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The neutrality of this article is disputed.
The Palestinian National Authority (PNA or PA) is a semi-autonomous state institution nominally governing the
West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
It was established as a part of Oslo accords between the PLO and Israel. The Palestinian Authority has control over
both security-related and civlian issues in Palestinian urban areas (called in Oslo accords "Area A"), and civilian control over
Palestinian rural areas ("Area B").
The Oslo accords did not explicitly deal with the future of the PA, but there was an unwritten understanding on both sides
that it would become the basis of an independent Palestinian
state in the process of the final settlement.
The Palestinian Authority enjoys so far an international recognition as the organization representing the Palestinian people
(albeit a limited one). It has an observer status in the United
Nations, and receives considerable funds as aid from the European
Union, the United States and Israel. The Gaza International Airport was built by the PA near Gaza,
but operated for only a brief period before being shut down by Israel, following the outbreak of Palestinian violence against
Israel in 2001. A sea port was being constructed in Gaza (see below).
The PA maintains official uniformed armed services ranging from 40,000 to 80,000-man(1) employing armored cars and whose members carry automatic weapons. Officially termed a "police force", it is in
reality something in between a militia and an army. In violation of the Oslo Accords which limit the PA to a
police force of 30,000 without any para-military or military groups or formations.
Many Palestinians are dependent on access to the Israeli job market. During the 1990s,
Israel however began to replace Palestinians with foreign guest workers. They were found to be economical and also were useful as
a means limiting dependence on Palestinians as a source of cheap labor due to security concerns. This hurt the Palestinian
economy, and reduced the popularity of the PA.
Elections
A single election for president and the legislature took place in 1996. The next
presidental and the legislature election were scheduled for 2001. To date (10 May 2004)
these elections have not taken place. On May 10, 2004 the Palestinian Cabinet announced that municipal elections will take place for the first time. Currently,
municipal leaders are appointed. Jericho will be the site of the first municipal
election in August 2004. Subsequently, elections will be held in certain municipalities in the Gaza Strip.
Internal structure
The Palestinian Authority has historically been associated with the PLO, with whom Israel negotiated in the Oslo accords; as
such, it has been headed so far by Yasser Arafat, and manned almost
exclusively by PLO officials, most of them locals who have participated in the Tanzim (Operations), PLO's militant branch
established for the First Intifada.
In 2003, Arafat gave in to international pressure, and appointed Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) as "prime minister" of the PA. Both Israel and the US
refuse to negotiate deals with Arafat, whom they regard as linked to terrorists. Arafat is leader of the PLO, regarded by some Western analysts as a "terrorist" group despite its observer status at the United
Nations.
Arafat's administration is characterized by the lack of democracy, by the wide-spread corruption among officials, and the
division of power among families and among the numerous governmental agencies with overlapping functions. Thus, Yasser Arafat
controls through various mechanisms no less than 8 distinct security organizations, and his education ministry boosts more than
20 chairmen. After a single round of elections in 1996, which he won by a land-slide, Arafat cancelled elections for an
indefinite period; some would claim that the resulting structure bears a strong resemblance to the dictatorial Middle Eastern
regimes, implementing the mantra: "one man, one vote, once."
In spite of attempts to pre-empt the PLO (and Arafat personally) from the West Bank and Gaza in the 1970s and the 1980s, both
the Western powers and Israel have decided by the time of the Oslo Accords
that Arafat's presence would be the least of evils, providing a certain degree of stability and keeping at bay the influence of
Islamists (Islamic fundamentalists). Following the Second Intifada (below), both
American and Israeli leaders declared they lost trust in Arafat as a source of stability. This began a push for change in the
Palestinian leadership. Democratization is held to be the optimal way to achieve such a change, although it is unlikely to take
place with PLO men in positions of power.
Overall, the divide et impera scheme implemented by
Arafat personally, guarantees that in the atmosphere of power-struggle forever present in the Authority, he will always be able
to control the antagonists by pushing them down with the help of his comrades; an added value is that he is able to create a
smoke-screen over his actions, by asking his subordinates for something, and then at worst claiming that they did so
spontaneously, as a part of their struggle with their comrades. Members of the hierarchy are encouraged for their membership via
the distribution of power, goods and means of income (such as controlling the taxation of some kind of activities).
