Fatah Unilaterally Extends Own Term

by Eric on December 16, 2009

For a group that is against unilateral Israeli actions, they sure seem to like doing things unilaterally themselves.  While probing the international community for perceptions of a unilateral declaration of a new state, PA President Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah buddies have decided to postpone the January Palestinian Authority indefinitely and extend their terms in office until a new election.  Essentially, they decided they are in charge forever.

This is bad for the Palestinian people because they now have no say in leadership for the future.  The leads to corruption and backwards progress, as was demonstrated by Yassir Arafat not long ago.

However, this might not be horrible for Israel.  The last Palestinian election saw a sweeping victory for Hamas.  The election was instrumental in the chain of events that led to a Palestinian civil war in Gaza and Hamas taking over with dictatorial leadership over the territory.

About the author

Eric Eric is the founder and editor of IsraelSituation.com. He has been to Israel many times including a semester at Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is the former president of the Israel advocacy group at the University of Colorado and teaches about Israel and the Media at a local religious school.

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  • Joel

    It would not be surprising to me if this is something that the United States supports. The last American and Israeli administrations pushed for elections despite the fact that many of the underlying issues required for functional democracy (economic stability, education, infrastructure, etc.) were not resolved. As a result, while giving the Palestinians the right to choose their own leadership was good, we actually ended up legitimizing Hamas, which is, you know, bad.

    While the Palestinians definitely need to bring democracy to their citizens, there needs to be some distinction between “legitimate political party” and “terrorist organization.” How can they balance their right to determine their own future and their right to be protected from a predatory group like Hamas?

  • http://www.israelsituation.com/ Eric

    If I knew that answer, I would deserve a Nobel Peace Prize. I think the best alternative today is for the United States, European Union, and Israel to support economic and infrastructure development.

    Only when the Palestinians can find a job and earn a livable wage can we expect real peace and real progress to materialize. Until that time, most efforts will be futile. What can ever be achieved when most Palestinians are in poverty and unemployed? I think we first have to focus on the people, then we can focus on long term goals like democracy and borders.

    This, however, seems like another setback in doing so. If Arafat had used his $3 billion to build power plants, communication infrastructure, and water treatment for the Palestinians, everyone would be better off. Now his wife shops with that money in Paris. I hope Abbas and his crew lead to a better future than Arafat.

  • Joel

    Well, so far Abbas has done a little bit to improve life for people in the West Bank, which is why extremism is low compared to Gaza. However, if Abbas decides that his government no longer has to be responsive (i.e. he takes a flying leap over the democratic process), then his people are doomed to another generation of poverty. It’s a terrible situation, and while it’s easy to blame Israel, I think history makes it clear that the Israel/Palestine divide is only one of many, many contributing factors to the difficulties there.

  • http://www.israelsituation.com/ Eric

    I think that the best friend the Palestinian people have right now is actually Benjamin Netanyahu. While he does not support a Palestinian state, he supports taking actions to improve the standard of living of the people. He has removed dozens of military checkpoints and supports policies to increase jobs and economic conditions for everyone living in the West Bank.

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