Word: fatah
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Abbas had been under pressure from the U.S. to open unconditional talks with the Israelis, but mindful of his deteriorating popularity at home, the leadership of his Fatah party had ruled out negotiations until Israel demonstrated its bona fides by halting settlement activity. Livid over what he sees as Obama backsliding, Abbas is drawing on the only leverage available to him by threatening to walk away...
...aging moderate's departure from the scene would certainly deal a body blow to the Administration's peace efforts because there's no obvious replacement who would represent continuity with his outlook. If Abbas were to resign, a strong contender for the Fatah nomination would be Marwan Barghouti, the movement's most popular leader, currently in an Israeli prison on a terrorism conviction (and who might be freed as part of a prisoner swap for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who is being held captive by Hamas). Barghouti is far less inclined to compromise and accept U.S. tutelage than Abbas...
...evading peace talks, the Palestinians see Netanyahu's rejection of the settlement freeze as proof that an Israeli government beholden to right-wing settlers won't offer a credible two-state solution. Abbas has been under mounting domestic pressure from both his opponents in Hamas and within his Fatah party to break with the endless diplomacy with the U.S. and Israel that has brought the Palestinians very little, and has actually helped the more radical Hamas eclipse Fatah. That's why Fatah's leadership, at its recent congress aimed at revitalizing the movement, insisted that Abbas decline talks with Netanyahu...
...growing danger of the U.S. "losing Fatah" was highlighted recently when, in response to Israel's threats to refuse negotiations if the Palestinians backed U.N. discussion of the Goldstone report, the Obama Administration leaned on Abbas to withdraw support for taking up the issue at the U.N. Abbas initially complied, but was forced by a firestorm of criticism from both Hamas and Fatah to quickly change course...
...made him an increasingly marginal figure among his own people. Even if the U.S. manages, once again, to cajole Abbas into acting against his own better judgment and restart talks, the achievement will be a hollow one because Abbas would be at the table without the support of Fatah, much less of Hamas and the broader Palestinian public...