After three days of acrimonious discussions in Ramallah, the Fatah Revolutionary Council adopted decisions to save the mainstream PLO faction from what seems an incipient state of disintegration, Khaled Amayreh reports Fatah's 130-member Revolutionary Council (FRC) has decided to hold elections to choose leaders at "all levels -- from top to bottom" within one year at most. This means that Fatah's old guard, presumably including Chairman Yasser Arafat, will have to seek democratic legitimacy through ballot boxes; an experience most of them have never had to face. According to Fatah bylaws, a ballot should take place every five years. The last election within Fatah took place 15 years ago, when the bulk of the movement's influential leadership was based abroad, particularly in Tunis. Some disenchanted Fatah leaders interpreted this decision as no more than a tactical move to appease disgruntled elements, especially among the younger generation, who are fed up with the absence of democracy and rampancy of corruption within the movement's top echelons. One Fatah leader from the Hebron region described the decision as "analgesic", saying he doubted that Arafat had the "willingness or even the inclination" to hold elections. The other main decision was to confine resistance activities by Fatah's military arm, the Al- Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, to the West Bank and the Gaza strip. "Anybody violating this decision will not be a member of Fatah," said Fatah leader Azzam Al-Ahmed. It is unclear if Fatah will be able to enforce this decision, especially in light of the growing fragmentation and decentralisation of the movement necessitated by security considerations. The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, and the various factions and groups operating under its umbrella, have repeatedly demonstrated utter disregard for Palestinian Authority (PA) instructions. On 22 February, a member of the Brigades blew himself up aboard an Israeli bus in West Jerusalem, killing eight Israelis and injuring a score of others. The bombing was viewed as a public relations disaster for the PA, having occurred on the eve of the hearing on the separation wall by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague. One Fatah official said the people who perpetrated the bombing belong to a "splinter group". However, it is increasingly clear that there is more than just one splinter group within Fatah and its military wing, especially in areas where Arafat's authority is not anymore what it used to be prior to the outbreak of the Intifada three and a half years ago. At the opening of the FRC's deliberations in Ramallah on 26 February, Arafat reiterated his commitment to establishing a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital. "Security and peace are not only a Palestinian interest but an Israeli interest. Our option is peace and we will work anew for this goal. There is also the need to bring new blood into Fatah, based on democratic steps." Gaza strong man and former PA Security Chief Mohamed Dahlan gave the Palestinian leader the benefit of the doubt. "His promise to hold leadership elections is a positive step in response to demands of the rank-and-file, and we will see to it that it happens within six months." Prior to the convening of the FRC, Arafat summoned Dahlan to his bombed-out headquarters in Ramallah for a "rapprochement meeting", to mend a "protracted misunderstanding". The bad chemistry between the two stemmed from Dahlan's siding with former PA Premier Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) during his government's high-profile showdown with Arafat last year, which eventually ended with Abbas's resignation and the collapse of his government. However, as the discordance between Arafat and Dahlan was patched for the time being, a new "misunderstanding" erupted between Arafat and his erstwhile advisor and strongman Nasr Youssef, who had been slated to head the PA security apparatus. According to some councilors, Arafat became suddenly exasperated when Youssef voiced doubts about the effectiveness of Palestinian security services and pressed for genuine reforms in the security agencies. Arafat threw a microphone he was holding onto Youssef, calling him "a spy and traitor". Youssef reportedly threw a pen at Arafat, calling him "a senile old man". Following the shouting match, Arafat stormed out of the meeting. Meanwhile, unknown masked gunmen shot and killed Khalil Al- Zaban, a prominent Arafat advisor, in downtown Gaza on Tuesday. Police sources said gunmen opened fire on Al-Zaban as he was returning to his home around dawn, killing him on the spot. Al-Zaban, who returned with Arafat from Tunis when the PA was established nearly 10 years ago, served as Arafat's media advisor and later as human rights commissioner. Palestinian sources in Gaza opined that the killing was part of a "score-settling confrontation" between various conflicting factions within Fatah. The killing also reflected the growing state of disarray and lawlessness in Palestinian society, especially in the Gaza Strip where the PA has been drastically weakened as a result of sustained Israeli attacks on police forces and installations. But disarray is not limited to Gaza. On 29 February, the mayor of Nablus, Ghassan Al-Shaka'a, an Arafat loyalist, submitted his resignation to the Palestinian leader. In his letter of resignation, published in the Palestinian press, Al-Shaka'a complained that Nablus, the largest town in the West Bank, was experiencing a general state of lawlessness and chaos and that he couldn't continue to preside over a dilapidated city. Al-Shaka'a castigated PA security forces for failing to restore the rule of law, suggesting that the PA was part of the problem facing Nablus. Al-Shaka'a escaped an assassination attempt last year in which his brother, who was visiting from Jordan, was killed. So far, PA police have failed to apprehend the killers.
