The major foreign policy
goal of the Palestinian Authority is statehood. All other issues are second to
this.
Britain previously owned the
area that is today Israel and Palestine. When Britain gave up their colonies in
the 1940’s they promised Israel they would make it a state. Britain also
promised the Palestinians that they could have their country in the same land.
Basically this conflict is due to Britain promising the same piece of land to
two groups who do not share the same religion or culture.
After the Palestinians and
the Israelis realized what Britain had done they had two options: war or
compromise. Originally Israel was willing to compromise and create borders but
the Palestinians felt that they had rights to all the land. Palestine refused to compromise and they
went to war. By some weird occurrence Israel won the war. This was unexpected because
the Palestinians were backed by most of the surrounding Arab countries and the
Israelis had few allies and little help. Now the Palestinians are willing to
compromise for part of the land but are not willing to give up Jerusalem. For
approximately twelve years the Israelis and the Palestinians have been
negotiating over territory and neither country has wanted to give up Jerusalem.
A major domestic issue in
Palestine is the variance in the extremity of the activist groups. Some
Palestinians are willing to give up nothing and openly support violence against
Israel. Other Palestinians cross everyday legally or illegally into Israel to
work. These Palestinians are not as anti-Israeli as the others, although they
do support a free state. Between the two extremes you will encounter varying degrees
of nationalism and support for a Palestinian state.
Another domestic factor in
Palestinian politics is respect for the leader. Before Arafat was leader of the
Palestinian Authority he was head of a large Palestinian terrorist group. He
was known for being powerful, violent and nationalistic. Now it seems as though many Palestinians are
losing the confidence they once had in Arafat. The people are concerned that he
has become weak and that he is giving in to Israel and the United States.
Arafat is working hard to maintain the trust of his people. This will play a
factor in the peace process negotiations. Arafat will not choose the best
decisions but instead decisions that cause him to appear stronger in order to
raise increase his popularity among Palestinians.
Question #2
Obviously Palestine’s one big enemy is Israel. The
United States is not a friend, due to their support of Israel, but whether or
not they are an enemy is questionable. In a hegemonic international system it
is not a good idea to be an enemy to the superpower. Friends of Palestine are all or most other Arab countries.
Palestine is not in a position where they are free to argue with the other Arab
countries. They are in need of as many allies as they can get. Since Palestine
and the other Arab countries share a common culture and religion it is easy for
them to understand each other’s goals and objectives.
Although other Arab countries may fight against each other Palestine’s
enemy is Israel. By creating friendships with other Arab nations Palestine
secures military support in the area. In addition many Arab countries provide
valuable assets to the US. Therefore the US is less likely to coerce Palestine
into peace with Israel in order to maintain positive US relations with the Arab
nations.
The idiosyncratic and role variables are related and in conflict with one another. In the Palestinian Authority the role variable is usually more dominant. The idiosyncratic is minimized due to the constant conflict with Israel. Although the country has had little time to develop this role the expectations are fairly basic: the leader must be strong and unwilling to give in. Of course Arafat’s idiosyncrasies have an impact but these characteristics are not as important as his role as a leader. Arafat will give up very little to Israel (especially concerning Jerusalem) because he will appear weak to his people and they will lose faith in him.
In
the Palestinian Authority the governmental variable is very important. The government has to represent its people.
If it fails to do this groups within the population will overthrow the
government. At any given time there are activist groups that do not agree with
Arafat’s actions but the people as a whole will not currently support an
overthrow of the government. The
competence of the Palestinian Authority is also very important. The current
government is fairly competent and completes its objectives. This statement is
based on the numerous trade agreements they have formed with other countries.
The government has acquired foreign aid to help improve the current economic
situation and has formed committees within itself to work for the betterment of
Palestine.
Both
aspects of the societal variable are very important in Palestinian politics.
Palestinians generally view Israel as a militaristic state that enjoys
torturing and killing Palestinians. The negative view of Israel is what forms
the basis for the role of the government and the role of the leader. The second
aspect of the societal variable the integration and unity aspect is as
important as the first in Palestine. The country is very unified and while
there may be varying degrees of severity most Palestinians believe that Israel
is bad. Even the Palestinians who cross in to Israel to work share this sense
of dislike for Israel. These negative feelings towards Israel are based on the
fact that Israeli soldiers have killed hundreds of Palestinians, including
women and children.
Palestine
has very few natural resources. What they originally did have has been
destroyed by Israeli troops. Even the water, which was once clean and easily
accessible, is now polluted. The lack of resources has created a situation of
dependency by Palestine on other wealthier countries for foreign aid and
imports.
As previously mentioned the
main foreign policy objective of the Palestinian Authority is statehood. To achieve military objectives, the Palestinian
Authority has reserved financial resources to stockpile weapons. In an attempt to create a sizeable army the
Palestinian Authority has smuggled weapons into the land. The Palestinian Authority has also sent
troops to Nasser Military Academy, in Cairo. The newspaper Al Hayat Al-Jadida quoted Palestinian security sources as saying,
"the Palestinian military command is working to improve its effectiveness
to build a recognized and highly skilled military staff". In recent years the Palestinian Authority has
intensified the civilian training in an effort to protect the land and help
sustain our political and military objectives. Financially the Palestinian
Authority is spending considerable resources on military forces. This is an effort to promote stability
through the presence of a strong military force that will detour attacks.
