Abbas to hold snap meeting of Fatah’s Executive Committee tomorrow

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will chair a snap meeting of Fatah’s Executive Committee tomorrow, the official WAFA news agency reports.

“This meeting will discuss the dangerous events in Jerusalem, and to review the movement’s preparations for the electoral process, especially in the context of the Palestinian leadership’s insistence that there will be no elections without Jerusalem,” says Fatah Central Committee member Sabri Saydam.

The Palestinians are scheduled to head to their first national vote in 15 years on May 22 — less than a month from now. Over the past week, senior officials in Ramallah have hinted that they may seek to delay the vote, blaming Israel for not responding to a request to allow elections to take place in East Jerusalem.

Abbas, known popularly as Abu Mazen, is widely unpopular. In videos uploaded to social media, dozens of Palestinian demonstrators at Damascus Gate on Saturday could be heard chanting: “Abu Mazen you spy, we’ll yet stomp on your head.”

כמה עשרות צעירים קוראים בשער שכם: "אבו מאזן יא משת"פ, עוד נדרוך לך על הראש!". pic.twitter.com/JpI2wUOmnE

— Suleiman Maswadeh סולימאן מסוודה (@SuleimanMas1) April 24, 2021