The recent decision by Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas to hold general elections in Palestinian territories in January despite the vocal opposition of Hamas highlights a growing divide between the two leading Palestinian parties at a time when unity is imperative to the goal of a Palestinian state.

Fatah’s move exemplifies a trend in internal Palestinian politics for calculated maneuvering that is devised first and foremost to weaken one’s opponent. By calling election, Fatah forces the hand of the Islamist party to sign on to a unity deal that could weaken it. This trademark, sadly, has time and again undermined efforts to define more constructive strategies that could secure gains for all Palestinians.
The familiar power struggle not only diverts both groups from taking aim at the target they were originally established to achieve – the creation of a Palestinian state – in the interim it also reinforces Israel’s claims that Palestinians are not fit to rule themselves, and that Israel has no valid partner for peace.
Foreign states share their part of responsibility in turning a people’s quest of self-determination into an unbearable fiasco. Over the years, they have shown their readiness to turn the Palestinian political arena into a field to further their own aims. Israel’s aggressive policies toward Palestinians – the building of settlements, the sequestration of land, and the multiple cases of occupation – are certainly a root cause of the Palestinian’s proclivity for uncompromising political agendas.
Israel’s persistent unwillingness to engage with the Palestinians is reprehensible, but let us not fool ourselves, local political leaders also hold a responsibility for their incapacity to show a united front against their common opponent. Blinded from recognizing the overwhelming commonality of their losses, the Palestinian political class has turned the struggle that should have united them against each other.
The deepening rift between the Fatah and Hamas bears consequences that could complicate the already tortuous road to the formation of a Palestinian state. If Fatah acts upon its plan to hold elections independently of Hamas’ call for a reconciliation deal, the political separation that has divided the parties since simmering tensions boiled over in 2007 could become a permanent one.
Hamas representatives have already suggested holding their own elections in parallel to those decreed by Abbas. Under these new circumstances, Israel would have no difficulty justifying its half-hearted attempts at negotiating two peace deals instead of a single one.
Are these attempts to boast their own political power worth the possible ramifications they hold?
Israeli strategists could not have engineered a better state of affairs to so perfectly serve its interests.
(Source: dailystar.com)