Palestinian Split Deepens

Palestinian resistance factions were roundly blamed in the mainstream media for their last-minute decision to boycott last week's Egypt-sponsored "comprehensive dialogue" summit, ostensibly aimed at Palestinian national reconciliation. But some independent commentators say the move, led by Gaza-based resistance faction Hamas, was justified.

"It's unreasonable to expect Hamas to hold 'dialogue' when the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority (PA) is persecuting its members in the West Bank," Magdi Hussein, secretary-general of Egypt's Islamist-leaning Labour Party, officially suspended since 2000, told IPS.

The event scheduled for Nov. 9 was planned after intensive talks between Egyptian officials and a dozen Palestinian factions, including both Hamas and the U.S.-backed Fatah movement of PA President Mahmoud Abbas. Egyptian mediators had hoped the summit would lead to the adoption of an Egypt-backed "comprehensive dialogue" proposal defining the terms of a future Palestinian national-unity government.

Since Hamas seized control of Gaza from the PA in a pre-emptive coup last year – after winning elections in 2006 -- the two factions have pursued bitter rivalry featuring intermittent fighting and mass arrests. Further complicating the situation, Israel and Egypt -- with the blessings of the PA -- have both sealed their borders with the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, effectively cutting the enclave off from the outside world and bringing it to the brink of humanitarian disaster.

While Hamas, which won Palestinian legislative elections in 2006, follows a policy of resistance to the Israeli occupation, Fatah maintains a strategy of negotiation. Up until now, however, Abbas's frequent 'peace talks' with his Israeli counterparts -- mandated by last year's Washington-sponsored Annapolis Summit -- have failed to yield any gains whatsoever for the Palestinian side.

"Abbas has nothing to show for the negotiations except empty promises from the Israelis," Abdelaziz Shadi, coordinator of Cairo University's Israeli studies programme told IPS. "He's desperate to bolster his domestic standing, which is on the wane even among his own Fatah cadres. And while vainly negotiating with Israel, Abbas -- still smarting over the loss of Gaza -- adamantly refuses to talk to Hamas." More