The government of the Palestinian Authority, aspiring to become an independent state, is in a lamentable position.
The government of the Palestinian Authority, aspiring to become an independent state, is in a lamentable position.
This is important — and unfortunate — for several reasons. The first is it affects 4.5 million Palestinians who live in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, in principle under PA authority. The second is that, if the Palestinians are to carry out meaningful, sustainable negotiations with the Israeli government, they need to be able to present a unified front, with coherent positions.
It is certainly the case that, if the Israelis ever come to the table with serious intent, they will have prepared themselves thoroughly in advance.
Another reason is that the patience and willingness of the rest of the world to aid the Palestinians is greatly diminished by the divided nature of the Palestinian Authority.
Finally, there is the question of whether President Barack Obama should try once more to push for talks toward a Middle East agreement that might result in two states, Israel and Palestine, coexisting side by side.
The general conclusion at the moment, considering the state of the Israelis and the Palestinians, is that such an effort would be a waste of time.
One way for the Palestinians to make another outside initiative toward peace more attractive would be to clean up their act politically. They have not had elections since 2006.
The term of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, now 81, expired in 2009 and has been extended without much thought, despite the fact that his leadership capacities are steadily diminishing. The Palestinians are divided in any case, with Abbas’ Fatah party ruling in the West Bank, while Hamas and the more radical Islamic Jihad reign in the Gaza Strip.
The Palestinian parties agree, more or less, only on continuing to abhor Israeli occupation and settlers, whose numbers continue to grow and now stand at an estimated 700,000. But the Palestinians could improve their prospects greatly through political reform, something that has been lacking for years.
— Pittsburgh Post-Gazette