Latest news with #Bishara
CairoScene
15-04-2025
- Business
- CairoScene
Apparel Council Chair: US Tariffs Offer Growth for Egypt's Exporters
The US-China trade dispute may present openings for Egypt's apparel industry, according to the Apparel Export Council of Egypt. Apr 15, 2025 Current US tariffs on Chinese goods may create a strong window of opportunity for Egyptian apparel exports, particularly in the American market, according to Marie Louis Bishara, Chairperson of the Apparel Export Council of Egypt (AECE). Bishara said that the tariffs—imposed under the US's ongoing trade policies with China—have made Egyptian garments more competitive, as buyers seek cost-effective alternatives to Chinese suppliers. Bishara framed the development not as a temporary benefit, but as a strategic opening for Egypt to expand its footprint in the global apparel market, particularly by leveraging its trade agreements and geographic proximity to key Western markets. While some sectors globally have expressed concern over the impact of shifting tariffs, Bishara stressed that in this context, they could serve as a "positive" force for Egypt's garment exporters. She added that international demand for Egyptian clothing is already showing signs of growth, particularly from US buyers adjusting their sourcing strategies. The AECE is now encouraging local manufacturers to increase production capacity, invest in supply chain efficiency, and align their output with international standards to meet anticipated demand. In addition to focusing on exports, the Council is also working to enhance Egypt's position as a regional hub for textile manufacturing through ongoing partnerships and initiatives.
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
TikTok faces sale or ban deadline; Trump optimistic for a deal
April 4 (UPI) -- The deadline for TikTok to be sold or banned in the United States is set for Saturday as President Donald Trump has voiced his support for keeping the app active. The president's 75-day pause on enforcing Congress' law banning TikTok will expire on Saturday unless its Chinese parent company ByteDance divests to U.S. investors or Trump extends the deadline. Trump told reporters Sunday that there are multiple potential buyers interested in TikTok and he hopes to "see TikTok remain alive." "There's tremendous interest in TikTok," Trump said. Trump's first extension to TikTok came by way of executive order, granting the company and his administration more time to consider a resolution. The law passed by Congress allows for a 90-day delay in enforcement. Norman Bishara, professor of business law and ethics in the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at Michigan, told UPI that, as the law is written, Trump could extend the delay in enforcement another 15 days. However, he cautioned that there is a lack of clarity around the limits of Trump's authority in this instance. "The president was authorized in this bipartisan piece of congressional legislation to do a 90-day extension," Bishara said. "Trump chose to do an executive order. Functionally what that has done is directed the Department of Justice not to enforce the ban." Congress has yet to push back on Trump's executive orders that override its actions. Unlike other executive orders the president has issued in his current term, the one delaying enforcement against TikTok has not been met with any legal challenges. There are three outcomes that are in play, according to Bishara. First, Trump can issue another extension, delaying enforcement and keeping TikTok active while continuing to explore a sale. This would effectively not change anything for U.S. users for the time being. An extension would need to come with the same assurances that the administration made when it first gave TikTok a reprieve, including a guarantee that the attorney general will not take enforcement actions against service providers for supporting the app. The second option is for ByteDance to divest from TikTok, selling control of the app to U.S. investors. According to Bishara, a deadline extension is likely still necessary with the deadline drawing near. In order for a deal to purchase TikTok to be approved, the Federal Trade Commission and the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice need to review and sign off on the deal. According to the FTC, the buyers and sellers of a company must provide information about their businesses and their industries, then wait up to 30 days to complete a merger. The review process includes sharing of non-public information to the agencies. The agencies may also make a second request for more information, granting them additional time to review the deal. A deal becomes more complicated if the purchasing entity is involved in the same industry as the seller. For instance, a tech or social media company purchasing TikTok will raise more scrutiny over the potential for monopolization or anticompetitive practices. "There's multiple parties you usually don't have involved like the U.S. government and the Chinese government," he said. "From the Chinese government, that's the real missing part. There is not any assurance the Chinese government is going to let ByteDance go through with this deal and turn over the keys to this much discussed and all-important TikTok algorithm. It's going to take time." The third option is the ban takes effect, causing TikTok to go dark like it did briefly in January, blocking content in the United States. Servicers like Apple and Google will no longer push through updates to the app and it will not appear in app stores. Without support, the app will not receive security and performance updates for U.S. users. TikTok has an estimated 170 million monthly users in the United States. "It's not really to anyone's business advantage," Bishara said. "If the ban comes back into effect, the user base is feeling like it can't trust the reliability of the app and policymakers trying to shut it down. You'll see, really, the value go down." Trump, during his first term, and Congress have cited TikTok as a potential national security issue. Lawmakers and national security expressed in committee hearings concerns with how U.S. user data is used and the potential that U.S. users could be influenced by the Chinese Communist Party or other foreign actors. Bishara observed that the national security concerns that were prevalent since Trump targeted banning TikTok in 2020 have fallen to the background in the larger discussion around the platform. "It seems like there's more comfort with TikTok in some circles. Certainly Republicans who are in power now," he said. "We have Trump saying he has admiration for the platform and its user base. I don't think [national security concern] has been removed but there seems to be this period of almost hopefulness that things can fall into place and you'll be able to get all those wins on the business side and the user side."
