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Fatah and the awkward questions

December 12, 2014 at 4:35 pm

It seems as though Fatah has plans to hold its annual conference around the middle of next month; if this actually happens, it would be the first time that the organisation has held the event on the scheduled date. The reason is simple: the late-godfather of the movement, Yasser Arafat, did not like public conferences because he feared the surprises that may be sprung therein; he was scared of looking under the stones to see what could be hiding there. Arafat was also concerned that conferences would provide an atmosphere that would encourage Fatah’s members to compete over leadership positions, which could lead to splits within the organisation.

The decision to avoid annual conferences was determined by other factors relating to time and place, in that Fatah often depended on the reality of the political situation at the time and the possibility of further civil disputes or conflict with Israel. Yet, the lack of public occasions such as conferences have led to what can be termed an immortal leadership or oligarchy, because no high-ranking official can be changed without a conference being held at which the membership can discuss the changes in question. Fatah had not held an official conference for over 20 years until it was forced to deal with a changing political reality five years ago. Many complicated questions will undoubtedly be posed during the proposed conference in January and the group will have no choice but to respond to them. Despite Hamas’s ability to advance in polls and at the ballot box, Fatah has managed to maintain its monopoly on the Palestinian national project through two main institutions: the Palestine Liberation Organisation and the Palestinian Authority.

The main question that will be posed in the conference, for which Fatah will not have a response, is this: what will it do when it is forced to reconcile with the failed negotiations? Fatah has placed all of its current bets on this option.

And what will Fatah do when a true sense of Palestinian unity is achieved, especially when the prolonged national division severely weakened its credibility in Palestinian society? Or in the event that the United States blocks its full membership of the UN? Will Fatah see this failure in the same light as it has viewed the negotiations?

What will it do to restore the credibility and legitimacy of its political order and how will it put the Palestinian political house in order?

These are all important and awkward questions which will have to be answered sooner or later. Fatah’s leadership can no longer ignore or avoid answering such questions because the fate of the Palestinian cause and its people are linked to its answers and the policies that will be put in place to address them.

We must remember that Fatah is not a political organisation like any other, and that it is not a party that has gained its power through open and fair competition with its rivals across state institutions. If we don’t, then we will also fail to remember that it is a political movement that gained its reputation and credibility by moving into a void with no rules or controls. It is for this reason that Fatah was responsible for the majority of the initiatives that were sensationalised by the Palestinian people regardless of whether they were launched by Fatah or adopted by Fatah after others launched them. Thus, despite its many setbacks, falls and regressions, Fatah remains responsible for the majority of the national legislature behind Palestinian self-determination.

Fatah’s current state is a direct reflection of the Palestinian situation and if we do not broaden our circles, we can assume that our fate, in both its negative and positive aspects, will be tied directly to the fate of “moderates” in the Arab world because such countries have historically been among Fatah’s greatest allies. What gives Palestine a significant position among these moderates is its direct contact with Israel and it will stay this way until Palestine is no longer the central issue in the Arab reality.

Unfortunately, many people now view Fatah as an irrelevant party that cannot function outside its narrow range. Will the scheduled conference succeed in fixing this impression before the balance is readjusted? This is what must be done if we want Palestinian policies to work in spite of the many and varied agendas surrounding them.

Translated from Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper, 10 December, 2014

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.