Young guard rises in Palestinian politics

Before becoming a front- runner for the Palestinian parliament in this city, militant Nasser Juma spent most of his life either in jail or as a fugitive. At one point, he was nearly killed by Israelis and, he says, tortured by Palestinians.

But now Mr. Juma represents one of the best hopes for the future success of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's ruling Fatah Party. Party leaders hope his militant credentials will draw support from many Palestinians who are fed up with Fatah's domestic failures. Also, Fatah is looking to stem the rising political fortunes of the Islamic fundamentalist Hamas party ahead of the Jan. 25 legislative elections, the Palestinians' first in a decade.

Along with imprisoned Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti, Juma, who is in his late thirties, was one of a handful of prominent Palestinian militants to emerge victorious over graying Fatah Party politicians in the first round of a primary election held in four West Bank cities last weekend.

Primaries in the Gaza Strip Monday were disrupted by armed gunmen belonging to Fatah, the party founded by the late Yasser Arafat. The violence was the most recent manifestation of the conflict within the party pitting Arafat contemporaries who are largely considered corrupt against homegrown activists who came of age during the first and second Palestinian uprising.

"The young generation considers the old generation to be responsible for this chronic state of corruption. It refuses reform. It refuses change," says Juma. "The young generation would like to see a leadership which is empowered to lead. I am able to comprehend their desires and needs. I am able to respond to them."

Although Mr. Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, retains healthy approval ratings 10 months after being elected president, his political party has been in danger of buckling because of years of ossification under the autocratic rule of Arafat. Many say that veteran Fatah politicians have turned a blind eye to cronyism, nepotism, and lawlessness among the Palestinian Authority (PA) and its security forces.

The reputation for corruption has all but sapped the ability of Abbas's PA to enforce his election promise of "one authority and one gun" in the West Bank and Gaza. Even enforcing discipline over Abbas's own party has proven difficult.

Fatah's lack of discipline has hurt it in a series of municipal elections in the West Bank and Gaza. In these, Hamas won control of dozens of local councils. The militant group has pitched itself as a party of reformers and straight shooters.

A poll by Nablus's A-Najah University released last week suggested that 38 percent of Palestinians will support Fatah in the upcoming parliamentary elections compared with 22 percent who will back Hamas.

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