http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2008/927/re51.htm
Fatah postpones convention
With no achievements in the peace process, Fatah's high leadership decides
against gathering the movement, writes Khaled Amayreh in the West Bank
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Click to view caption
A Palestinian protester dressed as Santa Claus holds his country's flag
and flashes the victory sign as Israeli soldiers look on during a demonstration
against Israel's separation wall in the village of Maasarah near the West Bank
town of Bethlehem
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With the "peace process" going nowhere, and beset by chronic internal
divisions, Fatah has once again postponed convening its long-overdue Sixth
Congress. The last time Fatah held its general congress was in Algiers nearly
20 years ago.
Fatah leaders, including Palestinian Authority President (PA) Mahmoud Abbas,
had been vowing ad nauseam to hold the convention before the end of 2008.
However, Fatah's inability to put its house in order and the lingering showdown
with Hamas, which is in control of the Gaza Strip, have made the holding of a
successful congress virtually impossible.
There are numerous reasons and factors contributing to the latest postponement
of the Fatah convention. The top Fatah leadership in Ramallah, let alone the
movement's overall leadership, is itself far from united. The two top Fatah
leaders, Abbas and Ahmed Qurei, have not been on speaking terms for sometime
due to "differences" over the peace process with Israel. This week, there were
reports that Abbas was trying to sack Qurei as chief Palestinian negotiator
with Israel.
Al-Ahram Weekly asked Palestinian political analyst Hani Al-Masri, who is close
to the Palestinian leadership, if the split between Abbas and Qurei was serious
and what ramifications it could have on the unity of Fatah. Al-Masri said Qurei
was disillusioned with the way Abbas had been conducting peace talks with
Israel as well as with the general performance of the Salam Fayyad government.
"Ahmed Qurei is now the main address of Fatah," while Abbas is increasingly
perceived by many Fatah rank and file as being aloof. "Qurei is also angry with
Abbas for appointing another parallel negotiating team, headed by [Saab]
Erekat."
According to Fatah insiders, Qurei complained that Abbas was not briefing him
on his meetings and contacts with the Israelis and that the PA president was
"effectively crossing Palestinian national constants". These constants are
total Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian territories that Israel occupied
in 1967, including East Jerusalem, and a just solution to the plight of
refugees based on UN General Assembly Resolution 194.
It seems, however, that the most contentious point between Abbas and Qurei has
to do with widespread and growing opposition within Fatah to the US-backed
government of Salam Fayyad. Many Fatah leaders, especially at the intermediate
level, have been complaining that the Fayyad government is undermining Fatah by
following a policy based on appeasement towards the US and Israel.
"Fayyad is slowly but definitively destroying the image of Fatah by refusing to
actively challenge Israeli policies, including continued settlement expansion.
And the Palestinian masses think that Fatah is running the government," said a
high-ranking Fatah official in the Hebron region who spoke on condition of
anonymity. "And when Fatah tries to raise its voice in opposition to Fayyad's
policies, President Abbas sides with the prime minister. Hence the
frustration," he added.
In addition to the bad chemistry between Abbas and Qurei, there is the old
split between the Ramallah leadership and Farouk Qaddumi over the peace process
with Israel and the status of Qaddumi within the Fatah hierarchy.
Qaddumi recently accused Ramallah Fatah leaders of being "cowards" and "too
obsequious" with Israel. Qaddumi also called for "terminating this absurdity,"
a reference to the peace process, accusing the Ramallah leadership of violating
"all red lines and constants and references."
Normally in such instances Hakam Balawi, a chief spokesman of Fatah, responds
to Qaddumi, often accusing him of "senility" and "not knowing what he is
talking about".
Then, of course, there is the "peace process" with Israel itself, which despite
numerous meetings between Israeli and Palestinian leaders and intensive US
intervention has effectively remained deadlocked over the central defining
issues of the Palestinian problem, namely Israeli withdrawal from the occupied
territories, the issue of Jerusalem and the issue of the refugees.
"Holding the Fatah congress under the present circumstances, namely the failure
of the peace process, would be a disaster for the current leadership of the
movement... And we must remember that Abbas has nearly completely tied his
leadership and political life to the success of that process. Hence the
continued failure of the process would also imply the failure of present
leadership of Fatah," said Al-Masri.
Al-Masri's analysis has largely been vindicated by the outcome of Fatah's
recent regional elections, known as "primaries", in several parts of the West
Bank. For example, in the Nablus region, supporters of imprisoned Fatah leader
Marwan Barghouti swept the elections.
"We are followers of Yasser Arafat and Marwan Barghouti," said Haitham
Al-Halabi, who was unanimously elected as secretary-general of Fatah in Nablus.
He didn't mention the name of Abbas. Needless to say, the senior Fatah
leadership is worried that if the Sixth Congress were held, especially in the
absence of genuine political achievement in the peace process, people like
Al-Halabi would make their way through the higher echelons of Fatah at the
expense of movement's present leadership.
Further, Abbas and his allies have been insisting that the congress be held in
the West Bank. This means that the bulk of Fatah's leaders abroad -- people
like Qaddumi, for example -- as well as all Fatah leaders in Gaza wouldn't be
able to participate. But a congress in which participation would be decided by
Israel (because Israel, not the PA, controls access to the West Bank) would
have little to no credibility and might even deepen divisions within the
movement.
Overall, while logical, the postponement of the Fatah congress is neither
surprising nor popular, many understanding that it is but further indication of
Fatah's progressive debilitation. And with Hamas in Gaza already stating that
it will not recognise the authority of Abbas as Palestinian president past 9
January, when his official term of office ends, the postponement is another
potential nail in his political coffin
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