When the leaders of the two conflicting Palestinian organizations meet in Cairo, they will have a long, hard set of problems to resolve. Some of these problems continue to exist between the two leaders, but the bigger problems exist between the leaders and their own radicals. This latter problem is more acute with Hamas whose Gaza-based leaders have often vetoed decisions made by Khaled Meshaal on the outside.

Both Mahmoud Abbas and Meshaal enter the current round of reconciliation talks from a position of strength and popular support. Abbas is carrying with him in Egypt two impressive winning cards. He succeeded in unifying the entire Palestinian population, including his Hamas rivals, in supporting the bid at the UN for Palestinian statehood. The leader of the Fatah movement also begins intensive talks with his movement having displaying an impressive public event in Gaza on Jan. 4.

The event celebrating the 48th anniversary of the launch of the Fatah movement was so well successful that Fatah’s Gaza leaders had to admit that they were pleasantly surprised by the high level of public support displayed. It was the first public event that Fatah supporters were allowed to hold in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip since 2007. Abbas’ latest decision to change the title on all Palestinian documents to the term “State of Palestine,” and that they be issued to all Palestinians, has also added to positive accomplishments by Abbas.

Meshaal also comes to the meeting with strong elements of support. The performance of Hamas and other Islamic groups in standing to the Israeli ‘cloud of fire’ assault won the movement high grades from the Palestinian public. The rockets that were launched towards Jerusalem and Tel Aviv shook up Israelis in the heart of their state and provided an apathetic Palestinian public with a resistance mechanism that some feels can provide the road map for liberation.