Fatah member: Haifa, Jaffa are Palestinian

Tawfik Tirawi says Fatah's "political program" includes an agenda to liberate Palestine and establish a Palestinian state.

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
Palestinian security forces 370 (photo credit: REUTERS)
Palestinian security forces 370
(photo credit: REUTERS)
Haifa, Jaffa and Acre are Palestinian cities and will remain so, Tawfik Tirawi, a member of the Fatah Central Committee, was quoted Saturday as saying.
Tirawi, who previously served as commander of the Palestinian Authority General Intelligence Service in the West Bank, said that the Palestinians have struggled since the Balfour Declaration and would pursue their struggle “until we achieve our national goals – the establishment of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital and the right of return for Palestinian refugees. We will pass this goal from one generation to another.”
Tirawi, in an interview with the Palestinian London-based Al-Quds Al-Arabi daily, said: “To those who consider the settlements of Beit El and Ma’aleh Adumim to be Israeli, we say to them and to all that Haifa, Jaffa and Acre are Palestinian and will remain Palestinian.”
Tirawi said that Fatah’s “political program” has not changed since it was established more than four decades ago.
“Fatah is a movement that was created to liberate Palestine and establish a Palestinian state,” he explained. “But the Palestinian, Arab and international objective circumstances have changed, leading to a recession in positive national achievements. Yet in spite of these circumstances, Fatah will surprise everyone by showing that it remains committed to the national project.”
Asked about efforts to resume the peace talks between the PA and Israel, Tirawi said that the “liberation of Palestine and the establishment of a Palestinian state have their elements – beginning with the armed and popular struggle led by Fatah for many years and ending with the negotiations [with Israel].”
He said that after conducting negotiations with Israel for two decades, “the result has been zero.”
Tirawi accused the US administration of “total bias” in favor of Israel. The US, he added, was now seeking to manage, rather than solve, the conflict.
The top Fatah official accused US Secretary of State John Kerry of “endorsing” the strategy of the Israeli government by offering to boost the Palestinian economy.