PALESTINE’S governing Fatah party kicked off its seventh congress in Ramallah yesterday — marking the 69th anniversary of the partition of its homeland.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas won another term as chairman of the party, the largest and dominant faction in the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO).

Mr Abbas, who has chaired the party since 2005, was chosen by consensus following his nomination by the party’s executive committee.

Addressing the congress he said: “We are meeting here today to write a new chapter in the march of our leading movement.

“You [the delegates] are today laying the foundation for a stronger and more stable period in the history of our movement.”

The leader described the moment as “historical” and reiterated his faith in the long-dominant party.

“Fatah is here to stay until it achieves its goals of liberation, independence and the establishment of the sovereign independent state.”

But the conference was marred by the absence of 75 of the 1,411 delegates, who Israeli occupation forces prevented from leaving the besieged Gaza Strip.

November 29 is the UN’s International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, marking its partitioning of Mandatory Palestine in 1947 into seperate Arab and Jewish states.

PLO executive committee member and chief peace negotiator Hanan Ashrawi spoke of the “tragedy” of the 1947 UN Resolution 181 which led to the creation of the state of Israel.

“This anniversary marks an occasion in which the international community decided to intervene negatively, and thus began the tragedy of Palestine,” she said.

Ms Ashrawi pointed out the UN had never honoured its responsibility to intervene if any party tried to alter the agreement by force — as Israel has done since the beginning.

“No matter how many days of solidarity we have, the fact of this grave injustice remains,” she said.

“Even when the Palestinians accepted the principle of partition in 1988 and went even further in agreeing to the 1967 borders, there was neither a recognition of the enormity of the sacrifice nor an appreciation of the historical magnitude of such a concession.”

She urged other nations to “adopt punitive measures and initiatives required to hold Israel to account,” saying: “Solidarity should be an act of commitment and change, not a statement of intent.”

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