Strategic Assessment

The results of the elections to Fatah institutions held during the movement's sixth convention in August in Bethlehem institutionalized the redistribution of power underway among its ranks over the last two decades. The strategy and political platform agreed upon by the participants were likewise not revolutionary, rather an expression of familiar policy principles. This essay analyzes the outcome of the convention, examines the implications for a potential thaw in the Israeli-Palestinians political process, and contends that Fatah's future will be shaped more by the dynamic in the internal Palestinian and Israeli-Palestinian arenas, and less by official manifestoes.