Fateh elects its revolutionary council, Israeli with Palestinian citizenship elected
The Fateh movement had concluded its Sixth Conference, held in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, after officially declaring the names of the wining 80 candidates who ran for the Revolutionary Council; among the elected was an Israeli man with Palestinian citizenship.
Gaza Strip candidates won 25% of Revolutionary Council seats, while women activists of Fateh garnered 13 seats.
Uri Davis, 67, the Jewish-Palestinian man who was the first Jewish candidate, said that he joined Fateh movement in 1984 through the late senior Fateh leader, Khalil Al Wazir (Abu Jihad).
He added that he decided to be a candidate so he can help the Revolutionary Council in its external relations. Davis identifies himself as an “Anti-Zionist Palestinian Hebrew”.
“I was born before the racist state (Israel) was established”. He said, “I am against Zionist, and I hope I will be working in Fateh's external relations”.
Davis lives in Ramallah; he is married to a Palestinian woman and works as a lecturer at the Jerusalem – Abu Dis University in East Jerusalem.
He had very strong ties with the late Palestinian President, Yasser Arafat, and repeatedly visited him when he was surrounded by the Israeli army at his Ramallah headquarters until he died in 2004.
Israeli daily Haaretz said that Davis “abandoned’ his Israeli citizenship in the 1980’s in protest to the ongoing Israeli occupation of Palestine. He was later on granted Palestinian citizenship, and now he became the first non-Arab to be a member of Fateh’s Revolutionary Council.
He ranked 31 on the list of elected members (600 Fateh members ran for the elections).
Following the declaration of the results, Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, said that Fateh movement seeks the resumption of internal unity talks mediated by Egypt, and that the movement is calling for new presidential and legislative elections.
He also called for a meeting with the newly elected members of the Revolutionary Council on Sunday.
As for peace talks with Israel, Abbas said that the Palestinian Authority will be ready for talks once Israel stops all of its illegal settlement activities, and once it ends its violations in East Jerusalem.
