Good GovernanceDrs. S. LeusenkampWindesheim Honours College
Hendrik Lok, S1012004
Zwolle, 27-11-12
Assignment 1Essay on a lack of Good Governance
Hamas
اومة� ح�رك�ة� ة�� ال�مق� الاس�لام�ي�The Islamic Resistance
Movement
The Destructive Grip of Hamas
on Gaza Strip
SummaryThe Islamic Resistance Movement governing the Gaza Strip of the
Palestinian Territories called Hamas, has been classified as a
terrorist organization by the US, UK, EU, and Israel. As a result of
their main purpose, which is to completely destroy the sovereign
State of Israel, they are conducting a variety of deadly terrorist
activities. The purpose of this essay is to investigate the lack of
good governance by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, as a very important
result of their destructive attitude and activities towards the
state of Israel, and even their own residents. Although there have
been some relative failures and successes during the process of
conflict between Hamas and the state of Israel; it seems to be
impossible to create a truly sustainable and peaceful relationship
between the neighboring entities under the current circumstances. To
emphasize the main argument about the cause for the lack of good
governance in the Gaza Strip explicitly: the nature and goal of the
terrorist organization Hamas, is the total destruction of the
sovereign state of Israel, in which all means seem to be justified.
It must be clear that there will be no true opportunity to strive
for sustainable peace, in order to install good governance in the
Gaza Strip, unless they change their ideology to recognize the
sovereignty of the state of Israel, and act upon accordingly.
Table of contents
1.
Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..1
2. The lack of good governance in the Gaza
Strip…………………………………..………………………22.1 Why is there no good
governance?.........................................................
............................2
2.2 Consequences for the people…………………………………………........………………..
……………………..3
3. Attempts to install good governance in the Gaza
Strip…………………..………………………5 3.1 What has been tried by whom to accomplish good
governance?......................................5
3.2 The failure and success of these
attempts………………………………………………….…………………..7
4. Conclusion and recommendations……………………………..…………………………………………………10
References…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..12
1. Introduction Former president of the USA George W. Bush once said: “Hamas is an
extremist group that calls for the total destruction of the state of
Israel. It is one of the deadliest terrorist organizations in the
world today.” (2001). A confirmation according to the Israel DefenseForces (IDF) states that “since Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip
in 2005, terrorists have fired more than 8,000 rockets into Israel.
Over one million Israelis are currently living under threat of
rocket attacks. (…) Hamas is the ruling entity of the Gaza Strip and
recognized as a terrorist group by the US, UK, EU and Israel. In
recent years, Hamas has been increasing the size and capabilities of
its rocket arsenal. (…) Since 2001, more than 12,800 rockets and
mortars, an average of 3 attacks every single day, have landed in
Israel. ” (Israel Defense Forces, 2012)
This is just a combination of quotes from the IDF to provide
some background information about the horrible destruction caused by
Hamas, the Islamic Resistance Movement located in the Gaza Strip,
and governing the South Western part of the Palestinian Territories
(PT) near the sovereign state of Israel. Furthermore, according to a
recently published report by Human Rights Watch (HRM) about the
failures of criminal justice in Gaza called ‘Abusive System’, Hamas
security services are also conducting extensive violations to their
own people, including: warrantless arrests, failure to inform
families directly of detainees’ whereabouts, conducting abusive
interrogations, torturing them, and other violations of their rights
by prosecutors and courts. (2012)
This specific subject is chosen because of my interest in the
Middle-East and the State of Israel in particular. Among many other
terrorist organizations in the direct region, Hamas poses a serious
threat to the national security of the state of Israel and the
wellbeing of millions of its residents. It is to the authors’1
opinion that there is not enough attention spent by the global main
stream and mass media about the true causes in this ongoing and
intense violent conflict.
Therefore, the purpose of this essay is to investigate the lack
of good governance by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, as a very important
result of their destructive attitude and activities towards the
state of Israel, and even their own residents. This essay is
structured in such a way that it investigates the lack of good
governance first; to find out why there is no good governance, what
the consequences are for its people, and the state of Israel.
Secondly, it discusses attempts to install good governance in the
Gaza Strip; to find out what has been done by whom to accomplish
good governance and to explain the success and failure of these
attempts. Finally, it concludes upon the arguments made about why
there is a lack of good governance, and it provides some
recommendations to improve good governance in the Gaza Strip.
