The Mechanisms of Reinforcing National Solidarity between the Different Palestinian Factions and its Impact on Political Development "Fateh and Hamas" as a Case Study

This study focused on discussing the impact of reinforcing national solidarity between the different Palestinian factions on the political development in Palestine. Fateh and Hamas were taken as case study because both factions have a very wide political authority. The study's period extends from the date on which Oslo Accords (the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangement) until the date of preparing the study. The researcher has explained four mechanisms that have the potential to support and reinforce national solidarity in Palestine. These four mechanisms are: National dialogue, elections, unity of identity and culture of diversity, as well as reinforcing the establishment of trust between the different Palestinian factions. In the study, the research depended on studying past literature that is related to the central issue and the related historical evidences as well as discussing current situations in order to identify the repercussions of reinforcing national solidarity on political development in Palestine. The researcher depended also on the analytic, descriptive approach in order to address the most significant aspects of the issue. He further depended on conducting interviews with political and academic analysts. The study also attempts to answer the basic question here about the role of the Palestinian factions with respect to the mechanisms of reinforcing national solidarity and their impact on political development in Palestine. The researcher prepared a number of hypotheses in order to answer the study's questions. Among those hypotheses is that the Palestinian national factions do not work to achieve national solidarity, but rather, they seek to achieve their own interests on expense of the national interest which the study proved right. The study has been divided into four chapters with an introduction and a background.. The first chapter discussed the theoretical side of the study in which the researcher explained the meaning national solidarity and political development and the relationship between the two. The second chapter included the most important mechanisms of reinforcing solidarity between the different Palestinian factions as well as discussing the most important disputed files that brought about this division among the Palestinians. In the third chapter the researcher discussed the role of the Palestinian national factions towards the mechanisms used to achieve or reinforce national solidarity. He also addressed the different situations and conditions that the factions have experienced. In the fourth chapter however, the researcher practically analyzed the impact of the mechanisms of reinforcing national solidarity on political development through conducting interviews, revealing its role in the political change in Palestine, and its impact on democratic transformation in the country in order to determine the extent to which those mechanisms have achieved and reinforced political development. At the end of his study, the researcher provided a number of recommendations such as: the fact that the mechanism of the Palestinian national dialogue, elections, unity of identity and culture of diversity, reinforcing trust, form important foundations on which national solidarity can be built between the different Palestinian national factions. The dispute between those factions is not attributed to the mechanisms themselves, but to the fact that this problem is deeply rooted between them. The researcher's basic recommendations are: to work on forming a joint leadership commission that perform as a supreme leadership for the Palestinian people which includes all the factions together which will help in achieving solidarity, enabling different people to participate in decision making. This step is important as long as political dispute remains on ground and as long as past discussions continue to fail in establishing a national unity that has the potential to reinforce the Palestinian national unity.