Seventh Congress of Fatah Movement Begins with Possibility of Abbas' Presidency Extension

The Palestinian Fatah movement, led by Mahmoud Abbas, will commence its conference on Tuesday, December 9, after years of delay. This will be the first congress of the Fatah movement in the last seven years. According to Palestinian media, the Fatah conference in Ramallah, the political center of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, will last at least five days. This is the seventh congress of Fatah since the establishment of the movement. The last time Fatah held a congress was seven years ago. The Fatah movement was founded in the autumn of 57 years ago by Yasser Arafat (Abu Ammar) and Khalil al-Wazir (Abu Jihad) in Kuwait with the aim of guerrilla warfare for "the liberation of Palestine from Israeli occupation" and has been the most important Palestinian movement for several decades. Fatah is the most significant faction in the confederation of Palestinian parties known as the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). It is estimated that the seventh congress of Fatah will extend Mahmoud Abbas' leadership. According to the Palestinian news agency Ma'an, this congress will also elect eighteen members of the Fatah High Leadership Council, eighty members of the Revolutionary Council, and forty members of the Consultative Council of the movement by vote. The newly elected High Leadership Council of Fatah will convene to select a deputy for Mahmoud Abbas; this deputy is likely to be someone who will practically succeed Abu Mazen after the end of his leadership or his death. Mahmoud Abbas has held the leadership of the Palestinian Authority for twelve years since Yasser Arafat's death and has simultaneously led the Fatah movement and the PLO after Farouk Qaddoumi. Mr. Abbas, 81 years old, has threatened several times in the past to step down from leadership, but it is assessed that his leadership of the Fatah movement will be extended without serious challenge at the current congress. Mohammed Dahlan is one of the most important opponents of Mahmoud Abbas' continued leadership, having challenged Abu Mazen for a long time. Mohammed Dahlan, a former security official in the Palestinian Authority, has stated that his leadership of Fatah would bring "fresh blood" into this long-standing movement, which "could attract more youth." However, Mr. Abbas and his allies have expelled Mohammed Dahlan from Fatah leadership years ago on charges of attempting a coup. After being ousted, Mr. Dahlan has gone abroad and is waiting for an opportunity to return to Palestinian territories and to the top of the Palestinian leadership council, but Palestinian experts say he has been trying to insert his allies into important positions within the Fatah movement at the congress. However, Palestinian experts have assessed that Mr. Abbas and his supporters can also exclude Dahlan's close allies from the Fatah leadership council. Meanwhile, the results of the medical investigation committee regarding the causes of Yasser Arafat's death are also expected to be announced at the current Fatah congress. Many Palestinians still claim that Yasser Arafat was "killed" by "traitors" among Abu Ammar's close allies through the execution of Israeli orders. According to the Palestinian news agency Ma'an, about 1,200 Palestinian figures arrived in Ramallah on the opening day of the Fatah congress, and out of 380 figures expected to arrive from Gaza, 250 were present in Ramallah. At the same time, Palestinian media report that Israel prevented several Fatah members living in Gaza from leaving to attend the conference in Ramallah. In the sixth Fatah congress held in 2009, two thousand six hundred Palestinian figures participated. The decrease in the number of participants in the current congress is a result of Mahmoud Abbas' recent decisions to limit his opponents, especially Mohammed Dahlan and his allies. Meanwhile, for the first time, Fatah has invited delegations from its rival organizations, Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, residing in the West Bank as guests to the opening session of its congress. The seventh Fatah congress is being held on November 29, the sixty-ninth anniversary of the UN resolution on the partition of the disputed land into Jewish and Palestinian states.