Word: fatah
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...somewhat delusional. It is precisely these local-level leaders who have for the most part defied Arafat's periodic cease-fire calls and have vowed to continue the intifada despite the diplomatic maneuvering of their national leader. It is at the local level that the structures of Arafat's Fatah coordinate directly with the militants of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and where even Arafat's own rank-and-file reserves the right to conduct armed attacks on Israeli soldiers and settlers in the West Bank and Gaza even when decisions are taken to temporarily suspend attacks inside Israel...
...opposition to Oslo kept Hamas from challenging Arafat in the 1994 elections for the PA. It did, however, challenge and resoundingly defeat Fatah in many student council elections in the West Bank and Gaza. Still, there was always dialogue between the PA and Hamas, and periodic uneasy, silent agreements between them. In 1996, Hamas unleashed a wave of deadly bombings that killed 60 Israelis in eight days, prompting Arafat to clamp down heavily - some 1,000 Palestinians were arrested and the PA even ousted Hamas from some of its mosques. Later, the organizations appear to have negotiated a modus vivendi...
...Oslo Accord switched things around. Arafat became Israel's partner in peace and the Fatah leadership was brought home to run the Palestinian Authority; Hamas found itself alongside Islamic Jihad and Arafat's erstwhile leftist allies in rejecting the agreement. But by now Hamas was a large, well-established section of Palestinian political society, which Arafat could not simply wish away...
...While the intifada has made Hamas a de facto ally of Fatah and the PA in the day-to-day battles against the Israelis, the Islamist group remains resolutely opposed to any attempt to restore the crippled peace process. Their latest wave of suicide bombings are designed in part to sabotage U.S. efforts to broker a cease-fire, and the resulting international pressure on Arafat has set him on a collision course with Hamas...
...three Palestinians, and its actions carry the support of an overwhelming majority. Opinion polls find upward of 70 percent of Palestinians currently favor suicide bombings and oppose a cease-fire. Compounding Arafat's crisis is the fact that most of the rank-and-file of his own Fatah and security services regard Hamas as comrades-in-arms against the Israelis. Fatah has publicly challenged Arafat's calls for arrests of Hamas leaders, and his security forces plainly have little enthusiasm for the task - particularly when they're being confronted by thousands of angry demonstrators. Hamas has been the primary beneficiary...