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The Fatah in Power: When Nothing Is Legitimate
Abstract by Mr. François Ceccaldi On Session III-14  (Palestinian Governance)

On Tuesday, November 12 at 11:30 am

2024 Annual Meeting

Abstract
In recent years, a significant number of research studies on the Palestinian issue have revealed the fragmentation of the Palestinian political landscape: "Fragmented Palestine" (Picaudou, 1997), "Everyday Palestines" (Legrain, 1999), "The fragmented mosaic" (Dot-Pouillard, 2016), "The fragmentation of the national political field" (Hilal, 2019). This fragmentation of the Palestinian political sphere has been accompanied by particular attention in scientific studies to post-Oslo political developments, now focused, after the signing of the accords, on the new political dynamics of the interim period: the creation and evolution of the Palestinian Authority (PA), the "return" to the Palestinian Territories of the national movement's cadres installed in Tunis, and the negotiation process. Also, with Oslo, the study of the Palestinian national movement is less about the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and more about the PA and all the dynamics related to the recompositions of the Palestinian political sphere post-Oslo. However, one point from this literature has remained overlooked, that of the political developments of Fatah, a faction that is the majority within the PLO and at the helm of the PA, holding power, inheriting a revolutionary and militant tradition that has carried nationalist aspirations for nearly half a century, yet curiously left completely on the sidelines of studies on Palestinian factionalism, probably because it has remained overshadowed by the multiple studies on the PA, whose institutional curiosity (neither a state structure nor a revolutionary structure) has overshadowed research on the party in power itself. Scientific research has not, however, lost interest in studies on factionalism but has favored those on Islamist movements Yet, Fatah is at the heart of power struggles and remains central in Palestinian politics. However, in the absence of tangible results on the ground from international negotiation and in the absence of tangible political gains, its political strategy, which combines security cooperation with Israel and the pursuit of international recognition, is at an impasse. Worse still, for a large portion of Palestinians, this strategy borders on collaboration. While governing de facto without power - its authority applies almost nowhere in the Palestinian Territories - and without electoral legitimacy - elections have been indefinitely postponed for several years - Fatah has also become entrenched in an authoritarian logic in which opponents are suppressed, and means of dissent are stifled.
Discipline
Anthropology
Geographic Area
All Middle East
Gaza
Israel
Palestine
West Bank
Sub Area
None