Memri
03-04-2025
- Politics
- Memri
Appointment Of Hamza Al-Mustafa As Syria's New Information Minister – Another Step In Qatar's Takeover Of Syria's Media
On March 29, 2025, Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa appointed the government for the transitional phase, which is slated to be in place for five years. His pick for information minister was Hamza Al-Mustafa. Al-Mustafa is known to be very close to Azmi Bishara, a senior advisor to the Qatari Emir who owns media outlets and research institutes and has significant influence on Qatar's decision-making. Al-Mustafa is also known for his ties to Yasser Abu Hilala, a former director-general of Qatar's Al-Jazeera Network, who is himself an associate of Bishara.[1] The appointment of Hamza Al-Mustafa as information minister is a further expression of Qatar's deep and direct involvement in the new Syrian administration, and especially in the Syrian media. Since the fall of the Bashar Al-Assad regime in December 2024 and the establishment of the new Syrian administration headed by Ahmed Al-Sharaa, Qatar has been conspicuously involved in shaping the new Syria, in particular its political and media spheres. Alongside various manifestations of this involvement – including highly-publicized official visits by Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Aal Thani and other Qatari officials in Syria, meetings between Qatari officials and officials in the new Syrian regime, and Qatari assistance in infrastructure projects and in the reconstruction of the country – Qatar has also been active in Syria through its media arms and their personnel. The Al-Jazeera Media Institute, owned by the Qatari government, has provided media training to Syria's new government ministries, including the ministries of information and of foreign affairs, and holds courses and seminars for Syrian journalists and communications students with the participation of senior Al-Jazeera media professionals.[2] Moreover, Azmi Bishara, who, as noted, is close to the Qatari Emir, has clearly gained significant influence over the media discourse in Syria. The media networks Al-Araby and Syria TV, both of which belong to the Qatari Fadaat Media network, which is overseen by Bishara, have become major outlets in Syria, and Bishara himself frequently appears on these networks, advising the new Syrian administration on how to project a democratic image and promote itself in the West.[3] Criticism of Bishara's involvement in Syria was heard soon after the overthrow of the Assad regime and after the Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) organization, headed by Ahmed Al-Sharaa, took control of the country with Qatar's support.[4] This criticism appears to be validated by the appointment of Al-Mustafa, Bishara's "protégé," as information minister, an appointment which has sparked concerns that he will effectively control the Syrian media. Bishara's ties with Al-Mustafa deepened with the outbreak of the Syrian revolution in 2011, and the two have remained close. Between 2011 and 2018 Al-Mustafa was a fellow at the Doha-based Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies, also known as the Doha Institute, where Bishara is director-general and a member of the executive board. From 2019 until his recent appointment as information minister, Al-Mustafa held high-level positions in the Al-Araby network and later in the Syria TV network, which, as mentioned, both belong to Faddat Media, supervised by Bishara. Prior to this, in 2017, Al-Mustafa completed a degree in political science and international relations at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, where Bishara is chairman of the board.[5] Following Al-Mustafa's appointment, many Syrians on X expressed concern that their country's media would become a branch of the Qatari regime and that Bishara would gain exclusive control over the government and non-government media, and would thus "control the Syrian minds" and "infiltrate the Syrian government." They warned that Bishara, who was a member of the Israeli Knesset from 1996 until 2007, when he fled to Qatar after being suspected of spying for Hizbullah, has pro-Iranian leanings, as does his associate Abu Hilala. Al-Mustafa, who is close to both these figures, they said, surely shares their pro-Iranian positions. Therefore, in his new role as information minister he will very likely prevent open criticism of Iran and its proxies in the Syrian media, to the detriment of Syrian interests. Some former colleagues of Al-Mustafa reported that his pro-Iranian leanings were indeed evident when he served as director-general of Syria TV. Hamza Al-Mustafa (right) and Azmi Bishara at a July 2011 conference on Syria in Qatar (Source: July 31, 2011) This report reviews posts