Abbas spokesman joins top Fatah committee
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat insisted on a quota system for Christians, and the Palestinian leadership has gone out of its way to ensure that this community is represented at all levels of Palestinian society and on the political scene.
![PALESTINIANS-ISRAEL/KERRY U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (L) is greeted by Palestinian official Nabil Abu Rudeineh (R) before sitting down to talk to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (rear) in the West Bank city of Ramallah December 12, 2013. Kerry headed back to the Middle East on Thursday, a week after his previous visit ended with Palestinian dissatisfaction over U.S. security ideas for an elusive land-for-peace deal with Israel. REUTERS/Brian Snyder (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX16FNG](/sites/default/files/styles/article_hero_medium/public/almpics/2017/06/RTX16FNG.jpg/RTX16FNG.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=ifrSZPs0)
The appointment of Nabil Abu Rudeineh in a unanimous vote June 19 as a member of the ruling Fatah Central Committee is the latest sign of the unique relationship between Fatah and Palestinian Christians. Abu Rudeineh, a Christian Palestinian from Bethlehem, has been the official spokesman for the Palestinian presidency since the days of President Yasser Arafat.
Afif Safieh, a member of the Fatah Revolutionary Council since 2009 and a former ambassador to Moscow, London, Washington and the Holy See, told Al-Monitor that President Mahmoud Abbas has followed in the steps of Arafat on this issue. “Since the days of Arafat, the Fatah movement was always keen to ensure a significant and visible Christian Palestinian participation in all levels of society.”