US attempt to 'revitalize' Palestinian Authority risks making the PA less legitimate, more unpopular

[Eugene]

Source: The Conversation

US attempt to ‘revitalize’ Palestinian Authority risks making the PA less legitimate, more unpopular

Published: March 11, 2024 3:32pm EDT

Dana El Kurd
Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Richmond

Gaza is still very much in the midst of war, yet discussion is turning to “the day after” the conflict – and who will govern the war-ravaged territory.

The Biden administration has said that a full Israeli occupation of the Gaza Strip would be unacceptable. Instead, White House officials have discussed “revitalizing” the Palestinian Authority, or PA, the governing apparatus of parts of the West Bank, to take over in Gaza.

Seemingly as an initial step to enable this, the PA cabinet resigned on Feb. 26, 2024. This begins the process of overhauling the authority and setting up a “technocratic government” tasked with basic, short-term governance objectives, presumably in Gaza as well as the West Bank.

But analysts and researchers have questioned what role the PA could have, given that the body has struggled with a legitimacy crisis for well over a decade. And Israel has refused to countenance any PA involvement in post-conflict Gaza.

Moreover, PA officials are wary of entering Gaza “on the back of an Israeli tank,” in the words of resigning Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh.

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Read more: https://theconversation.com/us-attempt-to-revitalize-palestinian-authority-risks-making-the-pa-less-legitimate-more-unpopular-224690

[Mosby]

1. Slice and dice it any way you want

The Palestinians don't have a legitimate government and unless US and others get serious there will never be another elected government.

Basically right now is a death watch, waiting for Abu Mazen to kick the bucket. After that who knows. Probably a civil war between clans. This is not Israel's problem. The best possible outcome now is that Jordan absorbs the West Bank and coordinates with Israel. Problem with that is that Jordan is an insanely racist country who hate Jews. Bigotry is killing the possibility of peace.

Eta map of racist Arab countries:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2013/05/15/a-fascinating-map-of-the-worlds-most-and-least-racially-tolerant-countries/