by Syrian X users who oppose the appointment of Hamza Al-Mustafa as Syria's information minister, due to his relationship with Azmi Bishara. Syrian TV Presenter: Syria Has Nothing To Do With Al-Mustafa, Who Is A Protégé Of Azmi Bishara Asya Hesham, an anchor on the Emirati Al Mashhad channel who previously worked at Syria TV, including under Al-Mustafa, warned that the Syrian media would soon be operating under the patronage of Azmi Bishara, and that Al-Mustafa does not represent the Syrian people. She wrote on March 27, 2025, when Al-Mustafa was a candidate for information minister but not yet officially appointed: "Appointing Hamza Al-Mustafa to any position instead of holding him to account [for his poor performance as director-general of Syria TV] means that the entire Syrian media will be under the patronage of Azmi Bishara."[6] In another post she wrote: "He [Al-Mustafa] does not allow anyone to insult [slain Hizbullah Secretary-General] Hassan Nasrallah!... He [also] prevents his presenters from angering Iran or discussing the nihilist resistance axis in order to please Azmi Bishara! Is this the man who is [now] being considered for the position of information minister?!!!! What does Syria have to do with this protégé of Azmi Bishara?... I understand that he is the pampered son of Azmi and of Qatar, but what is our connection to him, as a people?..."[7] Syrian Journalist: Bishara Has Become The Supreme Leader Of The Syrian Media, And Nothing Could Be More Dangerous Syrian journalist Ahmad Kamel, who worked for the Qatari Al-Jazeera channel but is known to be a critic of Azmi Bishara, also posted on March 27, before Al-Mustafa's appointment as minister: "If Hamza Mustafa, the director of Syria TV, which is owned by Azmi Bishara, is appointed minister of information or chairman of the Media Administration, the new government will lose all the Syrian journalists, and especially the ones who worked or are working with Al-Mustafa, because they are familiar with his abilities and his subservience [to Bishara], and they are inconsistent with this serious position. Azmi Bishara is about to control 100% of the Syrian minds and to infiltrate the Syrian government, God help us." In a comment on his own post after Al-Mustafa's appointment, Kamel added: "Azmi Bishara has become the sole ruler of the government and non-government Syrian media, and nothing could be more dangerous."[8] Syrian Journalist: The Appointment Of Al-Mustafa Is The End Of The Syrian Government Media On March 28, one day before Al-Mustafa's appointment, Syrian journalist Abd Al-Jalil Al-Saeid posted a photograph of Hamza Al-Mustafa with former Al-Jazeera director-general Yasser Abu Hilala, and commented: "If Hamza Al-Mustafa is appointed Minister of Information in the new Syria, it will be the end of our government media. He is the office manager of Dr. Azmi Antoine Bishara and a diligent student of the pro-Iranian Yasser Abu Hilala. All we can do about them is trust in Allah."[9] In another post following Al-Mustafa's appointment, Al-Saeid wrote: "Based on the [previous] decisions of the new Syrian information minister, Hamza Al-Mustafa – the office manager of Azmi Bishara – any Syrian who has criticized, attacked or spoken against Dr. Azmi Antoine Bishara is now prohibited from appearing on Syria's local or satellite media channels…"[10] Syrian Artist: Whoever Has The Trust Of The Pro-Iranian Bishara Does Not Deserve The Trust Of The Syrians Ammar Agha Al-Kala, a Syrian artist, cartoonist and writer, posted on March 28: "If the news [about Al-Mustafa's appointment] is correct, what extortion compelled the Syrian government to place Hamza Mustafa, the director-general of Syria TV, on the media front of the new government? Anyone who has the trust of the pro-Iranian Azmi Bishara does not deserve the trust of the Syrians; this is indisputable. This decision will encounter strong pushback from the Syrian people, which will not end until he resigns or is dismissed…"[11] Syrian X Accounts: The Appointment Of Bishara's And Abu Hilala's Righthand Man Is A Disaster For Syria On March 29, a Syrian X account called Syrian Free Youth shared a picture of Al-Mustafa with Azmi Bishara and commented, "The appointment of Hamza Al-Mustafa as minister of information means that the Syrian media is now in the hands of the axis of pleasures [a play of words on the name of the Iran-led "axis of resistance"] under the patronage of Azmi Bishara!!"[12] Another Syrian account, Rafif #TheFreeSyria, shared a picture of Al-Mustafa with Bishara and Abu Hilala, and commented: "…The true disaster is that Hamza Al-Mustafa has been appointed minister of information. He is the righthand man of Azmi Bishara and Yasser Abu Hilala. For your information: the strongest ministry in any country – after the ministries of defense and economy – is the ministry of information."[13]
