Tonhe is muslim With the holy month of Ramadan and the Jewish holiday of Passover coinciding this year, two of the three major Abrahamic religions were supposed to reflect on their shared faith and common destiny in the Holy Land. Instead, the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians risks a dangerous escalation.
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In just five days from 5 April, Israel has been hit by rocket fire from Gaza, Lebanon and Syria. The ostensible trigger was clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police forces who entered Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque, one of Islam’s holiest sites. Video showed police beating people inside the mosque while young Palestinians fired fireworks at them.
In all of this, one actor was conspicuously absent: the Palestinian Authority (power amplifier), an interim government formed under the Oslo Accords nearly 30 years ago to lead the Palestinians towards statehood. Now the body led by Mahmoud Abbas, 87, is being rendered irrelevant, the last vestige of a dying peace process. It is undemocratic, ineffective and deeply corrupt, and it is losing touch with the Palestinians.
This was exposed last year when Palestinian security forces arrested low-level Hamas financier Musaab Shtayyeh in the West Bank city of Nablus. The arrest sparked a day of violence in Nablus, where local armed groups rioted demanding his release from Palestinian detention. Instead of clashing with Israeli soldiers, they clashed with Palestinian security forces.
From the beginning power amplifierIts legitimacy depends on it being a partner in the peace process aimed at creating a Palestinian state with the Jewish people. But with negotiations frozen for decades, power amplifier facing an existential crisis.A study last month by leading Palestinian pollster Khalil Shikaki found for the first time that a majority of Palestinians (52%) said they power amplifierIt is in their interest to collapse or dissolve.
Palestinians Lose Faith in Israel for Several Reasons power amplifier, but a key problem is that it looks bad luck in responding to Israel’s continued settlement building in the Palestinian territories. also, power amplifier Nor is it possible to protect Palestinians from the violence inflicted on them by Israeli settlers, who at times rampage through Palestinian towns and fields, beating people and destroying their orchards and vineyards. The violence has only increased since Benjamin Netanyahu returned to the post of prime minister of Israel in December with the support of right-wing parties, including those led by Jewish supremacists.this power amplifierAuthority further weakened as Israel carries out bloody raids in the region Awhich mainly includes Palestinian cities under the control of Palestinian security forces.
Since the collapse of the peace process, many Palestinians have come to accept power amplifier From the harbinger of an independent state to a glorified municipality with only basic services. Now it fails even on that character. Strikes over wage arrears have paralyzed public services. Schools in the West Bank have barely opened since early February when 20,000 teachers went on strike. Hospitals are short of key medicines. “this power amplifier unable to meet its obligations,” said Raja Al Khalidi of the Palestinian Economic Policy Institute in Ramallah, the administrative capital of Palestine. “It’s a form of collapse. [even if] This is not a physical breakdown. ”
Prickly Palestinian officials argue that Israel’s occupation of the West Bank makes it nearly impossible for them to govern. They are also short on cash, not least because Israel is withholding some 4 billion shekels ($1.1 billion) of customs revenue it collects in Israel. power amplifierrepresentative.Israel says it’s because power amplifier Transactions are not honored by maintaining security.infuriating power amplifier Payments to the families of victims of attacks against Israelis, many of them civilians. However, the problem is not just money. “It’s not just about wages,” said Youssef Joha, a leader of the teachers’ strike. “There is a trust issue power amplifier“
this power amplifierBudgetary concerns and the ability to manage crashes have also affected its security services. About 2,500 of the force’s 83,000 members are not showing up at any one time because they work in construction or hospitality in Israel to supplement their salaries, a senior military official said. This is because the monthly salary of a major general of the Palestinian security forces is only 12,160 shekels, while that of a private is only 1,900 shekels. In contrast, a Palestinian doing manual labor in Israel earns at least 6,000 shekels a month.
in recent months power amplifier Security in major West Bank cities such as Jenin and Nablus has largely spiraled out of control, where armed groups such as Lion’s Den have emerged. These are believed to be attacks on Israeli targets in the West Bank, including attacks on civilians.
Although power amplifier It is caught between a rock and a hard place by international pressure to regain control of Nablus and Jenin. If it sends in troops, as it did with Mr Shtayyeh last year, it will further lose legitimacy in the eyes of the Palestinians. However, if it backs down, Israeli forces are more likely to intervene, often with deadly consequences.
Its undemocratic ways have not helped its crisis of legitimacy. The last time Palestinians got to vote for members of the legislative council was in 2006. Mr Abbas, who was elected president in 2005, is in the 19th year of a four-year term. That would have happened had he put his name on the ballot, the investigation showed. In 2021, Mr Abbas called off parliamentary elections after opinion polls showed his Fatah party facing defeat. Many Palestinians glumly accept that elections will not be held until his death.
international donors to power amplifierLack of democracy, transparency and legitimacy.”The screws are tightened,” said one European diplomat, noting that foreign aid was increasingly going to non-governmental organizationOr go straight to the hospital. “We hardly deal with power amplifier there is none left.
Most older Palestinians oppose a resumption of the armed struggle because they do not want a second intifada or a repeat of the intifada that claimed the lives of more than 3,000 Palestinians and 1,000 Israelis between 2000 and 2005. Yet attitudes are changing. A poll released by Mr Shikaki last month found that 54% of Palestinians believe violence is the best way to end the Israeli occupation; 68% favor the formation of armed groups such as the Lions’ Den, power amplifier not control.
Mr Abbas and power amplifier Much of the blame for the plight of the authorities must be taken.But Israel, which relies heavily on its security cooperation, is weakening power amplifier. If it disintegrates further, it will leave a vacuum, likely to be filled by violent factions that abandon the peace process altogether.and power amplifier Yes, many may regret its past. ■
