demonstrations started all over the West Bank, but today the PA arrested with a vengence. They arrested all protesters that tried to reach checkpoints and chanted support to the resistance, under the claim of "hamas supporter". The PA having heard Khalid Mash'a'l's (Hamas Pol-beauro member in Damascus) call for a new popular intifada, is using it as an excuse to arrest all protesters. Even though Maher al-Taher (PFLP polit-beauro also in Damascus) and Mustafa Barghouti (Palestinain Initiative) called for a third intifada before Mash'al. Many of the protesters arrested by these security forces where known leftist activists and yet where interigated as hamas activists. Those arrested where beaten savagely and electro-tazzered during there arrests. While a centralized demonstration in the wall-ripped village of Jayous was to an extent successfull, the PA turned back all the busses and taxis loaded with people heading to the village from the cities of Qalqilya, Toulkarim, and Jenin in an attempt to stop it. All through out the West Bank stories come of PA brutality and oppression while our people in Gaza are being slaughtered and a land incursion is about to start.


Take to the streets sons of Palestine, sons of Arafat, Habbash, Yassin and Shikaki. Do not let Gaza get slaughtered, do whatever must be done to save them, and if that means turning your hand towards the collaborators that claim nationalism, then so be it. Hold your hands into fists and be ready to face the onslaught, for it is more honorable to die standing then live kneeling. Brace yourselves and prepare for the coming battle… be that with the occupation or the traitors