A war of words between leading Palestinian figures has erupted in recent days–underscoring the virulent anti-Israel rejectionism pervading the Palestinian leadership. Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas accused the PA’s former security chief in Gaza, Mohammed Dahlan, of being a “spy” for Israel, and accused Dahlan’s man in the Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp in Lebanon, Mahmoud Abdel-Hamid, of collaborating with Israel. For his part, Dahlan has launched an unprecedented verbal attack on Abbas, calling him a “catastrophe” in what Abbas loyalists say is an attempt to delegitimize the leader and replace him at the helm of the Palestinian Authority.
The feud between Abbas and Dahlan has been going on for some time. Dahlan was expelled from Fatah in 2011 for corruption. Dahlan struck back last year, suing Abbas in the Hague for “intimidation and corruption.” In recent weeks Abbas loyalists have blasted Dahlan, with Nabil Shaath comparing his to actions to those of Israel. (It’s not a compliment). Fatah Central Committee member Jamal Muheisen threatened to expel any Fatah member who sided with Dahlan.
Last week the feud heated up again with Abbas denouncing Dahlan. The Times of Israel reported:
A former top Fatah official and several of his cohorts had assisted Israel against the Palestinians over a decade ago, igniting a storm among Palestinians. … Abbas also claimed that complaints had been filed to the president’s office that Dahlan, a former security head for Fatah in Gaza, was mixed up in the Gaza assassination of Salah Shahadeh, the leader of Hamas’ military wing who killed by an Israeli airstrike in 2002.
Abbas’ attempt to destroy Dahlan’s credibility includes suggestions that the latter may have had a hand in Yasser Arafat’s death and the murder of six others. Additionally, he cut the salaries of 100 Fatah security men said to still be loyal to Dahlan. Abbas loyalists fear Dahlan is fomenting unrest within the Fatah party in order to take over its leadership.
A few days later, Dahlan struck back.
Egypt can tolerate a defective president like Mohamed Morsi, but the Palestinian people can no longer bear a catastrophe like Mahmoud Abbas. Since the day he came to power, tragedies have struck the Palestinian people…
We supported Abbas when he promised reforms, but he stole the presidency. He promised us to reform Fatah, but he destroyed and disgraced Fatah, just like he did in this speech. This speech is a mark of shame in the history of Fatah and of Mahmoud Abbas…
Mahmoud Abbas no longer represents Fatah. He represents the negotiations [with Israel], the destruction of the PA, the plundering of the PA, and all that is evil in the lives of the Palestinians.
The feud not only calls into question the Palestinian readiness to make peace but succession to Abbas. Abbas who will turn 79 later this month is in the 9th year of a 4-year term as president that he was elected to in 2005 and has no clear successor. Dahlan, who lives in exile in the United Arab Emirates, has been trying to build support at the grass roots level. But Dahlan referred to Abbas in the interview as “president of the Jewish Agency,” implying that the current president is more loyal to Israel than to the Palestinians. (Again, not a compliment.) Another potential successor is Marwan Barghouti who is serving five life sentences for murder for his role in leading the Tanzim, a Fatah-affiliated militia during the second intifada. If polls are accurate, Barghouti would easily win a vote for the presidency of the PA.
The heated rhetoric towards each other and towards Israel seems to confirm Avi Issacharoff’s prediction last month that in the race to succeed Abbas “we can expect many extreme statements, the sort that can make the leaders of Hamas seem like a bunch of ardent Zionists.”
In addition to the extremism the political maneuvering brings to the fore, the feud calls into question the ability of Fatah to govern. Journalist Khaled Abu Toameh wrote in 2011 after Dahlan’s expulsion from Fatah that the “ongoing power struggles and disputes in the Palestinian arena raise serious questions as to whether the Palestinians are ready for statehood.”
Many of the divisions among the Palestinians also relate to long-standing questions about financial transparency and the rampant corruption problems in the leadership. (For an in-depth look at Palestinian Authority corruption, see the Tower Magazine essay by Jonathan Schanzer.)
[Photo: mohammad dahlan / YouTube ]