Memri
13-02-2025
- Politics
- Memri
The National Conference For Palestine – A Qatari Initiative For Integrating The Hamas Terror Organization Into The PLO
On February 17, 2025, the National Conference for Palestine will convene in Doha, the capital of Qatar, with the aim of integrating Hamas into the PLO, against the backdrop of preparations for the day after in Gaza and the attempts to remove Hamas from power there. The conference is convening as part of an initiative that has been advanced in the past year by a group of prominent Palestinians for reform in the PLO institutions that will allow the designated Palestinian terror organizations Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) to join it and to become a partner in a united Palestinian leadership. This leadership is meant to control all areas of the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the West Bank and Gaza, and to thwart Israel's security and political moves in advance of the day after the Israel-Hamas war ends. While the conference organizers see the PLO as the sole representative of the Palestinian people, they claim that, in its current format, and in fact since the 1993 and 1995 Oslo Accords, the organization has become marginal because of its subjugation to the PA (indeed, PA President Mahmoud Abbas also serves as head of the PLO) and has relinquished the armed struggle against Israel. In order to advance the initiative, in March 2024 the organizers launched a campaign that included an online petition which largely reiterated Hamas' demand that the PA allow it to join the PLO. The petition was signed by over 1,900 prominent Palestinians from around the world, including senior Hamas officials, from both the political wing and the military wing, the Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades. Also signing were terrorists who had carried out massive attacks, such as Ahlam Al-Tamimi of Hamas who is wanted in the U.S. for her involvement in the Sbarro pizzeria bombing in Jerusalem in August 2001 in which 15 were killed, including two Americans.[1] Fatah activists who oppose the movement's leadership and the PA signed the petition as well. The initiative organizers also held a series of meetings in a number of countries in advance of the initiative's flagship event, the National Conference for Palestine,[2] scheduled to take place on February 17, 2025 in Doha, the capital of Qatar. It should be noted that Qatar is the patron of Hamas, and that several other Arab and European countries had refused to host the conference.[3] There are a number of indications that Qatar is in fact behind the initiative. The most prominent of them is the involvement of Azmi Bishara, who is considered very influential in decision-making in Qatar.[4] The initiative was launched at an event in February 2024, sponsored by a Doha-based Qatari research institute directed by Bishara. Also, a large majority of the reports about the National Conference for Palestine campaign and the preparations for the conference were published by the Qatari daily Al-Arabi Al-Jadid, which belongs to a Qatari media institution, Fadaat Media, overseen by Bishara.[5] Bishara even said himself that "Qatar and Turkey are capable of playing a role" in the initiative for the rebuilding of the PLO. Additionally, the discourse and demands promoted by the initiative organizers – first and foremost the demand for reforming the PLO by integrating Hamas and the rest of the Palestinian terror factions into its leadership and for renouncing the Oslo Accords – are similar to the discourse and demands advanced by Hamas, which has the unqualified support of Qatar, even after its October 7, 2023 attack on Israel. Apparently, besides ensuring Hamas's political survival by absorbing it into the PLO without its having to relinquish the principle of armed struggle against Israel, the initiative is aimed at undermining the status of the PA headed by Mahmoud Abbas and at cancelling the Palestinian leadership's commitments under the Oslo Accords. The leaderships of the PA and Fatah, which is also headed by Abbas and controls the PLO institutions, are, for their part, accusing the campaign organizers, who they say are supported by "regional elements," hinting at Qatar, of attempting to establish a body that will parallel, or serve as an alternative to, the PLO, seeing this as an attempt to advance a Hamas coup against the "legitimate" Palestinian leadership. From the National Conference for Palestine website: Toward a unified Palestinian leadership" (Source: This piece will review media reports about the campaign for the National Conference for Palestine: Azmi Bishara, Advisor To Qatari Emir, Launches Initiative To Establish 'United Palestinian Leadership' – To Include Hamas And PIJ The current initiative to reform the PLO in order to establish a united Palestinian leadership which will include Hamas and other resistance factions was first presented in February 2024, during the Annual Palestine Forum at the Sheraton Hotel in Doha, Qatar's capital. The forum was held on February 10-12.