Fatah MP: We do not reject armed struggle even if it is not current focus

“Dr. Nabil Shaath, Fatah Foreign Affairs Commissioner... said: 'The popular struggle is a fundamental principle whose importance equals that of the armed struggle, since it is the responsibility and task of all the people. The current distancing from the armed struggle does not mean its absolute rejection… He noted that the difficulty of the conflict required the Palestinian people to diversify its activities of struggle – along with an emphasis on the importance of the armed struggle, which laid the basis for the existence of the state and contributed to maintaining the right and presenting it to the world – especially since the armed struggle at the present time is not possible, or is not effective, because of the difficulties with which the Palestinian people contends: the internal division, the ongoing siege imposed on the Gaza Strip, and the intensive settlement attack against Jerusalem."