Is the PA an Israeli protectorate?

Is the PA an Israeli protectorate?

By Khalid Amayreh
03/07/2012

As nearly always, the Palestinian Authority (PA) behavior is visibly pathetic. Unfortunately, there is no other way to describe this behavior.

According to recent reports, Israel sought to obtain a loan a $1 b. from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on behalf of the PA. However, the global body turns down the Israeli request, arguing that it doesn’t want to set a precedent of a state taking loans for non-state body.

Predictably, embarrassed PA officials refused to confirm reports to this effect, insisting they had no knowledge of the matter. The Palestinian economy minister Jawas Naji was quoted by the pro-authority news agency Maan as saying that he only heard about it from the media. Similarly, the PA finance minister Nabil Qissis refused to return phone calls enquiring about the issue.

It is really hard to believe PA denials in this regard. In the final analysis, we can only invoke the Arab proverb: “If they knew, it would be a calamity, and if they didn’t, it would be even a greater calamity.” This is because in case they knew, which is the most likely scenario, and still wouldn’t let the Palestinian masses know what was going on, they would be breaching their trust and hiding vital information from the people. And in case they didn’t, it means they failed to honestly shoulder their responsibility by allowing “anonymous operatives” to call the shots from their behind.

It is not really hard to determine the identity of these operatives. According to the Israeli media (you see Palestinians have always to know about their government from the Israel media!!!), it was Prime Minister Salam Fayyad who asked the governor of the Bank Israel Stanley Fischer to seek the loan on the PA behalf in order to rescue the autonomous authority from solvency and bankruptcy.

If so, Mr. Fayyad must be held accountable for this demeaning behavior which gives the impression that Israel and the PA are cordial friends, not enemies. But what happened to the fact that Israel is the occupier of our homeland, thief of our land, murderer of our people, killer of our children, and usurper of our rights? Has all of this been swept under the carpet as if the hard facts pertaining to the Israeli occupation of our country and unrelenting repression of our people were of a secondary and unimportant nature.

Of course, the issue here is not the loan itself, but rather groveling at Israel’s feet, thus injuring whatever has remained of our national dignity. The PA could have asked a third party to request the loan. However, the umbilical relation between the Palestinian Judenrat and the Israeli masters must always assert itself, even though PA officials do their best to deceive and mislead the very people they claim to serve.

The ramifications of this stupid, if not treacherous, feat can not be confined to the moral or ethical sphere. The political significance of asking Israel for help at the international arena is overwhelming. It shows that the PA is no more than an Israeli protectorate that is totally subservient to the occupying power.

Besides, how can we as Palestinians convince the world that the occupation must end and a viable Palestinian state must be established sooner than later when even our quasi autonomous authority, which is less than a state, can not survive without Israeli goodwill and backing?

Indeed, when a people’s survival and prosperity depend on the goodwill of its enemy, it means the journey to freedom and independence is going to be long and arduous.

No one can deny that the PA is undergoing one crisis after the other. It is also true that Israel is the ultimate root cause of most if not all these problems. However, the PA can not be absolved from responsibility.

The PA was supposed to be the first step toward the realization of Palestinian statehood. None the less, it now seems that the biggest obstacle impeding Palestinian statehood is the PA itself , this is unless the sought-after entity is a “township” or a “Bantustan” or a Judenrat belonging and subservient to Israel.

The PA claims rather correctly that it is not free to build a prosperous economy due to the Israeli occupation which still controls every nook and cranny in the occupied territories. Well, if so, the PA is effectively allowing Israel to eat the cake of the occupation and still have it whereby the Zionist entity keeps all the assets for itself while all the liabilities go to the Palestinians through the PA.

In light, the PA should either dismantle itself because its continued survival is a paramount Israeli interest or refuse Israeli dictates and bullying.

We say the continued survival of the PA is an Israeli interest because, at least as far a Israel is concerned, nothing does more damage to the prospects of establishing a true Palestinian state worthy of the name than a fragile, aid-dependent and subservient entity. Indeed, the PA is now facing a real dilemma: either to seek continued survival by being at Israel beck and call, or behaving independently and losing Israeli backing and risking a financial meltdown.

Another disgraceful behavior by the PA security agencies is the recent brutal suppression of a Ramallah demonstration protesting a planned visit by Israel’s deputy prime minister Shaul Mofaz. Mofaz is a notorious certified war criminal who carries on his dirty hands tons of innocent Palestinian blood, including that of hundreds of children.

Many conscientious youngsters thought it was improper and demeaning to receive the evil child killer in Ramallah after all he did to our people. Hence, the peaceful demonstration.

But the PA security ganged up on the protesters, beating them rather savagely, drawing angry reactions and a lot of consternation from the public.

The PA leadership claimed that the purpose of the visit, which was eventually cancelled under public pressure, had nothing to do with any planned resumption of the moribund peace talks with Zionist state. So, were Abu Mazen and Mofaz going to talk about the unusually hot weather or perhaps Europ-2012?

It is really sad and lamentable to see the Palestinian leadership betray the Palestinian people. The Palestinians who have made huge sacrifices for freedom really deserve a better leadership.

ENDS

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