[6] This is an academic forum established in January 2023 by the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies, directed by Azmi Bishara, advisor to the Qatari emir, and by the Beirut-based Palestinian Studies Institute.[7] During the three days of the forum, various meetings and seminars were held with academics who presented their research into the Palestinian issue, and discussed, inter alia, the upcoming challenges in the Palestinian political sphere after the current war in Gaza. In his speech opening the forum, Bishara commended the armed Palestinian resistance, underlining that Palestinian terror factions must be part of the PLO. He said: "If the resistance factions [of Palestine, i.e. Hamas and other terror factions] want to take part in determining the future of the Palestinian people and the occupied territories, and to translate their struggle and sacrifices into political gains, they must join the PLO – the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people – and the various parties must reach an agreement over the terms of their membership." Bishara noted that "one of the roles of Palestinian intellectuals today is to exact pressure on the mainstream Palestinian political forces to unite in a joint Palestinian leadership as part of the PLO, in order to prevent a situation where all these sacrifices are in vain," and to prevent Israel from exploiting the situation to impose "arrangements for the so-called 'day-after [the war]' without a just solution to the Palestinian issue..." Azmi Bishara (Source: On the final day of the forum, a panel titled "The Palestinian National Project after the Aggression in Gaza" discussed the day after the war. Speakers included Palestinian figures who are known for their opposition to the PA headed by President Mahmoud Abbas, such as Mustafa Al-Barghouti, secretary-general of the Palestinian National Initiative movement; PLO National Council Member Ahmad Ghanim, who heads the campaign calling for the release of top Fatah official Marwan Barghouti;[8] journalist Mu'een Al-Taher, a former member of Fatah's Revolutionary Council and former commander in its military arm during the 1970s and 80s[9], and academic Adeeb Ziadeh, a senior lecturer at Qatar University.[10] Like Bishara, they commended the Palestinian resistance "in all its forms," i.e., including armed resistance, and emphasized the need to include all the factions in the PLO.[11] After the forum, Bishara continued to call for "rebuilding the PLO on democratic foundations" and for including Hamas and other non-member terror organizations, while also criticizing the PA, arguing it is bound to the Oslo Accords, and therefore compelled to "protect Israel's security". For example, in a February 2024 interview on the Qatari Al-Araby channel, he called for "rebuilding the PLO, so that it includes all the Palestinian groups, including Hamas and PIJ."[12] In another interview, in April 2024, Bishara again emphasized the need to "unite the [Palestinian] leadership as part of rebuilding the PLO," and added that "Turkey and Qatar can play role in achieving this."[13] Further, in a July 2024 interview, Bishara claimed that the PLO "has been sidelined and has become nothing more than an apparatus or department of the PA, when it should [actually] be the source of the PA's authority." He called for founding "a body that is free of the Oslo [Accords] which will include all the Palestinian powers, including the political leaders of the Palestinian resistance."[14] A Call For A National Conference For Palestine That Will Rebuild The PLO And Include The Resistance In March 2024, a month after the Doha conference where the call to establish a united Palestinian leadership was first presented, efforts to implement it commenced, and a campaign was launched for a National Conference for Palestine that would be in charge of establishing this leadership. On March 26, 2024, an article by Mu'een Al-Taher titled "On Advancing a National Conference for Palestine" was published by the Qatari Al-Arabi Al-Jadid daily that was founded and is overseen by Azmi Bishara. In it, Al-Taher argued that there is "an urgent call to establish a National Conference for Palestine that will unite important figures and energetic activists in the public, civil and economic institutions." These figures, he continued, "will include fighters and freed prisoners, young people, political