As Fatah prepares to hold its Sixth Congress in the occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem on August 4, its leaders and members are engaged in feuds to secure leadership positions in decision-making bodies. Few however, are seriously contemplating how a "new" reformed Fatah movement can reflect the new and different political and organizational realities that have taken place since the last Congress was held 20 years ago in Tunis.
The 1989 Fifth Fatah Congress, then headed by Fatah's leader Yasser Arafat and other PLO leaders in exile, adopted the movement's first Basic Law, its interim Charter, as well as a political program, both hardline documents that were drafted at the ouset of the first Intifada, before the signing of the Oslo interim deals with Israel, and before the establishment of the Palestinian Authority. http://jta.org/news/article/2009/03/18/1003800/dahlan-fatah-never-recognized-israel
That charter called for "liberating all of Palestine and liquidating the Zionist entity".
It said a popular armed revolution was the only way to liberate Palestine and armed struggle was a strategic choice and not a tactic.
Many things have changed since 1989. The PLO now calls for establishing a state not on all of historical Palestine, but only on some 22 percent of it (the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip). The PLO has reneged on violence and seeks a negotiated settlement to the conflict with Israel.
Some things haven't changed though, such as Israel's continued occupation of the West Bank and the besiege of Gaza Strip, and the expansion of Jewish settlements that Palestinians say would prevent the creation of a viable Palestinian state.
The U.S. needs a strong, moderate Fatah to pursue its peace drive.
Fatah, the PLO's largest faction, is desperately in need of reform at a time of renewed hope of progress towards a U.S.-backed Israeli-Palestinian settlement.
Fatah's old guard, mainly leaders who were living in exile before moving to the Palestinian Territories after the Oslo deal in 1994, have monopolised decision-making for 20 years. These are 22 members of Fatah's Central Committee. Some are dead, the rest are over 70 years old. The 122-member Revolutionary Council is made up of people in their fifties and sixties.
The younger local leadership, now in their forties, fifties, and sixties, seek a role in the decision-making process having been excluded since Fatah's inception in 1965.
Fatah, which has the led the Palestinians from 1965 to 2006 when they lost power to Hamas, has constantly been on the defense against allegations of corruption and mismanagement.
Fatah's weakness has brought Hamas to power. For moderate Fatah leader, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, the holding of the Sixth Fatah Congress is aimed at "salvaging" Fatah from disintegration and regaining the confidence of the people ahead of parliamentary and presidential elections planned for January 25.
"The Fatah Conference will not tackle political issues. We want to save and strengthen Fatah now, not enter into a vicious circle of whether to change our charter or not. The important thing for us now is to regain Fatah's leading role in society," a senior Fatah official said.
But the world will be watching to see the political direction of the new Fatah leadership. Hardline rhetorics and positions would be viewed as an impediment to the two-state solution.
Fatah moderates are proposing some ammendements to the Fatah Charter that water down insistence on armed struggle as the only liberation means. Some drafted suggestions such as giving the political leadership the power to control the form of struggle to be used and its timing. Others propose appointing a committee from the new elected leadership to study ways to change the Charter", which basically implies shelving the issue.
Fatah grassroots are demoralized and many have lost faith in their movement. Fatah has done little to address issues that led to its defeat to Hamas. The young generation want to see occupation come to an end. They may not be opposed to negotiations with Israel, but their more immediate interest is in strengthening their power base in the West Bank and in defying Hamas to "liberate" Gaza from the Islamist group's grip.
Hamas, which controls Gaza through a systematic crackdown on Fatah, has been weakened by simlar crackdowns in the West Bank by Israel and the Palestinain Authority. http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10679.shtml
An Egyptian mediated Fatah-Hamas reconciliation is moving in a vicious circle http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2009/07/31/world/international-uk-palestinians-hamas.html
Abbas has dispatched two academics and a businessman to Hamas' leadership in Damascus two days ago to mediate an end to the division ahead of planned peace talks with Israel later this year and facilitate elections. The mediators say they are discussing wording of a deal on forming a unity government that could be accepted by both sides.
If reconciliation succeeds and if Fatah holds its reform conference, Fatah may emerge stronger. It would also be an indication that Hamas may be seriously debating whether its continued control of Gaza was harming its popularity and that it might affect its future standing in elections.
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