Former Palestinian Minister: The West Bank Is In Chaos; Palestinian Authority Has Failed To Build Properly Governed Lawful State
In an article in the daily Al-Ayyam, Ashraf Al-'Ajrami, a former minister of prisoners affairs in the Palestinian Authority (PA), warned that the West Bank is in chaos, manifested in violent clan and tribal conflicts that are threatening public security. This situation, he said, results from the failure of all the Palestinian institutions – the education system, the executive and judicial bodies, the political parties and even civil society organizations – which have not managed to build a national civil infrastructure divorced from clan and tribal loyalties.
Al-'Ajrami added that the public confidence in the PA institutions is eroding, and that the PA is losing its ability to govern, because the public relies more and more on local and tribal frameworks to protect it and handle its affairs. He stated that the discourse of resistance, which glorifies weapons, only intensifies the phenomenon of citizens taking the law into their own hands and using their weapons to settle personal and local scores. If Palestinian society slides into complete anarchy, he warned, international elements will stop supporting the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, out of fear that it will turn into a failed and corrupt country. He urged the Palestinians to embrace values of proper government and the rule of law and thus restore their image as "a civilized and educated nation that can play an active role in the culture of the world."
It should be noted that the weakness of the rule of law in the PA is an issue often discussed in the Palestinian media, with many writers claiming that it is a symptom of deeper problems in Palestinian society that can threaten the future of the Palestinian national cause. [1]
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