While granting the above-mentioned advantages, this scheme also means that Arafat's overall control is diminished, parts of it
being split among his subordinates. This in turn means that he is less able to cope with non-PLO organizations, mainly the
Islamic militant movements Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. While on the street, PLO and the movements are often at odds, there's
a higher-order relationship among them when it comes to external affairs, in which Arafat gets to regulate the movements'
activities (in particular, violence against Israel),
for the sake of what he calls "Palestinian national interest", in return for protecting them. However, the Islamic movements do enjoy a great degree of independence when it comes to
internal affairs, and so after Arafat's demise as the oracle of this "national interest", they may become openly hostile to the
PLO.
Current events
Since the beginning of the Second Intifada, a growing number of
Palestinians have stopped accepting the Palestinian Authority as a representative of the Palestinian people. Some claim that has
become a tool of the Israeli government, and that Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad represents the Palestinian interest more
loyally. However, polls indicate that the Israeli attack on the West Bank since the spring of 2002 has strengthened the standing
of Arafat among the Palestinian people.
Israel, on the other hand, has accusted the Palestinian Authority of ignoring and covertly sponsoring the waves of violence
towards the Israelis. Israeli experts claim that Arafat specifically intended to lose authority in favor of the Islamic
movements, so that he could still use terrorism without actually controlling it. The prolonged support and participation of his
own private militia, the Fatah, in terrorist attacks, reinforces that claim. This view
has been officially accepted by the United States in summer 2002, which decided then to halt most sorts of negotiations with the
current Palestinian authority, pending a fundamental organizational change. The non-governmental American Council on Foreign Relations has declared the
Palestinian Authority under Arafat a haven for terrorism.
During the Intifada, Israel has often targeted Palestinian Authority personnel and resources, whom they accuse of harboring
terror. In particular, many of the people arrested, assassinated or killed in action because of their terrorist activities were
employees of the Palestinian authority's security forces or militias. In Operation Defensive Shield Israel has captured documents that allegedly prove that the
Palestinian Authority officially sponsors terrorist activities, which are carried out by its personnel as "shadow jobs". For
instance, Israel Marwan Barghouti, a prominent leader of Fatah, for
his role as leader of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs'
Brigades.
Israel has also targeted Palestinian Authority infrastructure; in particular it has closed and destroyed parts of the
Palestinian sea and air ports, that were used, as it claimed, to transport terrorists and their equipment. Israel's incursions
during the Intifada also led to damage to some of the Palestinian computer infrastructure, though it is not clear to what extent
it was deliberate.
These moves were criticized by the Palestinians, who claim that the Palestinian Authority is nearing collapse, and is no
longer able to carry out its internal and external obligations. Israel claims that that the current Palestinian Authority is
fradulent and impossible to trust, and hence no longer relevant to achieving a future peace agreement.
Due to heavy Israeli, American and European pressure, Arafat has recently declared a series of reforms that would perhaps also
include carrying out elections in early 2003. Most experts, however, find that these reforms will not be able to significantly
change the above-described state of the Authority, if solely done from within.
Financial Irregularities
In February, 2004, it was reported that the European Union (EU)
anti-fraud office (OLAF) is studying documents suggesting that Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian Authority diverted tens of millions of dollars
in EU funds to organizations involved in terrorist attacks, such as the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. Its final report is expected in 2004.
A separate EU "Working Group" has issued a report in April 2004, adopted by a 7-6 vote, which covers the period from the end
of 2000 to the end of 2002, states that EU aid has
not been siphoned off to Palestinian militants carrying out attacks on Israelis: "There is no conclusive evidence, to date, that
the EU non-targeted direct budgetary support was used to finance illegal activities, including the financing of terrorism".
British European Parliament Member Charles Tannock, who was
part of the probe, describes the report as "a partial whitewash." "The Working Group Majority Report has chosen to ignore signed
payment orders by Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser
Arafat to the tune of $39,000 to people linked to terrorist activities or their families on the basis that these are
circumstantial evidence only and do not prove anything, as payment cannot actually have been shown to have taken place"
The EU has changed the way it funded the Palestinians and now targeted aid for specific purposes. From April 2003, money is
only handed over if various conditions are met, such as the presentation of invoices for bills the Palestinians need to pay. The
EU remains the biggest donor to the Palestinian Authority.
