A
Report on the “Palestinian National Authority”
Written by:
Pauline
Published in Payame Fadaee, winter edition 2003
The
humiliation, brutality and deprivation thrust upon the Palestinian masses for
over half a century are well known and documented, however, the less known
facts about the PA (Palestinian National Authority), are not. It is therefore
the intention of this report to bring to light the oppression and injustice
that the Palestinian people have suffered by the PA and the mounting discontent
among the masses towards their so called leaders for leading them astray and
into the arms of their exploiters through the so called peace process.
The
Oslo ‘peace process’ that began in 1993,
was simply the re-packaging of the occupation, offering a token 18% of the
lands seized in 1967
to the corrupt Vichy-like Authority of Arafat, whose mandate has essentially
been to oppress his people. After 8
years of further ‘negotiations’ orchestrated by the US, more abuses, more settlements,
more imprisonments, more suffering have been inflicted on the Palestinians.
While the PLO plaintively repeats that the Palestinians long for the return of Oslo,
according to an opinion poll taken in the West Bank
and Gaza Strip from Dec/00
to April/00,
by the Center for Palestine Research & Studies (CPRS), 55% of the
population either opposed or strongly opposed the Oslo
agreement. Yet, Arafat still hopes that the US will rescue his crumbling regime
by continuing to beg for protection,
Arab aid and international support for the fat cigar-chomping PLO bureaucrats
bent on preserving their business deals, their VIP passes and continue to
benefit from their people’s misery.
Following
the Sept/93
signing of the "Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Governing
Arrangements" (DOP) by the PLO and Israel
(which Arafat has named “the peace of the brave”), the
US
committed $500
million over a 5-year
period (1994-98). USAID
(The United States Agency for International Development) and the Overseas Private
Investment Corporation were charged with the administration of the funds. At
the Oct/93
Conference to Support the Middle East Peace Process, lead donors (US, Japan,
the EU and Norway)
pledged $2.4
billion. For this period, a total of $2.5
billion were ‘donated’ with an additional $3 billion for 1999.
This
‘assistance’, the imperialists’ catchword for domination, was and is delegated
to three strategic areas:
1) Private
sector growth. USAID supports the Palestinian Industrial and Free Zone
Authority to promote, regulate, and maintain new industrial zones in the West
Bank and Gaza
in conjunction with World Bank and the IMF. In 1998, USAID technical assistance and
infrastructure financing established a pilot border ‘free’ industrial zone in Gaza
to provide greater access of the expropriation of Palestinian labour to foreign markets. The US,
Japan,
the EU, and Norway
‘assisted’ more than 270
Palestinian businesses to ‘increase productivity’. World Bank activities
include comprehensive tracking of the development of all commercial
legislation. USAID implements its activities through the US
firms; Development Alternatives International, The Services Group, Metcalf
& Eddy, The Barents Group, and Chemonics, US
NGOs, a Palestinian NGO (Paltrade), and the Palestinian
private sector.
2) The US,
as a member of the Trilateral Committee deals with the political and technical
issues related to the adequate supply of water to both agricultural and
industrial development. From 1994-98,
approximately $315
million was disbursed for water projects. USAID, the primary donor, was joined
by Germany,
Norway,
France,
the UK,
Japan,
Italy
and the World Bank.