and social activists – from among the leaders of the popular campaign [for the Palestinians] in the Arab world, in Europe, and in the U.S. – including writers, poets, artists, academics, and businesspeople. This is so that everyone will meet their responsibility together, through joint action, in order to take advantage of the opportunities and to deal with the risks." Al-Taher added: "The call is to rebuild the PLO on democratic foundations, so that it will include all members of the Palestinian people, wherever they may be, as well as [all] of its existing [political] forces, public organizations, and political, social, economic, and academic elites, and so that it will constitute a source of political authority and unified leadership adhering to the principles of the Palestinian people and its right to self-determination." He emphasized: "This is a fateful and urgent mission that must not be delayed." Explaining that "no one is denying that the PLO is the sole representative of the Palestinian people," he said that the need "to rebuild it" must be seriously considered, because the PLO had, he said, become subordinate to the PA and had adopted the PA's political plan and obligations as part of the Oslo Accords.[15] He added that, as a result of the PLO's "mistaken and entangled" relationship with the PA, which is subordinate to the Israeli occupation, the PLO-Hamas schism had deepened and the efforts to establish a united Palestinian leadership had failed. He also said that, since the PA's establishment, the PLO had become a marginal body whose institutions no longer functioned properly, convened in an organized fashion or held elections as set out in law – hinting that the current PLO leadership was no longer legitimate. He also indirectly criticized Fatah – the party that rules the PA and the leading body in the PLO – for suspending the armed struggle against Israel, stating that Fatah had deviated from its original goals as a national liberation movement, and had thus weakened "the fighting national democratic stream in Palestine."[16] Logo of the National Conference for Palestine (Source: The National Conference For Palestine Petition: Establishing A United Palestinian Leadership Together With Hamas Is The Order Of The Day A day after Al-Taher's article was published, on March 27, the petition of the National Conference for Palestine campaign was posted online. Titled "A Call to Unify the Palestinian Leadership," its main points were in line with the messages of his article as well as with those heard at the Annual Palestine Forum in Doha in February 2024. They included a demand for the PLO "to be rebuilt" and to establish a "unified Palestinian leadership" that would include all factions, including Hamas, and would control all PA territories, both in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The petition stated: "...It is no longer possible to move forward without a unified leadership, both in this perilous phase and in the aftermath of the current onslaught. We are calling for the Palestine Liberation Organization to be rebuilt on a basis of unity that includes all political forces and civil, national, and economic organizations and institutions…" The petition also emphasized that "this task cannot be postponed," in light of the war and the plans of "Israel and its allies" to ensure Israel's security oversight of the Gaza Strip on the day after the war. Stressing the need for a unified political source of authority within the PLO that would pave the way for reforms in the organization, it called for "the urgent formation of a unified political reference within the framework of the PLO, envisioning how it can be rebuilt on democratic foundations, to include the Palestinian people in their entirety". It added: "We call for the organization of a Palestinian national conference to bring together personalities and activists representing all segments of the Palestinian people to advance this demand."[17] The day after the petition was posted, on March 28, the National Conference for Palestine launched accounts on various social media platforms.[18] The official website of the National Conference for Palestine went live as well; it too explained that the main reason for the creation of the organization was the desire "to rebuild the PLO so it would encompass all the major political forces in the Palestinian arena, including the resistance," because the PLO has been "marginalized" since the Oslo Accords and subjugated to the PA.