Palestinian reconciliation

The announcement on April 27th that the Palestinians’ two main factions, the secular-minded Fatah and the Islamist Hamas, will form a government of national unity and hold elections could be a dramatic game-changer in the long-stalled Middle East peace process—if it actually happens. And even if it does not, a new dynamic in Palestinian politics, generated by the revolution in Egypt, is taking shape. Most Palestinians will be heartened by the news. Most Israelis are likely to be dismayed.

The two Palestinian factions, bitter rivals for years, have made various desultory efforts to settle their differences. After Hamas won an election in 2006, the groups engaged in ceaseless clashes until, a year later, they formed a unity government that rancorously collapsed after a few months. Since then, Hamas has run the Gaza Strip on its own, more or less under siege by Israel, while Fatah’s leader, Mahmoud Abbas, as president of the Palestinian Authority (PA), has run the West Bank, more or less in cahoots with Israel.

(Adopted from The Economist, Apr 28th 2011)

    Vocabulary

dramatic	surprising; exciting
a game-changer	an event that completely changes the way a situation develops
stalled	stopped; delayed
dynamic	a force that produces change; driving force
taking shape	developing
heartened	inspired; gladdened
dismayed	disappointed or annoyed
desultory	without any particular plan; haphazard
engaged	involved; entered into conflict
rancorously	showing deep-seated resentment
run	been in charge of
on its own	alone; without anyone else
siege	blockade; a situation in which an army or the police surround a place
in cahoots	in collusion; acting together; working secretly