3)
‘Assistance’ to the PA for institutional stability because of the widespread
gap in basic services. USAID’s focus is on the
private sector for long-term ‘stability’ while access to
basic public services are implemented by US private ‘voluntary’
organizations (PVOs). The ‘peace of
the brave’ indeed. The above mentioned facts and figures derived
from Usaid.org
In
order for any lackeys to fulfill their raison d’etre,
(rofagha in estelaah yani ELATEH VOJOODI be zabaane Faransavi) the means are a given. The Palestinian
Police Force (PPF) established in May/94
includes the Palestinian Public Security Force; the Palestinian Civil Police;
The Preventive Security Force (PSF); General Intelligence Service, or Mukhabarat; The Palestinian Presidential Security Force;
emergency services and rescue; and The Palestinian Coastal Police. Other
quasi-military security organizations, such as military intelligence, also
exercise law enforcement powers. Palestinian police are responsible for
security and law enforcement for Palestinians and other non-Israelis in
PA-controlled areas of the West Bank
and Gaza Strip. So far, the CIA trained PA security forces have committed gross
human rights abuses against their fellow Palestinians subjecting detainees to
torture and repeated beatings. Washington Report On Middle East Affairs
(Dec/98)Yet,
despite the seething reports on the abuses of every basic human right, the PA
received $100
million of security equipment as part of a 5-year, $1 billion 1998 Wye aid package as was reported by PA Minister for Planning
and International Cooperation, Nabil Shaath. The PA also allocated about 1/3 of its
annual budget for the police and the security forces. Interview conducted
by Jerusalem
Post (Jan/00)
USAID’s support for
the Jan/96
elections of the PLC (Palestinian Legislative Council) provided the basis for
the award of service provision contracts to local NGOs by the PA. These
programs were implemented by a US
contractor and a US
grantee. The World Bank provided $23.8
million for small-scale community infrastructure projects executed by the PA.
The World Bank funded another $14.6
million to Palestinian NGOs for service delivery. This
ensured privatized social services from the outset.Usaid.org Thus,
in Jan/96,
Palestinians chose their first elected government consisting of an 88-member
Council and the Chairman of the Executive Authority. The PA also has a cabinet
of 20
appointed ministers who oversee 23
ministries. PA Chairman Arafat continues to dominate the affairs of government
and to make major decisions. Most senior government positions in the PA are
held by members of, or loyal to, Arafat's PLO Fatah
faction.
Arafat
stated in Oct./93
that the PLO was committed to incorporating all international human rights
standards fully into Palestinian legislation. These rights are equally affirmed
in the Palestinian Basic Law, passed by the PLC in 1996 but not yet
signed by Arafat. However, PA military and political oppression has resulted in
thousands of political detainees held in Palestinian prisons without charge or
trial, some for more than four years, according to a 1999 report by
Amnesty International. And ever since the elections in Jan/96, The
Palestinian Society for Human Rights and the Environment (LAW), the Birzeit Human Rights Action Project, the Jerusalem Centre
for Legal Aid, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), the Palestinian
Human Rights Monitoring Group (PHRMG), the Palestinian Independent Commission
for Citizens' Rights (PICCR) as well as many PLC members have been vocal in
their criticism of the PA for these abuses. The PA also fails to enforce
Palestinian High Court (PHC) judgments and, on two occasions, removed judges
from office without good cause. This resulted in public demonstrations in
support of a hunger strike by political prisoners whose detention was linked to
pressure from Israel
and the US.
Arafat promised to release them but, in fact, only about 40 were
released. Amnesty International/99
This
extrajudicial detention of “political prisoners” has existed since the
establishment of the PA in May/94.
Other serious abuses include the death penalty, unfair trials before military
courts, and widespread torture and ill-treatment. Since 1994, out of a
total of more than 2,000
individuals held under the PA's jurisdiction; only 1 political
detainee was brought to trial before a normal criminal court. Most detainees
are arrested without warrant; not charged; not brought before a judge and not brought to
trial. The few who have been brought to trial have received grossly unfair
trials before State Security Courts, often in the middle of the night, with
military judges and given heavy prison sentences of up to 25 years. Amnesty
International/99
There
is also evidence that Palestinians are being detained for their non-violent
opposition to the PA or to silence anyone critical of the PA, including
journalists and human rights activists. One Palestinian official at the PA's
Ministry of Justice told an Amnesty International delegation in 1997 “that 80% of those
we arrested had committed no offence either under Palestinian or under Israeli
law”; they were arrested to “make up the numbers” and show Israel
and the US
that the PA was making a serious effort to act against “terrorism.” Human
rights organizations do not have access to the detention centres
and the Red Cross was only given access in 1996. Most “security prisoners” are
subjected to torture without access to families or lawyers. Sometimes they
continue to be held incommunicado for weeks, months or even years after their
interrogation has ended; at least two detainees have “disappeared” after
arrest. Meanwhile, labels of collaboration have often been used by the PA to
stigmatize political opponents while denying them the means to answer the
charge and defend themselves. Amnesty International/99
The
Attorney General's office frequently requests an adjournment on the grounds
that information requested by the court has not been obtained, however, PA
security services fail to implement Palestinian High Court (PHC) orders for the
immediate release of detainees. For example, in Aug/97, the PHC
with Chief Justice Amin 'Abd
al-Salam presiding, ordered the release of ten Birzeit University students, on the grounds that they were
being held unlawfully. Soon after the court decision, the PA fired Judge Amin 'Abd al-Salam.
