| And now for something completely not different... |
The violent conflict between Paleostinian Authority President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial...
and former Fatah leader Mohammed Dahlan has reached a new level: The two have been exchanging accusations about corruption, cooperation with Israel and involvement in Arafat's death. But what happens behind the scenes of the power struggle over the Paleostinian Authority?
One would think that these days the Paleostinians would be occupied with Abbas' visit to Washington and the upcoming fourth stage of prisoners release, but the only thing that concerns them these days is the never-ending power-struggle between the PA president and his arch rival Dahlan.
From the highest ranks of government to social media discussions and talk on the street, the main topic is the long and publicized feud between the two that has all the right ingredients to become a successful telenovela -- burning hate, violence, weapons, and a fierce competition to win the hearts of the people.
Dahlan was a senior Fatah member carrying senior positions in the Paleostinian government and security forces until he was accused of conspiring to overthrow Abbas and set up an armed militia. He was ostentatiously expelled from the movement in 2011.
After being impeached, Dahlan was exiled to Dubai and Abbas ordered the closure of news websites that were identified with him. On his end, Dahlan repeatedly accused Abbas of financial corruption, the Fatah defeat in the election to the parliament and the fall of the Gazoo Strip to Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, control.
Last week, as tensions were rising between Israel and Hamas, the two opened a new round of blows as the official Paleostinian television aired a recorded speech by Abbas directed to Fatah Revolutionary Council, where he disparaged Dahlan to the point of essentially sanctioning his killing.Abbas also said in his speech that Dahlan knew in advance about the Israeli liquidation attempt on Salah Shehade, leader of the Hamas military wing who was killed in 2002 by IDF assassination. In addition, Abbas accused Dahlan of cooperating with Israel and insinuated he is linked to Yasser Arafat's death.
Dahlan responded quickly and gave a three hour interview to a private Egyptian private television channel Dream TV 2, where he again accused Abbas and his sons of financial corruption and of harming the Paleostinian interest by running weak negotiations with Israel. The interview took place less than a day before Abbas' meeting with US President Barack Obama
I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody...
in Washington.
The interview created an uproar that would just not die; the next day thousand of Paleostinians went out to the streets in support of Abbas, burning pictures of Dahlan in front of the cameras. A few hours later, in the middle of the night, shots were fired at Jibril Rajoub's home, Dahlan's sworn enemy.
Paleostinian security forces arrived at the scene and opened an investigation, but at the same time tried to silence the case. Though the connection between the shooting to the Abbas-Dahlan feud is slim, its timing suggests considering a link.
Senior Fatah members supporting Abbas harshly criticized the Egyptian channel and Dahlan's interviewer Wael Al Abrashi for allowing Dahlan to lay out his accusations for hours uninterrupted, without being askedtough questions and without seeking a response from the Paleostinian Authority. The Channel refused to comment on the Paleostinian Authority's demand for a response.
The Paleostinian Journalists Association even ordered a ban on Dream TV 2 and Wael Al Abrashi for the channel's refusal to apologize for insulting the Paleostinian people.
The implications of the interview were so severe that on Wednesday the Egyptian ambassador in the Paleostinian Authority issued a clarification according to which Dahlan's statements in the interview don't reflect the views of the Egyptian government and people.
On Wednesday, Fatah front man Ahmed Assaf was sent to Cairo to be interviewed by a number of Egyptian media outlets in an attempt to refute Dahlan's accusations. But the visit didn't go quietly as supporters of Dahlan violently attacked Assaf and threw eggs at him when he arrived to the official Egyptian news agency offices.