25.1.06

What it means to have elections in Palestine

Amira Hass draws a line between sovereign states obligations towards their citizens and the obligations of elected palestinian lawmakers towards their citizens. There are things that they can still do: stop corruption and care for their own people. This is probably the reason why Fatah is becoming unpopular among palestinians !

''The Palestinian parliament and government lack the authority and rights their counterparts have in sovereign states. They have no control over the external and internal borders that Israel draws between the various Palestinian districts, to the point where they are cut off from each other. Sixty percent of West Bank land, the primary physical resource of the Palestinian people, are under total Israeli control, and no Palestinian government will be able to do with them what sovereign entities do in their territory: sow and plant, build, develop, maintain. Israel controls the water sources in Israel and in effect sets quotas for the Palestinians. Israel's control of the Palestinian population registry and freedom of movement means that it intervenes in personal decisions like family ties, place of residence, work and study. Through its control of the external and internal borders, Israel also determines how the Palestinian economy will look - the rate of unemployment, the salary cap, the types of economic activity, the location of the factories. And that is only a partial list. ''

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Since March 29th 2006