Palestinian Authority

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The areas controlled by the PA in red

The Palestinian Authority (abbreviated PNA or PA ; Arabic السلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية, DMG as-Sulṭa al-Waṭaniyya al-Filasṭiniyya ) was a quasi-state institution that had nominally exercised government functions in the Palestinian Territories in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip since 1994 . On January 7, 2013, President Mahmud Abbas ordered the use of the term “ State of Palestine ” instead of “Palestinian Authority” in official communications. However, he did not formally dissolve the autonomy authority and its organs continue to operate under the new name. The State of Palestine has no legally binding national territory .

Development so far

The agency was established in 1994 as part of the Gaza-Jericho Agreement between the PLO and Israel . In the urban areas (so-called Area A ) it is responsible for security issues and public administration and in the rural areas (so-called Area B ) for the public administration. In another, large but very sparsely populated area of ​​the West Bank ( Area C ), the Israeli army continues to have full control, including the Israeli settlements .

The Oslo Accords made no explicit provision for the future of the Palestinian Authority, but it was an unwritten agreement that the Palestinian Authority should become the basis for a Palestinian state in the course of a final settlement.

The Palestinian Authority enjoys international recognition as the representative of the Palestinian people, but in a limited sense. It is not a subject of international law and, unlike the PLO, had no observer status at the United Nations . It was not until the vote on November 29, 2012 that the State of Palestine was granted observer status. The Palestinian Authority then decided to rename it to the “State of Palestine”. However, due to concerns about the non-recognition of ID cards, the new name will not be printed everywhere. In February 2014 problems arose for the first time with Palestinian papers bearing the imprint "State of Palestine" and presented in Israel.

The agency receives substantial subsidies from the European Union and the US and compensation payments from Israel. Traditionally, the EU is the main donor to which Germany contributes 20 percent. In 2011, a total of 830 million euros were earmarked.

The agency maintains police forces of around 40,000 to 80,000 men who have armored vehicles and carry automatic weapons. The Federal Foreign Office has been supporting the Palestinian civil police since 2008, including with new emergency vehicles.

elections

Only two elections have taken place since the agency was established in 1993. All other planned elections were postponed for various reasons.

A single election of the president and the legislature took place in 1996. The next elections were planned for 2001, but did not take place. After the death of President Yasser Arafat , an election date was set for January 9, 2005. The Palestinians elected Mahmoud Abbas as the new President of the Palestinian Authority in these presidential elections .

On May 10, 2004, the Palestinian cabinet announced local elections for the first time. The local mayors are currently not elected, but appointed centrally. The elections were to take place in Jericho in August 2004, and then also in some towns in the Gaza Strip. In July 2004 these elections were also postponed.

Parliamentary elections were set for January 25, 2006 in the summer of 2005. After initial uncertainty as to whether the Palestinians in the Arab east of Jerusalem (which Israel regards as an annexed, not an occupied area) would be allowed to participate in these elections, Mahmoud Abbas threatened to cancel the elections altogether. After pressure from the US government, however, the Israeli government agreed on January 15, 2006, ten days before the scheduled election date, and allowed those eligible to vote in East Jerusalem to vote in certain post offices.

Results of the January 25, 2006 elections

After the elections, which resulted in a majority for the Islamist Hamas, there were violent clashes between the warring parties at the end of 2006, which culminated in an internal Palestinian civil war . Hamas then took sole control of the Gaza Strip in the battle for Gaza in June 2007 , in return for which its supporters in the West Bank were disarmed and removed from political office. The Hamas government around Ismail Haniyya has since been internationally isolated and is not supported by most governments (Israel, USA, Great Britain, France, Germany, Egypt, Saudi Arabia) because of its uncompromising stance towards Israel, which it also underpins with terrorist attacks recognized that the Gaza Strip was militarily cordoned off by Israel and Egypt. Critics of Western politics complain that this does not respect the election result. Since then, numerous attempts to mediate between the two warring groups have been made, but these have always failed.

internal structure

The agency is historically closely linked to the PLO, with which Israel negotiated the Oslo Accords. As a result, the Palestinian Authority was long headed by Yasser Arafat, and the executive was made up of members of the PLO, mainly members of the Tanzim organization, a military branch of the PLO from the times of the First Intifada .

