The Palestinian Court of Cassation decided on Monday to accept Fatah’s request and reopen the list of candidates for the parliamentary elections for six hours. This decision will enable Fatah to reunite with the Future faction which split from it a couple of weeks ago.
The Future faction consists of the younger generation of Fatah, which feels the Old Guard must be replaced. Among the prominent figures in Future is Marwan Barghouthi, who is imprisoned in Israel for his direct involvement in the killing of five Israelis. Also on the Future list are Muhammad Dahlan and Jibril Rajoub, who are considered the two most powerful security men in the Palestinian Authority.
Talks between the leaders of Future and Fatah are still underway, in an attempt to reach an agreement for their unification.
The split in Fatah is deepening the movement’s current crisis. Its prime rival, Hamas, won a considerable number of seats in the local authority elections this year, and is expected to do well in the upcoming parliamentary elections scheduled for January 25, 2006. If the split within Fatah remains, Hamas will be the main benefactor, The Media Line’s analysts say.
In an incident at the Rafah crossing on Monday, European Union inspectors prevented leaders of Palestinian terror groups from leaving the P.A. to join the Hajj in Saudi Arabia. The leaders were Jamal Abu Samhadana of the Popular Resistance Committees, Ahmad Al-Ja’abri from Hamas, and Khalid A-Dahdouh from Islamic Jihad. The groups denounced the inspectors’ decision and threatened to retaliate.