By Dr. Mousa Abu Marzook

President of the Palestinian National Council PNC Salim Zaanoun said that he and the PA President Mahmoud Abbas agreed in a meeting in Amman on Wednesday to hold a regular PNC session in less than a month. The session is intended to be held in Ramallah on 15 September.

In case the Israeli occupation prevented the PNC members from entering the West Bank, the clause on “urgent condition” will be used, and a  reduced session will convene in order to elect a new executive committee following the resignation of the President and 10 out of the committee's 18 members.

“We arrived at a compromise, which is to elect all members of the executive committee regardless it being through a regular or an exceptional session.” End  of quote.

I never thought that guaranteeing the position was the main interest for Abu Aladeeb (President of the PNC), since it was rumored that the upcoming changes include the PNC’s presidency, which he refused, rose up against, and then settled for a “compromise”.

I had not thought that Abbas and Abu Aladeeb would circumvent the bylaws, since there is a difference between calling for a regular session and a call for an urgent session that is sought by Abu Aladeeb. As a result, a compromise came,  which in the case of a no quorum, an urgent session will be called for.  

A sane person cannot believe that an extraordinary session will be held in Ramallah, not because of the Israeli occupation's measures, but because of political disputes. It's inevitable that there will be no quorum and, therefore, Abu Mazen will impose his will to hold the PNC session with only the members who attended, and the attendees will handpick whoever they want.

I had never believed that some factions are so opportunistic in seeking to  reserve a seat in the PLO even if this is at the expense of the PLO and its  institutions and representativeness, and the Palestinians’ respect for it. . Some factions deemed what happened a farce and unreasonable, but still they will attend for fear they will be not be present in the Executive Committee. Other factions accepted the invitation in order to have Hamas and the Islamic Jihad out of the committee, for they know their real weight; and yet others agreed fearing the President’s anger, while a fourth group sees that they will only get a quota by accord, believing it is a privilege  entitled to them by their martyrs' legacy, while in  reality they currently have no role or presence in the political scene. , and so on.

Everybody knows that March 2005 was  a historic day, when the PLO Executive Committee united all Palestinians for the first time under one umbrella under the condition of restructuring and reform of the PLO. However, in case Abbas and Abu Aladeeb managed to hold the session, September 15th 2015 will be the day in which this umbrella was torn and the PLO lost its legitimacy of representation, even if it is still  recognized by Israel and countries from the east and the west, for those who lose their people’s  respect  will be redeemed by nothing.

The Day of September 15 is a day of deepening the Palestinian rift, and discarding the provisional leading body and the  reconciliation agreements.

And since the PLO is not a legacy dedicated to those people, not only will we reject this move, but  such call will have to be  aborted and the decision revoked. All national parties should push for preserving whatever legitimacy and institutions has been left as well as the future of the Palestinian cause.

Now, the Palestinian citizen should have understood the motives behind attacking Hamas and accusing it of negotiating with the Israeli occupation, claiming it wants to separate Gaza from West Bank and Jerusalem, and accusing it of being responsible for the loss of ten thousand Palestinians and thousands of homes, while at the same time they absolve  Israel of these crimes.

Yet and despite all that, Hamas will remain faithful to the blood of Palestinian martyrs, and it will preserve its compass towards liberation. Hamas will always seek national unity on the basis of the national constants that we have all agreed upon, and Hamas will not be thwarted by others deviating from the road to liberation.