Palestinian Elections: Abbas’ Biggest Challenger to Date Is Jailed in Israel. He Just Dealt His First Blow

Growing speculation about the possibility that Marwan Barghouti will run an independent ticket in the Palestinian parliamentary elections is an open challenge to Mahmoud Abbas’ leadership of both the Fatah party and the Palestinian Authority, as well as to the senior Fatah officials in his inner circle. Rumors of such a move have increased over the last few days, and have been bolstered by Palestinian media reports that haven’t been denied by his close associates.