Sufian Abu Zaida, member of the Fatah Revolutionary Council and former Fatah minister of prisoner affairs, was not deterred by the 20 gunshots fired at his car on Nov. 19. Not only were the gunshots unsuccessful in silencing him, but they even galvanized Abu Zaida and increased his motivation. Three weeks have since passed and Abu Zaida, from every tree and rooftop, stubbornly continues to call on Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) to end his one-man regime over the West Bank and share his powers with others for the benefit of a more democratic regime. In Zaida’s opinion, the gunshots that were fired in the light of day were a violent response to an article he wrote about a month ago (one article out of many) that was publicized in most of the Palestinian news websites in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The article was titled, “The Era of the Rais.”
“The Rais now heads everything connected to the Palestinian nation,” wrote Abu Zaida, “He is chairman of the Palestinian Authority, president of Palestine, head of the Fatah movement and commander of the security forces. And due to the disruption of the activity of the Legislative Council, his presidential orders become law.” Abu Zaida contends that even the late PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat concentrated less power than Abu Mazen, and that all the institutions of the Palestinian Authority (PA) and of Fatah are neglected and worthless and do nothing to change the dangerous path adopted by the PA.