A group of left-wing delegates from Italy has caused upset by awarding the governor of the Hevron district, Kamel Hameid, for his commitment to “resistance.”
The Italian delegation gave the award on behalf of the International Solidarity Movement and a Palestinian organization called Youth Against Settlements, the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center reports.
Among the delegates was Luisa Morgantini, a member of the European Parliament.
Morgantini told Hameid that she is proud of his contribution to “peaceful popular resistance.” While she mentioned “peaceful” resistance, in practice, as the Information Center points out, Palestinian Authority “resistance” is intrinsically linked to violent attacks.
“The popular resistance is not the placid, non-violent protest the PA pretends it is. It makes massive use of violence employing cold weapons, mainly involving the frequent throwing of Molotov cocktails and stones, and sporadic stabbing and vehicular attacks,” the Center noted.
In addition, experts stated, the “popular resistance” is part of a larger campaign. “As far as the PA and Fatah are concerned, the popular resistance is used to maintain constant, controlled tension in Palestinian relations with Israel,” they explained.
This form of “resistance” is “regarded as legitimate by the international community,” they noted. They added, “Internally, the PA and Fatah have presented the Palestinian public with the popular resistance as an acceptable alternative to Hamas' ‘armed resistance’ which the PA and Fatah feel is not, at the present time, useful in the Palestinian struggle against Israel.”
Morgantini referred to the Israeli presence in Judea and Samaria as an “occupation.” Hameid echoed her language, thanking her for telling the world the “truth about the occupation.”
He thanked her for the award, and said he would continue to support “peaceful popular resistance.” PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas supports such resistance as well, he noted.
Abbas has also expressed support for armed “resistance,” including during his open embrace of freed terrorist murderers, who he termed "Palestinian heroes".