TV Debate on Fatah-Hamas Relations Turns into a Clash on the Legacy of Resistance

An October 19 TV debate on ANB TV, broadcasting from Jordan, developed into a clash between Omran Al-Khatib, a member of the Palestinian National Council, and Jordanian Islamist and Hamas supporter Badi Refaya. Al-Khatib was enraged by Refaya's insinuation that he was living off the leftovers of Mahmoud Abbas, and challenged Islamists to come and fight in Palestine instead of joining ISIS and Jabhat Al-Nusra.

Following are excerpts:

Jordanian Islamist activist Badi Rafaya: Whoever refers to the forces of the resistance from all factions as "militias" is a traitor to the Palestinian people.

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The people of Fatah and the Palestinian Authority, and all the people who hang around Mahmoud Abbas, and live off his leftovers…

Omran Al-Khatib, member of the Palestinian National Council: I don't live off Mahmoud Abbas's leftovers. I live off my struggle. I have been a fighter for 45 years, since even before you were born. I don't live off anybody. Take that back. I am no mercenary. I am fighting for Palestine. I was arrested and wounded long before you could recognize Palestine on the map. I got to know Palestine through military operations.

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President Abbas was not empowered just by Hamas, but by the Palestinian National Council and the Palestinian Central Committee.

Badi Rafaya: When was that?

Omran Al-Khatib: That's none of your business, because you are not a son of the Palestinian institution…

Badi Rafaya: So I am alien to it?

Omran Al-Khatib: Absolutely. The Muslim Brotherhood abroad – in Jordan, Syria, and elsewhere – wants the Palestinian people to be engulfed by internal fighting, to be massacred, and to suffer rifts. They want the aggression to continue, so that they can watch from the sidelines, from Amman, and chant that they support the resistance.

Anyone who wants to chant about the resistance should open the borders of this own country – Jordan, Syria, Iraq, or Egypt. They should open their own borders before they demand resistance from the Palestinian people. Let them go and enlist. We have seen where the Islamic groups fight their Jihad. We have seen them in ISIS and Jabhat Al-Nusra. We have seen them in Iraq and in Syria. That is where the Islamic groups fight, not in Palestine.

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