New Bottles, Old Wine

Abstract

This study examines the prolonged Palestinian division. Its essential focus is to explore the various stages that the Palestinian political system has gone through and track its development from the British mandate up to the ongoing division between Fatah and Hamas. It aims to uncover the roles of regional and foreign actors which have destabilized the Palestinian national movement. Moreover, it demonstrates the role of the United Kingdom and Israel in inciting the divide and conquer principle during the British mandate, as well as the way the Palestine Liberation Organisation managed to maintain national unity from the 1960s. Finally, this study examines the real and historical reasons behind the current division between Fatah and Hamas, as well as the external factors that contribute to the continuity of the division.