BEIRUT: Fatah President Farouk Qaddoumi agrees with Hizbullah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah that the path of resistance is the most efficient way to achieve results when confronting Israel. In an exclusive interview with The Daily Star, Qaddoumi said he "believes in the path of resistance rather than the path of negotiations. Every word that Nasrallah said is very precise and correct, and I fully support it.".
Qaddoumi was commenting on a speech Nasrallah delivered Wednesday, in which he said that the resistance "achieved everything. What did the negotiations achieve? Nothing." Referring to the Israeli pullout from Gaza Strip, Qaddoumi said: "Any withdrawal from the Palestinian territories is a good thing, and it is what the Palestinian resistance aims for." He added: "We are willing to fight for another 50 years to achieve our goals."
Qaddoumi claimed that the "differences" among Palestinian resistance factions "are not grave enough" to jeopardize such goals, adding that the internal struggle "is not serious. It is a psychological case which can be monitored to prevent the state of chaos the Israeli enemy expects." "The Israeli occupation is behind all the tension created inside Palestinian society ... In-fighting might be one of the results of such differences, but it remains a mere possibility," said Qaddoumi
Farouk Kaddoumi is part of the old hard-line guard of the PLO. Kaddoumi refused to return to the disputed territories with the Arafat and the rest of PLO under the Oslo Agreement in the mid-nineties as he refused to accept anything less than a total annihilation of the Jewish state. For years he has categorically refused to even negotiate for a separate state of the Palestinian people though there who are suggesting that he would be open to entering into negotiations with Israel now.
He was Arafat’s Minister of Foreign Affairs for 30 years and was said to be outraged when elected President Abbas replaced him in bid to lessen Kaddoumi’s influence in the PLO and Fatah. Kaddoumi, by refusing to return to the disputed territories has escaped the taint and charges of corruption and cronyism that haunted Arafat, Abbas and the old guard of the PA. After the death of Arafat, Suha Arafat immediately sought out Kaddoumi’s protection from any possible retribution from the Palestinian Authority. Kaddoumi’s was named head of Fatah last November and he is perceived as Abbas’ main rival, certainly he can be considered Abbas’ deadliest adversary.
He has recently set-up an office in absentia in Gaza and is expected to return to Gaza after the Israeli withdrawal ends. It is rumored that he recently concluded successful negotiations with the heads of Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Damascus to return to Gaza with him. There are other rumors that Kaddoumi has been receiving support and financial backing by Hezbollah (Iran) and Syria.
One should be asking why Kaddoumi has left his base in Tunis and gone to Beirut at this time? What is the agenda behind his meeting with Hezbollah and why this very public display of support for Hezbollah at this time? Why is Kaddoumi so dismissive of the recent ongoing strife between the Abbas'PA, Hamas and Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip?
One nightmare scenario for the Israelis’ is that Hezbollah will choose the disengagement from Gaza as the perfect opportunity to launch a low-level sustained attack on Israel as the IDF will be tied down on the southern front making the Gaza strip as Judenrein as possible. If matters escalate on the Northern front there are many in the neighborhood who would welcome this as the perfect pre-text to deal a significant blow to the Israeli state. Realistically, can the Israeli’s count on the American support if Iran throws its weight behind Hezbollah?
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