2
2. The lack of good governance in the Gaza Strip To provide a good understanding about the lack of good governance in
the Gaza Strip, it is important to describe something about the
origin, organization, and purpose of Hamas, as well as their
international relations with other entities in the Middle East
region. The BBC, the Guardian, and CNN reported about the
installation of Hamas, according to Wikipedia. “Hamas' control over
the area was established after the Hamas party won the Palestinian
legislative elections in January 2006, and ousted Fatah officials
during the Battle of Gaza in 2007. Fatah, Hamas' political and
military rival, controls the West Bank. Both regimes – the
Palestinian National Authority and the Hamas administration – regard
themselves as the sole legitimate Palestinian government. Since the
division between the two parties, there have been conflicts between
Hamas and similar factions operating in Gaza, and with Israel, most
notably the Gaza War of 2008-2009.” (2012)
According to a strategic assessment by the Israeli Institute
for National Security Studies (INSS), “the outcome of the elections
has created a Palestinian political arena rife with intra- and
inter-organizational contradictions, personal conflicts, and inter-
generational rifts. These tensions have impacted on the
relationships between Hamas and the Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen)-led
Palestinian presidency and between Hamas and Fatah, as well as on
internal dynamics within Hamas itself.” (Mishal, 2006) Another
senior Israeli Middle East research expert confirms this by stating
that “the Hamas takeover in Gaza is a dramatic event that has
ramifications for Israeli-Palestinian relations, as well as regional
significance. The forceful takeover by an Islamic movement of an
Arab political entity generates repercussions and shockwaves in the
Arab world.” (Brom, 2007)
3
2.1 Why is there no good governance? In the introduction of this chapter it is briefly mentioned that
there are multiple organizations in a struggle for power and control
over the PT. To find out more about why there is a lack of good
governance in the Gaza Strip based on this fragile foundation, it is
important to notice something about the internal dilemma which Hamas
is facing as an ideological movement in a regional setting. “The
signing of the Declaration of Principles (DoP, known as Oslo I) by
Israel and the PLO on September 13, 1993, presented the leadership
of Hamas with its most difficult strategic challenge: the choice
between faithfulness to ideology, and the need to take pragmatic
measures aimed at preventing loss of its hold on Palestinian
society.” (Karmon, 2009)
4
Furthermore, Dr. Karmon argues that this dilemma was
intensified by the elections for the Autonomy’s Legislative Council
on the 20th of January, 1996, and the installation of the autonomous
Palestinian National Authority (PA). He also points out that
recognition of a formal PA status actually implies recognition of
Israel as well, although in a temporary and limited form, but
undermining the ideological justification for existence of the
Islamic Resistance Movement. (2009)
Moreover, Dr. Karmon makes an important conclusion in his
writing about the international coalition in which Hamas functions,
which provides important notions about the nature and purpose of the
Islamic Resistance Movement. “Israel is fighting not only Hamas, a
radical Islamist religious/political movement whose ideological and
strategic goal is to destroy the Jewish state in order to build on
it a Taliban-style one, but is facing a coalition of radical actors
– Iran, Syria, Hizballah and Hamas – which is responsible for the
destabilization of the entire Middle East for the last two decades.
(2009)
After this description about the regional setting and international
relationships in which Hamas is situated, to illustrate the
background and nature of the organization, the focus will now shift
to the domestic influences of Hamas as a result of these
characteristics. The National Endowment for Democracy organization
located in Washington DC, USA, sketched the effects of the historic
legislative elections in a rather cynical way. “The outcome brought
Hamas to power, triggered international sanctions, crippled the
Palestinian economy, halted virtually all government activity, and
erupted in sustained factional violence between Fatah and Hamas
supporters.” (2006) Therefore, it might be argued that the
development of good governance will not be realized, unless the
5
rivaling Palestinian factions in both separated locations, and in
between them, will reach consensus on the governance of the PT.
2.2 Consequences for the people An important direct effect of these developments is the growing
split between Palestinians on the Gaza Strip and the West bank.
