The Palestinian Authority
What is the Palestinian Authority
Created during the Oslo process, the Palestinian Authority (PA) was allegedly meant to function as a transitional governing body until Israeli and Palestinian officials finished negotiating permanent status issues through the Oslo framework.
The PA’s purpose was to temporarily establish limited Palestinian autonomy within the West Bank and Gaza Strip until official Palestinian statehood was attained. But since the final agreement that was supposed to be reached by 1999 never materialized, the PA is still operating under its legal mandate to this day.
Palestinian Authority Control
Under Oslo II, the PA has nominal administration over Area A and Area B.
- Area A: PA has full civil administration and security responsibilities
- Area B: PA has full civil administrative responsibilities, but shares security responsibilities with Israel
The PA’s civil duties include running and controlling municipal governments, schools, courts, health, culture, education, and other services. For security responsibilities, the PA’s police force upholds “public order” against Palestinians.
The PA is not a sovereign body. It only has partial jurisdiction over some Palestinians in the occupied territories and has no “authority over Israeli settlers and settlements, borders, airspace, water and a variety of other spheres”.
PA Branches of Government
Legislative: The Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), with 132 parliament members elected by Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The PLC approves cabinet positions, the Prime Minister, and the budget.
Executive: Consists of the President and the cabinet. The cabinet includes 18 ministers of various government departments, all appointed by the Prime Minister. The President of the PA is directly elected by Palestinians who are in the West Bank and Gaza.
Judicial: Consists of high courts that mostly deal with constitutional and criminal issues. Extremely weak due to lack of Palestinian sovereignty and corruption. Abbas has dissolved the High Judicial Council, lowered the retirement ages of judges, and has been accused of only appointing loyalists.
PLO vs PA
Although the PLO and the PA are distinct bodies, in practice, they are interrelated.
Created during the Oslo negotiations, the PA is legally subordinate to – and receives its legitimacy from – the PLO. However, since Oslo, the PA has increasingly grown in political significance. Today, it holds municipal authority over Palestinians in Area A and B in the West Bank.
The PLO, meanwhile, represents and makes broader decisions for Palestinians worldwide – including Palestinian refugees but excluding Palestinian citizens of Israel – but has no authority over internal governance in Palestine.
In practice, the PLO has been disempowered and overshadowed as most of its budget and personnel went to the PA, and now mostly only holds the authority to conduct foreign relations.
Is the PA Democratic?
The PA is not, and has never been, a democratic institution. Under Yasser Arafat, the PA functioned as a dictatorial regime, in which the security apparatus, police force, and bureaucracy were placed under his personal control.
Arafat’s monopoly on all civil, political, and military spheres left the PA without an effective system of checks and balances. As a result, the PA is today plagued with heavy corruption, and most of the PA executive cabinet are members of the Palestinian elite class or those with economic interests tied to Israel – beneficiaries of the status quo.
Is the PA Democratic?
Since Arafat’s death, Abbas has followed in his autocratic footsteps. But while Palestinian leaders are at fault, the PA never stood a chance of functioning democratically because of the way Israel structured it.
Not only are all of the PA’s legislative and executive powers subject to review by Israel, but all candidates for the legislative council must be approved by Israel. The PA is an Israeli puppet and enforcer for its occupation, actively subduing Palestinian resistance and diminishing Palestinian demands from within.
Moreover, the PA is sustained through donations from the U.S. and EU that put the PA at the whims of western interests that are antithetical to Palestinian liberation.
An Extension of Colonial Rule
The PA is an extension of Israeli colonial rule and has traded full Palestinian liberation for limited self-rule – to the benefit of a few Palestinian elites.
Since 1967, Israel has sought to create a “native institution” to extend its colonization in the OPT. ‘Native institutions’ act as a powerful mediator between the colonizer and colonized, and, according to policy advisor Tariq Dana, “enforce security and stability, and reduce the costs of colonial bureaucracy and military operations”.
The PA is Israel’s ‘native institution’, working in conjunction to completely suppress any Palestinian resistance. The PA’s forces are used to suppress internal dissent, with over 29% of its resources directed towards security rather than vital sectors like health.
An Extension of Colonial Rule
Parliamentary and presidential elections were supposed to be held this year, but in April, President Mahmoud Abbas cancelled them. Critics labeled this as a ‘coup’ because Abbas – who has monopolized power for 15 years – was not expected to do well.
Earlier this June, PA forces killed prominent critic Nizar al-Banat. This was done in coordination with Israeli authorities, who allowed PA forces entry into the Israeli-controlled H2 area of Hebron, where Nizar was staying. His murder sparked outrage among Palestinians, sparking mass demonstrations. Palestinian protesters were met with heavy violence.
PA security forces and Fatah loyalists in regular clothing used clubs, metal rods, teargas and sexually assaulted female protesters to disperse these mass demonstrations.
Conclusion
The PA is used to enforce Israeli control over Palestinians in the West Bank while providing a shield of false autonomy.
Running on a clientele system, the PA has consistently proven that it serves the interests of the few rather than the many.
It’s not only undemocratic, but acts against the collective interests of the Palestinian liberation movement as a whole.
For Palestinians to achieve meaningful political representation and advance their cause, action must be taken to ensure the PA does not continue to exist in its current form.
Source: LetsTalkPalestine
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