In the beginning there was a presidential system of government, with the president directly heading the government. In 2003, under international pressure, Arafat installed Mahmoud Abbas (known as Abu Mazen ) as "Prime Minister" of the Palestinian Authority, because both Israel and the US refused to negotiate directly with Arafat because he had links to terrorism. After Arafat's death and after Ismail Haniyya from Hamas was appointed to this post (2006), the post was again declared irrelevant by the same states. Since then, negotiations have only taken place with the president. Ismail Haniyya and his ministers in Gaza were ousted by the president in June 2007 and Salam Fayyad was installed as the new prime minister. Since then there has been a de facto second government in Gaza that is not recognized internationally.

Arafat's style of government was characterized by an understanding of democracy that did not correspond to Western standards, corruption within the administration, the distribution of power among family members and a confusing multitude of government organizations with unclear responsibilities. Arafat controlled about eight different security organizations through various mechanisms, and the Ministry of Education had more than 20 managers. After the 1996 elections, which he won with an overwhelming majority, Arafat postponed all further elections indefinitely. In this respect, his leadership style resembled the dictatorships of the Middle East, which ruled according to the motto “One man, one voice, once only”. Only after his death did presidential elections take place in 2005, in which Mahmud Abbas was elected, followed in January 2006 by parliamentary elections that resulted in a majority for the Islamist Hamas.

President

President of the Palestinian Authority
No. Surname Taking office Term expires Political party
1 Yasser Arafat 5th July 1994 November 11, 2004 Fatah
- Rauhi Fattuh (interim) November 11, 2004 January 15, 2005 Fatah
2 Mahmoud Abbas 1 January 15, 2005 in office Fatah
1Abbas has been conducting official business without democratic legitimation since January 10, 2009. In December 2009, his term of office was extended indefinitely through an election within the PLO. The usual legitimation by the population through free elections did not take place.

Palestinian Authority Governments

Governments were led by the President until 2003 and by the Prime Minister since then.

Palestinian Authority Governments
No. government Taking office Term expires coalition
1st & 2nd Government of Arafat I 1998 2001
3. Arafat II government June 9, 2002 October 29, 2002 Fatah - FIDA - PPP
4th Government of Arafat III October 29, 2002 April 29, 2003
5. Abbas government April 29, 2003 October 4, 2003 Fatah - FIDA - PPP
6th Emergency government October 5, 2003 November 2003
7th Government of Kurei November 2003 March 29, 2006 Fatah - FIDA - PPP
8th. Government of Haniyya I March 29, 2006 March 16, 2007 Hamas
9. Government of Haniyya II March 17, 2007 June 14, 2007 Hamas - Fatah - Third Way -
PNI - PPP - DFLP
10. Emergency government 1 June 15, 2007 July 2007
11. Government of Fayyad I 1 July 2007 May 19, 2009 Third way - Fatah
13. Fayyad II government 1 May 19, 2009 May 16, 2012 Third way - Fatah - DFLP - FIDA - PSF
14th Fayyad III government 1 May 16, 2012 6th June 2013 Third way - Fatah - DFLP - FIDA - PSF
15th Hamdallah government I 1 6th June 2013 2nd June 2014 Fatah - PSF
17th Hamdallah II government 1 2nd June 2014 April 12, 2019 Unity government
18th Shtayeh government I 1 April 13, 2019 in office Fatah- PPP- FIDA-PSF
1During the tenure of these governments, a second government existed in the Gaza Strip, led by Ismail Haniyya. Haniyya was deposed as Prime Minister by Mahmoud Abbas on June 14, 2007 and Salam Fayyad was appointed as the new Prime Minister. However, Haniyya does not recognize his impeachment and continues to work with his cabinet in the Gaza Strip (see also the fight for Gaza ).

