New Palestinian government beleaguered by ‘corruption, nepotism and ineptitude’

The narrow Palestinian Authority cabinet, recently cobbled together by PA President Mahmoud Abbas, appears ill-equipped to deal with its pressing political, diplomatic and economic troubles. There is major disunity among the Palestinians, Hamas and Fatah, which are nowhere near reconciliation, and the PA is losing money fast.

by Israel Kasnett, ISRAEL HAYOM

New Palestinian government beleaguered by ‘corruption, nepotism and ineptitude’

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas with PA Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh | Photo: Reuters

In a meeting with U.S. Senator Ron Wyden in Ramallah on Tuesday, newly appointed Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh blamed the Trump administration for “punishing” and “blackmailing” the Palestinians. He emphasized its recent cutting of U.S. aid to the Palestinians, recognition of the Golan Heights as Israeli territory and the U.S. embassy move from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem last spring as reasons for Palestinian fury. He may also have been referring to the much-anticipated Mideast peace plan expected to be revealed in June, after the month-long Muslim holiday of Ramadan.

The Palestinians have already made it clear that they will not accept it, sight unseen.

The narrow Palestinian cabinet, recently cobbled together by PA President Mahmoud Abbas, appears ill-equipped to deal with the PA’s pressing political, diplomatic and economic troubles. There is major disunity among the Palestinians, Hamas and Fatah, which are nowhere near reconciliation, and the PA is losing money fast.

While Shtayyeh is a foreign-trained economist – and many in the international community have high hopes for him – he is also a “promoter of the BDS boycott-Israel movement, is in favor of ending security coordination with the Israel Defense Forces and seeks to end the Paris Protocols that refer to a joint economy with Israel,” said Pinhas Inbari at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.

However, Jonathan Schanzer, senior vice president for research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Jewish News Syndicate that “the appointment of Mohammed Shtayyeh is quite significant.”

He said that the previous prime minister, Rami Hamdallah, was “a very minor player” with “very little clout” within the ruling Fatah Party, and had “few respected skills.” By contrast, Shtayyeh, according to Schanzer, “has the respect of his party and is known as a serious economist.”

With an ever-widening intra-Palestinian rift, Schanzer said this is an effort by Abbas “to consolidate power across the various arms of the Fatah party and the PLO.” Set up as part of the 1993 Oslo Accords, the Palestinian Authority was originally slated to be the interim government of the Palestinians until a final resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was solidified. However, the PA has become beset by corruption, internal Palestinian disputes and increasing authoritarianism under Abbas. The PA last held elections in 2006 and has since been exclusively run by Abbas and Fatah in the West Bank after several failures at reconciliation with the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip.

According to the Saudi-run Arab News site, Shtayyeh clarified that he would pursue an austerity program since the PA’s financial situation is critical and Abbas has appealed to Arab countries to provide him with a safety net. This comes after Israel decided to withhold $138 million in monthly tax revenues that it collects on behalf of the PA.

In response to Abbas’s appeal, at an Arab League meeting in Cairo on Sunday, Arab foreign ministers committed to paying $100 million per month to the floundering PA. They also rejected any peace plan that does not follow the Arab Peace Initiative and other international demands.

‘No different from its predecessors’

Schanzer said the new government is part of Abbas’ efforts to prepare for the Trump administration’s upcoming Mideast peace plan, commonly referred to as the “deal of the century.”

So, are the Palestinians trying to repair the damage in relations they caused when they cut off ties with the U.S. administration in December 2017?

“The Palestinians expect to see a bad deal,” said Schanzer. “And they expect to be punished for rejecting it. Abbas is preparing accordingly.”

This, noted Schanzer, could explain why Shtayyeh said in his remarks that “we must separate the Palestinian-American relations from the peace process or the political process that is going on.”

Perhaps Shtayyeh was attempting to step back from the original Palestinian hard-line position that saw no relations between the PA and the United States when he said, “The stalemate of the peace process must not be met with punishment or blackmail from the American administration of the Palestinian people. We want it to be an honest peace-broker.”

Efraim Inbar, president of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, appeared determined to set the record straight and remove any misplaced hope. He told JNS that the new Palestinian government “is no different from its predecessors. They all are beleaguered by corruption, nepotism and ineptitude. A Herculean effort would be needed to overcome the political culture bequeathed by [former Palestinian Authority chairman] Yasser Arafat.”

He added, in a resigned sort of way, that the PA “continues to subscribe to maximalist unrealistic positions that ensure the continuation of conflict between the two national movements.”

