Sufian Abu Zaida, a native of the Jabaliya refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, served about 12 years (from 1981 to 1993) in an Israeli jail on charges of membership in the Fatah movement, among other things. Following his release from prison, as part of the Oslo Accord, he went on to become a key activist in promoting peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

Abu Zaida is apparently the Fatah official most familiar to the Israeli public. This is thanks to his fluency in Hebrew, which he studied to perfection while in prison, and due to the moderate positions he has given voice to over the years as well as his courageously expressed, open criticism of former chairman of the Palestine Authority (PLO Chairman) Yasser Arafat and his successor, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

On May 31, the movement in which he had been an active member for over four decades decided to remove him from its ranks just because he dared to criticize the way Abbas conducted its affairs. The long years he had been serving on behalf of Fatah were not reckoned to his credit. In the first exclusive interview he has granted since his dismissal from his movement, Abu Zaida calls Abbas a “dictator.”

The text of the interview follows: