Today, Palestinians are in a difficult and complex situation more than ever before because of the consequences of the brutal genocidal war waged against them by Israel, as well as the deadlock or collapse of their option of establishing an independent state in the West Bank and Gaza. This comes alongside the failure of the political and resistance strategies they pursued over six decades and the exhaustion and erosion of their national movement.

In light of all this, Palestinians appear to be in urgent need of organizing a broad public discussion about their cause in order to confront or prevent the dangers and challenges surrounding them. Such a discussion could help revive their situation, restore political consensus, and rebuild their national framework on new foundations that match their current reality and capabilities, enabling them to remain steadfast on their land between the river and the sea under these circumstances.

Where are the legitimate institutions?

However, despite all of the above, the Palestinians’ problem is that for a long time they have lacked legitimate political institutions. The Palestine Liberation Organization, which is supposed to be the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people inside and outside Palestine, has become marginalized and ineffective after the Palestinian Authority turned into the center of Palestinian political action, even though it represents only Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, or more accurately the dominant political class there.

As a result, there is no legislative council for the Palestinian Authority after it was dissolved years ago by the president, whose own term has long exceeded its legal limit. He has now remained president of the Authority for 21 years since 2005. This means there is a legitimacy crisis within the Palestinian Authority, creating a political vacuum that cannot be covered merely by the existence of a president, prime minister, cabinet, and security apparatuses. In fact, this reflects the widening gap between the Authority and its people in both the West Bank and Gaza.

The same applies to the Palestine Liberation Organization. The Palestinian National Council has met only three times in 32 years, in 1996, 2009, and 2018, since the establishment of the Palestinian Authority in 1994, despite the council’s internal regulations stating that it should convene annually.

Control over the political arena

Another problem facing the Palestinians lies in the control exercised by the factions, or their leaderships, especially Fatah and Hamas, over the Palestinian political arena. A dominant political, bureaucratic, and commercial elite controls everything, reproduces itself, and revolves around either a single leader or a small group, in a reality where this political arena lacks institutionalization and internal democratic life. These factions, which have effectively lost the justification for their existence, have come to regard themselves as more important than the cause itself and even more important than the people.

For example, Hamas insists on maintaining its dominance over Gaza despite the catastrophe suffered by Palestinians there. It also insists on keeping its weapons in order to preserve its authority, even though those weapons did not protect the Palestinians of Gaza, nor did they protect Hamas itself or its leaders.

Likewise, Fatah, which leads both the PLO and the Palestinian Authority, concluded its eighth conference without any real debate and without raising the necessary questions about Fatah’s path, experience, responsibilities, and current condition. In other words, it failed to undertake any critical review of its choices and methods of action. Instead, the conference focused only on celebrating Fatah’s past glories and on electoral rivalry among its influential factions.

In reality, as the long experience of 61 years has shown, the Palestinian factions have never seriously, responsibly, or transparently engaged in discussing the people’s issues and the problems of Palestinian national action at any stage, despite all the experiences, expertise, and sacrifices. This is despite the Palestinians’ urgent need for such discussions because of their dispersion, their abnormal circumstances, and the difficult and complex challenges they face, especially given the suffering they endure both under occupation and in exile, where they are deprived of identity, homeland, and rights.

Thus, the Palestinian arena lacks responsible and constructive internal dialogue regarding the political choices and strategies that have been pursued and regarding the transformations it has undergone, from liberation to settlement, from uprising to negotiation, from resistance to de escalation, and from a liberation movement to an authority.

The dilemma is that Palestinian leaders, amid their debates, disagreements, and enthusiasm, forget that they do not possess real state structures, that their situation is far from stable, that the management of their affairs is plagued with problems, that their internal house is fragile, and that their people are vulnerable to fragmentation and marginalization.

In any case, this is only a small part of the difficult and complex reality facing the Palestinians. It confirms that what they need is not reconciliations, festivals, or statements, but rather a collective political body that would enable them to determine their own decisive choices and manage their struggle in the best and most suitable way possible. Perhaps this could spare them further losses, help revive their situation, and most importantly enable their people to remain on their land, free from slogans and illusions.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed by the writers are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Annahar