The dysfunctional Palestinians

Washington Times:

The convention convened by Fatah last week was supposed to bolster the founding Palestinian nationalist movement so it could block the Islamist Hamas' ascendancy and cut a peace deal with Israel.

But after five stormy days of infighting, the once-in-a-generation conference only highlighted how the U.S.-backed party remains fractured, raising questions about whether it is strong enough to make tough compromises in negotiations while fending off accusations from its Hamas rivals.

"They have not been able to resolve one fight since the beginning. I am not optimistic," said Assad Awiwi, a lecturer at Hebron University. "Fatah is deteriorating and needs a long time to rehabilitate itself. Four days cannot erase 20 years of mistakes."

Though delegates unanimously endorsed Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas as the party leader on Saturday, the conference had to be extended several days beyond the scheduled finish on Thursday because of delegates' inability to resolve disputes.

There's been dissent on how to count delegates from the Gaza Strip blocked from attending by Hamas, charges that the party's older establishment is suppressing the empowerment of younger officials, and a debate on whether Fatah's founding tactic of guerrilla warfare still belongs in a political platform.

At stake is a vote for Fatah's top two leadership bodies and a policy statement covering negotiations with Israel, and reconciliation with Hamas in Gaza. But the proceedings are also sending a message to the Middle East about the gridlocked state of Palestinian politics.

"Their infighting gives credence to the claim that there is no Palestinian peace partner, hinders the prospects of peace and throws a huge wrench at Obama's efforts toward a resolution of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict," said Adib Farha, a senior policy adviser at the American Lebanese Coalition.

The movement, founded in 1959 by the now-deceased Yasser Arafat, has been in decline ever since the breakdown of the Camp David peace negotiations in 2000.

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They have never really been functionally. Arafat was not so much a leader as a terrorist with ambitions to become rich off the gifts of other Arabs and the US. He was stunningly successful at that while destroying any hope of a Palestinian state. The truth is that none of the leadership is capable of a deal for a Palestinian state.

Their religious bigotry and their desire for continued cash flow from the outside block any hope of a peace deal. Even if they had the desire, they lack the means or the will to do what is necessary to get one. Because they are not willing to prevent attacks on Israel, they have nothing of value to offer in any peace deal.

Thomas Friedman makes another attempt at optimism about the Palestinians today. It is based on some success of imposing the rule of law on the West Bank. But this does not overcome the lack of will to stop mass murder attacks on Israelis. It does not deal with the Hamas death cult and its homicidal ambitions. It also does not deal with the unrealistic demands of Fatah.

They don't just demand no growth of the settlements as a condition of even talking. They demand that they be given all of Jerusalem as a condition of talking. That is ample evidence that they are not interested in a peace deal.