PNC polls can bring the Palestinians closer to self-determination, while restoring their legitimate right to resistance.
Haidar Eid
(Associate Professor at Al-Aqsa University in Gaza)
Al-Jazeera
"Following assurances and promises by US President George W Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair to spread democracy in the Middle East only to see the destruction of Iraq and Afghanistan, a third of the Palestinian population (those in the 1967 territories) voted against the existing Palestinian National Authority government, led by Fatah. Instead they voted in favour of what seemed then to be the only political force capable of challenging the remnants of the Oslo Accords.
They did not vote based on their own political perspectives, but rather to punish a “Third-worldish” authority characterised by: corruption; suppression of freedom; de-prioritisation of the national struggle; minimisation of the Palestinian people to the population of the West Bank and Gaza; security coordination under the oversight of a US general; the steady growth of layers of unproductive bureaucracy and comprador class; suppression of the national forces of opposition parties......
The time of revolutions
Today, as part of the falsely constructed binary between these two authorities, comes the call to register at polling stations and to prepare for new PLC elections as part of a new reconciliation agreement (again!) between them. The choice again is between the religious right and the secular right, with a third, necessary alternative absent.
What is the desired outcome of these elections? And are they radically distinct from those of their predecessors? Are they meant to address the crucial mistakes that plagued the previous two elections or resulted from them? This time, will the right to self-determination as defined by every Palestinian appear on the ballot?....."
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