In Jan/98,
the PA dismissed Chief Justice Qusay 'Abadlah, the head of the Palestinian judiciary because he
criticized the PA's Minister of Justice for interfering with the courts just
two days earlier. Amnesty International/99
In
Feb/96,
Arafat told Amnesty International delegates that “No one is above the law.” However,
not only do the President, Minister of Justice and heads of the security forces
ignore the law in many of their actions, the detainees and their families have
often been reluctant to use the law to challenge unlawful detention. Those who
suffer prolonged illegal detention do not appoint lawyers feeling that they
will lose money for nothing. Instead, families approach officials who wield
political influence with the PA and request them to intervene informally in
order to secure their release. All this has resulted in a public lack of
confidence. As previously mentioned, after an agreement
signed in Sept/96,
the Islamic Crescent and the Red Cross conducts prison visits but can be denied
access to a detainee for 14
days. When abuses occur, they frequently happen during this
2-week
period. And occur they do with increasing frequency. Such abuse generally takes
place after arrest and during interrogation. In 1995, the Gaza
Civil Police commander issued to police officers in the West
Bank and Gaza
a directive forbidding torture during interrogation and directed the security
forces to observe the rights of all detainees. However, the directive does not
have the force of law since the PA does not prohibit the use of force or
torture against detainees. PA security officials abuse prisoners by hooding,
beating, tying in painful positions, sleep and food deprivation, threats, and
burning detainees with cigarettes and hot instruments. International human
rights monitoring groups have documented widespread arbitrary and abusive
conduct by the PA. Amnesty International /99
In
1996,
2
of the Palestinians
who died in PA custody were tortured. During 1999, seven Palestinians died in PA
custody, two also after being tortured. In Dec/99, the Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring
Group (PHRMG) reported that the PA had not sufficiently investigated deaths in
custody. The PHRMG added that the PA has tried to cover up incidents by
claiming that several deaths were the result of heart attacks or suicides. Even
as early as 1997,
according to Bassem Eid, a
Palestinian human rights advocate, the people knew full well that Arafat is an
autocrat who abuses human rights, condones corruption, and ignores
parliamentary procedure Eid explained: “We are
talking about the 7th
case of a Palestinian prisoner already killed in the Palestinian interrogation
wings, and there is no doubt that it’s a policy.”
PA
prison conditions are very poor. Facilities are overcrowded and dilapidated.
Food and clothing for prisoners is inadequate and must be supplemented by
donations from families and humanitarian groups. Palestinian inmates hold
strikes and protests throughout the year in support of a number of causes and
to protest prison conditions. Judges and staff are underpaid and overworked and
suffer from lack of skills and training; court procedures and record-keeping
are archaic and chaotic. The ability of the courts to enforce decisions is
extremely weak, and there is administrative confusion in the appeals process.
In fact, there is no right of appeal-but verdicts may be repealed by Arafat.
The PA Ministry of Justice has no jurisdiction over the state security courts,
which appear to be subordinate only to Arafat. And although the PA requires the
Attorney General to issue warrants for entry and searches of private property,
this is frequently ignored by the Palestinian security forces who forcibly enter premises and destroy property.
The
charges of mismanagement and corruption also come from legislative councilors
who say that while the people live in grinding poverty, international donor
funds are used to subsidize opulent homes for Arafat’s ministers and entourage.