Confirmation of this trend is provided by a public opinion poll
among Palestinians in the PT, conducted by the Palestinian Center
for Policy and Survey Research (PSR). “While the popularity of Abbas
and Fatah increases and the popularity of Ismail Haniyeh and Hamas
decreases, and while the public shows some enthusiasm for a strong
American role in the peace process and greater support for the Arab
Peace Initiative, Palestinians are pessimistic about the chances for
the reunification of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and are less
willing to accept concessions in a permanent settlement.” (2009)
6
Moreover, according to research results about the domestic
conditions in the most recent public opinion poll conducted by the
PSR, “positive evaluation of conditions in the Gaza Strip rises from
22% to 25% while 52% say conditions are bad or very bad. (…) It is
worth noting that this is the first time since the split in 2007
that more Palestinians evaluate conditions in the Gaza Strip as
better than conditions in the West Bank.” (2012) More relevant
findings in these results state that 63% mention corruption in the
governmental institutions of the Gaza Strip, only 17% say there is
press freedom in the Gaza Strip, and 26% of the people say one can
criticize the establishment without fear. Although 64% of the people
in Gaza Strip experience safety and security, 42% of them say they
pursue migration to other countries.
As a consequence beyond these statistics, Palestinian people
take it to the streets to demonstrate for reconciliation between the
rivaling Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah. Witnesses said that
within five hours clandestine officers mingled with the 10.000
protestors to spread the mob with sticks, on which they had to take
stones from the demonstrators. Thousands of protestors also called
for reconciliation on the Jordan West bank. Ismail Haniya, the
leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, invited Mahmoud Abbas, the leader
of the Fatah faction, for a national dialogue to pursue
reconciliation. Although Abbas responded by expressing to end the
division between the Palestinians with presidential and
parliamentary elections, Hamas rejected the proposal. (Nu.nl, 2011)
A news report later that year in May by Nu.nl updated the issue by
stating that the two Palestinian factions made agreements to set up
an interim-government, and to make preparations for upcoming
presidential and parliamentary elections next year. Despite these
efforts, Mahmoud Zahar, a Hamas protagonist, already claimed that
the next Prime Minister must come from Gaza (2011).
7
Moreover, to make it even more complicated, according to a news
update by Nu.nl later that month at the end of May, Zahar expressed
his doubts about the position of the highest Hamas leader to the
Lebanese paper Al-Akhbar, because of his silent support to
Palestinian negotiations with Israel. Zahar said in the paper that
Khaled Mashaal, who is exiled to Syria, does not have the right to
say that Hamas gives another chance to the Palestinian leader
Mahmoud Abbas to work out the peace agreements with Israel. Zahar
claims that his statements were not legit, and that the program of
Hamas is against negotiations in this way because they would be a
waste of time. He claims furthermore, that the most important Hamas
leaders are located in Syria which would be damaging for the
organization, because the emphasis should be on the PT. (2011).
8
3. Attempts to install good governance in the Gaza
Strip A very often used theory which prevents the development of good
governance in the PT is said to be the occupation by the state of
Israel. Israel would be the dominating and violent oppressor which
systematically denies the Palestinians access to all kinds of rights
and resources. However, according to Mahmoud Al-Zahar, one of the
founders and top Gaza-based leaders of the terrorist organization
Hamas, this is not the case. “Gaza has been freed from occupation.
Gaza is not under siege, and her connection with the outside world
has become a lot easier with visitors from around the world coming
to Gaza beaches. (…) We are self-sustaining in many areas, except
for oil and electricity. Al-Zahar concluded that, “as Hamas knew
from day one, the outcome of the peace process with Israel has been
entirely negative. The two state solution is dead, he said." (Aloni,
2012) Especially his concluding statement is characteristic for the
reluctant attitude of Hamas to sustainable peace building with the
state of Israel. On the contrary, as mentioned before, Hamas is
against every act of recognition of the state of Israel, and in
active favor to completely destroy the legitimate state. It touches
the very important but fragile foundation on which attempts to
install good governance in the Gaza Strip need to be build. In fact,
despite Hamas’ intentions, Israel feels far going responsibility
beyond imagination to develop the Gaza Strip, which for some reasons
even seems to be in conflict with their own laws, of which a
striking example will be dealt with later on.
3.1 What has been tried by whom to accomplish good
governance? An important series of peace initiatives to settle down the conflict
9
between the PT and the state of Israel are the so called Oslo
Accords. According to Wikipedia, “The Oslo I Accord or Oslo I,
officially called the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-
Government Arrangements or Declaration of Principles (DoP), was an
attempt in 1993 to resolve the ongoing Israeli–Palestinian conflict.
