Will Abbas’ foes thwart his chances for success at Trump meeting?

In response to imprisoned Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti’s call for a Day of Rage, Palestinian youths demonstrated and rioted on May 19 throughout the West Bank and in Gaza near the border with Israel.

“Two forces in the hard-core opposition to [Palestinian President] Mahmoud Abbas bear responsibility for the deaths of the two Palestinians killed last week and dozens more, who were injured during demonstrations in the territories on the Day of Rage, in solidarity with the prisoners on hunger strike,” an Israeli security official told Al-Monitor, speaking on the condition of anonymity. He cast the blame squarely on Barghouti, who initiated a hunger strike by hundreds of Fatah prisoners being held by Israel, and on the Hamas movement. He claims that each individually and both together wanted to challenge the Palestinian president and make as much trouble as possible for him just before US President Donald Trump pays an official visit to Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) May 22-23.

The same Israeli official said that Barghouti and his supporters are investing considerable efforts in a public relations campaign aimed at the Palestinian population in support of the hunger strike, the purpose of which is said to be to improve the conditions of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. He noted how frustrated they are that the hunger strike has failed to achieve its objectives and has even called into question whether Barghouti really could motivate the Palestinian street into action. There have been very few demonstrations in support of the hunger strikers, and even those that have occurred attracted fewer protesters than Barghouti and his supporters anticipated. For the most part, Palestinians support the hunger strike, but preventative actions by Palestinian security forces, as ordered by Abbas, have succeeded in limiting the scope of their protests.

The same Israeli source believes that Abbas could have stopped any demonstrations he wanted on the West Bank, but that he decided instead to let prisoners' families “release some steam” in a controlled manner. On the one hand, Abbas cannot openly take action or speak out against the popular strike, but on the other hand, he is making a huge effort to prevent Barghouti from mobilizing the masses, even using PA security forces to that end. With the Trump visit pending, Abbas has wanted to maintain the image that the Palestinians have presented to the Americans of a stable government that is able to maintain order despite all the challenges it faces.