They also say some ministers demand a cut of the action in return for granting
lucrative government contracts. According to an auditor appointed to look into
the charges, at least $326
million of public funds had been lost to corruption and mismanagement by the
PA. Says Adel Samara, a West Bank
university professor, "It is a special economy based on corruption and
patronage." "He has robbed the general
government budget of US$200-million,"
adds Abdel Jawad Saleh, a former agriculture minister and the representative
for Ramallah in the PLC. For years, PLC members have
been trying to make Arafat publish accounts of his secret budget and four years
ago, they drafted legislation to establish a constitution. The Basic Law,
passed in 1998,
would enable the PLC to scrutinize the budgets managed by Arafat, but so far he
has avoided signing the bill into law. In 1999, Mr. Saleh,
Mr. Samara and 18
other intellectuals formed the Group of 20
and circulated a petition branding Arafat's Cabinet as a corrupt entity. Since,
Samara has been barred from holding any university position and Saleh was beaten while being imprisoned in Jericho."
In
general, PA authorities do not permit criticism of Arafat, his policies or
style of government by continuing to harass, detain, and abuse journalists. PA
harassment has led many Palestinian commentators, reporters, and critics to
practice self-censorship. PA officials impose restrictions on the press
including closing some opposition newspapers. In May/99, PA
security officials imprisoned award winning TV journalist Daoud
Kuttab for over a week without being charged for
broadcasting a Palestinian Council session that discussed PA corruption. After
the government jammed his broadcasts, Kuttab
distributed videotapes to other independent stations. The PA also has authority
over all levels of education in the West Bank
and Gaza Strip. They arrested Gaza
University
professor Fathi Sobh after
he asked students, as a final exam question, what they would do about PA
corruption. Sobh reported that he was subjected to
torture by sleep deprivation, being forced to stand for long periods, and being
shackled. Amnesty International/99
The problems
of rape, domestic violence, and "honor killings" are prominent in the
Palestinian community, but public discussion is muted and government support
systems nonexistent. The victims, all female, are punished or blamed for the
"shame" that has been brought upon them and their families. As well,
the 130,000 disabled
Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza are segregated and isolated from
Palestinian society; they are discriminated against in most spheres, including
education, employment, transportation, and access to public buildings and
facilities. In addition, PA law does not specifically prohibit forced labour, including by children. It is reported that a
significant number of Palestinian children under the age of 12 years work
in small manufacturing workshops, such as shoe and textile factories which do
not meet minimum international health and safety standards. “Report on
Human Rights Practices for 1999”A.I.
Although
a law permitting workers to establish and join unions without government
authorization exists since an agreement signed in Sept/95, no new
unions were established in all of 1996-97. 86,000
workers are members of the PGFTU, the largest union bloc which represents 30% of all
Palestinian workers. There are no laws, however, that protect the rights of
striking workers from an employer's retribution even when the employer is none
other than the PA. In Mar/97,
members of the teachers union, who went on strike over low wages, were
imprisoned for 40
days in Nablus
and Ramallah. Furthermore, blatant antiunion
discrimination is practiced where the industrial zone is being developed in the
Gaza Strip. There is currently no minimum wage and there is no legal protection
that allows workers to remove themselves from unhealthy or unsafe workplace without
risking loss of employment. Washington
Post Dec/98
According
to the United Nations Special Coordinator (UNSCO), one big electricity project
in Gaza
for the new ‘free’ industrial zone accounted for most of project investment,
otherwise, project investment decreased in 1999. Only about 19% of the West
Bank and Gaza
population actually is employed with many of those, underemployed and where the
average annual income has dropped to little over $1,000.
