Former PM returns to the spotlight in Palestine
With no details revealed about a meeting between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and former Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, Palestinians filled the void with speculation and hopes posted to social media that Fayyad might one day head a unity government.
After the United States vetoed Salam Fayyad's appointment to be UN envoy to Libya in 2017, the former Palestinian prime minister accepted an academic appointment at Princeton University. Fayyad is currently spending his summer vacation back home in Palestine after his first year as a professor at the prestigious Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.
While recently attending a social event on the West Bank, a friend asked Fayyad if he wouldn’t mind meeting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during his stay. Fayyad told the mutual friend that he had no objections to doing so. Within days, a meeting had been scheduled.
On June 28, Fayyad arrived for a meeting with Abbas. Also in attendance were Majid Farraj, head of the Palestinian intelligence service, and Hussein Sheikh, minister of civil affairs, a position that coordinates activities with Israel.
Fayyad declined to divulge details to Al-Monitor about the content of the meeting, simply describing it as “pleasant and positive” and dealing with current issues, most important, “the situation in Gaza and national unity.” In contrast with Fayyad’s silence, however, media coverage, mostly online and on social media, buzzed, full of speculation and hope.
