Fatah Elections Provoke Split

The results of the Fatah Central Council elections have not been well received in Gaza, where the Fatah leadership has resigned. Veteran negotiator Ahmad Qurei‘a, who lost his seat on the Central Council, is charging fraud, to the extent of saying the Iranian elections were actually less rigged, and Mahmud ‘Abbas is standing firm. And, of course, the pro-Likud Israeli press such as the Jerusalem Post are playing this up.

A couple of days ago, everybody (or almost) was cheering the "democratic outcome" and the election of a "younger generation" of leaders, though some were charging that many of the new members of the Central Council members have worked closely with US security coordinator for the Palestinian Territories Lt. Gen. Keith Dayton. In a region where conspiracy theories are endemic (especially if they involve the US), this is problematic.

One hoped that the Fatah conference, the first in two decades, would produce some progress towards a peace deal. It looks instead to be fragmenting Fatah. For those of us who hoped that Fatah would somehow find a way out of its endemic corruption, politically divided counsel and personality clashes, well, again we seem to be doomed to disappointment.