Now, let us take a quick look at the Palestinian economic situation back in 1993. After the
display of PLO support for Saddam Hussein during the Gulf war, the Gulf
countries stopped sending the PLO the $30
million a month it had previously sent dropping to $7 million a
month by the time of the Oslo agreement. As a result, the PLO instituted an
austerity program. According to DFLP (Democratic Front for the Liberation of
Palestine) leader Nayef
Hawatmeh, who opposed the agreement, Arafat
transferred $800
million to cover the expenses of self-rule while Saudi Arabia and the United
Arab Emirates joined the US, Japan and Europe to pledge funds at the Oct/93 meeting in
Washington to rebuild the economy. Thousands of people were unemployed or had
not been paid in months due to the cutbacks of recent years. People were
borrowing money to lead even a hand-to-mouth existence. WRMEA (Washington
Report On Middle Eastern Affairs) Nov-Dec/93
Yet,
despite the utter deprivation in 1993,
when Palestinians were asked about their economic
situation and standard of living since the implementation of autonomy, only 9% said it
had improved while 53%
said it had worsened. The resounding 71%
who believe the PA to be a corrupt institution, (The Center for Palestine
Research & Studies Dec/00-
Apr/00)
have seen day in and day out, the police chiefs cruising the streets in the latest SUVs, while Arafat rides
behind the tinted windows of his armour-plated black
Mercedes. In Gaza, the villas of the elite, each with its walled compound and
private garage, cluster near the beach and Arafat's home. Barely 2 km. away
are the refugee camps of Shati and Jabalaya whose inhabitants are housed in concrete shacks
with tin roofs and no sewage facilities. Indeed, while the Palestinian working
class suffers from more than 60%
unemployment, the fountainhead of PA wealth, Arafat, directly controls cement
imports and oil and gas distribution, as well as a Palestinian investment
company. Bidding on public tenders is invariably awarded according by Arafat
where the only real qualification for these contracts is the recipient's
personal links to the PA leader. This feeds into the structure of Palestinian
society, which remains highly tribal, with the interests of the family group
being paramount. Washington-based Middle East Executive Report Aug/Sept/00
The
area today, divided into about 63
non-contiguous cantons, punctuated by 140
Jewish settlements with their own road network banned to Arabs, is a
checkerboard of quasi-feudal fiefdoms. In Nablus, the
Al Masris are the chief landowners and have many
foregone contracts, including construction and real estate. Many family members
have also held the job of mayor. The family has benefited mightily, with
numerous key contracts, including projects for Palestinian Telecommunications Co.
and the business ‘park’ development in Jenin and
Gaza. Hebron is the fiefdom of Jibril Rajoub, PA security chief who according to the New York
Times was “a favorite of the CIA” RW Apr/02,
while his counterpart in northern Gaza is Mohammed Dahlan.
Both men have been rewarded with plush villas, top-of the-line SUVs and cash
handouts. “[Mr. Arafat] would say, 'Here is $10,000
-- go have a vacation in Europe,' or he would give it to people who have
allegiance to [him]," Mr. Saleh, former
agriculture minister and the representative for Ramallah
in the PLC, says; “I don't believe a leader can mobilize a people against
Israeli occupation while his men are corrupt. It is impossible." Meanwhile
the Palestinian masses have been reduced to poverty where 50% survive on
less than $2
a day. New Left Review #11,
Sept-Oct/01
Arafat's
supporters say the oppression caused by the Israeli occupation is the reason
for the delay in Palestinian elections, however, most know the delay is just
another form of corruption, allowing the privileged, bound to Arafat by ties of
money and complicity, to hang on to power longer. "Ever since the PA took
power in 1994,
the region's economy has deteriorated. Despite the inflows of aid, per capita
income has dropped from $1,700
to $1,300. The rest
are as corrupt as he is," Saleh says. "They
get money from him. And they are hushed up and keep quiet about all these
problems." Samara fears that if corruption persists, such local commanders
as Rajoub and Dahlan will
take over the Palestinian leadership. He even speculates they will be put on
Israel's payroll, in return for representing Israeli interests. National
Post Jan/02
The
facts of who is on whose payroll is ultimately traced
to the bourgeoisie which is ultimately indifferent to national or religious
differences unless they serve in the accumulation of capital. In Washington, a
protest against the World Bank was joined by an anti-war march, as well as one
against Israel. In the end, 65,000
merged in "the largest Palestinian solidarity demonstration in US
history." Nonetheless, the week before in Cyprus, the same World Bank
