Israel Matzav

'Palestinian Authority' blocks Tunisia rally

Both the 'Palestinians' and the 'Palestinian Authority' understand the implications of what happened in Tunisia last week. Contrary to the claims of many pundits that the uprising in Tunisia means that the 'Palestinians' are going to rise up and overthrow the 'Israeli occupation,' it seems far more likely that the 'Palestinians' will rise up against the unelected 'Palestinian Authority.'

Shawan Jabarin, the director of al-Haq, a Palestinian human rights group, told Le Monde that it was the president’s office that had banned the demonstration and “all use of the Tunisian flag.” He added that his contacts in the Palestinian government indicated that “they were scared of the slightest spark leading to an uprising against Israel or people demanding accountability from the Palestinian Authority.”

In addition to historic ties and sympathy for the trials of a personal friend, the Palestinian president might have good reason to fear the example set on the streets of Tunis. As Hussein Agha and Robert Malley pointed out in The New York Review of Books this week, the Palestinian Authority, which controls local affairs in about 40 percent of the West Bank, is “a government that rules by decree, with little democratic legitimacy — Parliament has not met in years and elections are long overdue.”

While that hardly makes the West Bank’s local government a brutal dictatorship akin to the regime in Tunisia, allegations of corruption by unaccountable, unelected officials and torture by the Palestinian security forces have raised concerns about the kind of embryonic state Mr. Abbas is building, with international support.

Last month, Tobias Buck reported for The Financial Times from Jerusalem, “There is evidence that a significant number of detainees are tortured during interrogation” by Palestinian police officers. Mr. Jabarin, whose human rights group is based in Ramallah, told The Times, “I feel real concern that we are reaching the level of a police state.” Mr. Buck added:

Some Western diplomats say the harsh tactics will spark a popular backlash and undermine the P.A. “This is of concern to us,” says one European diplomat. Human rights abuses threaten not only to “damage the long-term legitimacy and credibility of the Palestinian Authority” but raise difficult questions for donors: “If we are building a police state – what are we actually doing here?”

We've been wondering the same thing.

Of course, if there were free elections in the 'Palestinian Authority,' Hamas could win them. And that would prove to the skeptics that the 'Palestinians' aren't really interested in a two-state solution.

Labels: Palestinian democracy, Tunisia

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:12 PM