Summary
The Fateh figure whose Gaza paramilitary organization, armed and supported by the United States and Israel, was the instrument of the attempt to destabilize the Hamas-led government after the 2006 elections, until Hamas cracked down on it in June 2007 (Palestine Inside Out: An Everyday Occupation, PDF p.340-341).
Details
- The United States channeled funds to Fateh, and Israel allowed huge quantities of weapons and ammunition through, to official and unofficial Fateh militias, “notably the paramilitary organization led by Muhammad Dahlan in Gaza”, to destabilize the Hamas government (PDF p.340).
- Dahlan’s closest associate in the U.S. government was Deputy National Security Advisor Elliot Abrams, convicted for lying to Congress about his role in establishing and arming the Contra militia against Nicaragua’s legitimate government in the 1980s (PDF p.340).
- In June 2007 Hamas cracked down on Dahlan and the extra-governmental Fateh armed presence in Gaza, which quickly collapsed; Dahlan ironically started referring to Gaza as “occupied territory”, a reference not to Israel but to Hamas (PDF p.341).
- Makdisi classes him among the men Israel can “find or hire” to staff a pliant Palestinian government (PDF p.347).
Related pages
Palestine Inside Out: An Everyday Occupation, Hamas, Fateh, Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas