Palestinian Authority

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PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY

Interim Palestinian government, established under the terms of the Oslo Accords. It was created by a decree of 12 October 1993 of the Central Council of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and established in May 1994, in Gaza. The Palestinian Authority (PA)'s mandate was to administer the partial autonomy in the Occupied Territories for the five-year period specified in the Oslo Accords, at which time agreed-upon governmental powers and territory were to have been transferred and a final settlement negotiated. It was understood, though not stated, that the final settlement would result in the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state. Under the Oslo Accords and subsequent agreements, the PA officially has control over both security and civil matters in certain designated ("A") areas and over civil matters only in other ("B") areas; Israel retains full control over the remaining ("C") areas. In practice the degree of Palestinian control of a given place has depended on whether the Israelis are in occupation at a given time. The PA maintains a number of armed Palestinian security forces (including a paramilitary police force), which report to Yasir Arafat directly, rather than through a PA chain of command. Some of these are responsible, essentially, for meeting Israel's "security needs" by controlling anti-Israel activity. They are the objects of frequent attack by Israel. Others are used to keep political opposition to the PLO leadership under control and are frequently deployed against Palestinian political organizations.

At the time of its establishment the PA administration was comprised of the following members: Yasir Arafat (president and minister of the interior; al-Fatah), Muhammad Zuhdi Nashashibi (Finance and Agriculture; Independent), Yasir Amr (Education and Teaching; Independent), Yasir Abd Rabbo (Culture; Fida), Ahmad Sulayman Qurai (Economy and Commerce; Fatah), Abdul Hafi al-Ashab (Communications; pro–Palestinian People's Party), Samir Ghosheh (Labor; Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine), Intisar al-Wazir (Social Affairs; Fatah), Nabil Sha?th (Planning and Cooperation; Fatah), Zakariya al-Agha (Housing; Fatah), Elias Freij (Tourism; Independent), Riyad al-Za?nun (Health; Independent), Freih Abu Middein (Justice; Fatah), Saib Erekat (Local Communities; Fatah), Abdelaziz al-Haj Ahmad (Transportation), Azmi Shuaibi (Sports and Youth; Fida), Jamil Tarifi (Civil Service; Fatah), Sheikh Hasan Tahbub (Religious Affairs). Faysal al-Husayni was named minister without portfolio, in charge of the Jerusalem issue. In January 1996 elections were held for the presidency—Arafat won in a landslide—and for the newly created legislature, the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC); in May, a cabinet reshuffle brought about the departure of some ministers who had just won seats and the arrival of others who until then had refused to be part of the PA, such as Hanan Ashrawi, named minister of higher education. In 1996 a Likud government was elected in Israel, headed by Benjamin Netanyahu, which did not believe in the Oslo peace process, and in fact the process has never recovered, changing the role of the PA. On 23 May 1997, an internal audit pegged the cost of management "errors" by the PA at $326 million, and a number of ministers were accused of embezzlement. On 5 August, the PA was reorganized again on the recommendation of the Legislative Council.

The International Monetary Fund and especially the European Union (EU), the largest outside financial contributor to the PA, have also been concerned over corruption and diversion of funds in the PA and have conducted investigations and demanded reforms, some of which have been made. It is known that millions of dollars of PA funds have gone either into the pockets of corrupt officials, their friends, and families, or to Palestinian groups outside the PA structure that have engaged in anti-Israel activities, including terrorism. Since these facts were uncovered, the EU has chosen to donate only in the form of specific grants for particular purposes. Corruption and ineffective and undemocratic government have also grown as issues among the Palestinian population, particularly since the beginning of the al-Aqsa Intifada in September 2000. Thanks to the increased violence and economic disruptions, the Israeli reoccupation and its continuing land confiscation, road and settlement building and the building of the "Apartheid wall," the people living in the occupied territories are increasingly angry, and younger people in particular have been alienated from the PA, seen as unrepresentative and ineffective, at best, against the Israelis.

In the spring of 2002 the Israelis invaded Ramallah, where the PA is headquartered, placed Arafat under house arrest, and destroyed buildings all around him, holding him hostage for months. In 2004, he is unable to travel, for fear the Israelis will prevent his return. In April 2003 Arafat bowed to American and Israeli pressure and appointed a (figurehead) prime minister, Mahmud Abbas, who was replaced by Ahmad Qurai in September. In the summer of 2004 there were a number of kidnappings of and threats to PA officials by a variety of groups. The most serious incident came in July when a revolt was threatened in Gaza if Arafat did not withdraw the appointment of his brother as security chief there. After several days, he did.