Back in the good old days of PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat, one could speak of the “Palestinian perspective” of the conflict. Thanks to a major divide within the Palestinian Authority present since the 2006 legislative elections, however, this is no longer the case.
Fatah and Hamas have both struggled to hold power and influence since Arafat’s death, the former for practical reasons and the latter for ideological ones. This political and societal divide within the disputed territories has rendered the Israeli-Palestinian peace process extremely difficult to manage. Yet it isn’t simply the divide in itself that makes things complicated.
Fatah, whose name in Arabic means “victory”, hasn’t exactly been able to provide it. As a faction of the PLO, an organization repeatedly denounced as terrorist, it was built up as a resistance movement and not as a political party. When it came time for multiparty elections within the Palestinian Authority, Hamas seized the opportunity by running under the banner of change and reform. The Islamic Resistance Movement won.
Fatah has since been eradicated from the Gaza Strip and has seen its influence wane in the West Bank, at the hands of both Hamas militants and Israeli forces. Yet, because of its history as the leading faction of the PLO, its unconstitutional stranglehold over the PA presidency, and the fundamentalist ideology of Hamas, it is viewed as the continued “legitimate representative of the Palestinian people” and hence represents the Palestinian side at the negotiating table.
It is well known that the PA/Fatah has no influence over the Gaza Strip. Its inability to act in the face of Operation Cast Lead just over a year ago proves it. But what of its influence in the West Bank?
A new Israeli military order, designed to seek out Hamas operatives, allows soldiers to transfer or detain Palestinians without proper identification in certain areas of the West Bank, the idea being that they would have arrived illegally from the Gaza Strip. Even Jordan is making a fuss about it. But Fatah officials remain silent.
There are two possibilities. The first is that Fatah has lost so much control over Palestinian society in the West Bank that it is incapable of taking action against this military order. The second is that it may be capable of taking action, but would prefer to see Hamas be weakened in any way possible.
In either case, the Palestinian side of the negotiating table is looking pretty grim. Has the PA been intransigent for over a year simply for ideological purposes at the expense of Israel? Or has it refused to negotiate in an attempt to prevent Hamas from taking over Palestinian society as a whole?
Both of the above explanations are depressing, because they both reaffirm a fact that the “sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people” has consistently managed to prove. That fact is that they fail to legitimately represent their people. Unfortunately, that doesn’t look like it will be changing any time soon.
Zach Paikin is a student at McGill University.
