Around 3,000 Palestinians have signed a petition calling for Mahmoud Abbas to resign from his triple position as head of the Fatah movement, head of the PLO and Palestinian Authority chairman.
In April, Abbas, whose presidency expired in 2009, canceled elections that were due to take place throughout the months of May and June over Israel’s refusal to allow Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem to participate.
Under Abbas, the Palestinian Authority has become dictatorial and the rights of Palestinians and their political struggle have regressed, petition charges and calls for rehabilitation of PLO, writes Amira Hasshttps://t.co/bin6ZnL44c
— Haaretz.com (@haaretzcom) June 12, 2021
His decision delayed a long-overdue democratic vote aimed at ending 15 years of political paralysis and division between the West Bank, where his Palestinian Authority is dominant, and the Gaza Strip, which has been ruled by Hamas since 2007.
Initially, the decision was met with protests, with Palestinians chanting the popular Arab Spring slogan “the people want the fall of the regime” on the streets of the occupied West Bank. The protests against Abbas dwindled as Israel stepped up its forced expulsion of Palestinians in the Jerusalem neighborhoods of Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan, but anti-PA activism continued.
Over the last week, a petition demanding Abbas’ resignation went viral in Palestinian circles on social media.
The Fumbling King of #Palestine https://t.co/exzs39wMLN
— Ramzy Baroud (@RamzyBaroud) June 7, 2021
The petition slammed Abbas for being out of touch with the struggles of the Palestinian people and for even failing to visit the besieged Gaza Strip after Israel launched an 11-day relentless bombardment campaign on the impoverished enclave, killing over 250 Palestinians, including 67 children.
The Jerusalem intifada “exposed the extent of the paralysis of the president and the way he has constrained a veteran national movement with a glorious history such as Fatah and frozen – if not destroyed – the PLO,” the petition said.
(The New Arab, PC, Social Media)
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