It was the first face-to-face agreement between the government of
Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). (…)The
Accord provided for the creation of a Palestinian interim self-
government, the Palestinian National Authority (PA). The PA would
have responsibility for the administration of the territory under
its control. The Accords also called for the withdrawal of the IDF
from parts of the Gaza Strip and West Bank.” (n.d.)
Furthermore, “the Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the
Gaza Strip, also known as the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement,
the Interim Agreement, Oslo 2, Oslo II, and Taba, was a key and
complex agreement governing several aspects of the Palestinian
territories of Gaza Strip and the West Bank.” (Wikipedia, n.d.) The
most important statement in this follow-up on Oslo I was that
“neither side shall initiate or take any step that will change the
status of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip pending the outcome of
the Permanent Status negotiations.”
The United Nations (UN) also stepped in to provide their
support in an attempt to foster good governance in the Gaza Strip.
However, “due to the pivotal nature of the remaining access
restrictions, the easing of the blockade on the Gaza Strip since
June 2010 did not result in a significant improvement in people’s
livelihoods, which were largely depleted during three years of
strict blockade.” (UNOCHA, 2011)
The most recent attempt to develop good governance in the PT
came actually yesterday, the 29th of November 2012. “The UN General
Assembly on Thursday endorsed an upgraded UN status for the10
Palestinian Authority, despite intense opposition from the United
States and Israel. (…) The vote was 138 delegates in favor of the
measure, nine against and 41 abstentions, including Germany.”
(Ariosto & Pearson, 2012) The upgrade went from a so called non-
member observer entity to a non-member observer state -which is not
a formal sovereign state yet. The reporters for CNN continue to
state that PA President Mahmoud Abbas said “we did not come here
seeking to delegitimize a state established years ago, and that is
Israel; rather we came to affirm the legitimacy of the state that
must now achieve its independence, and that is Palestine.” (2012)
To reflect upon these hypocritical comments with the facts of
history, the following is worthwhile mentioning. “On November 29,
1947, the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 181 (also known as
the Partition Resolution) that would divide Great Britain's former
Palestinian mandate into Jewish and Arab states in May 1948. (…) The
Palestinian Arabs refused to recognize this arrangement, which they
regarded as favorable to the Jews and unfair to the Arab population
that would remain in Jewish territory under the partition.”
Ironically enough, the Palestinian Arabs immediately refused the
first two state solution already 64 years ago. Moreover, they even
went in a direct attempt to annihilate the just reborn Jewish state
of Israel, which actually led to their defeat, and in return
resulted in losing their first and foremost opportunity to create a
Palestinian state already many years ago. (U.S. Department of State
- Office of the Historian, n.d.)
Wikipedia states that the Israeli Coordinator of Government
Activities in the PT, Major General Eitan Dangot, said that “Israel
seeks to work with Salam Fayyad, to help revive the Palestinian
economy, and hopes to ease restrictions on the Gaza Strip further,
11
while somehow preventing the Islamic militants who rule it from
getting credit for any progress.” (2012) Even more interesting is an
article from Israel Today, which has been introduced before, stating
‘Israel first nation in history to finance its enemies’. “Everyone
knows that Gaza is not self-sufficient, and receives nearly all its
water and a large portion of its electricity from Israel. There was
not even a hiccup in that supply as the residents of Gaza rained
down missiles on Israeli cities.” (Jones, 2012) He elaborates on the
remarkable facts that “the Bank of Israel continued to send Brinks
trucks carrying millions of dollars to Hamas during the war.” He
continues to quote Israel’s Ynet news on the issue by explaining
that “Hamas does not have its own banking system. The organization
raises funds in Arab states in dollars, but the currency in Gaza is
the shekel. So, every month Israel transfers millions of shekels to
Gaza to be exchanged for the dollars. The popular Israeli
commentator Dr. Guy Bechor of the Interdisciplinary Center in
Herzliya responded to this ridiculous situation: we represent the
first instance in history of one side feeding and financing its
enemy, even during a time of war between the two." (2012)
However, “in Israel and in most Western nations, it is illegal
for government or financial institutions to monetarily support
organizations classified as terrorist. Though Hamas is most
certainly a terrorist organization, Israel justifies helping it
manage its finances by calling it humanitarian aid.” (Jones, 2012)
Jones explains that without this financial aid, Hamas is not capable
of paying government salaries, and that most Gazans would lose their
jobs, cynically saying that “shooting missiles at Israel are also
some of those jobs by the way”. According to him, a New York court
ruled that Israeli terror victims of Hezbollah could press charges
on a bank in Lebanon which has a department in New York City that
manages financial transfers for a foundation connected to the terror
12
organization. This judgment paved the way for Israeli victims of
Hamas terror to sue the Bank of Israel through its connections if it
continues to aid the organization (2012).