criticism

Dissolution of the authority

The introduction of autonomy simplified the administration and, above all, the financing of the occupied territories for Israel, even though an “occupation” still exists under international law. The financial burdens that Israel previously had to bear in full have been largely passed on to the international community. Even projects in the C areas under full Israeli administration receive international support. Critics believe that this "occupation light" (so-called by some commentators) is more advantageous for Israel, and that this intermediate step towards independence would therefore be retained ad infinitum. Therefore, there have been calls and considerations several times to dissolve the autonomy authority in order to put Israel under (financial) pressure. The dissolution of the agency would finally end the peace process and revive the obligation for Israel to assume full responsibility (administration and financing) for the Palestinian territories. Since the current supporters would stop the financial aid for lack of recipients, the costs would be borne by Israel again at one stroke. Of course, such a step would also have a serious impact on the Palestinian officials. In March 2012, only US pressure could prevent Abbas' planned ultimatum with a corresponding threat. Such an option was announced even after the negotiations came to a standstill in April 2014.

There are also increasing voices on the EU side who question the continued funding of the autonomous authority if there is no development in the peace process. Therefore, there are also considerations in Brussels to discontinue the financial aid, knowing that the authority will then collapse and Israel will have to take over the administration again. Mohammed Dahlan would also support such a step .

A Palestinian study published in 2014 shows that the continued existence of the agency is more in the interests of Israel than in the interests of the people. For the Palestinians, 20 years of autonomy have brought neither independence nor a functioning administration, so that even longer standstill in the negotiations could mean an end to the authority. In the event of a break-up or a fall, there are fears that law and order, the health system, and great poverty will collapse. Therefore, Israel and the world community will try to prevent such a scenario in any case. 180 Palestinians from various fields and 12 Israelis from the field of politics were interviewed.

Terrorist salaries

Since the Second Intifada, the Palestinian Authority has been paying money into the "Martyrs Fund" established by the PLO. This fund pays money to Palestinian criminals imprisoned in Israel and families of Palestinians whose deaths are considered politically justified. The latter category includes the relatives of suicide bombers, but also of killed, injured or imprisoned demonstrators and passers-by. Palestinian officials argue that the payments are intended to settle an unfair trial, as terror suspects are repeatedly shot by the military in defiance of the presumption of innocence and detainees are forced to make false confessions. For example, anyone who has been imprisoned for five to ten years receives the equivalent of 800 euros a month - that's more than a police officer from the autonomy authority earns. According to the World Bank, it is not justified social assistance, but a kind of appreciation for terrorism. Every month around 3.5 million euros are transferred to Palestinian prison inmates and another 5 million euros to the families of suicide bombers. This practice is also criticized internationally, so by the advisor to the US President Jared Kushner at a meeting with Mahmud Abbas in August 2017.

Again and again there were considerations and initiatives to prevent these payments or to deduct the money from the transfer payments. As of February 2019, Israel has withheld 42 million shekels a month from taxes and duties collected for the Palestinian Authority. This corresponds to the amount the PA paid to Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons and their families in 2018. Instead, Israel pays the money into a fund to support victims of terrorism. Between February and September 2019, the PA completely refused to accept the tax and customs revenue and returned the full amount every month. However, since this item accounts for 65% of the budget, it led to a financial crisis. Civil servants who earned over 2000 ILS have only received half of their salaries since then. Since no one was interested in the collapse of the authority, Jordan and the EU tried to mediate. On behalf of the EU , Johannes Hahn proposed that the payments to the prisoners should be made independent of the type of crime and thus turned into pure social assistance, which was rejected. On October 4, 2019, a spokesman for the Palestinian Authority declared that the money from taxes and tariffs would be accepted again.

school books

In February 2002 the Education Commission of the Knesset called on the leadership of the democratic states to withhold aid to finance Palestinian education until the Palestinian Authority removes the anti-Jewish and anti-Israeli passages from their school books. These books and the Palestinian educational system would promote hatred rather than peace or tolerance and would not recognize the State of Israel.

In 2018, for the first time since 2000, the PA revised its school curricula. Hatred against Israel and incitement to violence continue to dominate school books. In some cases, radicalization can even be observed. Furthermore, the Holocaust is ignored and Palestinian terrorist attacks such as the Munich Olympic attack and airplane hijackings are glorified. The anti-Semite and war criminal grand mufti Mohammed Amin al-Husseini is portrayed positively. This emerges from a study by the Institute for the Monitoring of Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT-SE) in Jerusalem.

