Abbas Makes It Official: All of Israel is Palestine.

Abbas Makes It Official: All of Israel is Palestine.(INN).The Fatah party, headed by Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, has made official what it has been saying quietly and has adopted a new logo showing all of Israel as Palestine.
The logo marks the 48th anniversary of the founding of Fatah by Yasser Arafat and includes a map with the PA flag and a map of Israel that appears to be a depiction of the black and white checkered kefiyah, a symbol of the violent intifada, and the slogan “the state and victory."
Palestine Media Watch (PMW) revealed that the official PA daily published the new official logo.
For the past year, official PA documents have increasingly shown Palestine as covering all of Israel, but this is the first time the Fatah party has placed the map on its logo.
PMW noted, “Other symbols central to Fatah ideology also appear in the logo, including a rifle and a key symbolizing the Palestinian claim of ownership to houses within Israel.”
The Arab media watchdog translated and published the article announcing the new logo:
"Senior Fatah official in the Gaza Strip, Yahya Rabah, stressed that the movement this year will hold a big, central rally in the Gaza Strip on the day of the 48th anniversary of the beginning of the Palestinian revolution.
“Rabah explained to Ma'an that the event will be held considering the atmosphere of reconciliation and unity that has prevailed in the Palestinian arena in the last few….
“The organizing committee for the 48th anniversary of the Fatah movement approved this year's main anniversary logo... [The rally] will take place in Gaza to mark the 48th anniversary of the modern Palestinian revolution under the slogan 'the state and the victory.'"

The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) reacted to the new logo by urging “President Barack Obama, the European Union and the United Nations to condemn this outrage which reiterates the clear fact that Abbas and the Fatah/PA have no interest in peace with Israel, only its destruction.”

ZOA National President Morton A. Klein said, "This new Fatah logo graphically depicts the ugly truth about this unreconstructed terrorist organization whose Constitution to this day calls for the destruction of Israel (Article 13) and the use of terrorism as an essential element in the struggle to achieve this aim (Article 19). …It belies the fiction that Mahmoud Abbas is a 'moderate' who seeks peace with Israel, and who wishes to end Palestinian terrorism against Israeli Jews. It also makes clear that the principles of Yasser Arafat are respected and promoted.
"The new Fatah logo is not an aberration. The Palestinian Authority continues to promote the incitement of hatred in Palestinian mosques, schools and media.
"The ZOA renews its call upon the Obama Administration to stop wasting hundreds of millions of dollars on the unreformed terrorist entity that is Fatah, to stop making excuses for Abbas, and to stop pressuring Israel to make dangerous concessions on the altar of appeasement.”Read the full story here.

Hamas Reverses Ban on Fatah Gaza Rally.

Hamas Reverses Ban on Fatah Gaza Rally.(AM).By Abeer Ayoub.Hamas on Friday reversed its ban on Fatah from staging an open-square rally to commemorate its anniversary in Gaza.
Nabil Sha’at, a West Bank-based senior Fatah official, announced on Saturday that the celebration will take place on Friday, Jan. 4, at Al-Saraya Square in Gaza. The celebration will be the first for the movement in Gaza since Hamas took over the coastal enclave in 2007.
Taher Al-Nono, a Hamas spokesperson in Gaza, said that an initiative made on Friday by representatives from several Palestinian factions, and direct negotiations between Sha’at and Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniya, resulted in a reversal of Hamas’ ban.
The two rival factions had disputed the venue of the celebrations, with Fatah insisting on Al-Kateeba Square, the site of Hamas’ own anniversary festivities a few weeks ago. Hamas had denied Fatah’s request to stage an open-square rally for “security reasons.”
The ban drew strong criticism from Fatah, who warned that the decision would deal a blow to reconciliation efforts, particularly after Fatah allowed Hamas to commemorate its anniversary in several West Bank cities.
The Islamists maintained that security concerns upheld a Hamas ban on Fatah staging the rally at Al-Kateeba Square, but compromised by allocating instead Al-Saraya Square.
“Al-Kateeba square is surrounded by many police stations and we are concerned about the lives of Fatah supporters as well as our own supporters. This is why we rejected it, we want to keep the positive atmosphere of reconciliation we recently have had,” Al-Nono explained.
“Only because we talked to each other directly, we could reach an agreement. This would have never happened through brokered talks or media clashes,” Al-Nono said.
Faisal Abu Shahla, a Fatah lawmaker in Gaza, welcomed Hamas’ reversal after criticizing the ban earlier in the week as “disappointing.”
“It’s such a good step because the previous decision not to commemorate our anniversary would have badly affected the reconciliation route between us,” Abu Shahla told Al-Monitor.
Many in Gaza believe that Hamas’ concern is not security, but rather a fear of a public display of support for Fatah in the Gaza Strip.
Roughly 5,000 Fatah supporters in Gaza are expected to celebrate the movement’s founding, with Hamas representatives expected to attend.
The scheduled event was seen as a key step towards reconciliation efforts between Fatah and Hamas, which have stepped up since Israel’s assault on Gaza last month.Hmmm......What.....Nobody invite the IDF?Read the full story here.
Abeer Ayyoub graduated form the Islamic University of Gaza with a BA in English literature. She is a former human rights researcher turned journalist whose work has appeared in Al Masry Al-Youm, The Daily Mirror, and Haaretz.