On December 20, for the second time in a week, Palestinian political activists thwarted a meeting between Israelis and Palestinians in East Jerusalem, under the pretext that such meetings promote “normalization” between Palestinians and Israelis. This meeting, which was supposed to address the “Arab Spring’s impact on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict” was initiated by the Palestine-Israel Journal, a NGO founded by two Palestinian and Israeli journalists whose goal is to nurture dialogue between civil societies and broaden the base of support for the peace process. However, the event was called off at the last minute after the organizers learned of the plans of various activist groups, including some belonging Fatah, to disrupt and interfere with its smooth running,  Earlier in the week, Hatem Abdel Kader, a senior Fatah operative, announced that his faction has declared “war” on meetings aimed at promoting “normalization” with Israel. Al Quds University President Sari Nusseibeh, who was invited to address the conference, received threats from the anti-“normalization” activists, but argued in an article condemning them in the Palestinian daily al-Quds that they were undermining efforts whose purpose was to “lay a mechanism for a better future for both sides”.

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