PA President Abu Mazen and his associates rule the Palestinian Authority and the Fatah movement with an iron fist. They do not allow general elections, but neither do they allow democratic internal elections in the governing systems and the Fatah movement. About a month ago, when the president of the Palestinian Authority decided again that Hussein al-Sheikh would replace him, his people sent a message to Jibril Rajoub that he would risk his life if he tried to claim the crown instead of al-Sheikh and run against him. The message was not metaphorical, but literal. Those close to Abu Mazen informed Rajoub that their easy reaction against his intention to run would be to expel him from the West Bank, and the more difficult would be to eliminate him. Not only the political, but also the physical. Is there a real intention behind this threat? Recently, there were signs of rebellion against Abu Mazen in the Fatah movement when Tanzim people from all over the West Bank threatened to resign due to his weakness in dealing with Hamas' attempts to gain a foothold in the West Bank and overthrow the government in Ramallah. Moreover, when a Palestinian Authority force entered Nablus last week, it was met with gunfire from Fatah members, Fatah and not Hamas. Therefore, Abu Mazen's group apparently concluded from this that it must once again inject violence into its actions, and therefore behind the threat against Jibril Rajoub there is probably a hint of truth. On the other hand, this should also be said: it is possible that Jibril Rajoub is interested in the PA's threats against him, to glorify his power. In the chaotic Palestinian reality, nothing should be excluded from the list of possibilities.
Abu Mazen's dictatorship is facing many external forces that intend its demise. The first of them is Hamas, which in recent months won two important universities in the West Bank, Bir Zeit and Najah (an event that led to the assassination of the head of Hamas in the West Bank Ashar), and he returned and claimed the crown by virtue of his victory in the last elections held for the Palestinian Parliament in 2006. The second force is the power of Fatah people outside of Abu Mazen's group, for example Rajoub and Marwan Barghouti, who is in prison but his power on the Palestinian street is evident. The third force is the Jihad and Iran, but in this case the job of reducing them is done by Hamas, because it fears that Iran-Jihad wants to take its place in the West Bank but mainly in Gaza. The additional force is the tens of thousands of poor Palestinians who have recently taken up arms, and since they experience the abysmal difference between them and the ruling class of Ramallah that is drowning in wealth and status, they may turn their weapons against Abu Mazen, and they have already.