Selvstyret ber palestinerne boikotte Israel

Pale­stinske myn­dig­he­ter ber pale­sti­nerne på Vest­bred­den ha minst mulig med sett­ler­bo­set­nin­ger og Israel å gjøre. Men hva skal folk leve av? hvor skal de behandle sine syke? Har pale­stinske ledere selv brakt noen ofre?

Kha­led Abu Toameh synes pale­stinske myn­dig­he­ter leg­ger opp til en far­lig radi­ka­li­se­ring av befolkningen

Pale­sti­nian Aut­hority Radi­ca­li­zing Pale­sti­ni­ans, Drag­ging Them Toward War

by Kha­led Abu Toameh

On the same day that two Pale­sti­nian offi­ci­als met in Jeru­sa­lem with Prime Minis­ter Biny­a­min Netanyahu, the Pale­sti­nian Aut­hority issued an order ban­ning Pale­sti­ni­ans from making direct con­tact with Israeli aut­hori­ties in the West Bank.

The new order is yet anot­her sign of how the Pale­sti­nian Aut­hority is radi­ca­li­zing Pale­sti­ni­ans and even­tually drag­ging them toward anot­her con­fron­ta­tion with Israel.

The ban, which was issued by the Pale­sti­nian governor of Bethle­hem, pro­hi­bits Pale­sti­ni­ans from directly seeking the ser­vices of the Israeli Dist­rict Coor­di­na­tion Com­mittee [DCO].

Estab­lis­hed under the terms of the Oslo Accords, the DCO’s main mis­sion is to pro­vide various ser­vices to Pale­sti­ni­ans, espec­ially those who seek to enter Israel for medi­cal treat­ment and work. Over the past two deca­des, tens of thou­sands of Pale­sti­ni­ans have sought the ser­vices of the DCO also to faci­li­tate tra­vel arran­ge­ments and over­come bure­au­cra­tic hurdles.

But now the Pale­sti­nian Aut­hority govern­ment has deci­ded to put an end to this phe­n­ome­non. Pale­sti­ni­ans have warned that anyone who vio­la­tes the latest ban would be punished.

The ban will only increase bit­ter­ness and suf­fe­ring among Pale­sti­ni­ans. The Pale­sti­nian Aut­hority is hoping that the anger on the Pale­sti­nian street will ulti­mately be directed against Israel.

The new order is the latest in a series of deci­sions that raise ten­sions between Israel and the Pale­sti­ni­ans and go against the spi­rit of the peace process.

Last week, the Pale­sti­nian govern­ment issued anot­her order ban­ning Israeli -- not only sett­ler -- agri­cul­tural pro­ducts from some areas in the West Bank.

The Pale­sti­nian Aut­hority has also ban­ned meetings between Israe­lis and Pale­sti­ni­ans that allegedly pro­mote “nor­ma­liza­tion” between the two sides.

More­over, Pale­sti­ni­ans have been ban­ned from wor­king in sett­le­ments in the West Bank or sel­ling goods manu­factu­red in some of these sett­le­ments. But because the Pale­sti­nian govern­ment has not been able to come up with a plan to com­pen­sate tens of thou­sands of wor­kers for the loss of their jobs in the sett­le­ments, many of them have cho­sen to sim­ply ignore the ban, put­ting their lives at risk.

If any­thing, all these new measu­res reflect the Pale­sti­nian Authority’s double stan­dards in dea­ling with its own population.

How can the Pale­sti­nian govern­ment call for a boycott of Israel when its poli­ti­cal and security repre­sen­ta­ti­ves are hol­ding for­mal and infor­mal meetings with Israe­lis almost on a daily basis?

If the lea­ders of the Pale­sti­nian Aut­hority do not want Pale­sti­ni­ans to seek the ser­vices of the Israeli aut­hori­ties, why don’t they then return their Israeli-issued VIP cards that grant them pri­vi­le­ges denied to most Palestinians?

If Pale­sti­nian lea­ders do not want their citizens to seek medi­cal aid in Israel, why don’t they and their family mem­bers also boycott Israeli hos­pi­tals? Why do senior Pale­sti­nian lea­ders keep knock­ing on Israel’s door for help in various fields?

If the Pale­sti­nian govern­ment does not want Pale­sti­ni­ans to work in the sett­le­ments, why hasn’t it pro­vi­ded them with alter­na­tive jobs or finan­cial compensation?

Første gang:

http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/3028/palestinian-authority-radicalizing-palestinians

23. april.

Docu­ment is gra­te­ful to Toameh for allowing us to reprint his articles.