Faruq Qaddumi and the Fath Conference

Of course, what you read in foreign language newspapers on the Middle East is often in contrast with what one reads in Arabic newspapers or media. The upcoming Fath conference is the big news and yet it is barely getting any coverage in the Western press. This would be the first Fath conference since I think 1989. It would be fair to say that this has been the most corrupt conference of any movement ever--and before it has even started: the buying of people and the use of money (and possibly the assassination of a Fath commander in Lebanon) are all part of the preparation, in addition to stacking the attendees with Dahlanists through deception, dirty tricks, and Israeli assistance. And then Faruq Qaddumi threw a bombshell the other day when he talked about an Israeli conspiracy to kill Arafat with the full cooperation of Abu Mazen and--you guessed it--Muhammad Dahlan. First, Qaddumi is not politically credible: he is a man who supposedly stood against Oslo and yet Arafat used to joke that his criticisms of Oslo disappear as soon as Arafat transferred funds to the Political Department which he heads within the PLO. He was never clear as to where he stood on Oslo, and his relations with Arafat went through ups and down. Is it possible that Dahlan and Abu Mazen were involved in a conspiracy to kill Arafat? Of course. But the transcript of their meeting with Sharon does not sound credible to me: the way they so casually talked about killing Arafat. Such a matter would be handled quite differently and through a very tight circle, and in more secrecy. And if Arafat knew about it, as Qaddumi alleges, why did he not take action? Don't get me wrong: it is clear that Arafat was assassinated: I asked a close friend of Arafat whether he went to Paris in the last days of Arafat. He told me that he could not. I asked why. He said: he was on the phone with Muhammad Salam (or Khalid Rashid depending on what name he was using) and Muhammad Dahlan. He told me that both men would complain on the phone: your friend has not expired it. He is still going on, and words to that effect. He said that he was so disgusted that he could not travel to meet them. Fath was a movement that was corrupted by Arafat decades ago and it is beyond repair or reform. The decent people left Fath many years ago. You can't point to somebody within Fath who has not been tainted, unless you are talking about degrees of corruption. I mean, the symbol of the opposition and reform within Fath is none other than (the ailing) Hani Al-Hasan: who belongs to the Saudi Hasan faction within Fath. To reform Fath is akin to making the KKK non-racist.