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In the run-up to the Fatah conference, Abbas rebuffed suggestions by the Arab Quartet (UAE, Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia) that he allow Dahlan back into the Fatah fold. Moreover, the weeks preceding the conference were marked by expulsion or suspension of Dahlan supporters, who were branded as “delinquents” from the movement. Hundreds of Dahlan backers, many of whom had participated in the previous Fatah conference in 2009, were excluded from participating as delegates in the current meeting.
On the eve of the conference, Dahlan backers made clear that they considered it to be an illegitimate gathering and that they would not recognize any of its decisions, including the election of the new central committee. But Abbas went ahead with a congress that in effect purges Fatah of Dahlan’s followers.
“I think we are entering a new era for Fatah,” says Naji Shurrab, a political scientist at Al-Azhar University in Gaza. “The split is a reality now.”
“Each will say that it is the legitimate one and the other is illegitimate. Fatah is headed to more and more confrontation and fragmentation,” he said. “This will reduce its strength and standing in the eyes of Palestinians and Hamas will win from this situation.”
On the eve of the conference, Dahlan backers made clear that they considered it to be an illegitimate gathering and that they would not recognize any of its decisions, including the election of the new central committee. But Abbas went ahead with a congress that in effect purges Fatah of Dahlan’s followers.
“I think we are entering a new era for Fatah,” says Naji Shurrab, a political scientist at Al-Azhar University in Gaza. “The split is a reality now.”
“Each will say that it is the legitimate one and the other is illegitimate. Fatah is headed to more and more confrontation and fragmentation,” he said. “This will reduce its strength and standing in the eyes of Palestinians and Hamas will win from this situation.”
Abbas’s spokesman, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, yesterday said the conference marked a “victory of the Fatah movement over the conspiracy,” meaning Dahlan and perhaps also his Arab backers. But victory celebrations may be premature. The exclusion of Dahlanists is fueling bitterness in the refugee camps of the West Bank and Gaza. In Amari refugee camp, just a few kilometers away from where the Fatah congress convened, many residents prefer Dahlan and feel their voices are being squelched by Abbas. These include people with credibility in Palestinian society for having fought Israel.
Past thread...
Ramallah fumes at Jordanian meddling in question of Abbas’s successor
http://wedg.millenniumweekend.org/fo...ohammed+Dahlan