The Palestine Monetary Authority
controls the banking activities and financial stability of the Palestinian
economy. The Palestine Monetary
Authority looks over the banks and enforces rules. It also aids in the foreign
trade of Palestine. The PMA is just one
way in which Palestine’s government is trying to stabilize the economy and
continue in the sharing of resources with foreign countries. Organizations such
as this are formed in an effort to track the economic state of Palestine. By
tracking economic trends the Palestinian Authority hopes to encourage economic
growth.
The instability in the area has caused many potential investors
to remain out of Palestine. In turn the Palestinian Authority has tried to develop
Palestine as an industrial state. The
hope is that an eventual peace treaty will bring business and economic boom to
the people of Palestine. The Palestinians have hope for better economic
conditions that may come with the end of wars and the implementation of
permanent peace. The ongoing battles
have created a lack of funds and uncertainty about the future of Palestine. Therefore
there is little money to place into expanding the industrialization of
Palestine.
The result is that the Palestinian
areas have been unable to grow beyond the small-scale industries. This in turn has created a situation of
dependence on foreign aid. Palestine depends on foreign imports for basic necessities
as well as foreign aid for economic well being.
Ideology
is not very important to the Palestinian Authority. Palestine is based on a
strong sense of nationalism among her people. The government has promoted this
sense nationalism in speeches and public address but the main reason for
nationalism among Palestinians is their historical struggle with Israel.
In
1967 Israel militarily entered the West Bank and the Gaza strip. Since this
time Israel has discriminated against the Palestinian people and has founded
its state on discrimination against Palestinians. Israel took “total control
over the land…the people…and the authority to govern without any respect for
international law, appeals by the West or Palestinian cries for freedom”.
Nationalism has risen in Palestine due to the intense discrimination felt by
its people.
The government has also
contributed to the rise in nationalism. In the speeches by leaders in Palestine
they refer to themselves as part of the people. In a speech by Palestinian
leaders they frequently referred to “our national soil” and “our indefatigable
spirit and our rejection of the sense of despair”. By including themselves in
the majority the leaders portray to their people that they are all fighting for
their country and not just for a leader.
It is obvious to outsiders
that the Palestinians have a strong feeling of nationalism by their actions.
Palestinians die, are imprisoned, tortured and live in exile because of their
love for their country. The spirit of nationalism of the Palestinian people is
due to the continual discrimination against them and poor manner in which they
have been treated.
6. How actively is the Palestinian Authority involved with regional or global organizations and alliances? Why?
During the first twenty years of the Israeli occupation of Palestine the Palestinian people were highly dependent on outside assistance for the freeing of their country. The Palestinians relied on their alliances with the United States and other Arab countries to speak out against Israel and free Palestine. The Israelis were unresponsive to outside calls to remove themselves from Palestine and remained in the occupied territories.
After the failure of
international powers to help the Palestinians they organized from within and
declared independence from Israel. This was accomplished through a combination
or unification of a national front. Orchestrated by leftist idealists it
combined all nationalist groups within Palestine to come together and work for
the freedom of Palestine. The goals of the Intifada are to change the status
quo and end Israeli occupation. Also to build a new society free and
independent from outside rule.
Throughout the occupation of
Palestine international allies have been important tools in the fight for
freedom. Since the 1988 declaration of independence from Israel Palestine has
negotiated many trade agreements and gained support from countries in their
local sphere and beyond. The World Bank has given financial support to
Palestine to improve their development plans.
In the year 2000 Palestine has negotiated a cooperation agreement
with France and trade agreements with Vietnam and Japan. The Palestinian
Authority has gained the financial support of Germany and the United States to
work towards the development of democracy and economic and social progress in
Palestine.
After the physical and
economic destruction of much of Palestine by Israeli troops the new Palestinian
Authority has proposed development plans to help the Palestinian people rebuild
their lives and their country. The international financial support given to
Palestine is instrumental in the rebuilding of their country. Trade agreements
are also important in the economic redemption of Palestine. Many of these trade
agreements include the improvement of industry and technologies that will help
Palestine re-enter the world economy.
Palestine is a member of the
United Nations, which has been instrumental in their fight for freedom. The
European Union and the Catholic Church have both supported peace agreements in
the Middle East that the European Union hopes will contribute to peace and
stability in the Mediterranean. Colombia has said that they are in full support
of “self-determination and anti-colonialism” and will support Palestine as and
independent state with Jerusalem as the capitol.
International
support of a Palestinian nation is crucial to a country that is small and
surrounded by stronger powers. The support of the freedom of Palestine helps
ensure that if Israel were to declare war on Palestine it would be looked
poorly upon by the rest of the international community. This is not to say that
other countries would ally with Palestine in a war but it is a slight assurance
that they will not ally with Israel either. Most countries near and far want
peace to be obtained through negotiation and are willingly to help through
trade with and support of Palestine.