The Palestinian political party and organization Fatah is planning to commemorate its first attempted terrorist attack in light of the New Year, according to a Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) report Thursday.
On Friday, January 1, Fatah will commemorate the 56th anniversary of terrorist attacks against Israeli targets, including infrastructure and civilians, when they attempted to blow up Israel’s National Water Carrier in 1965.
The commemoration is part of its annual recognition of its legacy of terrorism and "armed struggle," which was most prominent at the organization's launch in 1964, and from the 1970s to early 2000s. Although no parade has actually taken place now, Palestinian Media Watch reports that Fatah, which is headed by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, released a video of a parade from the previous year.
The video described by PMW shows Fatah members parading with weapons and the political movement's yellow flag, along with people dressed in fighters' garb.
The video also featured a girl as young as 13 holding a gun.
Other videos were also shared in a series of Facebook posts from Fatah, with one paying tribute to Hamama Al-Dalki, a female fighter who tried to perpetrate the 1965 attack.
"Today, Wednesday [Dec. 16, 2020], Fatah eulogized fighter Hamama Hussein Al-Dalki, sister of the commander of the Eilabun squad, Martyr Hussein Al-Dalki," the post read.
“In a statement, Fatah said that Hamama was the one who carried the explosives on her head... for the squad to a distance of more than two kilometers. ‘Without Hamama, her brother and those who were with him, there would have been no Intilaqa (i.e., launch of Fatah) and the tunnel would not have been bombed.”
Posts on Facebook in the past weeks also showed men carrying assault rifles.
On Thursday, a torch lighting ceremony is expected to take place honoring former PLO and Fatah head Yasser Arafat.