Palestinian Unity

Yasser Arafat's National Security Advisor Jibril Rajoub and Muhammad Dahlan, who is powerful in the Gaza Strip, have reached an agreement on their respective spheres of influence. Arafat's opposition to Dahlan was a major issue before and during Mahmud Abbas's time as Prime Minister, as Arafat felt that the U.S. and Israel were grooming Dahlan as his replacement and that Dahlan's belief that all armed factions should be under a common command threatened his (Arafat's) power. This development comes at the same time that Hamas and other militant groups are participating in talks aimed a creating a united Palestinian leadership in Gaza in preparation for an Israeli pull-out. It is unclear to me whether Dahlan - who does not have a formal faction that I know of - is involved with these or not, but he remains a key part of the Gaza political equation. In an interview today, Dahlan called for the election of a new united Palestinian leadership, and idea also floated by Palestinian intellectual Khalil Shikaki.