The Democratic Resistance: Hamas, Fatah, and the Palestinian Elections

This article examines the lead-up to the recent Palestinian legislative elections, looking especially at the Fatah's long-brewing internal crisis, born of Fatah’s inability to reconcile its role as a national liberation movement with that as ruling party of the Palestinian Authority. The author assesses the impact of the new reality presented by Hamas’s victory on Hamas, Fatah, and the international community, specifically addressing the post-election strategy put forward by certain Fatah elements, and backed by the United States, to undermine Hamas's victory by shifting power away from the Hamas-dominated legislative branch to the executive under the presidency of Mahmud Abbas.

Graham Usher, a journalist based for many years in the occupied territories, is the author of several books, including Dispatches from Palestine: The Rise and Fall of the Oslo Peace Process (Pluto Press, 1999). Though he continues to cover Israel/Palestine, he is now based in Pakistan.