Analysis by Mel Frykberg
"RAMALLAH, Jul 2 (IPS) - The future of Palestinian unity talks is far more complex than the bitter rivalry, bloodshed and division which represent the yawning chasm separating Palestine's two main political factions, Hamas and Fatah.
There are serious issues within Fatah that need to be resolved. After two decades of power struggles and acrimony within the organisation, Fatah's Revolutionary Council has agreed to hold its sixth general conference Aug. 4 in Bethlehem in the Palestinian West Bank. Fatah, founded in 1964, is affiliated with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Palestinian Authority (PA), which controls the West Bank.
The conference, due to be attended by over 1,500 members, is significant in that it is the first to be held on Palestinian territory. Hitherto, Israel banned leaders from returning to the Palestinian territories....
The conference will be an indicator whether the fragmented Fatah is a spent political force and a mere footnote in the history of the Palestinian national liberation struggle.....
But the divisions in Fatah go beyond generational and accountability issues. Fragmentation has come around patronage, shared history, geography and foreign policy.
Some members support the international peace process, while others call for a return to armed resistance. Some Fatah members want the PA, which was formed after Oslo, to be dismantled; others don't.
Many Palestinians are disillusioned with a lack of democracy and human rights in the West Bank under Abbas's leadership. This is exacerbated by disappointment with a peace process which to many appears to be going nowhere."
"RAMALLAH, Jul 2 (IPS) - The future of Palestinian unity talks is far more complex than the bitter rivalry, bloodshed and division which represent the yawning chasm separating Palestine's two main political factions, Hamas and Fatah.
There are serious issues within Fatah that need to be resolved. After two decades of power struggles and acrimony within the organisation, Fatah's Revolutionary Council has agreed to hold its sixth general conference Aug. 4 in Bethlehem in the Palestinian West Bank. Fatah, founded in 1964, is affiliated with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Palestinian Authority (PA), which controls the West Bank.
The conference, due to be attended by over 1,500 members, is significant in that it is the first to be held on Palestinian territory. Hitherto, Israel banned leaders from returning to the Palestinian territories....
The conference will be an indicator whether the fragmented Fatah is a spent political force and a mere footnote in the history of the Palestinian national liberation struggle.....
But the divisions in Fatah go beyond generational and accountability issues. Fragmentation has come around patronage, shared history, geography and foreign policy.
Some members support the international peace process, while others call for a return to armed resistance. Some Fatah members want the PA, which was formed after Oslo, to be dismantled; others don't.
Many Palestinians are disillusioned with a lack of democracy and human rights in the West Bank under Abbas's leadership. This is exacerbated by disappointment with a peace process which to many appears to be going nowhere."
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