The Obama administration adopted a new foreign policy when it turned its back on a key ally, like Mubarak and started talking about “an orderly transition to lasting democracy.”As in Egypt, Palestinian society is struggling with a corrupt, undemocratic, authoritarian and divisive PA leadership with a long record of human rights violations and an economy which is artificially resuscitated by handouts from foreign donors.
Hence, Israel’s government should not agree to negotiate for the establishment of a Palestinian state in the strategic hills of the West Bank, until the Palestinian people first have a chance to cleanse its leadership and move toward lasting democracy as Obama has demanded from Egypt. Israel needs to know who will be the ultimate true representative of the Palestinian people before it gives its strategic assets away.
It is quite dangerous for Israel and hypocritical of Obama to ask the Jewish state to agree to the establishment of a state that eventually through free elections or a military coup may be taken over by the Islamic pro-Iranian terrorist organization. After all, Hamas’ stated goal is the destruction of the Jewish state and global Islamic rule.
Such possibility should not be a surprise to anyone looking at recent Palestinian history. In 2006, Hamas won a majority of seats in the Palestinian legislature in free elections conducted in Gaza and the West Bank by defeating the secular Fatah Party of the so called moderate leader Abbas. Hamas won with its claims of political corruption and undemocratic rule. In June 2007, Hamas forces took over Gaza from the U.S.-trained Palestinian Authority forces, establishing separate Islamic rule in Gaza. Since that time they have fired more than 6,000 rockets at Israeli towns and become a safe haven to terrorists.
As in Egypt, Israel must demand that the PA conduct new fair and free elections to choose its president and legislature. Mahmoud Abbas, who was the first leader Obama called after being elected, has stayed in power for the last two years without any elections. In 2005 he was elected for four years. In fact the last elections to the Palestinian legislature occurred in 2006, for four-year terms, but since then there have been no new elections. The problem is that the Palestinians are divided between Gaza and the West Bank and until they are reconciled or reunite, any new election would not reflect the true preference of the people.
Moreover, Israel must demand that the PA establish an independent judiciary and the rule of law, including toward opposition parties, as Obama has demanded from the Egyptians. The “Palestinian Papers” which were the cache of PA confidential documents concerning the peace talks leaked to al-Jazeera TV, revealed that the CIA and British intelligence were aware that hundreds of Hamas and other activists have been routinely detained without trial in recent years, and subjected to widely documented human rights abuses and torture. The PLO’s chief spokesman, Saeb Erekat, is recorded as telling senior U.S. official David Hale in 2009: “We have had to kill Palestinians to establish one authority … We have invested time and effort and killed our own people to maintain order and the rule of law.”
Moreover, the Palestinian Authority’s economy is not progressing as it appears. A new study by two economists, Ayal Ofer and Adam Roiter, revealed in January that 60 percent of the Palestinian Authority’s Gross National Product comes from donations by the United States, European Union, United Nations, World Bank and others countries. The Palestinian people receive the largest amount of donations worldwide, which amounts to an average of about $560 per family, per month.
According to the study, the facts on the ground indicate that the donations are used to preserve the ruling party rather than build an independent economy or business sector in contradiction to Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad’s claim of transparency which is intended to please international donors.
The funds are suspected of going into the pockets of bureaucratic echelons and to close associates of President Abbas and senior government officials who engage in embezzlement, land theft and fraud.
In November, Kieron Monks wrote in the UK-Guardian of the failure of international aid agencies to create economic development, saying “Palestine’ NGO sector become a byword for corruption, incompetence and meaningless job creation.” … “This has entrenched class divisions in Palestinian society where employment opportunities are limited to the educated elite class, narrower further by routine nepotism.”
In January, in a preemptive act after the Palestinian papers were published, the PA attorney general appointed a panel to investigate corruption of 80 senior officials, many of whom are ministers in the current PA government.
President Barack Obama said last week that a transition to democracy in Egypt “must begin now” and should lead to opposition participation in free and fair elections, adding that Mubarak “recognizes that the status quo is not sustainable and that change must take place.” Now, Israel should demand no less from Abbas and the Palestinian Authority.
Shoula Romano Horing was born and raised in Israel. She is an attorney in Kansas City, Mo., and a national speaker. You can read more of her writing on her blog, www.shoularomanohoring.com.
