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...Arafat's reasons for supporting the Tanzim are political. The aging PLO leader and his inner circle are mostly products of decades of Palestinian exile, men brought Arafat back with him from Tunisia to staff the top tier of the PA. But in the course of their 1987-1991 intifada, the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza had evolved a strong local leadership, and many of these younger men were resentful at being overlooked in favor of the Tunisians. The grassroots Fatah leaders are generally more militant than those around Arafat, fiercely critical of the corruption and authoritarianism that...
...Arafat and his legislature have agreed to hold national and local elections by early next year, although he has warned that those can't proceed in the midst of Israeli security operations - and indications right now are that Israel has no intention of relinquishing its grip on PA territories in the West Bank. While they may agree on elections in principle, Arafat and the legislature may differ sharply over reforming his cabinet. Palestinian efforts to root out corruption and create a more transparent, accountable, democratically mandated leadership are centered on the demand that the chairman dissolve his cabinet, and select...
...consensus view is that the PA needs to fold all 12 of the current security bodies into a single structure, under a single security chief. But the Palestinian legislature goes further - they want the security chief to have a four-year term limit, be prevented from engaging in Palestinian domestic politics and also from "having contact with the Israeli side without the consent of the Palestinian political leadership." Such an arrangement would certainly throw a spoke into current Israeli efforts to cultivate ties with favored strongmen, such as Gaza security chief Mohammed Dahlan. And it's a sign that...
...Israel have insisted that the PA disarm all the political militias outside of the formal PA security structures, and Arafat aide Muhammad Rashid has said the Palestinian leader accepts that and is prepared to ensure that PA security structures have a monopoly of force. But disarming the gunmen is a political challenge that Arafat is unlikely even to attempt as long Israeli forces remain in his domain and there's no prospect of imminent statehood...
...fate of Palestinian reform depends on three factors: Arafat's willingness to relinquish his almost monarchical grip on Palestinian institutions and accept constitutional limits on his role; Israel's willingness to end its de-facto reoccupation of PA territory in the West Bank; and the willingness of the international community to apply pressure in pursuit of the first...