3.2 The failure and success of these attempts According to a report by Foxnews, the Defense Minister of Israel
Ehud Barak said that “we have stretched our hand in peace many times
to the Palestinian people. We have nothing against the people of
Gaza, but this is an all-out war against Hamas and its branches.”
(2008) His colleague, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, added to this by
stating that “Israel is trying to avoid civilian casualties, while
Hamas is looking for children to kill. Hamas is targeting
deliberately kindergartens and schools and citizens and civilians
because this is according to their values. Our values are completely
different. We are trying to target Hamas, which hides among
civilians.” (2008)
To recall, the first seemingly successful series of attempts
after many failures have been the Oslo Accords. “From the first
negotiations at the 1949 Armistice Agreements to the most recent at
the Madrid Conference of 1991, there were many failed attempts for a
settlement to bring about a lasting end to the Arab–Israeli and
Israeli–Palestinian conflicts. What made the Oslo Accord
negotiations different, however, was the new Israeli government's
decision to finally hold face-to-face negotiations with the
Palestinian Liberation Organization, as the representative of the
Palestinian people.” (Wikipedia, n.d.)
13
Spielmann from the Associated Press says that “last year, the
Palestinians tried and failed to get full UN member-state status.
The Security Council must approve new members, and the United States
made clear it would veto any Palestinian attempt. So the doomed full
membership bid was never brought forward for a full council vote.”
(2012) The recent UN upgrade of the PA to a non-member observer
state also seems a huge success in pursuit of good governance for
the Gaza Strip. However, “analysts say its new status will bestow
the PA with little more than a symbolic victory and could trigger
diplomatic and financial retribution from the United States and
Israel. The two longstanding allies both oppose the bid on grounds
that it would undercut the formal peace process and could incite
regional unrest.” (McMahon & Masters, 2012)
They continue to explain that “it would lack any formal
recognition of sovereignty, borders, and other such considerations
normally attendant with state status. Acquiring these things from
Israel would require direct negotiations even if the General
Assembly endorsed non-member statehood. Unintended consequences of
UN recognition could include heightened tensions and possibly
violence in the Palestinian territories. Any cut to foreign aid, on
which the PA is heavily dependent, would exacerbate the fiscal
crisis in Palestinian territories”. This could have a disastrous
impact, since “Washington has donated more than $4 billion in aid to
the Palestinians since the mid-1990's in order to combat terrorism,
promote stability and prosperity, and meet humanitarian needs.”
(McMahon & Masters, 2012)
“Simultaneously, what might be called the ‘Oslo aristocracy’ -
those Palestinian leaders commonly associated with the new money and
concessionary politics of the agreements crafted in 1993 - has lost
ground to a mainstream consensus rejecting the precepts of the Oslo
period. All of these developments are greatly altering the
14
Palestinian political scene. A bit tentatively, Palestinians are
wondering if those changes can be made permanent,” writes Charmaine
Seitz for the Middle East Research and Information Project (MERIP).
She continues to explain that “the same return to grassroots
militancy that has pushed the Oslo aristocracy into the background
feeds the aspirations of others to instill practices of good
governance in the Palestinian leadership.” (2001)
According to a collection of news updates from a dossier by Nu.nl on
Palestinian issues, more interesting statements could be made about
the willingness of Hamas to fight for peace and good governance. In
August 2011 it was said that Hamas cancelled the treaty with Israel.
In September later that year, Ismail Haniya announced his opposition
to a request for autonomous membership at the UN, because they are
not satisfied with the current conditions for the two state
solution. In April 2012, Moussa Abu Marzouk, the number two of
Hamas, claimed to review all pending peace treaties with Israel,
because they will never view Israel as a sovereign state. These
positions are confirmed by the Israeli terrorism expert Amichai
Magen in November 2012, stating that even if Hamas would strive for
peace, it would be impossible, because they are under a constant
pressure of even more extreme groups of jihadists who are supported
by Iran. The Gaza Strip is the ideological Arena between the Shiite
influence from Iran, and the Sunni stream from the Muslim
Brotherhood which are in a struggle for the leadership in the fight
against Israel.
