RAMALLAH, West Bank — For half a century, the fortunes of the Palestinian people have been inextricably linked to the fate of Fatah, the once-dominant political movement founded by Yasser Arafat. Five years after Arafat’s death, the movement is divided, and hopes of establishing even a weak Palestinian state alongside Israel appear as elusive as ever. Next week, for the first time in two decades, Fatah leaders from around the world will meet in Bethlehem at a conference they hope will be a new start. The run-up to the conference doesn’t give demoralized Palestinians much reason for hope, however. Fatah leaders have been feuding over allegations that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Fatah strongman Mohammed Dahlan conspired with Israel to kill Arafat - charges the two deny as scurrilous. Hamas, Fatah’s hard-line Islamic rival, which wrested electoral control of the Palestinian Authority in 2006 and then routed Abbas’ forces from Gaza in 2007, hasn’t allowed anyone living in the isolated Mediterranean strip to attend the conference. Many Palestinians have lost faith in a political party they consider corrupt, inept and ineffective. ‘The Palestinian national movement is in crisis,’ said Aaron David Miller, a veteran […]