donated $1.2
billion for the embattled PA. This is in addition to the $4.7 billion the
World Bank has already provided to the Palestinians since 1993. The US
committed $300
million to the latest package. "There are no conditions in our approach to
the Palestinian situation other than practicality," said World Bank
President, James Wolfensohn, a
Jew. The World Bank's financial support is a ringing endorsement of Arafat's
policy and a prescription for more of the same; a policy of maintaining a
police state where no dissent is allowed, imprisonment exists with torture and
without trial and where the economic deprivation of the masses is a necessary
byproduct. “Palestinians, Israelis Are Pawns In
A Greater Game” by Henry Makow, Ph.D
Mar/02
The
attempt to preserve the imperialists’ Palestinian client regime can be observed
through a Washington-based Middle East executive report published in
Aug/Sept/00. In order to subdue growing frustration and
resentment of the PA, firstly, The General Revenue Administration would now
manage all the PA’s revenues, except investment income, and put it into a
single treasury account. Up until 2000, tax and
customs revenues that Israel
collected on goods headed for the West Bank
and Gaza
were deposited into a Tel Aviv Bank Leumi account
under the control of the PCSC (Palestinian Commercial Services Company)
accountable only to Arafat. The PCSC also owns 100% of the only cement company in the West
Bank and Gaza
whose profits last year accounted for 25%
of the PCSC’s total profits. According to an audit
done in Feb/00
by the international accounting firm Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, the account had holdings worth $345 million and
showed profits that year of $77
million. Secondly, until Sept/00,
these funds were never included in the PA budget, nor was
there any legislative oversight; all this would change as well. Tax collection
was up 25%,
bank credit to the private sector was up 25%.
The PA also had large funds placed in secret investments which would be audited
by an international accounting firm appointed to oversee the
privatization of much of the PA’s investment properties.
However,
the material lives of the Palestinian masses did not change except to go from
intolerably bad to even worse. According to the CPRS opinion poll taken from
Dec/00
to April/00
in the West Bank and Gaza
Strip, when asked which Palestinian political or religious faction they
trusted, 28%
of the Palestinians answered that they trusted none, 10% gave no
answer while the PLO received 0.4%.
Fatah received 32%;
*a striking contrast to the 50
out of 88
seats they had won in the 1996
elections. The only other organizations to receive above 1% were
Islamic Jihad with 3%
and the PFLP with 1.7%.
When asked which personality was the most trustworthy, Arafat received 26% whereas in
1996,
**he had won 87%
of the vote. However, a resounding 32%
did not trust anyone and another 8%
would give no answer. *, ** Associated Press May/02 In the latest poll taken by the
CPRS in May/02,
82%
of the Palestinians surveyed, thought the PA to be a corrupt institution. Dr.
Shakaki (CPRS) CBC Radio May/02
Palestinian
Planning Minister Nabil Shaath
stated that the pressure against the PA’s corrupt governance led to the new
elections to be held in 6
months as well as the immediate resignation of the cabinet. Associated
Press May/02 Not
even months of house arrest could fool the people: Kadera
Heja, a Jenin resident
proclaimed that Arafat’s refusal to visit Jenin was
“an insult to those who died in combat during the Israeli assault.” Knight
Ridder News Service May/02 In Gaza,
most Palestinians consider the fighters acting on their behalf, had been sold
out by Arafat. 27 year old Hosam Hillez exclaimed that
“after weeks and weeks of the siege, Arafat has basically given in to all the
Israeli demands, so what was the point of dragging the whole thing out for so
long?” TIME May/02
The
imperialists have no intention of allowing a truly independent Palestinian
state. Under the US brokered agreement, the Palestinian areas would remain
broken up into small, separate and isolated pieces of land, surrounded by the
lackey regimes of Israel,
Jordan
and Egypt.
Its economy would continue its dependency on imperialist ‘aid’ and its key
natural resource, water, crucial to agriculture, industry and daily life would
continue to ultimately serve the capitalist system. And until a revolutionary
organization is formed to represent the people’s interest, the Palestinians
will continue to encounter the diverse tactics of diversion and betrayal upon
their blood-soaked path to emancipation.
Long
live the Palestinian people’s just struggle for self-determination!
N.B.
For further and updated reading on this issue, refer to “Class, Economy,
and the Second Intifada” by Adam Hanieh
(Palestinian researcher and human rights worker living in Ramallah,
Palestine) Monthly Review Volume 54,
#5, Oct/02