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Fatah's Power Structure Spells Trouble for Peace with Israel

[Jerusalem Post] Barry Rubin - Even if PLO and PA leader Mahmoud Abbas wanted to make a compromise deal with Israel - which he doesn't - he couldn't deliver his own purported followers, much less his Hamas rivals. Of the Fatah Central Committee's 17 surviving members, only three can be classified as relative moderates. At least seven can be called radicals - many still oppose the original 1993 Oslo agreement. Many in the younger Fatah generation are sympathetic to a more equal coalition with their Hamas "brothers" to fight Israel. At present, 14 of 17 members could never make a comprehensive peace treaty with Israel, and Abbas himself is so firm on demanding all Palestinian refugees must be allowed to return to live in Israel that he could be added to this group. They, and not Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, are the ones who really control Fatah, the main Palestinian institutions, and the West Bank. The end of Abbas' career is in sight. There is no conceivable consensus candidate to become head of Fatah, the PA, and/or the PLO. Equally, there's no leadership willing to make any comprehensive peace agreement with Israel. How can such huge factors be ignored by those in the West who act as if a quick resolution of the conflict is both possible and such a high priority?
2009-07-31 06:00:00
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