The Palestinian Authority


Since the signing of the first and second Oslo accords, and the subsequent introduction of the Palestinian Authority to the major population centers of the West Bank (Areas A, or 3% of the West Bank land area), human rights organizations have struggled with a new reality on the ground, as arbitrary arrest and detention, torture and corruption became prevelant in these areas. An independent judiciary has become one of the main pre-occupations of legal-advocacy groups.

The Palestinian elections, held on 20 January, fulfilled in part one of the requirements of the Taba agreement. The elections only came after a series of devastating concessions on the part of the Palestinian negotiating team, particularly the acceptance of the construction of Jewish-only by-pass roads in the West Bank. The Israeli government argued that the roads were necessary for the redeployment of the Israeli military from Areas A (the precondition for the Palestinian elections) and for supposed security reasons for the illegal Jewish settlements. The result of these roads, however, has meant a massive loss of mostly agricultural Palestinian land, outlined the greatly restrictive “reservation” areas of Area A, and ensured a permanent, contiguous transportation and security system for the illegal Jewish settlements of the West Bank. The disastrous impact of these roads cannot be overstated.

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The elections served to legitimize the Palestinian Authority, and the agreements to which they had come with a grossly more powerful negotiating partner. The imbalance of power has been and is still clearly reflected in the nature of the agreements that President Arafat has been forced to accept, in order to maintain his hold on power in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip. Increasingly, as unrest and despair grow as a result of the current prolonged blockade of these territories and the continued loss of land to the Israeli occupation authorities, the Palestinian National Authority has turned to police-state style measures in order to maintain its control. Eleven security services, midnight military courts, arbitrary arrest, 13 deaths through torture and endemic corruption have become landmarks of the PNA regime.

For more reports concerning the Palestinian Authority see the following LAW publications:

LAW, P.O. Box 20873, Jerusalem Tel: (972)(2) 5812364/5824559 Fax: (972)(2) 5811072
email: lawe@netvision.net.il
The LAW Homepage was launched August 7,1997 design Jeff Flynn, Jennifer Moorehead and Adam Hanieh. For comments on the webpage please contact hanieha@ozemail.com.au