In 2019, a study by the NGO IMPACT-se, which regularly analyzes Palestinian curricula, found that the curricula used for the 2018-19 school year were belligerent and full of extremist nationalist views. The extent of extremism even exceeds the curriculum of the previous year. The European Union, the largest international donor to the Palestinian Authority, has promised to commission a study to determine the extent of calls for hatred and violence in the Palestinian curriculum.

The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) published its closing observations on a report by the Palestinian Authority on August 29, 2019. In it, the UN committee criticized, among other things, the existence of hate speech in certain media, especially that of Hamas, in social media, in statements by officials, in school curricula and textbooks. Hate speech against Israelis, in particular, could incite violence and fuel anti-Semitism. The CERD contracting states have to submit regular reports which are then examined by the UN committee.

The Palestinian Authority presented its updated textbooks on Palestinian history in 2019. Historical facts are deleted from the new books. There are only references to the Oslo Accords , interim agreements such as the Gaza-Jericho Agreement (1994), the Wye Agreement (1998), the Roadmap (2003) or the results of the Annapolis Conference (2007) are no longer mentioned . In addition, two chapters dealing with peace plans and initiatives have been completely deleted. The Oslo Accords are assessed less in detail and more negatively. The few times the State of Israel is mentioned, the name is in brackets. This is particularly common with organizations like Hamas or Islamic Jihad and is intended to show that they regard Israel as illegitimate. In the old books the name appeared without brackets. In addition, there is no longer any reference to the historical Jewish presence in Israel in the updated textbooks. On May 14, 2020, the European Parliament condemned material glorifying violence and hate speech in Palestinian textbooks.

Lack of democratic legitimation

After failed talks between Fatah and Hamas, the then Prime Minister Salam Fayyad presented a again dominated by Fatah in March 2009 Government ago. The term of office of the President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas had already expired on January 9, 2009, but was declared to be extended by one year due to a changed interpretation of the electoral law in order to be able to organize the elections. These elections were later postponed indefinitely. Abbas has governed since then without any democratic legitimation, which ended on January 9, 2009 when his four-year term in office expired.

corruption

Based on the protest of the yellow vests movement in France , Palestinians with blue surgical gloves have been demonstrating against corruption in the PA since December 2018. They direct the Blue Gloves protests against the newly introduced social welfare authority, which is financed from the taxes of the Palestinians. Due to the widespread corruption in the PA, the protesters fear that the government could, under the pretended objection of a financial crisis, cash the tax money into its own pocket.

Dealing with homosexuality

In the autonomous territories, homosexuality is punishable under the British Mandate Law, which is still in force. It is not known to what extent this will lead to concrete state persecution; the authorities and political groups tend to ignore the issue. However, assaults, torture and killings by police and death squads have been reported.

