Fatah official calls two-state solution a ‘trap’ to bring about Israel’s disappearance

Abu Shahab: “The establishment of a Palestinian state would mean the disappearance of the Israeli entity and the end of global Zionism.”

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

A senior Fatah official in Lebanon said the demand for a two-state solution was a “trap” for Israel, arguing that a future Palestinian state could eventually become strong enough to confront Israel and bring about its disappearance.

“We know the trap we have set for Israel by demanding a two-state solution,” Basel Abu Shahab, secretary of the Fatah movement in the Burj al-Shemali refugee camp in Lebanon, told Palestine TV in an interview over the weekend, adding that Israel “has reason to fear us.”

Abu Shahab, the son of Fatah Maj.-Gen. Jalal Abu Shehab, widely known as Abu Basel, said a Palestinian state could build an aircraft industry and an industrial sector capable of competing with Israel within 20 years.

“In my view, the establishment of a Palestinian state would mean the disappearance of the Israeli entity and the end of global Zionism,” he said.

Abu Shahab also praised the fida’i, or Palestinian fighter, and spoke favorably about past Fatah terrorist attacks, including the December 31, 1969, abduction of Israeli watchman Shmuel Rosenwasser from Metulla.

Rosenwasser was held for more than a year in Jordan before his March 1971 release in exchange for Mahmoud Hijazi, a Fatah terrorist serving a life sentence in an Israeli prison.

“The first Fatah operation involving the capture of Israeli soldiers took place in that area (Metula), led by the late Abu Ali Iyad, one of the Palestinian figures associated with the movement,” Abu Shahab said.

Turning to Palestinians in Lebanon, Abu Shahab described the transfer of weapons to the Lebanese state as a “historic opportunity” for Palestinians and Syrians in Burj al-Shemali because it allowed construction materials to enter the camp.

He also accused Lebanon of anti-Palestinian racism and said restrictions on the camp had intensified.

Abu Shahab said Fatah had sought to improve perceptions of Palestinians in Lebanon by funding Siraj al-Awda, a 133-member folk dance troupe that had helped the movement reach politically sensitive communities.

He also urged Fatah members to maintain internal unity and avoid publicly criticizing their leader.

“The road ahead of you is difficult. You must always understand that you are being targeted,” he said.

FatahLebanonPalestinian State