MIDDLE EAST: Rivals have quietly begun jockeying for advantage, writes Michael Jansen in Jerusalem
As the glowing red globe of the sun sank below the Judean hills just before five yesterday evening, Palestinian families gathered round tables laden with traditional specialities to break the fast during the holy month of Ramadan.
While they ate soup and heaped their plates with stews of lamb and vegetables and rice, they kept one eye on televisions broadcasting news and images of the flight of the Palestinian President, Mr Yasser Arafat, from his compound in Ramallah to the hospital in Paris where he is undergoing tests to discover why he collapsed on Wednesday night.
Although he is a frail 75, most Palestinians express surprise over the emergency, as well as concern for his health. A tearful young man at the presidential compound kept saying over and over, "Abuna, abuna, my father, my father" to whoever was ready to listen.
Dr Ghassan Khatib, the minister of labour in the current cabinet, said "the government is working normally. There has been a certain amount of decentralisation in the last two years," so Mr Arafat's sojourn abroad should not halt normal operations. Dr Khatib did not expect any trouble "for the time being".
This does not mean there will not be jockeying for political advantage. Mr Mahmud Abbas, the former prime minister, has assumed the temporary chairmanship of the Palestine Liberation Organisation and of Mr Arafat's ruling Fateh movement. Mr Ahmad Qurei, the present prime minister, is running the administration. Meanwhile, Mr Arafat's entourage have taken fax machines to Paris so he - and they - can continue to exert influence on the local scene.
But, for the present, there is no real power struggle. The Islamist Hamas grouping, the main rival of the secular Fateh movement, declared that Palestinians should remain united and reject internal division and conflict.
Hamas also warned Israel not to try to stir up trouble.
A member of the Palestinian Legislative Council for Gaza, Dr Ziad Abu Amr, said: "People are not worried about violence. No one will try to jump over the legitimacy [ the legally constituted Palestinian Authority] and its hierarchy." To do so, he said, would be like jumping into thin air.
"No one has a power base to challenge the existing order. People would not tolerate anyone who disturbs the situation. This would be bad taste and bad conduct . . . Palestinians must join ranks and move forward while the president is away being treated and not waste more time in fighting. This would exacerbate Palestinian agony."
In Dr Abu Amr's view, Mr Arafat's removal from the scene even on a temporary basis will make it difficult for "the Israelis to defend the unilateralist disengagement plan as an alternative to the road map" peace proposal backed by the international community.
The Israeli Premier, Mr Ariel Sharon, "claims that it is not part of the road map but is consistent with the road map," therefore, he should be ready to negotiate on its basis because he has new interlocutors rather than Mr. Arafat, who has been rejected by Mr Sharon.
Dr Abu Amr said that if Mr Arafat is unable to exercise his powers or dies, there must be an election within 60 days. He observed that 60 per cent of Palestinians have already registered to vote.
A Palestinian academic who consulted opinion in the street said, "People have mixed feelings. They personally sympathise with him" but they also feel that "if change cannot happen by design, there is some logic in what is going on."
Mr Arafat's "absence opens up new horizons for the Palestinian people. Before his ailment there was gridlock, stagnation. Arafat was an obstacle. People were fed up. Any change carries some promise, creates new dynamics."