15
4. Conclusion and recommendations The Islamic Resistance Movement governing the Gaza Strip of the
Palestinian Territories (PT) called Hamas, has been classified as a
terrorist organization by the US, UK, EU, and Israel. As a result of
their main purpose, which is to completely destroy the sovereign
state of Israel, they are conducting a variety of deadly terrorist
activities. These are ranging from firing rockets and mortars on
Israeli civilians, to systematically suppressing their own people by
denying many of their basic human rights, and inflicting severe
damage to their mental and physical wellbeing.
These examples of their key characteristics form a major cause
for the lack of good governance in the Gaza Strip. Hamas is in a
dilemma between pursuing its ideology of terror and destruction, and
preventing the loss of grip on the Palestinian society. The growing
split between the rivaling PT factions Hamas, and Fatah /
Palestinian Authority on the West Bank, causes great tension and led
to violence between the separated people and among their own
residents. There are serious consequences for the people because of
this. More than half of them view the conditions on the Gaza Strip
as bad or very bad, very few people experience press freedom and
many notice corruption in the governmental institutions.
Furthermore, there is a continuous power struggle within the
organization of Hamas as well, which does not enhance these issues.
The most important initiatives for peace to enable good
governance came with the Oslo Accords in between 1993 – 95. However,
the recent update by the United Nations of the PT to a non-member
observer state possess an immediate threat to the peace process,
because it is in violation with the Oslo Accords which have brought
the most relative peace since decades of the conflict. The high
dependency of the Gaza Strip to immediate aid in the form of food,
17
water, electricity, and financial services place them in an
unfavorable position towards Israel. However, despite the ongoing
rocket attacks, the support of Israel has been flawless. The support
even goes to such an extent, that victims from Hamas terror in
Israel are permitted by the Israeli court to press charges on the
Bank of Israel for supporting the terrorist organization .
Unfortunately, there is too much evidence about the main reason
for a lack of good governance in the Gaza Strip. There have been
some little successes during the process of conflict between Hamas
and the state of Israel, but it seems to be impossible to create a
truly sustainable and peaceful relationship between the neighboring
entities under the current circumstances. To emphasize the main
argument about the cause for the lack of good governance in the Gaza
Strip explicitly; the nature and goal of the terrorist organization
Hamas, which is the total destruction of the sovereign state of
Israel, in which all means seem to be justified.
18
Recommendations
There are some recommendations that could be made to enable good
governance in the Gaza Strip. Although it is realized that they do
not seem very realistic and feasible at the moment, nor in the near
future, they are still made to demonstrate the only true route for
real improvement and to show how easy the process could be in
theory.
First of all, it is recommended that the type of ideology which
Hamas is practicing must be eradicated. The one and only purpose of
extreme islamic jihadist groups such as Hamas, is to completely
destroy the sovereign state of Israel. Let it be clear that there
will be no true opportunity to strive for sustainable peace in order
to install good governance in the Gaza Strip, unless they change
their ideology to recognize the sovereignty of the state of Israel
and act upon accordingly.
Secondly, they have to abort all terrorist activities which
threaten the population of Israel, and harm the international
relationship. Furthermore, this will mean that Hamas should also
stop indoctrinating their youth with pure hate and intolerance, in
order to break through the vicious cycle of mayhem and destruction
for generations to come.
Thirdly, the PT should unify their governance to turn down the
tension between the rivaling political factions and thus enhancing
the unity of their people. Moreover, they should enable their people
to use democratic principles and tools to choose their
representatives and encourage them to participate.
Additionally, they could then seek to improve the mutual
relationship with the state of Israel, in order for them to make it
beneficial for both societies. Two interesting quotes from both
sides of the story follow now, to illustrate the idea that both
Israel and Palestine will have to deal with one another. The first
19
quote is from TIME magazine, and made in New York, November 11,
1974. The second quote is made in a speech at the Knesset after the
end of the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict, in Israel, on August 14,
2006.
“Palestine is the cement that holds the Arab world together, or it is the explosive that blows it
apart.”
~ Yasser Arafat, former Palestinian leader.
“The truth is that if Israel were to put down its arms there would be no more Israel. If the
Arabs were to put down their arms there would be no more war.” ~ Benjamin
Netanyahu, Israeli Prime Minister.
20
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