Palestinians Still Refuse Israel's Existence Or Two State Solution

Fatah's new charter is very much like the old charter; it still calls for Israel's destruction and refuses to accept a two-state solution.

The new charter excludes reference to Israel's destruction or Zionism. In fact the new document is devoid of any references at all to the Jewish state of Israel.  But (and you knew that there was a but), the new document explicitly references and subsumes the old charter.

Here's what the old charter had to say:

Article (7) The Zionist Movement is racial, colonial and aggressive in ideology, goals, organisation and method.

Article (8) The Israeli existence in Palestine is a Zionist invasion with a colonial expansive base, and it is a natural ally to colonialism and international imperialism.

Article (9) Liberating Palestine and protecting its holy places is an Arab, religious and human obligation.

Goals

Article (12) Complete liberation of Palestine, and eradication of Zionist economic, political, military and cultural existence.

Article (13) Establishing an independent democratic state with complete sovereignty on all Palestinian lands, and Jerusalem is its capital city, and protecting the citizens' legal and equal rights without any racial or religious discrimination.

So, what does the shiny new document have to say? This:

This internal charter has been adopted within the framework of adherence to the provisions of the Basic Charter.

Throw in the fact that the new Fatah document still calls for revolution and what we have is something that the media might hail as a significant breakthrough, yet the actual facts on the ground reflect that Fatah has not renounced its ultimate desire to see Israel eliminated. It's simply hidden its ultimate agenda better.

Then, there's the matter of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and his decision not to hold new elections. He's basically taking on the role of the former despot Yasir Arafat, who refused to hold elections once he gained power.

In other words, the current political situation for the Palestinians is no different than the old situation. It's just more of the same.