Dahlan issue reveals serious splits within Fatah

A member of Fatah’s Executive Committee has said that his movement refuses to accept the return of ex-official Mohamed Dahlan, Al-Quds Al-Arabi has reported. Jamal Moheesin called upon the Arab countries which are trying to mediate between Fatah and Dahlan to put an end to their efforts. He did not mention which countries he was referring to and denied any real internal or external efforts to rehabilitate Dahlan within the movement.

“This issue is absolutely out of the question for Fatah,” Moheesin told the London-based newspaper. “It is an internal issue and no one is allowed to interfere.” He added that any person who tries to take control of the movement with support from external powers will not succeed. Fatah, he insisted, does not interfere in the internal affairs of Arab countries, so they should keep out of Fatah’s affairs.

Regarding internal rifts, the senior leader said that his movement would get rid of all members affiliated to Dahlan who try to cause divisions within Fatah. “The Fatah Central Committee convened recently and created the means to prosecute anyone trying to form internal blocs,” he said, “regardless of whether or not these blocs are linked to internal or external groups.”

Moheesin described Dahlan, who has been living in Abu-Dhabi since he was sacked from the movement in 2011, as an “outsider”. He pledged that any Fatah member who works for his interests would be fired after due process. While admitting that there are some Fatah activists in the Gaza Strip close to Dahlan, including parliamentarians and members of the Fatah Revolutionary Council, he insisted that the movement is solid in Gaza and the renegade Dahlan has failed to penetrate it.

It is worth mentioning that a number of the Fatah officials who have recently returned to Gaza were once close to Dahlan. After they started to reform the movement, Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas dispatched senior leaders, including Nabeel Shaath, to stop them. According to a report published by local newspaper Al-Resala, Shaath and his colleagues started this work but left the Gaza Strip after assassination threats by Dahlan’s accomplices.