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Source: https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-886088
Hamas and Fatah: Different Paths, Same Destination
(Jerusalem Post) Sagiv Steinberg - In January 2026, Rawhi Fattouh, chairman of the Palestinian National Council, presented an honorary shield to the outgoing Chinese ambassador to the Palestinian Authority. On the shield appeared a map of a single "Palestine" encompassing all of the State of Israel, alongside an embroidered "key of return" - the symbol of the demand for millions of Palestinians to return to cities and towns within sovereign Israel. Above the map, a single word was written in English: Palestine. The incident was a consistent expression of official Palestinian ideology. Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority and head of the Fatah faction, wears a key pin on his suit. The official Fatah website says: "Final victory will not be achieved until the flag of Palestine flies over the minarets, churches, and walls of Jerusalem...and the return of the refugees." The emblem of Fatah displays a map of "complete Palestine," without any trace of the State of Israel, and two crossed rifles above it. Both the Hamas charter and the Fatah website share the same strategic goal. Complete liberation of "historic Palestine," establishment of one state from the river to the sea, Jerusalem as the capital, and an absolute refusal to recognize the legitimacy of any Jewish state. For both, the 1967 lines are but a temporary formula, a stage on the path to the final goal. One of the most painful lessons from the Oct. 7 attack is the need to listen to what the enemy says in its own voice, not through interpretation with Western glasses. The term "two states for two peoples" is a Western-Israeli invention. It has never been stated by an official Palestinian leader. The Palestinian national movement, in all its shades, has one clear goal: the end of the State of Israel. It is time we look truth in the eye. The writer is CEO and director of communications at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs.