It is not strange for the Palestinians that their tragedy and difficult situation are linked to their specific life under Israel’s occupation; it is this occupation that bears primary responsible for the Palestinian crises. It is also not new to Palestinians that the Oslo agreements, including the Protocol on Economic Relations (“Paris agreement”, signed between the PLO and Israel in April 1994), are also one of the most serious limitations on Palestinian development. The Paris agreement allows Israel to continue controlling Palestinian economic life.
When the current popular protest movement against the high price of fuel and cost of living in general began last week, there were numerous public calls for Prime Minister Salam Fayyad to resign. At this time President Abbas, speaking from Cairo, expressed his encouragement of the Palestinian social movements and his agreement with the people’s demands. Moreover, Abbas added that the “Palestinians Spring” had begun.
In his response to calls for his resignation, Fayyad made a very important statement: “I am not responsible for the Paris economic agreement.
So it is very clear from Fayyad that the financial crisis in Palestine is first and foremost a political crisis. It is further clear from Fayyad that this economic-political crisis is due primarily to the agreements reached between the PLO and Israel, including the Oslo Agreements and all that followed, including the Paris agreement and the Hebron Protocol, which divided Hebron into two areas: Hebron 1 and Hebron2. Hebron is thus the sole divided city in the world in which its residents face physical danger as a result of an agreement.
As noted, Fayyad did not reveal anything new to the Palestinians when he pointed to the Paris agreement. This agreement is well-known in Palestine as subordinating the Palestinian economy to the Israeli occupation. How rare in the history of a national movement for liberation for it to provide such an advantage to the occupier of its land and people! And for twenty years this joke has continued, although reality is stronger and clearer: such a situation will not lead to any kind of liberty or development for the Palestinian people, who remain under an ever-increasing Israeli occupation.
The current crisis, and numerous crises which Palestinians have faced in the past twenty years, are surprises only to those who don’t wish to see reality and ignored this most fundamental of facts: There can be no development under Israeli occupation.
If you listen to the slogans of the demonstrations throughout the West Bank in the past two days, you can see that people know the reasons for their suffering. Most slogans demand annulment of the Paris agreement, resignation of the Palestinian government in the West Bank and almost always the resignation of Fayyad, whose name is linked most strongly with the international donor community, neo-liberal policies and the Palestinian economy.
Two demonstrations were conducted in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Sunday, one organized by the movement Youth against High Taxes and the other by the city’s lorry drivers. Protesters in both demonstrations closed the central Manara Square, calling on both Prime Minister Fayyad and President Abbas to resign. This was the first time that public calls against Abbas were made in this current wave of demonstrations.
Numerous actions and activities have already been planned for next week, such that the current protests will only grow bigger. This is especially true as PA employees have yet to receive their salaries and the decision-makers in Ramallah cannot indicate when people will be paid.
Sunday demonstrators in Ramallah further demanded that representatives in the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, the recognized representative of the Palestinian people, take their roles and responsibilities seriously. This is a clear political demand arising from the economic situation.
The Palestinian people know precisely why they are demonstrating. The immediate trigger is the deteriorating economic situation for increasing number of Palestinian families. However, Palestinians are demonstrating for political reasons. They know this, but does the international community understand?