McSteen 1

Kailey McSteen

Mr. Sebestyen

Honors World Regional Geography

10/31/16

Section One: Leadership of the Palestinian Government

The current President of Palestine, Mahmoud Abbas, is facing health issues, and

he is not popular with the public. The people of Palestine are urging him to name a

successor. His brief medical scare this month was a reminder that Palestinian politics

remain in a critical condition, (Knell). A disagreement between Fatah, a part of the

Palestinian Authority, and Hamas broke out. This caused chaos in Palestine. Hamas won

a parliamentary poll in 2006 a year after Mr. Abbas became president, (Knell). Hamas

took control of the Gaza Strip in 2007 by forcing the Palestinian Authority out of that

area. Mahmoud Abbas term in government expired in 2010. Abbas is currently in charge

of the West Bank. No elections were held after his term expired in 2010, so he will

continue to be in charge until he names a successor (Knell).

It is expected that Hamas will nominate Ismail Haniyeh, who is poised to take

over as head of the Islamist movement, (Knell). Both the Israeli government and the

ordinary Palestinians are quietly discussing who the next leader will be. The decision of

who will become the next president will likely be made by the Fatah Central Committee.

Many Palestinians support Marwan Barghouti, a member of the committee. He can

defeat Abbas, he can defeat Haniyeh and looking at all leaders from the other factions,

from Fatah, nobody gets close to him, (Knell).

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Some other people might be potential candidates for the Palestinian Presidency.

These people are Mohammad Dahlan, Jibril Rajoub, and Majed Faraji. While these men

and others undoubtedly regard themselves as possible future presidents, there is no clear

frontrunner and analysts warn against second-guessing the dynamics of Fatah, (Knell).

Fatah and Hamas are experiencing deep conflict. A power struggle may occur once Mr.

Abbas is gone (Knell).

Section Two:

This news story relates to class because Palestine has had issues with their

government since 1967. In 1967, Israeli troops invaded Palestine and have occupied it

ever since, (Arreola, Deal, Petersen, Sanders). Issues started in Palestine when Israel

was created as a separate state. After World War I, the United Nations devised a plan to

make two separate sates. One state was created for Arabs, and one state was created for

Jews, (Arreola, Deal, Petersen, Sanders). When Israel was established on May 14, 1948,

troops from surrounding Arab countries immediately attacked. In 1967, Israel became the

more powerful state and invaded Palestine. The Palestinian people have no say in the

government of Israel, (Arreola, Deal, Petersen, Sanders).

Palestine is made up of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Palestinians are forced

to live in these two areas. Hamas has taken control of the Gaza Strip, and Hamas does not

agree with anything the Israeli government has to say. This leads to political unrest

because Hamas has control over the Gaza Strip, and a president has control over the West

Bank. Palestine is not untied as one state. This makes choosing a leader very difficult.
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Section Three:

My opinion on the article is that the Palestinian government is unorganized when

it comes to issues involving leadership. I do not agree with what is going on because I

believe that Hamas is dangerous and could ultimately be a threat to the people living in

Palestine. The current president, Mahmoud Abba, does not have respect from the people,

so he is not doing an adequate job of running the government. What surprised me the

most in the article was that Palestine is not making an effort to organize an election. The

state of Palestine needs unity, but they are far from it. Palestine needs to narrow the

amount of possible candidates that could be president. The large number of candidates

makes it difficult for the Palestinian Authority to choose a leader.

Something that upsets me about the article is that Mahmoud Abba is giving an

impression that he is in control of Palestine, but in reality, he does not know what he is

doing. This shows that there is poor communication in the Palestinian government. If I

were in charge of Palestine, I would consult with other people in positions of authority to

make a solution to the conflict between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority.
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Works Cited

Arreola, Daniel D., Marci Smith. Deal, James F. Petersen, and Rickie Sanders.

Geography. Orlando, FL: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012. Print

Knell, Yolande. Palestinians face uncertainties over Abbas succession. BBC News.

BBC, 28 Oct. 2016. < http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-37754987>.