FATAH FACTION CALLS FOR PA TO DISSOLVE

C O N F I D E N T I A L JERUSALEM 001117 SIPDIS SIPDIS NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE AND IPA; NSC FOR ABRAMS/DORAN/MUSTAFA E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/17/2016 TAGS: PREL KPAL KWBG KDEM PGOV SUBJECT: FATAH FACTION CALLS FOR PA TO DISSOLVE Classified By: Consul General Jake Walles. Reasons: 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) In the wake of the Hamas PLC victory and the March 14 IDF Jericho raid, calls by Fatah cadres to dissolve the Palestinian Authority and transfer responsibility for administering the West Bank and Gaza back to Israel as occupying power have begun to resurface. Paragraph 3 contains the text of a letter from Fatah grass roots members written the day after the Jericho action, which also represents the views of a number of Palestinian intellectuals and civil society members. This latest call echoes similar proposals made in 2002 and 2003 while then-President Arafat found himself increasingly isolated and besieged. At that time, Fatah members floated the idea of PA dissolution as a reaction to an increasingly worsening situation; however, there were never any serious discussions or policy recommendations made on this initiative. ¶2. (C) A significant difference in this round of PA dissolution calls is that Fatah is no longer the dominant party, and any such move would require the acquiescence of Hamas. West Bank Hamas spokesman Farhat Asad downplayed both the call to dissolve the PA as well as other calls for President Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) to resign. Asad described what happened in Jericho as the result of unfair prior agreements and cast doubt on the method of negotiations practiced with Israelis in the past, both standard Hamas lines. Asad told the press "all our efforts are to be concentrated on how to confront the Israeli aggression. At this stage, the PA is not a hostage to those agreements, so this political mistake should be reformed and amended, as it was this approach that drove us to this tragic end." ¶3. (C) Begin informal ConGen translation of letter: In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. Urgent Appeal, dated March 15, 2006 Brother President Mahmoud Abbas, God protect him, Greetings, We extend to your Excellency our urgent appeal, under current dangerous conditions and developments following the raid on Jericho Prison and the arrest of Comrade Ahmad Sa'adat and the forcing of the Palestinian security forces to strip off their clothes in an abusing manner, which aims to insult the PA in front of the world and to prevent it from performing its future tasks because it cannot protect detainees. The insult coincides with the British and American conceit and, since the vision of negotiations to achieve the goals of the Palestinian people has reached a deadlock, we point out that the same vision lead us to the apartheid wall. Our policies today consolidate that wall and humiliation. We demand that you declare the dissolution of the PA and that you demand from the international community that it assume its responsibilities and impose its will on the occupying state to grant the Palestinian people, under occupation, their civil rights. We demand that you announce this immediately in the absence of a vision of how to confront the occupation and not to retreat from this position until Sa'adat and the other detainees taken from Jericho Prison are released. The PA should receive a public apology from the US and Britain and Israel should commit itself to halt the construction of the apartheid wall and to declare its commitment to the Roadmap. We hope that you respond to our appeal. Together until we achieve our legitimate rights and live with dignity and respect. Signed by cadres from the Fatah movement. End text. WALLES