Palestine: Losing Democracy

A new piece in The Economist offers an assessment of Palestinian democracy, arguing that “instead of building a democratic state, the PA is fast on its way to creating just another Arab autocracy.” The article says that while many observers criticize Salam Fayyad‘s promise of institution-building, most Western governments “prefer division and no elections to reconciliation and elections,” as they are wary of Islamist rule under Hamas. According to the piece, both halves of Palestine are “remarkably similar” in terms of governance, since “Hamas and Mr Fayyad rule by decree, merging executive and legislative arms into one.” Regarding Palestinian participation in the political process, the article observes, “Opinion polls say most Palestinians are more or less willing to put up with their muzzled lot, since they have been exhausted by their own intifadas (uprisings), by Israeli repression and by periodic chaos.” The piece notes that some advocate the status quo, while following the Jordanian example by suspending parliament and ruling by decree in order to guarantee stability and prevent threats to Israel. However, such an approach means “putting off the task of reuniting the West Bank and Gaza and building a single Palestine state,” and will lead people to “consider other, more violent” measures to achieve change, the article warns, citing the example of Mahmoud Zahar, a Hamas leader who lost his faith in democratic change following Western governments’ refusal to recognize Hamas’s electoral victory in 2006.