WASHINGTON, 24 January 2006 — Palestinians vote tomorrow in elections for a new legislature, the first such vote in a decade.
On the eve of this crucial election, it has become known that approximately $2 million in US aid has been quietly spent to strengthen the Fatah party. Fatah, the base of the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization, is in trouble as it struggles to beat Hamas.
US officials have told journalists the low profile support is an effort to ensure that the Palestinian Authority receives public credit for a collection of small, popular projects and events to be made public just before Palestinians go to the polls.
Such projects include a street-cleaning campaign, distributing free food and water to Palestinians at border crossings, donating computers to community centers and even sponsoring a national youth soccer tournament.
Al-Ayam and Al-Quds, Arabic-language newspapers in the occupied territories, have recently featured US-funded advertisements announcing the events in the name of the Palestinian Authority, which is viewed as part of Fatah.
Fatah’s tepid support is no surprise. A report issued by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs last December, noted that Fatah and the Palestinian Authority are paying the price for the severely depressed Palestinian economy and the border closures, as well as for Fatah’s reputation for corruption.
“Hamas is popular for its social services and image of being free of corruption, but it also represents a protest vote against the corrupt and widespread mismanagement of Fatah,” said Haim Malka, a fellow in the Middle East program at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, CSIS.
“Of course we want to support the PA and we do not want Hamas to do well — that’s obvious,” said a State Department official on background. “I wish we had been so perceptive about this earlier — about the need to give the PA a leg up, moreover, that we had encouraged the Israeli government to ease up the situation on the West Bank… that would have strengthened the PA; however as we are always unwilling to exert that kind of pressure, this is what we are left with.
“The consequences of Hamas doing very well will be a disaster for the Palestinians, but one can never underestimate their anger and despair at their situation and the very natural desire to retaliate against the regime in power,” said the State Department official.
Pre-election polls conducted by the Palestine Center for Public Opinion give Hamas 35 percent of the vote, and Fatah, the backbone of Mahmoud Abbas` Palestinian Authority, 42 percent. Seven percent remain undecided with the remaining 16 percent divided between five other lists.
Assuming this poll is representative of the final outcome, it places Fatah slightly ahead. Its leader, Mahmoud Abbas, who is also known as Abu Mazen, could garner enough of the independent votes to claim the majority and form a government.
What Hamas has, and Fatah does not is a reputation for competence and accountability in providing social services. Whereas Fatah has long been criticized, by both the international donors and Palestinians themselves, as corrupt and ineffective.
But Palestinian and US officials fear the election could result in a large Hamas presence in the 132-seat legislature.
Hamas, formally known as the Islamic Resistance Movement, is at war with Israel, which has resulted in the US government classifying it as terrorist organization.
“I’m not sure the US strategy of trying to pump money to the Palestinian Authority, right before the elections, is actually going affect the outcome of the elections. It may even have a negative impact in terms of perceptions of US meddling in the Palestinian elections. We have to recognize that Hamas is a legitimate political actor in Palestinian politics and that the US cannot dictate the outcome of a democratic election,” said Malka from CSIS.
“At some point Israel will also have to come to terms with Hamas’ role in Palestinian politics, and Hamas’ potential role in stabilizing Palestinian politics. I think there’s a growing awareness in Israel that at some point it will have to deal with Hamas political entity,” said Malka.