[19] The Similarity Between The Discourse Of The National Conference For Palestine And Of Hamas As noted, there was clearly a great similarity between the discourse and demands advanced by the National Conference for Palestine and the discourse of Hamas and the demands it has presented for years to the PA and the PLO – first and foremost the demand for reform in the PLO, the downgrading of the PA's dominance in the organization, and the renunciation of the Oslo Accords. Hamas is not actually a member of the PLO, but for years it has declared its desire to join it, provided that it cancel the Oslo Accords with Israel, return to armed struggle against it, and establish a joint leadership that will in effect end Fatah's control of the PLO institutions and give Hamas and its allies a significant foothold in them. Moreover, over the years, Hamas has moved to undermine the PLO's status, and has even attempted to take it over from within – further deepening the schism between it (Hamas) and Fatah.[20] On the other hand, the Fatah and PA leadership are demanding that, if Hamas wants to join the PLO, it must recognize its current political plan and its international obligations – including the Oslo Accords. It must also recognize the legitimacy of its current leadership, whose declared direction is a political arrangement with Israel via diplomacy and popular resistance.[21] Mu'een Al-Taher's criticism of Fatah's relinquishing the armed struggle was also largely in line with the positions of Hamas, which advocates armed struggle. The Petition Signatories: Senior Hamas Officials, Terrorists, PA Opponents Moreover, the signatories to the National Conference for Palestine petition included senior Hamas officials and elements close to Hamas. To date, it has been signed by some 1,900 prominent Palestinians from around the world; in addition to their names, they provide their professions and countries of residence, apparently in order to demonstrate, as the campaign's leaders intend, that its supporters are the Palestinian elite representing "all political forces and civil, national and economic organizations and institutions." It does appear, however, that the senior Hamas signatories attempted to downplay their organizational affiliation when they signed the campaign petition. For example, Ibrahim Al-Madhoun identified himself as a "writer and political commentator"; Mahmoud Mardawi said he was an "academic," and the head of the Hamas branch in Austria; Adel Doughman, recently sanctioned by the U.S.,[22] called himself "chairman of the Coordinating Council for Palestine." The petition was also signed by Diab Al-Jaro, the mayor of Deir Al-Balah under Hamas, who was killed by Israel in December 14, 2024 for his activity in Hamas' military wing. [23] Some signatories identified themselves as "freed prisoners," the most prominent of them Ahlam Al-Tamimi, the Hamas terrorist freed in the 2011 Shalit deal who now resides in Jordan and is wanted in the U.S. Tamimi was involved in the Sbarro pizzeria bombing in Jerusalem in August 2001 in which 15 were killed, including two Americans; she had brought the suicide bomber to the location.[24] Others described themselves as journalists, such as the freed prisoner Fayez Abu Shamala, who served as mayor of Khan Younis under the Hamas regime and today writes a column in the Hamas daily Filastin and is known for his extremist statements and his support for the organization. It should be noted that among the signatories were also Fatah activists who oppose the leaderships of Fatah and the PA, and officials in the PLO institutions, several of whom are even among the campaign organizers. For example, the campaign's preparatory committee included Ahmad Ghanim, a PLO National Council member who heads the campaign to free Marwan Barghouti, a Fatah Central Committee member who is incarcerated in Israel. Fatah Revolutionary Council member Fakhri Al-Barghouti is also a member of the campaign preparatory committee.[25] Preparatory committee member Omar Assaf, a leading anti-PA activist, confirmed that some Fatah activists affiliated with Marwan Barghouti were participating in the campaign.[26] Preparations For The National Conference For Palestine Planned For February 17, 2025 In Qatar Over the past year, the Al-Arabi Al-Jadid daily has reported on numerous meetings held by the campaign's preparatory committee – the committee that promotes the National Conference for Palestine, whose members include senior campaign figures. At an August 10, 2024 committee meeting in Istanbul, Mu'een Al-Taher said that it had been decided to hold the National Conference for Palestine in Doha, the Qatari capital, because Qatar was the only country that had agreed to host it. Several Arab and European countries had refused.