Escaping the Palestinian Impasse

by Dr. Abdul-Sattar Kassem

The Palestinian-Palestinian dialogue between the Palestinian factions continues, specifically between Hamas and Fatah, and it does not appear to be a dialogue that will bear fruit as quickly as the Palestinian people wish. There is great sluggishness on the Palestinian scene, and only those who have carried the homeland on their backs and made sacrifices for it truly bear the weight of these burdens and pains. We have lived through suffering and grief for decades, but the phase we are living through now is the harshest and most bitter of all. To escape this ordeal, I propose the following:

Practically speaking, we are either under occupation or under a siege imposed by the occupation, and therefore we have no need for a prime ministry or a presidency of the Authority, nor do we need all these grand, deceptive titles — may God have mercy on a man who knows his own worth. What we need is a solution to the internal ordeal we are living through, one that spares us the evil of two things: factional strife and agreements with Israel. The people are now paying the price of factional strife, as they paid before, and they are paying the price of agreements that have brought them nothing but more worries. The following points may constitute a way out:

First: forming an administrative council of independent Palestinian experts, specialists, and academics to manage the civil and daily life of the Palestinian people. This is different from Zionist proposals for establishing an administrative council, because it is Palestinian in origin and purpose, it is temporary, and establishing it is unavoidable, since we have become entangled in a great many civil and daily affairs that must be covered administratively.

I define “independent” as someone known for his national affiliation but not tied to any Palestinian faction or to any Arab or non-Arab state.

Second: the council’s task is purely administrative, not political, and it has the authority to impose civil order. That is, it oversees a police force with the authority to oversee internal security.

Third: this council has nothing to do with national security; the task of national security remains in the hands of the resistance factions, which operate secretly and without any interference whatsoever in the course of Palestinian civil and daily life.

Fourth: all Palestinian factions must support this council’s administration if support is requested, without having the right to object. Whoever among them wishes to fight, the enemy is before us; whoever does not wish to fight may engage in social activity instead.

Fifth: once Palestinian civil affairs have stabilized, the council shall prepare for administrative elections.

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…security apparatuses or an executive force, and it would be possible to absorb their members into other facilities.

Seventh: the council shall work actively with the various forces of the Palestinian people, inside Palestine and abroad, to reorganize the Palestine Liberation Organization in a manner that represents everyone, according to a charter agreed upon by the various forces, which shall then take charge of overseeing the affairs of the Palestinian people at home and abroad, including political affairs.

How the council would be formed

Factions not party to the internal fighting would be authorized to form this council, and, to save effort and reduce clamor, I propose that one Islamic faction and one non-factional national faction, other than Fatah and Hamas, take on this task, with the explicit and public consent of the various factions, foremost among them Hamas and Fatah.

The economic situation

The first question that arises is: where will the money come from if we take a path the donor states dislike? If we are to remain dependent on the donor states for our daily bread, then we are certainly not seeking a real state or an honorable solution to the Palestinian cause. It is possible to overcome the obstacle of money if we follow these steps:

First: there is no escaping the need to develop a mentality of self-reliance, and to translate that into behavior.

Second: asking Palestinian economists to think about building a Palestinian economy, as far as possible, in a manner consistent with our aspirations toward liberation.

Third: giving up many Israeli goods, and stopping the import of goods that can be produced locally, in order to affirm the idea of self-reliance and to provide real job opportunities for people.

Fourth: asking the Arab states that give their money to the donor states to transfer it directly to Palestine instead.

Fifth: it is important that we return to the old methods of bringing money in, rather than through financial institutions that are, in one way or another, subject to Israeli oversight.

Sixth: we must focus on agriculture.

Seventh: we have no escape but to accept a consumption level lower than the one currently prevailing.

Eighth: focusing on cultural transformation, in a manner consistent with the requirements of liberation.

Source: Translated from the original Arabic, “الخروج من المأزق الفلسطيني” by Dr. Abdul-Sattar Kassem.