The Authority's arrests of the resistance in Jenin. Controlling a project or implementing the dictates of the Israeli occupation?

Academic and political researcher Mohammed Halasa said that the PA's justification for arresting Palestinian militants is an excuse that is uglier than the guilt itself, considering that it has not learned from the lessons of the past in dealing with the current stage.

He added that the security services and the political elite in the PA were supposed to base their actions on the results of President Mahmoud Abbas' visit to Jenin and his call for national unity, but preferred to continue taking arbitrary measures against the Palestinian people and their resistance movements.

Halasa spoke in the episode devoted by the program "Beyond the News" on (2023/7/17) to calling on the Jenin Brigade of the Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad movement, to protest demonstrations throughout Palestine, to demand the release of resistance fighters detained by the Palestinian Authority.

The battalion said that the PA broke its promises to release the detainees in exchange for President Abbas' visit to Jenin, which was denied by the political commissioner and spokesman for the Palestinian security services, Talal Dweikat, saying that there is no truth to the existence of political arrests, and that the arrests were made against the background of citizens' complaints, and the legal procedures against the detainees will be completed.

The episode behind the news questioned the contexts and reasons that prompted the Jenin Brigade in the Jerusalem Brigades to publicly pressure the PA to release the detainees and call for demonstrations to condemn their arrest, and how the PA will deal with the demands of the resistance.

Legitimate Outrage

Halasa pointed out in his speech behind the news that the masses that came out were feeling betrayed and angry at what they were subjected to by the Israeli occupation, as well as the performance of the Palestinian Authority, and the Authority should have absorbed this anger rather than fueled it with the arrests of resistance fighters.

The Palestinian political researcher wondered about the timing of these arrests, which came after the Palestinian president invited the secretaries-general of the Palestinian movements to an expanded meeting, considering that they will confuse this call, and give a message that the PA does not want to go to real unity, or does not want the presence of certain factions in this meeting.

Halasa expressed regret for what he sees as a direct link between the arrests carried out by the PA and what Israeli media reported that an Israeli agreement had been reached with it to regain control of Jenin, in exchange for stopping the invasions.

He added that the PA, with its measures, is not only going in the context of resisting the military situation in Jenin, but also in the context of resisting the situation and the general popular mood of society in Palestine.

The legitimacy of resistance and authority

On the other hand, writer and political analyst Muhammad Hawash doubts the Jenin Brigade's statement about a promise to release detainees in exchange for President Abbas' visit to Jenin, stressing that the visit came for reasons related to the legitimacy of the resistance and the PA, supporting the integration of Palestinian society institutions and uniting in the face of the Israeli occupation.

Hawash believes – in his speech behind the news – that the occupation is working to launch rumors and leak news aimed at drowning the Palestinian society in unfounded disputes, stressing that no one of the Jenin resisters was arrested, and that the arrests were on a criminal background related to the attack on a police station.

He considered talking about unity and refusing to arrest completely an emotional talk, and that what happened was not a peaceful protest and was contrary to law and civil peace, and therefore he believes that the resistance factions should support the authority in taking firm measures to control things, not the other way around.

He stressed that legitimate rights should not be confused with abuses and incitement carried out by some against civil peace, stressing at the same time that the authority is working to contain the situation and not expand it, and will be keen to discuss all related topics during the upcoming meeting between the president and the secretaries-general.