In April 2004, it was claimed in an Israeli newspaper that General Haj Ismail Jabber, commander of the Palestinian Authority's
National Security force, considered the largest of the Palestinian security forces, has been collecting the salaries for 37,000
members when the force has only 30,000. The General has been pocketing the difference of $2 million each month. Furthermore, the
General has been receiving the salaries based upon the international currency exchange rate of 4.5/US dollar and paying the force
members at the exchange rate of 3.7/US dollar, resulting in a additional $500,000 for the General each month. [1]
Failure to Protect Holy Sites
Under the Oslo Accords, the PA accepted the obligations to safeguard the
holy sites, Jewish and Christian, and ensure unrestricted access by worshipers.
- The Abraham's Oak "Holy Trinity" Monastery located in Hebron belonging to the
Russian Orthodox Church was seized on July 5, 1997 by Palestinian Authority policemen who
physically removed the monks and nuns. Several of the monks and nuns required hospitalization.
- Hours after the Israeli evacuation from Shechem (Nablus) on October 7, 2000,
Palestinians desecrated and burned down the Patriarch Joseph's
Tomb. The Associated Press reported that within two days "the dome of the tomb was painted green and bulldozers were seen
clearing the surrounding area". It was destroyed again on October 16, 2003. (See The IDF statement , Shechem.org , WND , Palestinefacts.org )
- Palestinian gunmen forced their into the Church of the
Nativity in Bethlehem and damaged the building during their stay therein.
[2]
- The Palestinian Authority has allowed Palestinian gunmen to use The Church of Saint Nicholas in Beit Jalla as firebase for
shooting attacks on the Israeli community Gilo.
- A yeshiva built next to the site of a 1000-year-old synagogue near Jericho, entrusted to the Palestinian Authority
under the Oslo Accords, has been burned and razed.
Failure to supress lawlessness
The Palestinian
Human Rights Monitoring Group reports everyday disagreements and clashes between the various political factions, families
and cities that a complete picture of Palestinian society is painted. These divisions have during the course of the al Aqsa
Intifada also led to an increasingly violent ‘Intrafada’. In the 10 year period from 1993 to 2003, 16% of Palestinian
civilian deaths were caused by Palestinian groups or individuals[3] .
Erika Waak reports in The
Humanist Of the total number of Palestinian civilians killed during this period by both Israeli and Palestinian security
forces, 16 percent were the victims of Palestinian security forces.[4]
Accusations of collaboration with Israel are used to target and kill individual Palestinians: Those who are convicted have
either been caught helping Israelis, spoken out against Arafat, or are involved in rival criminal gangs, and these individuals
are hung after summary trials. Arafat creates an environment where the violence continues while silencing would-be critics, and
although he could make the violence impossible, he doesn't stop it.[5]
Freedom House's annual survey of political rights and civil liberties,
Freedom in the World 2001-2002, reports Civil liberties declined due to: shooting deaths of Palestinian civilians by
Palestinian security personnel; the summary trial and executions of alleged collaborators by the Palestinian Authority (PA);
extra-judicial killings of suspected collaborators my militias; and the apparent official encouragement of Palestinian youth to
confront Israeli soldiers, thus placing them directly in harm's way.[6]
Karen Abu Zayd, deputy commissioner general for the UN Relief and Works Agency in the
Gaza Strip stated on February 29, 2004:
"What has begun to be more visible is the beginning of the breakdown of law and order, all the groups have their own militias,
and they are very organized. It's factions trying to exercise their powers." [7]
See also
Footnotes
1 David Hirst, "The New Oppressor of the Palestinians," Guardian (London), July 6, 1996, reprinted in World Press
Review, October 1996, p. 11. Hirst suggests that there are 40,000-50,000 security officers. For Israeli press reports about there
being 40,000 officers, see Steve Rodan, "Gov't: PA Has 16,000 More Policemen than Permitted by Oslo," Jerusalem Post
(international edition), May 2, 1998, p. 3. According to the Jerusalem Post, Israeli defense sources said in September 1996 that
the number of armed men in the PA had risen to 80,000. See Steve Rodan, "Palestinians Have 80,000 Armed Fighters," Jerusalem
Post, September 27, 1996, p. 5. [
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