<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><oembed><version><![CDATA[1.0]]></version><provider_name><![CDATA[Occupied Palestine | فلسطين]]></provider_name><provider_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com]]></provider_url><author_name><![CDATA[occupiedpalestine]]></author_name><author_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/author/hajarhajar/]]></author_url><title><![CDATA[The problem with Palestinian political leadership ~ by&nbsp;@benabyad]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[<p id="stand-first" class="stand-first-alone"><strong>A legitimacy deficit, a lack of smart tactics and a focus on power for power&#8217;s sake are all barriers to Palestinian liberation</strong></p>
<p>Ben White |  guardian.co.uk | Thursday 1 September<br />
<img src="https://i2.wp.com/static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2011/8/31/1314801862894/Palestinian-women-walk-ne-007.jpg" alt="Palestinian women walk next to a mural of militants in the West Bank town of Jenin" width="460" height="276" /><br />
<em>Palestinian women walk past a mural of militants in the West Bank town of Jenin. Photograph: Mohammed Ballas/AP </em><br />
<strong>For a few months now, discussion of Palestine/Israel has focused on the looming <a title="Guardian: Palestinians to present statehood bid to UN general assembly" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/aug/14/palestinian-statehood-un-general-assembly">UN vote on Palestinian statehood</a>, but this is obscuring more fundamental problems in the Palestinian political arena – of which the forthcoming UN vote is a symptom.</strong><br />
In three critical areas, there are significant flaws hampering Palestinian political leadership.<br />
The first is a legitimacy deficit. Both the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority and Hamas have, with the most generous interpretation, a minority mandate from the Palestinian people. The last elections of any sort took place in 2005-2006, and overdue local elections have been <a title="AFP: Palestinian local elections 'postponed indefinitely'" href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jyOBl52cEigoeQsewzbtwn9VdZdw?docId=CNG.5fad70b189faefe5cb9ec67dccce6c25.971">indefinitely postponed</a>.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>And even if presidential or parliamentary elections in the West Bank and Gaza were to take place tomorrow, they would still exclude Palestinian refugees. The Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) remains a potential vehicle for democratic decision-making, but serious reform is still not on the horizon.<br />
The second critical problem is a lack of creativity and strategic thinking when it comes to tactics. This has a number of root causes which are beyond the scope of this article but the main point is a marked inability to adapt to circumstances with regard to the kind of smart resistance most appropriate for confronting Israeli colonisation. This is more than simply an issue of &#8220;violent&#8221; versus &#8220;nonviolent&#8221; (a discussion often plagued by patronising western double standards).<br />
Fear of losing control over the course of events can be one factor inhibiting an openness to change – which brings us to the third problematic area: a focus on power for its own sake rather than for the achievement of a specific goal.<br />
This criticism applies to both Fatah and Hamas, though the former has been guilty of it for a longer period of time and with more devastating consequences. Over the past five years or so, the conflict between these two factions has frequently resembled a fight for who can occupy the Bantustan palace, rather than who can serve most effectively the unfinished Palestinian revolution.<br />
This fight for fake authority has resulted in a dangerous phenomenon: the <a title="electronicintifada.net: Leader of Gaza youth group reportedly arrested by Hamas authorities on return from France" href="http://electronicintifada.net/blog/ali-abunimah/leader-gaza-youth-group-said-arrested-hamas-authorities-return-france">harassment of youth activists</a> (such as the 15 March movement) and <a title="Jerusalem Post: PA arrests professor who criticised Nablus university" href="http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=235477">dissidents in the West Bank and Gaza</a>. The growing expressions of dissatisfaction, particularly from young Palestinians, have contributed to a hardening grip on power by two regimes that fear they stand to lose from an overhauled democratic system.<br />
At the root of this is the <a title="Wikipedia: Oslo Accords" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oslo_Accords">Oslo Accords</a>, 18 years old and still setting the parameters for official Palestinian efforts to realise &#8220;autonomy&#8221; in terms set by the occupier. &#8220;Liberation&#8221; was replaced by &#8220;authority&#8221; before any liberation had been achieved or any genuine authority was possible. The Palestinian Authority and the Oslo structure shifted the discourse over Palestine – both domestically and internationally – from a discourse of rights (right of return, liberation, decolonisation and self-determination) to one of statehood and independence.<br />
As a consequence, basic rights became fodder for negotiations with those responsible for the Palestinians&#8217; dispossession and colonisation, and popular resistance was hindered. For example, in the context of security co-operation with the Israeli military – and a growing number of protests in 2011 – the Ramallah leadership has made clear that it intends to <a title="www.haaretz.com: Palestinian Authority orders forces to prevent violence after September UN vote" href="http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/palestinian-authority-orders-forces-to-prevent-violence-after-september-un-vote-1.377021">police Palestinian demonstrations</a> to keep them safely in urban West Bank enclaves.<br />
Encouragingly, many Palestinian civil society groups are demonstrating vision, creativity and integrity: from the <a title="bdsmovement.net" href="http://bdsmovement.net/">BDS movement</a> and <a title="twitter.com/GazaYBO" href="http://twitter.com/GazaYBO">Gaza Youth Break Out</a>, to <a title="www.stopthewall.org" href="http://www.stopthewall.org/">Stop the Wall</a> and other <a title="www.holylandtrust.org" href="http://www.holylandtrust.org/">grassroots</a> popular initiatives.<br />
Yet there is no significant parallel in the political sphere – a failing that is a real impediment to Palestinians realising their rights. Even putting aside <a title="electronicintifada.net: How Palestinian Authoritys UN 'statehood' bid endangers Palestinian rights" href="http://electronicintifada.net/blog/ali-abunimah/how-palestinian-authoritys-un-statehood-bid-endangers-palestinian-rights">the problems</a> with the unilateral <a title="Guardian: Palestinian state could leave millions of refugees with no voice at UN" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/aug/26/palestinian-state-refugees-voice-un">UN initiative</a>, it is clear that much bigger challenges remain.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/benwhite">Source</a></p>
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