Palestinians are victims of daily violence; Jewish settlements are occupying Palestinian hills and are forever expanding; Israeli soldiers roam occupied Palestinian land; and Abbas himself is not allowed free movement without prior "security coordination" with the Israeli army.
Moreover, Palestinians are divided among factions, regions and clans; political favoritism, financial corruption and outright treason are eating the Palestinian body politic like an incurable cancer. Talk of "unity," "reconciliation" and "state building" is just that -- talk -- while Palestinians suffer their bitter existence behind checkpoints and under the boots of soldiers and the quiet -- but maddening -- humming of military drones.
Despite this, the Fatah elites still applauded Abbas nearly 300 times during his three hour speech. What were they applauding, exactly? What has been achieved? What vision did he put forth to end the Israeli occupation?
Too much Palestinian land has been lost between Fatah's sixth congress in 2009 and last month's seventh congress. That is not an achievement worthy of such acclaim, but a cause for alarm.
The sad truth is that no self-respecting Palestinian should be applauding empty rhetoric; instead, the respected Fatah members should rethink this destructive course altogether, and do so as a matter of urgency.
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