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Former top PA Security Chief Mohammed Dahlan said in a recent TV interview: "I have never seen a government – no matter how corrupt, extreme, right-wing, failing, and fascist – punishing its own people like what we are seeing in Gaza today." Calling the political situation "catastrophic," he said that "they allow Gaza to sink into darkness and pain, while the good life in the government compound in Ramallah continues." In the interview, which aired on the Egyptian Ten TV channel on February 26, Dahlan further said that of the $1.3 billion in taxes collected annually from the Gaza Strip, less than a quarter is invested there, while most "goes to the coffers of Mahmoud Abbas and Ramallah."
Mohammed Dahlan: "We are the only people still languishing under occupation. Nevertheless, we must not pin all our catastrophes on the occupation, because this relieves us of our own responsibility, and will render us non-existent and irrelevant. The role of the leadership is to convert defeat to victory.
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"The Palestinian people is always ready to give its leadership more and more, to enable it to transform the popular Palestinian steadfastness into political achievement. Sadly, a quick evaluation reveals that the sacrifices of the Palestinian people have not been translated into achievements. The blood that has been shed for the sake of Palestine has not been transformed into tangible achievements for the Palestinian people.
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"Very few people have admitted that they have made mistakes. I and my colleagues had the courage to say that we have had some success but also some failures.
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"I do not understand by what patriotic and moral rationale, and according to what values and upbringing, the Palestinian Authority joins the occupation in punishing the Palestinians in Gaza. They elected the Palestinian Authority and defended it, sacrificing the blood of their sons and the lives of their prisoners, yet they are being punished because they did not revolt against Hamas, or because they have not implemented this or that idea or whim. Allow me not to go into detail, but to give a quick overview of the political situation. The political situation is catastrophic. The Palestinian leadership in Ramallah has embraced a policy of status quo. They allow Gaza to sink into darkness and pain, while the good life in the government compound in Ramallah continues, and they come and go as if nothing has happened.
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"I have never seen a government – no matter how corrupt, extremist, right-wing, failing, and fascist – punishing its own people like the PA in Ramallah is doing in Gaza today.
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"The taxes that Mahmoud Abbas collects from the Gaza strip..."
Host: "$300 million..."
Mohammed Dahlan: "Actually, $1.3 billion annually. These taxes are collected by Israel, in keeping with the Paris Protocol, and are transferred to the Palestinian Authority, but not even a quarter of these funds are invested in the Gaza Strip. They pay some salaries – because they stopped paying the salaries – and the rest goes to the coffers of Mahmoud Abbas and Ramallah.
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"When the conspiracy of the so-called Arab Spring occurred... Some people say that I am against the Arab Spring. Of course I'm against it. I don't hide this. I am against the Arab Spring because it has harmed the Arab nation, but I am also against the dictatorial regime of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, against the dictatorial regime that used to exist in Egypt, and against the autocratic regime that used to exist in Libya. Opposing those regimes does not mean supporting a country's self-destruction. The emotions and needs of the people, as well as the failures of countries and their presidents were used to destroy the Arab world."
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