Ghazal Sawez

5. What is the Palestinian authority? When was it established, how has it

functioned and why has it failed to produce any measure of independence for

Palestinians?

It is difficult to discuss Palestinian authority because it is currently split in

two. Fatah governs over the west bank while Hamas is in Gaza. While the land is

not very large to begin with, the two areas are governed completely different.

Hamas and Fatah are not very fond of each other, this of course being because

of their different opinions in how to rule over the land. Hamas being a more

religious right wing Islamic party while Fatah is socialist and secular. The two

groups have different origins and are run differently, but they both together

represent the Palestinian authority today.

The Palestinian Liberation Organization or the PLO is the long lasting

official authority in Palestine. It was founded in 1964 as an attempt to represent

the Palestinian people. In 1974 it received observer status at the United Nations.

Later in 1993 Israel accepted the PLO as being the authority of the Palestinians.

Yasser Arafat became the Chairman of the PLO soon after its start in 1969. In

1982 after the Israelis invaded Lebanon, many of the PLO members were forced

out of the country. “For the next decade, the members of the organization were

dispersed in many Arab nations, while they continued to build diplomatic ties

throughout the world and again emerged as the sole remaining political symbol

for Palestine.” (Carter, Palestine Peace Not Apartheid, 104) The PLO was

comprised of 18 members that were elected into their positions. Their goal was to
defend the Palestinians struggle for independence and they started with the hope

to remain a secular organization. The PLO is made up of 10 different factions; of

these Fatah is the largest.

Fatah is a faction of the PLO that is considered to be left wing nationalist

party. They originally stated their goal as being to “complete the liberation of

Palestine, and eradication of Zionist economic, political, military, and cultural

existence” however Arafat was said to have wanted the last part of that remark

removed from their charter. Yasser Arafat was one of the founders of Fatah,

which became a member of the PLO in 1967. He continued to head Fatah and

be the chairman of the PLO up until his death in 2004. After his death there was

an election in which “The Carter Center was asked to observe the process, with

the National Democratic Institute as a partner.” (Carter, Palestine Peace Not

Apartheid, 169) In the end Mahmoud Abbas was elected as the leader of the

Fatah faction of the PLO.

Hamas was founded in 1987 by the Palestinian side of the Egyptian

Muslim Brotherhood; this was during the first intifada, this “sustained,

independent, and forceful action of young Palestinians surprised both the Israelis

and the PLO.”(Carter, Palestine Peace Not Apartheid, 105) They have been

linked to a history of violence and have been referred to as a terrorist

organization by much of the International community. A first chain of attacks on

Israel took place in 1993, and Hamas has since been accused of dozens of other

attacks. Yet to the surprise of many, Hamas won 2/3 of the seats in the

Palestinian parliament in 2006. This meant that Hamas now had more seats than

Fatah, but after much conflict between the two groups Fatah regained power
over the West Bank while Hamas took control of Gaza. While Hamas has

mentioned that their goal is to create an Islamic state over the land that is

currently Israel, however Hamas Prime Minister, Ismail Haniyeh, stated in June

2009 that they would “have not problem with a sovereign Palestinian state over al

lands within the 1967 borders” (Carter, Palestine Peace Not Apartheid, 203).

Since Hamas has come into rule in Gaza, there has been no motivation to start

any type of negotiations from Israel’s side because they refuse to deal with a

violent terrorist group. This would mean that the creation of Hamas has actually

made it easier for Israel to refuse to negotiate.

There are many reasons as to why the Palestinian people have suffered

as a result of their unstable government. Perhaps the biggest is the image that

the Palestinian authority holds in the international community. Throughout the

years one thing has been certain about the Palestinian government, it’s

instability. While the region has conflicts within itself over who should be the

voice of the Palestinians, the rest of the world’s credibility of a future Palestinian

state is dropping. While Israel seems to come prepared to any negotiation or

meeting, Palestine can barely manage to decide who their leader is. This view

only contributes to the backward image that much of the international community

already has about Palestine. Also while the instability within the Palestinian

government exists, Israel does not have to be expected to negotiate some type

of deal with them. Another problem with the constant struggle over power in

Palestine is that while these parties are fighting each other it becomes too

difficult for them to fight for the rights of the Palestinian people. This instability

has also discouraged many qualified candidates to participate in the Palestinians

parliament and try to resolve its issues. Many of the members of the PLO

dropped out during times of conflict between Hamas and Fatah, but many of

them rejoined later.

The Palestinian people have become frustrated after not being heard for

so long, even with democratic elections their votes do not seem to have much

effect. Many feel this is how Hamas won so many seats in the 2006 election in

the first, because the Palestinian people were ready to try something different

after years of not getting any results from Fatah. Once Hamas still was not

allowed to rule the West Bank, despite the votes of the people moral feel a bit

from people of all parties. What is the point of an election, if someone overrules

the decision? At this point the Palestinian people have began to lose faith in their

own government, making it even harder for them to gain their independence.

In order for the Palestinian people to have their voices heard I feel it is

crucial that there be some kind of grass roots movements, much like those that

formed during the first intifada. Without this type of organization to portray the

ideas of the people we may never see stability with the Palestinian authority.

Currently Mahmoud Abbas has cooperated in discussions with President Obama

over the conflict with Israel, yet he has said from the beginning that he refuses to

begin negotiating with Israel until construction of the settlements has come to an

end. After many attempts at negotiating some type of solution to the Middle East

conflict one thing is clear, that the Palestinian people are certainly at a

disadvantage. This is due to the fact that their authority has not been stable from

the beginning of the PLO’s existence and they cannot compete with Israel’s

extremely organized and stable government. This has been clear from
experiences such as the Camp David talks with President Clinton. Until the

Palestinian people unit and try to achieve a unified stable government their

chances at peace and independence are put on hold. Of course it is difficult for

the Palestinians alone to express their concerns and wishes, which is why it is

also important that other Arab countries form some type of pact with the

Palestinian people for this is another “possible form or independence for

Palestine and as being in the interests of the Arab states themselves.” (Buber,

Arab-Jewish Unity, 14) One of the major political powers in the Middle East is

Saudi Arabia; it certainly has the means to assist the Palestinian authority in

efforts to end the violence in the region. “The leaders of Saudi Arabia can be a

crucial and beneficial force in the Middle East whenever their influence might

make the difference in bringing peace and stability to the region as an alternative

to war and continuing political turmoil.” (Carter, Palestine Peace Not Apartheid,

102)