Palestinian Strife is Rife

 Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces are cracking down, but the dissent is widening. Anti-PA rallies are a daily occurrence since the death in PA custody in June of critic Nizar Banat.  The aim of his assassination was to scare people into silence, to demonstrate that the price of opposition is death. But it had the opposite effect. Banat was outraged by the denial of democratic rights to the Palestinian people. He called upon the EU to stop sending funds to the PA, which were being used to oppress the Palestinian people. It is with the blessing of Western governments that the PA remains in power. 

The security services’ harsh handling of dissent reinforced a belief among many Palestinians that the Authority acts as an “agent of the Israeli occupation”.

It was obvious to many Palestinians that the PA leadership served only its own interest and that of the Israeli occupation.  Mahmoud Abbas postponed the elections indefinitely, citing Israel’s restrictions in occupied East Jerusalem. But the true reason was that he feared losing the elections badly to Hamas. It denied the Palestinian people their right to voice their dissatisfaction with the political elite through the ballot box. The PA knows it has completely lost legitimacy, but it is set on staying in power at any cost, even at the cost of Palestinian lives.

Banat’s murder was no exception and the PA has often resorted to bloody violence to suppress opposition. The conduct of the PA security forces has been described as “frightening”. Neither protesters nor journalists were spared the violence of the Palestinian police.

“Popular action” against Abbas’s decision to cancel the elections would have started sooner, according to activists, but the fighting between Hamas and Israel during  May delayed it. The PA is said to be contemplating a cabinet reshuffle instead of elections. But such changes would likely be seen as superficial as they do not address the root concerns of the public.

Fatah, the party that dominates the PA and the PLO, is trying to frame the protests as a threat to “the national project” and have accused Hamas of stirring up trouble. But only a few Hamas supporters have been seen on the streets.

Anti-PA rallies put Palestinian leaders on notice | Human Rights News | Al Jazeera