Jerusalem-born Jew elected to Fatah Revolutionary Council

[Scurrilous]

<snip>

"The official list published Saturday of winners in elections to the Revolutionary Council of the Palestinian Fatah movement included 67-year-old Dr. Uri Davis, a Jerusalem-born Jew.

He was the first Jew to become a member of the Revolutionary Council since it was established in 1958.

Davis, who in the 1980s abandoned his Israeli citizenship in protest over Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip and later received Palestinian citizenship, was the only non-Arab to run for a seat in the Revolutionary Council, Fatah's legislative body.

When his name was announced as number 31 on the list of winners, members in the auditorium of the Bethlehem school where the conference held its meetings applauded long and loud.

Davis, who considers himself anti-Zionist and who after renouncing his Israeli citizenship joined Fatah because he says he saw it as a socialist movement, was among more than 600 Fatah activists who competed for 80 seats of the council.

Author of the books "Israel: An Apartheid State," published in 1987 and "Apartheid Israel: Possibilities for the Struggle Within," published in 2004, Davis prefers to identify himself as a Palestinian Hebrew.

Speaking perfect Arabic, he teaches Jewish studies at the Palestinian al-Quds University in Abu Dis, located just outside an eight-meter high concrete wall Israel has built around occupied East Jerusalem to separate it from its West Bank environs.

Davis said in Bethlehem last week as he was campaigning for a seat in the Revolutionary Council that he wants to see more anti-Zionist Israelis and internationals take up leading posts in Fatah."

more

[xchrom]

1. o-h-o-o-h-h-h -- this is going to be good --

:popcorn:

[shira]

2. because he was born a Jew, Uri Davis is only an observer member of the PNC (non-Palestinian)

even though he was born in Jerusalem in 1943, which makes him as Palestinian as any Arab born in 1943 Jerusalem.

What a heartwarming story.

:eyes:

Jews can't be Palestinians, apparently.

[shira]

10. I see it didn't take a certain someone suffering from SLES (according to Carlo Strenger) very...

...long to make an appearance and pretend, by ignoring my point and resorting to ad hominem attack, that there is no inherent antisemitism in the fact that Jews can't be Palestinians.

Gosh, I thought I was on ignore and that this certain someone didn't want any kind of correspondence with me, direct or indirect. Guess I was mistaken. :)

[aquart]

11. Who said it was anti-Semitic, dear?

What it is, is one Semitic group keeping itself to itself with certain guidelines.

You find it, I suspect, so awful when Jewish Semites do it and so heartwarming when Arab Semites do it. Now THAT, one might consider anti-Semitic but only in the sense of a bias against Jewish Semites.

As for a Jew who hates Jews, honey, it ain't the first time.

[shira]

15. okay dear....it's anti-jewish, is that better?

:)

[Violet_Crumble]

3. Jewish Studies at al-Quds?

I wonder how long it'll be before some poor soul comes along who's invested endless time and energy in trying to persuade anyone who cares to listen that Palestinians hate Jews and tries to save their paranoid opinion by proclaiming that the Jewish Studies being taught at al-Quds is a study of how to hate Jews......

[oberliner]

6. I would love to learn more about that course

I wonder if there is a syllabus or course description available online.

[Violet_Crumble]

9. I suspect if there was, it'd be in Arabic....

Though you could always email Mr. Davis and ask him if he could get hold of an English translation of the course outline. I think it'd be pretty easy to find his email address....

[oberliner]

4. Fatah is a socialist movement?

A recent article posted in this forum from the World Socialist Web site said "Fatah’s conference has confirmed that it is the party of businessmen, police chiefs, warlords and Israeli placemen" and argued that "While the Fatah leadership has enriched itself, the Palestinian masses face appalling levels of poverty, squalor and misery."

The same article called Abbas "the personification of a corrupt and brutal regime."

[Violet_Crumble]

5. Well, if wsws says they're not, who are we to argue?

Maybe you should email WSWS and ask them if they find it acceptable to refer to Fatah as left-leaning? ;)

Of course Fatah are a socialist organisation. That's why they're a member of the Socialist International, which is the international umbrella group which socialist and democratic political parties world-wide belong to.

[oberliner]

7. I think the article is designed to provoke argument/debate

Has Fatah, in your opinion, lived up to what you consider to be the principles of socialism?

The author of the article from the WSWS posted here recently clearly does not think so.

How would you weigh in on that question?

[Violet_Crumble]

8. If they're good enough for the Socialist International, that's good enough for me...

I'd say that Fatah have lived up to what I consider to be the principles of socialism even more than my own Labor Party (another member of Socialist International) have....

I don't really care what some writer on the wsws site says. I'm not sure why you think I'm supposed to care. I mean, do you think I treat wsws as any sort of credible source at the best of times? I don't coz there's been some weird stuff coming from there on a whole variety of stuff...

[oberliner]

16. You've written that the WSWS povides some very good articles at times

Not sure why you wouldn't care about that particular one or why you are so dismissive about that site now.

[Violet_Crumble]

17. Where have I written that?

I don't remember saying that at all, so if you could point me to where I've said that, I can refresh my flu-addled memory. Thanks in advance!

