Kerry's great 'moderate' hope doesn't represent Hamas... or Fatah either
Recently, Abbas dispatched a high-level Fatah delegation to the Gaza Strip, prompting many Palestinians to speculate that the purpose of the trip was to achieve reconciliation with Hamas. But it quickly transpired that the Fatah delegation, headed by Abbas loyalist Nabil Sha'ath, was sent to the Gaza Strip as part of Abbas's attempt to crush a Dahlan-engineered rebellion against his leadership.
Many Palestinians were initially convinced that Abbas had resumed his efforts to end the dispute between Fatah and Hamas. Reports in Palestinian and Western media outlets even suggested that the two rival parties had made progress towards achieving unity.
Fatah leaders, however, have now admitted that the visit was primarily aimed at "restoring order" within their faction in the Gaza Strip. Abbas, they revealed, was now seeking the help of Hamas help in preventing Dahlan and other Fatah "rebels" from continuing to challenge his leadership.
Some reports have suggested that Sha'ath and members of his delegation had to flee the Gaza Strip three days after their arrival following threats to their lives from Dahlan and his supporters.
According to the reports, Sha'ath even appealed to Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh to beef up security at the hotel where he was staying in Gaza City, out of fear that disgruntled Fatah activists might assassinate him or members of his delegation.
Upon returning to Ramallah, Sha'ath rushed to accuse Dahlan and his supporters of plotting to overthrow Abbas. Sha'ath said that Abbas was worried about attempts to create a schism within Fatah. "All previous splits in Fatah ended in failure," Sha'ath said. "All those who did break away from Fatah were eventually forced to become agents for other countries."
In recent weeks, Abbas has taken a number of measures that reflect his increased fear of Dahlan's moves to discredit him and remove him from power. These measures include confiscating large sums of money transferred from the United Arab Emirates to Dahlan loyalists in the Gaza Strip.
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Last week Abbas went further by threatening to expel all Dahlan loyalists from Fatah. Dahlan himself was expelled (by Abbas) from Fatah in 2011.
Palestinians in Ramallah said that the increased tensions in Fatah mean that Abbas is beginning to lose his grip over the faction -- a fact that Kerry and his team would not be able to ignore if and when they force Abbas to sign any agreement with Israel.Maybe when Abu Mazen quietly pushed to have Marwan Barghouti stay locked up, he should have had Dahlan locked up as well. In any event, Kerry seems to have missed this completely. What a surprise.
Labels: Abu Mazen, Fatah, Gaza, Hamas, John Kerry, Marwan Barghouti, Mohamed Dahlan, Nabil Sha'ath, Palestinian state RIGHT NOW syndrome
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 4:17 PM
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