By Daoud Kuttab

The holy month of Ramadan is an opportunity for people to gather in unison as they break their fast. This year, the key topic among Palestinians has been the issue of the Palestinian presidential succession.

The various post-Mahmoud Abbas scenarios have engulfed talks in almost every home or restaurant that Palestinians have gathered in. While the consensus among Palestinians is that the next Palestinian leader must have impeccable nationalist credentials, most agree that such an individual must also pass through some sort of vetting process by Arab countries and the international community.

While some well-known names, such as former Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, might come up for discussion, most accept that short of a free and fair general election of all Palestinians, this succession process will most certainly take place within the ruling Fatah movement. Within such a scenario, most people naturally expect to see Abbas’ successor come from one of the movement’s 20 Central Committee members.

For Palestinians living in the occupied territories today, part of the qualifications for leadership is often experiencing the tough conditions of living under occupation including paying the sacrifice of being in prison. This puts individuals such as Marwan Barghouti — who has been serving multi-lifetime terms in an Israel jail since 2002 — as the No. 1 candidate. But Barghouti’s imprisonment puts him at a disadvantage in terms of availability and even doubt whether he has the needed support from Arab countries and the United States. Continue Reading »