Why is the Palestinian Authority unable to mobilise its people?
Palestinians demonstrating against the Trump plan clash with Israeli soldiers near the West Bank village of Tubas, 29 January 2020
Mariam Barghouti writes in Aljazeera:
With the announcement of the Trump administration’s “deal of the century” on January 28, the Palestinian Authority (PA) sprung into action. Within hours of the White House ceremony, at which US President Donald Trump released the details of his plan, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said “a thousand no’s to the deal of the century”.
The PA then proceeded to issue a number of threats, including once again to sever ties with Israel’s security agencies, and a call for mass demonstrations against the proposed deal.
Despite its rhetorical huffs and puffs, however, the Palestinian leadership could not muster a powerful reaction to the outrageous infringement on Palestinian rights that Trump’s proposal really is. It could not even mobilise its own people. Why?
Because for more than 20 years now the PA has actively participated in the repression of the Palestinian people, while maintaining a close relationship with Israeli security forces. Its attitude, rhetoric, and policies in the past and in the present have always been directed not at protecting the rights and wellbeing of the Palestinian people, but at maintaining power at any cost.
The “deal of the century” has unmasked the PA’s duplicity and the toll it has taken on Palestinian mass mobilisation.
Since its establishment in 1994 as a result of the disastrous Oslo accords, the PA has done little more than help Israel pacify the Palestinians while their land, property, and resources have been taken over by Jewish settlers. To secure its power, the Palestinian leadership has maintained close cooperation with Israel, torturing Palestinian dissidents and providing intelligence on Palestinian activists.