[oberliner]

18. Typo: Should read "provides" not "povides"

But here is where you made that comment, unless someone else was using your account:

"I actually think WSWS at times provides some very good articles"

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=124x38849#39395

[Violet_Crumble]

19. So I did. I also said there's some crap there as well...

I'm impressed that yr so interested in my posts that you remember every word, even going back so far. Mind you, I'm still trying to understand why you think what some writer there wrote is something I should give credence to. Clearly I don't, so why isn't that the end of the matter for you? Not sure why it appears to matter to you whether or not I'm dismissive of the site. Maybe this never happens to you, but my opinions and views do sometimes change over time. I've never thought of this as being a bad thing. Do you?

[oberliner]

20. The person quoted in this article called Fatah a socialist organization

Another article recently posted here by a longtime DUer was from a Socialist web site where the author claimed that Fatah, in reality, was anything but socialist.

That spurred me to ask the question of whether Fatah actually is socialist in light of the information presented in that article I had just read here.

You chose to respond by being dismissive of my question and of the WSWS article stating that because they are members of Socialist International then they are socialist.

I think it's valid to at least discuss the questions raised in the article as to whether or not Fatah has, in fact, remained true to socialism, its membership in the organization you've mentioned notwithstanding.

Here in America, we have politicians who belong to the Democratic party who some will criticize when they do things that seem to be in conflict with the values of said party. You have no doubt heard some call a politician a "Democrat in Name Only." I would think the same can be true for organizations that call themselves Socialist. You yourself indicated that your own Labor Party, another member of Socialist International, may not have lived up to the ideals of Socialism as much as they could.

For you to simply terminate the possibility of having any such discussion by stating that you "don't really care what some writer on the wsws site says" surprised me as I did not realize that source was not credible with regard to issues connected to Socialism. That is what encouraged me to see whether that source had been discussed on DU in the past - and that's where I came across your earlier comment.

In any case, I respect your position that Fatah is indeed socialist and that the article posted here on DU from the WSWS is not worth a hill of beans.

[Violet_Crumble]

22. I don't care what someone in an article called them....

If you don't like that, then that's yr problem, not mine. Repeating yrself and trying to make out that yr not really sure whether Fatah are socialist or not because someone who wrote an article somewhere doesn't think so is just coming across as manufactured and fake.

[oberliner]

23. I respect your position on the matter

I was just trying to explain where I was coming from - you appeared from your question to be "trying to understand" - I was hoping my explanation would provide further clarification.

Respected DU poster, Indiana Green, posts articles from WSWS all the time so I figured it was a pretty decent source regarding views from the Socialist community.

I had never heard of Socialist International before you mentioned it to me, so that tells you how much I know about this topic! I was hoping to get additional perspectives from those with greater insights.

[Alamuti Lotus]

24. "the Socialist community".......

if only we had a community....... as it is, Tony Blair gives speeches at the Socialist International. Case-closed on the organization in my books, but that is what they're calling themselves.

You must understand the enormous divisions that exist within the so-called 'socialist community'. Relating to this, the 'Socialist International' and the ICFI (International Committee of the Fourth International, parent organization of the WSWS) are about as far apart as things can get.

If you are indeed serious, I would advise you to research the following subjects as a basic introduction:

* Bitter rivalry between Karl Marx and Mikhail Bakunin--the collapse of the First International
* European "Social Democracy" parties and their support of the First World War--collapse of the Second International
* The great triumph of the October Revolution in Russia, and the establishment of the Third International ('Comintern') by Lenin
* The great chasm that exists between Stalinists & Trotskyists following the collapse of the Revolution and the hijacking of Comintern by Stalin

Argh.. as I write this, my initial thoughts of a "basic introduction" are being flooded with a million other subjects I would suggest. "Simple"....

[oberliner]

25. Thanks for the info

I realize this is a very broad topic not easily explained by a few lines on a message board.

Out of curiosity, would you yourself say that it would be accurate to label Fatah as a Socialist organization?

[aquart]

12. As what Palestinian regime is not?

Oh, pretty please give them statehood!

[Violet_Crumble]

13. You have a problem with Socialism?

Are you one of those Americans that get Socialism all confused with Communism?

btw, Fatah isn't a regime, it's a faction of the PLO. And when it comes to factions, it's socialist and communist ones that seem to be prevalent, at least that's what I remember of reading about all those different factions...

[Sezu]

21. Yeah, then they will have a state to fall

behind their official adoption of the Israel killed Arafat conspiracy.

lolololol

[azurnoir]

14. Jewish academic, wife of jailed leader among Rev. Council winners

Bethlehem - Ma'an - Loud applause broke out Saturday evening as it was announced that "brother" Dr Uri Davis had been elected to the Fatah movement's largest governing body.

Fatah conference spokesman Fawzi Salamah announced that the Jewish professor, who teaches Judaic studies at Al-Quds University in the West Bank, won 31st place out of 81 new members of Fatah's Revolutionary Council.

Among the other winners was Fadwa Barghouthi, the wife of jailed Fatah leader Marwan Barghouthi, who was himself elected to the movement's highest body, the Central Committee, last week.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=219118