Organization Trends
DNC in Coalitions with Pro-Terror Palestinian Parties: PA Accepts Terror Advocates’ Framing
DNC and Affiliates in Coalitions with Pro-Terror Palestinian Parties (full series)
NDI/CAP | Fatah | Palestinian Popular Struggle Front
SI Adopts Terror Advocates’ Views and Issues
PA Accepts Terror Advocates’ Framing
PA Accepts Terror Advocates’ Framing
PA’s statements regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are more measured than those published by SI, but the coalition still has an evident bias against Israel that is likely attributable to the influence of Fatah and PNI.
For example, the website published an op-ed by PNI leader Barghouti in April 2020 that blamed Israel’s “apartheid process” for the spread of coronavirus among the Palestinian population. You won’t find any op-eds from Israeli parties blaming the Palestinians for anything or defending Israel against any accusations on PA’s website.
PA frames all violence as stemming from Israeli occupation and aggression, thereby indirectly legitimizing Palestinian terrorism as “resistance.” Its statements advocate nonviolence, but they directly condemn only Israeli violence and carefully avoid explicitly condemning Palestinian violence or condemning Hamas by name.
For instance, PA’s statement on June 30, 2018, reflects the decisions made at a PA meeting the previous day in Nepal. Perhaps reflecting its rivalry with SI (and the terror-advocating parties’ influences on both), its meeting and statement bashing Israel came only two days after a remarkably similar statement from SI after its meeting at the United Nations in Geneva on June 26–27.
The PA coalition’s statement advocates for a two-state solution and “encourage[s]” nonviolence (which isn’t the same thing as condemning violence) and then blames Israel for the absence of a peaceful, democratic Palestine.
Its list of obstacles to such statehood doesn’t include the Palestinians’ terrorism, overwhelming popular support for terrorism, child indoctrination, anti-Semitism, irredentism focused on a one-state solution (i.e., the elimination of the state of Israel), the strong likelihood that Hamas would take over the West Bank if elections were held, or the undemocratic and corrupt governances of Hamas and the Fatah-controlled Palestinian Authority.
But it does include demands that Israel grant a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders and end its occupation, cease construction in East Jerusalem, end the demolitions of illegally-constructed homes, stop all perceived discrimination against Palestinians, stop administrative detentions, and end the “siege” and “illegal blockade” of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. It also demanded that the U.S. change its mind about moving its embassy to Jerusalem (which hadn’t yet occurred at the time of the statement).
A Chance to Make Things Right
The research in this report raises eight questions.
To the DNC and DNC-affiliated think tanks (National Democratic Institute and Center for American Progress):
- Why would you belong to coalitions that include these terrorism-supporting parties as members? Were you aware of their inclusions?
- Will you disassociate yourself from these coalitions now that you’ve been informed about this research?
- Why would you become a member of, or associate with, coalitions that are explicitly pro-socialism if the DNC rejects any notion that it is pro-socialism?
To the DNC:
- Will you use your membership in PA to push for the expulsion of Fatah and PNI from the coalition?
To the DNC-affiliated think tanks:
- Will you use your influence as official associates of these two coalitions to request the expulsion of Fatah, PNI, and PPSF as members?
To the Progressive Alliance and the Socialist International:
- Why did you allow these terrorism-supporting parties to become members and to have their representatives join your board?
- To PA and SI: Now that you’ve been informed about these members’ gross and longstanding violations, will you formally consider expelling them from your coalition as your declared principles require?
To SI:
- Your ethical charter tasks your ethics committee to monitor members’ compliance with your declared principles and standards. Did your ethics committee overlook the well-documented histories and ongoing behavior of these three terrorism-supporting parties? If so, why? If not, why hasn’t action been taken?
