Amid ashes and blood, the Palestinian Authority carves its claim on Gaza
Mahmoud Abbas chairs a meeting of the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah on 18 February 2024.
Bana Abu Zuluf and Ameed Faleh write in Mondoweiss on 16 December 2024:
Antonio Gramsci’s famous words—“The old world is dying, the new world is struggling to be born; now is the time of monsters”—capture the grim state of Palestinian politics today. Among Palestinians, one of the most glaring “monsters” is the Palestinian Authority (PA).
The PA’s legitimacy has steadily eroded, particularly under the leadership of Mahmoud Abbas, who has clung to power since his presidential mandate expired in 2009. Once touted as an interim administrative body, the PA now functions primarily as an arm of Israeli occupation, prioritizing its survival over the liberation of the Palestinian people.
Its role in the West Bank has become one of containment and counterinsurgency, a betrayal that fuels widespread anger among Palestinians. Now, with the unprecedented destruction in Gaza, the PA sees an opportunity to position itself as central to the strip’s future governance—but this is less a strategy for unity and more a desperate bid for relevance.
The PA’s decay
The erosion of the PA’s legitimacy has been a slow but steady process. In a 2023 poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, 62% of Palestinians called the PA a burden, while 68% said the Oslo process harmed Palestinian national interests. Corruption is rampant, with PA officials enriching themselves while ordinary Palestinians suffer. Much of its budget, funded by international donors, props up a bloated bureaucracy and security forces instead of addressing the needs of the people.