With no effective central authority to inspire fear or respect and the PLO devoid of legitimacy precisely because of its refusal to give Hamas its rightful share in the organization, a grotesquely ineffective brand of “cohabitation” between a Fatah president and a Hamas prime minister has emerged. As a result, Palestinian politics has degenerated into a naked struggle for the spoils of power.
由于没有有效的集中权威来获得威慑或尊敬，再加上巴解组织缺少合法性（恰恰是因为它拒绝给予哈马斯在该组织中的合理地位），一种法塔赫总统和哈马斯总理之间的怪异而低效的“共存”就出现了。其结果是使巴勒斯坦政治沦落为一种赤裸裸的权力斗争。