Fatah and Hamas tie the knot. Shit.

Exciting news coming in from Cairo tonight: Fatah and Hamas, to the surprise of almost everyone, have come to an agreement to resolve all their issues and create a government of national unity. Too good to be true?

Hamas in the Eyes of Ibish

By Sarakenos

Hussein Ibish, a senior fellow at the American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP), landed another one of his controversial articles in NowLebanon, this time on “Hamas’s many splendored contradictions.”

I take this opportunity to shed light on some of his misconceived ideas regarding Palestinian internal affairs.

The main contradiction espoused by Ibish is that Hamas has both a religious and a nationalist agenda, intertwined and at odds with one another. read.

Half-Baked Palestinian Leadership Fries the Palestinians

Ever since Hamas won the 2006 election, the Palestinians have witnessed one of the greatest political divisions in their modern history. Upon my visit to Gaza a year ago, I have heard of many stories and countless accounts of divisions among Palestinians. While most of these divisions and political differences enrich the debate in the Palestinian society, those divisions can also undermine the cause. Throughout the conflict many Palestinian homes had siblings who supported different political factions without breaking up the family. But now things look different. Two recent events raise alarm;

At the Ballot Box, Trouble is Brewing for Hamas

Observers of the political scene in Palestine are carefully monitoring the situation on the ground as President Abbas just issued the much anticipated Presidential Decree to recommend holding the both the Presidential and Legislative elections on January 24th of 2010. Hamas has rejected his call on the fact that he extended his own term when [...]

Historic Development at Fatah Meeting

In a move that is sure to shock even the most skeptical observer, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was named head of Fatah at the party’s first congress in two decades.

This unforeseen move marks a major strategic shift for the dominant Palestinian political party.

If Fatah Reforms, I Will Shave My Head

As Fatah holds its first Congress in two decades in Bethlehem — with Israel’s approval and assistance — all the hype is about the party will change and re-connect with the people.

I very highly doubt the old schmucks who run it will loosen the reins of control, give way to younger leadership, or really entertain some of the proposals including opening relations with Iran or undertaking non-violent disobedience and joining the BDS movement. That would be too unlike them.

Democratizing the party? Yeah right.

Post-Gaza Palestinians Worse Off, but Not Blaming Hamas

A new Palestinian public opinion survey gives further weight to the gravity of Israel’s failure in its murderous Gaza offensive in January, and continued embargo of Gaza. While it hoped to destroy, if not weaken, Hamas, these surveys reveal Israel has had quite the opposite effect. The Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research just [...]

Kum Ba Yah Undone

Roughly 48 hours after the signing of the agreement between Hamas and Fatah to form a unity government and work together, trouble started brewing. While, we love the idea of Palestinian leaders holding hands, making out and holding a joint press conference, Arab news sources reported Mahmoud Abbas, the PLO chairman and the Palestinian president [...]

United outside the system

As Hanitizer wrote yesterday, this week saw the beginning of the long-awaiting Palestinian unity talks that aim to end the bitter divide between Fatah and Hamas and provide a platform for the adoption of a unified strategy towards the Israeli occupation. The preliminary talks that took place this week seemed to have been conducted in [...]

Palestinian Kum Ba Yah

The Palestinian leadership has finally came to its senses somewhat. In the Cairo Summit, Fatah and Hamas (as well as other factions) agreed to form a unity government and bury the hatchets of the past three years. They expressed gratitude to Egypt for taking on such a monumental step and serving delicious foul mdemmas, which [...]