[27] It was later reported that the conference would take place on February 17-19, 2025. The preparatory committee also met in the UK on May 22; in Qatar on June 6; in Kuwait on June 9; in Spain and Belgium on June 23; in France on July 3; in the U.S. on August 8; in the Netherlands on July 10, in Lebanon on July 10, in Istanbul on August 10 and in Qatar on October 12-13. All these meetings proceeded in a similar fashion: a group of local Palestinian activists who had signed the petition met in person, and other activists, including preparatory committee members, joined via Zoom. Reports about these meetings published in Al-Arabi Al-Jadid were not particularly informative, since they largely reiterated the main points of the petition. The prominent speakers from the committee were Al-Taher, Azmi Bishara and Mustafa Al-Barghouti.[28] Members of the preparatory committee during a conference in Doha (Source: October 14, 2024) Participants in a Zoom meeting of U.S. supporters of the campaign in July 2024 (Source: July 8, 2024) PA Leadership: The Campaign Organizers Are Plotting To Replace The PLO, With The Encouragement Of Foreign Elements The National Conference for Palestine campaign was not welcomed by the leaderships of the PA and Fatah, who consider it subversion against the leadership of President Abbas. Their displeasure was reflected in two announcements published in early June 2024, which did not mention the campaign by name and hinted at a Qatari involvement in it. The June 8 statement by the Fatah Central Committee noted: "A group that is not part of the Palestinian national ranks and is supported by regional and international elements has conspired with them to circumvent the [authority of the] PLO, which is the only legitimate representative [of our people], and its legitimate frameworks." It added that the Palestinian people would thwart all attempts to destroy Palestinian nationalism, as "this group, which is not part of the national ranks, and those who stand behind it and fund it" are doing. [29] The Fatah Executive Committee published a statement, also on June 8, noting similarly that "groups supported and funded by regional elements are launching [campaigns] using national names in a desperate attempt to assemble a framework that is parallel to and an alternative to the PLO and its legitimate elected institutions…" It added that the Executive Committee condemns "all these toxic attempts" to create a framework that is a parallel and an alternative to the PLO institutions, and condemns "whoever is behind them and funding them."[30] These statements were echoed in articles published by the PA's Al-Hayat Al-Jadida daily. For example, in his June 26, 2024 column, Omar Hilmi Al-Ghoul wrote that "the fact that Hamas is putting a spanner in the works of the meeting [in Beijing, for reconciliation among the Palestinian factions] is in line with the steps currently being taken in Doha, London, Berlin, Switzerland and in other capital cities to establish an alternative to the PLO – to the point where the Muslim Brotherhood in the U.S. has begun to support [these] steps led by Azmi Bishara, Mu'een Al-Taher, and Mustafa Al-Barghouti, who aspire to create an alternative to the PLO, the sole legitimate representative [of the Palestinians]…"[31] The newspaper's July 10, 2024 editorial again stressed that "in all these dubious efforts, the Al-Arabi Al-Jadid gang focuses [its hostility] only on the legitimate leadership of the PLO, attributes to it every flaw in the Palestinian arena, and calls for taking over its decision[-making authority] – [and all this] under imported slogans calling for reform, renewal, democratization and unity!... [This gang] calls [for establishing] a new source of political authority that will be controlled by partisan and political forces that benefit from regional funding [hinting at Hamas, which is supported by Qatar and Iran]. This means that the people who are calling for this are a new kind of coup instigators, no more and no less…"[32] Its July 23 editorial mused: "Where is the flaw in the PLO's policy that the Al-Arabi Al-Jadid gang must rectify with [such] profligate funding and multiple slogans and performative expressions, to the point that some among us began to echo them indiscriminately without understanding their destructive aim [?]…"[33] The PA leadership even threatened sanctions against any Fatah member who joined the campaign.[34] In response to the Fatah and PLO statements, the campaign's preparatory committee rejected the accusations, particularly the claims of conspiring with foreign elements and receiving aid from them. The campaign organizers argued that "no regional country is behind this initiative, or funds it," but stressed also their desire that "an Arab country" would host the conference, the campaign's flagship event. The announcement reiterated that the initiative was not trying to replace the PLO but "to rebuild it on democratic foundations."[35] * S. Schneidmann and L. Alon are Research Fellows at MEMRI; Varulkar is Director of Research at MEMRI.
