Dec
07
2014
By Daoud Kuttab
The sight was unusual and the purpose was even more bizarre. A large contingent of the Palestinian police force surrounded the office of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), which has not been in session for years. Palestinian police showed up in the afternoon of Dec. 2 and have been stationed outside all its entrances and exits since.
Jehad Harb, a researcher at the PLC, told Al-Monitor that when he asked the police officers about their presence, they told him that President Mahmoud Abbas instructed them to prevent PLC Secretary-General Ibrahim Khreisheh from reaching his office. The Palestinian media reported that Khreisheh was fired from his position by Abbas, allegedly over his public support for the head of the civil servants union, Bassam Zakarneh. Khreisheh is a member of Abbas’ Fatah revolutionary PLC. Zakraneh and his deputy, Muin Ensawi, were arrested on Nov. 6 for leading an “illegal” union. Both were released on Nov. 13, but the union has been declared illegal and the legitimacy of the union is now to be evaluated in a Palestinian court.
Left-wing PLO Executive Committee member Tayseer Khaled expressed dismay at the sight of the police. “At a time that parliaments around the world are voting in recognition of Palestine, it is unacceptable that the Palestinian police surround our own parliament,†Khaled, a senior member of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, was quoted as saying.
Najat Abu Bakr, an elected Fatah legislator from Nablus, told Al-Monitor that the presence of armed police on PLC premises is a direct violation of Clause 51 of the Palestinian Basic Law, which states that only the head of the legislature can order the police on PLC premises. Abu Bakr said that it is a gray zone, because the PLC has not been in session for years. “The constitutional crisis is the result of a lack of consensus within the parliament’s own factions,†he said. Abu Bakr was not the only Fatah legislator to complain. The head of the parliamentary faction, Azzam Ahmad, spoke publicly against the police presence saying that the decision about who is the secretary-general of the legislative PLC is the sole prerogative of the PLC itself. Continue Reading »
Dec
07
2014
By Daoud Kuttab
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ own people often have some unflattering words for him. He has been called a “traitor” and a “quisling,†accused of selling out Palestine in peace negotiations. While Israelis also attack him as a “diplomatic terrorist†and “Arafat in a suit,†one important Israeli sector has been praising him. The Israeli security establishment has nothing but positive words for the embattled Palestinian leader for his consistent support of security cooperation with Israel.
The public support from Israel’s security chief Yoram Cohen directly contradicts the statements of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and provides Abbas with a strong new political weapon. Speaking in Cairo at the Arab League foreign ministers meeting Nov. 29, Abbas threatened to end security cooperation if plans for a timetable to end the occupation fail at the UN. The Palestinian leader has secured support from the Arab League for a resolution to be submitted to the UN Security Council demanding a short time frame for the end of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian lands occupied after 1967. Palestinian and Arab sources have been quiet about the exact details of the resolution. Previous public statements by Palestinian officials talked about a “firm timetable†of two or three years.
Having secured the support of the Arab League, the fight to end Israel’s occupation now moves to the UN Security Council. Jordan, the only Arab member of the council, has been asked by the Arab League to carry the Palestinian position. Dina Kawar, Jordan’s UN representative, told Al-Monitor that once the resolution is officially submitted, “There are bound to be negotiations as to which text will be agreed to.†Kawar said, “Once we decide with the Palestinians to put the draft in blue, it means it has to be voted on.†But Kawar expects that the negotiations will take some time. Continue Reading »
