By Roula Khalaf, the FT’s Middle East editor
It is easy to dismiss Mahmoud Abbas’s decision not to contest the next Palestinian presidential election as a capricious cry for attention.
Since taking the helm of the Palestinian Authority after the 2004 death of Yasser Arafat, he has often looked uncomfortable in the job and has frequently threatened to resign.
Under his leadership, the PA has been a far less corrupt administration and one genuinely committed to the peaceful pursuit of an end to Israeli occupation. But it has also presided over the worst divisions in the Palestinian national movement’s history. And its purpose – to negotiate the creation of an independent state – has looked increasingly hopeless.
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