This article is reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

April 25, 2019 | 2 Comments »

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  1. This article by Amira Hass, the Ramallah correspondent for Haaretz and a longtime communist, reveals what both the Palestinian people and their Israeli-Jewish supporters are all about. The Christians have a saying that the devil is the “father of lies.” Maybe Hass is the mother of lies. And her “clients” for whom she is a press flack are “systematic” liars on principle. Not possible to make peace with people like this:

    Palestinians Lie to the Occupier Out of Courage and Defiance. But Self-delusion Is a Different Story
    Amira HassApr 26, 2019 8:42 AM

    Opinion
    File photo: Palestinians take part in a rally in support of president Mahmoud Abbas, in Nablus, the West Bank, February 25, 2019.
    File photo: Palestinians take part in a rally in support of president Mahmoud Abbas, in Nablus, the West Bank, February 25, 2019.Abed Omar Qusini/Reuters
    A security source corrected me: Videos gathered from security camera suggest that the accident I discussed earlier this week, in which a Palestinian resident of the West Bank village of Tuqu was killed, was caused after she rushed to her car to keep it from sliding down the sloped path leading from the yard of her house to the main road.

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    Regardless of the speed of the truck into which she crashed, I was mistaken to convey my assumption that the incident “will never be investigated as a suspected car ramming.” The videos refute any such suspicion.

    >> To listen to Palestinian news every morning is torture

    Tuqu residents, according to Facebook posts, view the Israeli army as responsible for the fatal accident: It had blocked most exits from the village, and as the ruler fails to place road signs, speed bumps, etc., on a road under Israeli planning authority. All is true, only it has nothing to do with this tragic accident.

    In a reality of foreign, hostile rule, it’s natural that subordinates, deprived of their rights, seek to conceal their activities and deceive the ruler. This is what happens, for instance, when the Israeli planning authorities forbid Palestinian construction or stop them from connecting to water and electricity grids. It’s natural that villagers will extend piping or dig hidden cisterns for rainwater in the dark of the night, or install solar power systems over weekends or holidays, when Israeli Civil Administration inspectors aren’t around.

    Concealment is an inseparable part of the struggle against a cruel ruler, who prevents water and electricity from reaching the native population under the pretext of the rule of law and public order. It’s natural that people will seek any way, with or without permits, to work in Israel, as restrictions to movement and development imposed by it have led to high unemployment rates in the Palestinian Authority enclaves. It’s natural that youth who throw stones at Israeli cars, both military and civilian, in the occupied territory will cover their tracks. The disruption of false normality generated by the Israeli apartheid regime is also part of the resistance.

    The first problem is that under conditions of Israeli technological superiority and Jewish settler organizations who aren’t satisfied with land theft and go on to spy on every Palestinian motion, it’s difficult for Palestinians to conceal and hide these forms of struggle for very long. Lying to the Israeli occupier, as to any other tyrant, is a mitzvah, but growing increasingly difficult to accomplish.

    The second problem is when the occupied, whose entire life is a struggle against a tyrant, are lying to themselves. Tens of women who had suffered domestic violence sought a way to escape through detention. They waved knives in front of soldiers at checkpoints, some of them perhaps attempted to stab or managed to scratch them. Perhaps some sought to commit suicide, for soldiers shoot to kill even at those who can be easily detained. Some of the women were killed, some seriously wounded.

    There are also youth who tried to be detained, due to social or domestic difficulties, by throwing stones. In the Gaza Strip, too, there are those who participate in the Great March of Return out of a desire to die, because living is too difficult.

    In society, in public discourse, the above are painted as heroes motivated by patriotism. It’s a brazen lie, which helps avoiding any serious discussion of violence against women, of the loneliness of youth and of the voiding of slogans of any of their original meaning.

    A week ago, elections for student council were held at Birzeit University, on the outskirts of the West Bank city of Ramallah. Two lists, affiliated with Fatah and Hamas respectively, won the same number of seats, but the Fatah-aligned list was in the lead by a few dozens of votes. Overjoyed Fatah supporters came to Ramallah’s Manara Square to celebrate their “victory” by firing in the air.

    This victory celebration was a lie told to themselves by supporters of a crumbling movement, rife with internal conflicts, affiliated with failed self-rule that failed, despite its promises, to bring statehood and freedom, and compensates with internal suppression.

    Lying to the tyrant comes from a courageous, defiant position. Self-delusion is an expression of great weakness. The first condition to escaping this weakness is to stop lying to oneself.

  2. Abbas is a Mafia Boss, change of government should be really be called a change of assistants to the Head Mafiso. There were no elections but Abbas shuffled the deck.

    How long will this gang be around?