See also

Web links

Commons : Palestinian Authority  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Presidential Decree Orders Using 'State of Palestine' on all Documents. January 8, 2013; Archived from the original on January 15, 2013 ; Retrieved July 18, 2014 .
  2. The General Delegation of Palestine , General Delegation of Palestine. Retrieved October 30, 2010
  3. ^ Palestinian Authority officially changes name to 'State of Palestine' , Ha-Aretz on January 5, 2013
  4. Israel admits Gaza patients after dispute over 'Palestine' logo , Ha-Aretz on February 13, 2014
  5. European Union provides additional € 41.4 million to the Palestinian Authority to support its recurrent expenditures in 2010 , Relief Web, October 27, 2010
  6. International Aid for Palestinian Authority , Foreign Office . Retrieved October 30, 2010
  7. Federal Foreign Office, Aid for Palestinian Territories , September 6, 2012
  8. ↑ The Federal Foreign Office supports the Palestinian civil police with additional police vehicles and radios , the Federal Foreign Office . May 28, 2009. 
  9. Palestine. Arafat admits corruption , Der Spiegel, August 18, 2004
  10. ^ Middle East: The Influential Gaza Clans , Westdeutsche Zeitung , August 3, 2008
  11. Fatah leaders are preparing for Erbkampf In: Israel Network .com, August 23, 2018 accessed on 3 September 2018th
  12. FAZ : "Haniyah refuses to be released - Hamas conquers last Fatah bastion" , June 15, 2007
  13. ^ Ha-Aretz: USAID paved 63 km of road in the West Bank , November 16, 2010
  14. EU to reconsider Palestinian aid if peace talks with Israel fail , Ha-Aretz on December 4, 2013
  15. The Palestinian Authority is on the brink of collapse, study says , Amira Hass, Ha-Aretz on March 21, 2014
  16. ^ Eli Lake: The Palestinian Incentive Program for Killing Jews. In: Bloomberg.com. July 1, 2016, accessed February 6, 2020 .
  17. a b Glenn Kessler: Does the Palestinian Authority pay $ 350 million a year to 'terrorists and their families'? Washington Post, accessed March 14, 2018 .
  18. Tormod Strand in an interview with the Israeli newspaper Maariv. in Israel Today May 2013, p. 7
  19. Palestinian Terrorists Get Record Wages Online article Israel Today, September 5, 2012
  20. Jochen Stahnke, Majid Sattar: Kushner in Israel: Terrorists entitled to a pension . In: FAZ.NET . August 23, 2017, ISSN  0174-4909 ( faz.net [accessed April 3, 2020]).
  21. ^ Israeli national security adviser: PA could collapse if Israel withholds tax funds , Ha-Aretz on December 8, 2014
  22. Israel withholds Palestinian funds to finance terrorism. In: Israelnetz .de. February 18, 2019, accessed March 15, 2019 .
  23. ^ PA: We returned tax revenues to Israel , Jerusalem Post on February 28, 2019
  24. ^ UN: Palestinian Authority faces risk of financial collapse , AP on March 10, 2019
  25. EU official proposes Palestinian terrorism payments on needs basis , Jerusalem Post on April 30, 2019
  26. Autonomous Authority is accepting tax money again. In: Israelnetz .de. October 7, 2019, accessed October 17, 2019 .
  27. Knesst: Termination of financing Hetztexten the PA. In: Israeli Embassy in Berlin . February 12, 2002, accessed August 9, 2019 .
  28. ^ How Israel is depicted in Palestinian textbooks. Der Tagesspiegel, June 28, 2017, accessed on April 3, 2020 .
  29. ^ Regina Mönch: Palestinian School Books: Lessons in Hatred . In: FAZ.NET . June 29, 2017, ISSN  0174-4909 ( faz.net [accessed April 3, 2020]).
  30. New Palestinian school books are also inciting against Israel. In: Israelnetz .de. December 17, 2018, accessed January 7, 2019 .
  31. EU to study Palestinian school books after claims of 'radical' themes. May 22, 2019, accessed September 4, 2019 .
  32. Palestinians should stop agitation. In: Israelnetz .de. September 2, 2019, accessed September 8, 2019 .
  33. ^ Agreement with Israel not mentioned except for the Oslo Agreement. In: Israelnetz .de. October 7, 2019, accessed October 17, 2019 .
  34. EU Parliament condemns Palestinian textbooks. In: Israel Network. May 15, 2020, accessed June 16, 2020 .
  35. An inglorious anniversary. In: Israelnetz .de. January 9, 2019, accessed January 19, 2019 .
  36. ^ "Blue gloves" protest against PA authorities. In: Israelnetz .de. January 9, 2019, accessed January 19, 2019 .
  37. Worldwide Laws on Homosexuality
  38. globalgayz.com: Palestine - Gay Travel and Culture
  39. agudah.israel-live.de : refugee status. Gay in Palestine
  40. "Anyone who is Palestinian and gay is quickly suspected of being on the line and spitting on Israel: 'Sometimes they throw stones at me'", Berliner Zeitung of October 8, 2010
  41. haaretz.com : Israeli court decides: Because of the persecution in his homeland, a Palestinian is allowed to stay in Israel