Word: fatah
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...what would happen if Arafat were removed from the scene? Some not very encouraging clues have emerged from a major haul of files snatched by Israeli paratroopers during a brief reoccupation of Bethlehem last November. The papers were found in an office of Arafat's Fatah branch of the Palestine Liberation Organization and reveal the struggle that might ensue if he were ever forced to give up power. Israeli intelligence translated the files, and an index of the dossiers has been obtained by TIME. The papers reveal scandalous material on various underlings in the Fatah leadership, including evidence of adultery...
...been a favorite killing hour for Palestinian suicide bombers. This week was no exception, despite the presence of large numbers of Israeli troops in Yasser Arafat's offices and throughout Ramallah and other West Bank towns. A member of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, linked with Arafat's own Fatah organization, detonated a bomb in a Tel Aviv coffee bar Saturday night, killing himself and wounding more than 30 Israelis in a stark reminder that even an Israeli military operation that has sparked worldwide alarm has not managed to stem the tide of terror...
...There's plenty of reason to expect escalation from Palestinian side, too, with militants of Arafat's Fatah organization likely to launch a new wave of attacks in the hope of intensifying Israel's political and diplomatic crisis and of sending the message that Israel cannot resolve the crisis militarily. Once Zinni leaves, or perhaps even before, both Israelis and Palestinians would likely feel compelled to underscore their own negotiating positions with a show of force. And that could leave U.S. diplomacy stranded as the bullets start to fly again - but with disengagement now carrying an even higher diplomatic cost...
...Palestinian leadership, for its part, appears less responsive than it was a year ago to a U.S. administration that, in Palestinian eyes, has allied itself substantially with Sharon. Arafat's domestic political standing today may be more dependent on the efforts of the Fatah-linked militias than on any gains won through diplomacy or his relationship with Washington. To close down the intifada now, Arafat and his aides say they require a resumption of political talks. But whereas Sharon has previously made clear that his idea of the final boundaries of a Palestinian state are considerably less than those offered...
...Palestinian attacks of the past two months, the bulk of which have been focused in the West Bank and Gaza and carried out by Fatah militants, have created a major domestic political crisis for Sharon. The Israeli leader is under mounting pressure from his right flank to take more decisive military action against the Palestinian Authority. Whether through escalation or a truce, Sharon needs desperately to calm the situation. So does the Bush administration, which has belatedly discovered the extent to which Israeli-Palestinian violence prevents Arab allies from supporting a war to unseat Saddam Hussein. Arafat will have seen...