AL-QUDS VICE PRESIDENT COMMENTS ON FATAH CONGRESS,

C O N F I D E N T I A L JERUSALEM 001202

SIPDIS

NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE AND IPA. NSC FOR SHAPIRO/KUMAR

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/22/2024
TAGS: IS KPAL KWBG PGOV PHUM PREL PTER
SUBJECT: AL-QUDS VICE PRESIDENT COMMENTS ON FATAH CONGRESS,
JERUSALEM

Classified By: Consul General Jake Walles, per reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) Summary. Zakaria al-Qaq, a senior official at
Jerusalem's al-Quds University, said that PA President Mahmud
Abbas (Abu Mazen) is using the Fatah General Congress to
shore up his authority, following the Hamas take-over of Gaza
and the failure of negotiations with Israel. Al-Qaq added
that al-Quds University President Sari Nusseibah wishes he
could use the Congress to move into Fatah leadership, but
that Nusseibah is too far outside the leadership circle to
move in at this point. Al-Qaq also said Jerusalem's
Palestinians believe the PA is ignoring them. End Summary.

ABBAS SEEKING FATAH CONGRESS TO
LEGITIMIZE HIS CONTINUING LEADERSHIP
--------------


2. (C) Al-Qaq, al-Quds University's Vice President for
External Affairs, told PolOff July 7 that he believes
President Abbas is pushing to hold the Fatah Sixth General
Congress as a means of legitimizing his own leadership.
Al-Qaq said Abbas had been "discredited" by the Hamas
take-over of Gaza and the failure of negotiations with
Israel. He said PA elections scheduled for January 2010 are
unlikely to occur, given the split between the West Bank and
Gaza Strip, in which case Abbas will lose his legal standing
as president. According to al-Qaq, Abbas sees the Congress
as a chance to prove that Palestinians want him as their
leader, so he can maintain his position beyond January of
next year.


3. (C) Al-Qaq said that Sari Nusseibah, President of
al-Quds University, wishes he were part of Fatah,s
leadership, but he has been sidelined by leaders in the
movement over the past several years and feels slighted. He
said Nusseibah believes that running the university is a
second-rate job, and he would rather be a political leader.
Al-Qaq said Nusseibah wishes he could use the Congress to
boost his own position in Fatah, but that he is already too
far outside the leadership ranks to move into a significant
position based on the Congress elections.


4. (C) Al-Qaq said that Palestinian residents of East
Jerusalem are more cut off from the West Bank than ever, and
that they sense that the PA leadership is abandoning them.
As an example, he pointed out that the issue of Jerusalem is
no longer a part of PA rhetoric. He said he believes that
Jerusalemites need to take an active role in Municipality
affairs in order to stave off the disintegration of
Palestinian society in East Jerusalem. They should
participate in municipal elections, he said, including voting
and running candidates. Israel is not concerned with
Palestinians' well-being, al-Qaq said, so East Jerusalemites
should engage in civic issues and passive resistance, or else
Jerusalem will fall completely under Israeli control.
WALLES