The feud between Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) and Mohammed Dahlan is hitting the Palestinian street. Dahlan, a former Fatah member and Abu Mazen’s bitter political rival, has begun creating bases of power and support in the West Bank, which he plans to use when the day of reckoning comes. According to sources close to him, the day when Dahlan attempts to regain his position as a central figure in the Palestinian political system is very close.
Dahlan was head of preventive security in the Gaza Strip and later minister of the interior and national security adviser to the Abu Mazen government. His status in the PA declined after Hamas seized power in the Gaza Strip in 2007, and Fatah supporters were expelled in disgrace. Dahlan, who was then considered the most powerful man in the Gaza Strip, claims that Abu Mazen blamed Fatah's agonizing defeat on him so that he could avoid taking any responsibility for it.
Since then, there has been a bitter political rivalry between the two sides, with each exchanging a steady stream of public accusations and leaking claims of corruption to the media. Abu Mazen’s people accused Dahlan of robbing the public coffers, and Dahlan claimed that Abu Mazen’s children received millions of dollars in aid and benefits from Palestinian public funds. In the end, Dahlan came out on the bottom in this feud. His membership in Fatah was revoked, and he was expelled from the West Bank. He is now engaged in private business in Dubai, while waiting expectantly for the time to come when he can finally wreak his vengeance and restore the lost honor that was taken from him and his supporters.
Dahlan’s people have recently begun to establish their own organizational structure in the West Bank’s refugee camps. In the camps in Nablus, Hebron and Jalazun in the Ramallah district, Dahlan’s people have identified a strong sense of revulsion aimed at the Abu Mazen government. They estimate that young people in the camps feel as if PA officials have abandoned them and are not doing anything to improve their lives or reduce their suffering. This is fertile ground in which to recruit supporters, and it seems as if the work isn’t particularly difficult either. Hundreds of young people believe that Dahlan offers them an opportunity for change and so they are prepared to follow him.
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