Abraham Rabinovich, Jerusalem | July 27
THE mysterious death of Yasser Arafat and a debate on the military option vis-a-vis Israel are expected to figure high on the agenda next week of the first general conference in 20 years of the mainstream Palestinian movement Fatah.
The conference, to open in Bethlehem on August 4, is also expected to set a date for internal party elections likely to see young activists ousting a tired leadership tainted with corruption.
If that happens, it could reinvigorate a body that led the Palestinian national movement for a generation but has in recent years lost much of its status to Hamas, a group with which it is engaged in a power struggle.
In calling the conference, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, himself one of the old guard, was bowing to pressures within the movement.
Observers have called it the most significant Fatah conclave since the movement's founding, one that will attempt to hammer conflicting political tendencies into a common platform. The results may have a significant impact on the peace process.
The death of Arafat became an issue last week when Farouk Kaddoumi, 78, one of the handful of men who founded Fatah with Arafat in 1959, declared he had evidence Mr Abbas was involved, together with Israel, in the poisoning of Arafat in 2004.
Arafat died in a French hospital from causes never made clear.
Mr Kaddoumi, who at one time was considered a possible successor to Arafat, refused to return to the West Bank and Gaza with Arafat and the rest of the Palestinian leadership after the Oslo accords were signed in 1993.
He says he will not attend the conference because it is being held in occupied territory. But his accusation is expected to be echoed at the conference by some within Fatah who have always believed Arafat's death involved a conspiracy.
A more substantive issue will be whether the option of an armed struggle against Israel should be removed from Fatah's charter.
Some of the current leaders who have ongoing contact with the US and Israel argue that a re-endorsement of the armed struggle option will distance Western support and endanger financial assistance.
Others, however, argue that removal of the military option when the conflict with Israel is still unresolved will alienate Palestinian public opinion. More militant leaders even reject any recognition of Israel's right to exist.
"Fatah has never recognised Israel's right to exist and it has no intention of ever doing so," said Rafik Natsheh, a member of the Fatah Central Committee, last week.
He was responding to reports in the Palestinian media that Fatah had asked Hamas to recognise Israel as a precondition for the establishment of a Palestinian unity government.
These issues are certain to touch off lively debate at the conference, expected to be attended by 1500 delegates.
Mr Abbas's aides said over the weekend that the conference would be called off if Hamas prevented Fatah delegates from the Gaza Strip from travelling to the West Bank. Hamas has not yet made its position clear.
Fatah's sharp decline in popularity following Arafat's death resulted in a stunning loss to Hamas in parliamentary elections in January 2006. The defeat was seen as a protest vote against its leaders' financial corruption and abuse of power.
Since then, Fatah has done little, if anything, to reform itself and get rid of the icons of corruption among its top brass.
A year later, Hamas took over the Gaza Strip in a coup, ending an uneasy power-sharing arrangement there. Fatah, however, has retained control in the West Bank, with Israel's backing.
Egypt has been mediating between the two rival groups to bridge the gaps between them. Seven rounds of bilateral dialogue have been held in Cairo between the two groups since March, but so far they have failed to end their feuding.
Source: The Australian
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