Israel seeking to divide Palestinian factions: Activist

As tension mounts between Palestinian parties of Fatah and Hamas, the Palestinian Authority, ruled by Fatah in the West Bank, has decided to stop paying for the electricity that the Israeli regime supplies to the Gaza Strip. Some 30 percent of Gaza’s electrical needs have been coming from 10 power lines in occupied territories. Hamas warned about explosive consequence of the decision to exert more pressure on the Gazans. To discuss the issue, Press TV has interviewed Paul Larudee, an activist with the Free Palestine Movement from Berkeley, and Maxine Dovere, a journalist and political commentator from New York.

Larudee believes Israel is sowing discord among Palestinians to advance its goals in the occupied lands of Palestine.

“Israel’s policy has been divide and conquer to weaken, to impoverish, to immiserate all of the Arab countries on its borders and in its area. They want to get rid of as many Arabs within the territory they control,” the activist said on Thursday night.

The Israelis continue to put economic pressure on the West Bank and finally make the relations between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas strained.

Officials in Tel Aviv “want to destroy the Palestinian people, to have them gone; and…they see no benefit from a peaceful settlement.”

The analyst also referred to the reasons behind Israel’s divisive policies, saying, “It is war that is bringing in income, power and foreign aid from the US.”  

Palestinians in Gaza have been under an inhumane Israeli siege since June 2007 and have suffered from severe medicine and food shortages.

Elsewhere, Larudee criticized the Palestinian Authority and added that the administration ruled by the Fatah party “is an illegal government. It does not abide by the election rules.”

According to the activist, “Mahmoud Abbas (President of the Palestinian Authority) is deriving his power from the United States and from Israel and the Western powers…and not from the Palestinian people.”

For her part, Dovere said that “Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas) is slated to come to Washington to meet with President Trump in the very near future. This seems ... a power play to indicate that he and Fatah are in charge of the entire Palestinian people, including those in Gaza.”

However, the commentator accused both Fatah and Hamas parties of neglecting the “election rules.”

She pointed out, “Getting a fair election in the Palestinian areas will be very very difficult and very necessary.”

The rivalry between Fatah and Hamas has had a negative impact on the life of the Palestinian people, but if they could establish “one government,” they would have a stronger position in dealing with their internal and external challenges, Dovere added.

The journalist further condemned the decision to cut off power in Gaza, saying this is the “rule of a dictator” and would not benefit any side.

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