Fatah Update

Let us file this one under “who knew?” (Jerusalem Post):

Despite international political and financial support, the popularity of the Fatah faction headed by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has declined over the past month, partially because of mistrust in the group's leaders, according to a poll published Friday.

Fatah still commands a strong lead over Hamas that controls Gaza, with 39 percent of Palestinians trusting it, as opposed to 16 percent backing for Hamas. But in November, 46 percent of those surveyed for a similar poll favored Fatah, and 13 percent backed Hamas. Forty-one percent of those polled said they didn't trust either faction, up from 32 percent in November.

The telephone poll, conducted in late December by Near East Consulting, interviewed 959 Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. It had a margin of error of 3.2 percentage points. While most Palestinians trust and approve Fatah's peace moves, they have little trust in Fatah's ability to improve their own living conditions, said Jamil Rabah, director of Near East Consulting. "People don't have a problem with the thinking and ideology of Fatah, but they are not happy with the symbols and leaders of Fatah," Rabah said. "They are getting so much money, but will they bring an end to the (deteriorating) situation?"

In other news, the Palestinian Authority rejects a ‘demilitarized’ view of statehood.

Hamas, on the other hand, rejects European offers to mediate the conflict with Israel.

Hamas has rejected a European offer for an indirect meeting with Israelis to discuss a possible truce, exiled Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal said Friday, adding that the Palestinian people have no choice other than "resistance."

Speaking at a rally in Damascus marking Hamas's 20th anniversary, Mashaal also called on Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to hold unconditional talks with Hamas. Mashaal went on to claim that "some Europeans have offered us to meet indirectly with Israelis to discuss a truce and we told them no and one thousands nos." He did not say which European country made the offer.

And then there is the imaginary disarmament of Fatah militas in the West Bank.

The massive IDF operation in Nablus has shown that, contrary to claims by the Palestinian Authority, Fatah's armed wing has not been dismantled. It has also proven that dozens of Fatah gunmen and activists in the West Bank have not surrendered their weapons and are continuing to plan attacks against Israel.

During the operation, which began on Thursday, the IDF arrested 19 gunmen belonging to Fatah's armed wing, the Aksa Martyrs Brigades. The IDF has also arrested two security officers working for the PA's Military Intelligence Force: Shadi al-Sakhel and Ahmed Hisham. The two officers are suspected of helping the Aksa Martyrs Brigades in the city. IDF soldiers discovered a workshop in Nablus's Old City where the group was said to have manufactured two rockets.

The raid came days after PA Interior Minister Abdel Razak Yahya announced that the Aksa Martyrs Brigades in the West Bank had ceased to exist. It also came against a backdrop of media reports suggesting that the PA security forces had succeeded in imposing law and order in Nablus. The Aksa Martyrs Brigades has openly scoffed at Yahya's declaration, dubbing him a "collaborator" with Israel and calling for his dismissal.

The group continues to issue daily statements about its members' activities both in the West Bank and in Gaza. And in the Strip, the Aksa Martyrs Brigades are continuing to take credit for many of the rocket attacks on Israel. In one of the largest operations of its kind, the PA, with the help of Israel and the US, deployed some 300 policemen in Nablus several weeks ago.

Many Palestinians in Nablus said over the weekend that while the PA security forces did clamp down on local criminals, they did not do enough to stop the Fatah gunmen from continuing to operate in the city. They added that while many of the Aksa Martyrs Brigades members had been recruited as officers by various branches of the PA security forces in the past few months, they were continuing to operate within the framework of the armed group.

Col. Abdullah Kmeil, commander of the PA's General Intelligence Force in Nablus, confirmed over the weekend that most of those who were arrested by the IDF belonged to the Aksa Martyrs Brigades. He said that all the Fatah gunmen had been incorporated into the PA security forces. He also confirmed that two PA security officers were among those arrested by the IDF.

The advantage of holding imaginary events is how often these events can be recycled.