Word: fatah
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...father of the nation" appellation is not simply a product of Arafat's 35 years at the helm of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), or his half-century in charge of the secular-nationalist Fatah movement he founded in 1956, and which remains the single largest party in Palestinian politics. It derives from the fact that Arafat's ascent in the national movement epitomized a Palestinian declaration of independence. Before Arafat and his comrades took charge of the PLO in 1968, the very term "Palestinian" hardly existed in the international lexicon. The fate of the Arab residents of what...
...abroad. No leader wanted to appear to be jumping into Arafat's shoes before he was dead, but P.L.O. chiefs told TIME they decided that in the absence of Arafat, Secretary-General of the P.L.O. Executive Committee, Mahmoud Abbas, would become head of the P.L.O. and of the powerful Fatah faction. Abbas will probably keep a low profile until the results of Arafat's Paris tests are in, but it's clear he's preparing to take control. Meanwhile, P.L.O. leaders expect that in Arafat's absence, Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei will begin carrying out the reforms of the security...
...have even the modest restraining influence "the old man," as they call him, has had over them. The resulting civil unrest could doom Palestinian aspirations for statehood. "We have to avoid anarchy, because we know the alternative is that the Israelis will come in and take over," a senior Fatah official told TIME...
...Current indications are that the man who will replace Arafat as the head of Fatah, and its presidential candidate, will be Mahmoud Abbas, the White House-favored moderate who served a troubled term as Prime Minister before resigning rather than accept the neutered role allowed by Arafat. Abbas, who would govern in concert with Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia, may be more inclined to compromise and make deals than Arafat has been, but Palestinian politics is more dangerously fractured than ever after the passing of a national leader who stayed in power by navigating his way between many different and conflicting...
...Even with the popular mandate of an election, the all-important backing of Fatah and diplomatic support from Washington, Abbas and Quereia would in all likelihood provide transitional leadership to the Palestinian national movement. Both men are in their 70s and not in the best of health, and the divergent interest groups in the West Bank and Gaza may limit their ability to cut deals. If anything, their tenure would hold the ring for various younger contenders to stake their own claims. Men such as Gaza security chieftain Mohammed Dahlan and his former West Bank counterpart Jibril Rajoub may have...