News Analysis: Abbas to hold Fatah Party conference amid Palestinian internal complexity

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas decided late last week to hold his Fatah Party's seventh conference on Nov. 29 in the West Bank city of Ramallah, although the Palestinian internal situation is passing through crucial complexity, according to analysts.

They said that President Abbas insisted to hold the conference, in spite of an internal split in his Fatah Party with discharged Fatah leader and former Gaza Fatah string man Mohamed Dahlan, besides his endless feuds with Hamas movement, which has been ruling the Gaza Strip since 2007.

The analysts said Abbas will hold his Fatah Party's seventh conference as the Middle East peace process is in a complete stalemate. Fatah's sixth conference was held in the West Bank city of Bethlehem in 2009, where new members for Fatah central committee and its revolutionary council were elected.

Fatah had earlier announced that 1,300 senior Fatah leaders from the Palestinian territories and abroad will join the seventh conference. However, Dahlan and his fellows in Fatah will not attend after Abbas had sacked many of them over the past five years due to differences with Dahlan.

INTERNAL CRISIS

Talal Oukal, a Gaza-based think-tank and a political analyst, said that holding the conference happens amid a "sad and worrying" Palestinian situation, adding that "the conference is held amid a series of complexity and the outcomes of the conference would make the Palestinian future more vague."

"The substance of the Palestinian crisis is totally related to the crisis within Fatah Party, the largest among other parties, factions and movements," Oukal told Xinhua. "Fatah is facing a real internal crisis and holding such a conference would certainly weaken its abilities to continue its pioneer historic and political role."

He warned that weakening Fatah Party "would automatically weaken Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which has been always the sole and legitimate representative of the Palestinian people for around five decades," adding that "therefore, Fatah must overcome its internal disputes, which I believe is difficult."

During the sixth conference held in Bethlehem in 2009, around 2,000 Fatah leaders participated.

It was the first time to hold the conference in a Palestinian territory in 20 years, and the first conference to be held after the death of Fatah founder and late leader Yasser Arafat in 2004.

During the conference, Abbas was elected as Fatah chairman, where a new central committee and a new parliament were elected.

Fatah is the backbone of the PLO as well as the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) and the largest party among the Palestinians in Palestine and abroad.

However, the crisis in Fatah started after it was defeated by its rival Hamas movement in the parliamentary elections held in the Palestinian territories in 2006, and then the crisis deepened when Hamas had violently seized control of the Gaza Strip and routed Abbas security forces in 2007.

CURRENT & UPCOMING CHALLENGES

Sami Shbeib, a political analyst from the West Bank, told Xinhua that every Palestinian "is attracted to Nov. 29, the day when Fatah's seventh conference will be held at President Abbas headquarters in Ramallah," adding "this anxiety is mixed with hope and fear."

"Since Fatah was found in 1965 and became a major faction in PLO executive committee in 1969, Fatah is not just a faction that is concerned about itself, it has become a movement that all movements and parties are concerned about, therefore I believe that the factions are still concerned for the upcoming conference."

He said Fatah conference will be held in Ramallah, and everyone is expecting that Israel would prevent some of Fatah leaders who live abroad from coming to the West Bank through Jordan to join the conference.

He added that Hamas, which rules Gaza, may also prevent Fatah members from leaving Gaza through Israel to join the conference in Ramallah.

Shbeib also warned that Dahlan, who has become a real threat to Abbas position in the party, may hold a parallel conference backed by the Arab Quartet to rearrange the internal Palestinian situation.

Leaders loyal to Abbas in Fatah Party considered the Arab Quartet's support to Dahlan an intervention into Fatah affairs.

Shbeib believes that the coming challenges are so high "mainly amid the internal feuds between Fatah leaders and the disputes on who will be the successor of Abbas."

DECISIVE STAGE

Saeb Erekat, secretary general of the PLO executive committee, had announced that the Palestinian National Council (PNC), the PLO parliament in exile, is scheduled to be held one month after holding the seventh conference of Fatah Party to elect a new PNA and activate the PLO role.

Hani el-Masri, head of Badil center for researches and studies, a Ramallah-based think-tank, told Xinhua that "the coming few months are decisive to decide the fate of the Palestinian political system on the light of the results that would come up from Fatah conference and the PNC.

However, he warned that Fatah's seventh conference would lead to more division within the party, adding that the aim of holding the conference in this specific time is to close the door for the return of Dahlan to Fatah Party and also to renew the term for Abbas to be the chairman and the president of the state of Palestine.

"I believe that these two goals can never be enough to decide the future of the Palestinians and their cause, I believe that there should be an accurate evaluation to the Palestinian situation, they should make the needed reforms in Fatah Party and elect new young leaders who will be able to lead the coming stage and face the challenges." Endit