Internal rift rattles Abbas’ Fatah (yet again) -
Abbas versus Dahlan
Haaretz By Amira Hass | Mar. 17, 2014 |
▻http://www.haaretz.com/news/features/.premium-1.580153
Last Wednesday, while Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman was calling for an occupation of the Gaza Strip, Palestinian television saw fit to broadcast a long-winded speech by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in which he verbally attacked Mahmoud Dahlan and his supporters in the Fatah movement in terms unprecedented even in the long history of mutual attacks between the two. Dahlan himself (who was ousted from the Fatah Central Committee in 2011 and is living in Dubai) answered the attack with a Facebook post rejecting the accusations against him. His associates say he will be answering the accusations at greater length after Abbas returns from his meeting with United States President Barack Obama.
Forget about reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah, forget about a framework agreement the U.S. is cooking up between Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organization – the hottest story now is (once again) the internal antagonism within the movement that is supposed to be leading the Palestinian people to independence.
Abbas delivered his speech at a meeting of the Fatah Revolutionary Council on Monday, March 10. Present at the meeting were not only about 120 council members but also Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah and a number of cabinet ministers. All those present rose to their feet simultaneously in a standing ovation − a sign of their unreserved acceptance of what was said.
Beyond the direct attacks on Dahlan and his supporters in the Fatah movement, and the message these attacks sent to the rulers of Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, Abbas said: “If I were to detail all the pressure applied to me during the past three or four years, you would be concerned for my health. But I am acting for the benefit of my people and I want nothing [for myself]. I am 79 years old and am not prepared to end my life as a traitor, and I am not prepared to let anyone vilify the Fatah movement, of which I am one of the founders … It has become a grandchild of ours, the son of our son who is dearer than the son.”