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There Won't Be "Peace" Without Democracy

[Wall Street Journal] Natan Sharansky and Bassem Eid - A tragic peace process turned to farce after bloody clashes between Hamas and Fatah loyalists in Gaza killed 11 Palestinians and injured 120 more, and nearly 200 Palestinians associated with Fatah sought asylum in Israel. The irony of the present situation boggles the mind. Oslo proponents believed a strong Arafat, unconstrained by the inherent checks of democratic rule, would be able to fight Hamas and forge a final peace with Israel. Yet 15 years later, a peace process that undermined Palestinian democracy created a "peace partner" so hated by its own people that the Israeli Army must now protect them. As Arafat and his Fatah party were busy hollowing out Palestinian civil society and turning control of the Palestinian economy over to corrupt cronies, the world showered them with money and diplomatic support. Hundreds of millions of dollars were transferred to Arafat's private slush fund so that he could "strengthen" his standing among the Palestinians. But the corrupt dictatorship he built would win him and his party only the lasting scorn of his people. Last November's Annapolis "peace" conference once again focused primarily on who is ruling and not on how they rule. Abbas replaced Arafat as the recipient of international largess, but the emphasis remains on empowering a particular leader, rather than empowering Palestinian civil society and creating democratic institutions. Palestinians have suffered greatly for this neglect of democracy. Since the beginning of the second intifada in September 2000, internecine violence has reached unprecedented heights. According to the Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group, the death toll includes: 122 killed in the streets (suspected collaborators), 41 by capital punishment, 34 honor killings, 48 stabbed to death, seven beaten to death, 258 killed under mysterious circumstances and 818 cases of gunfire. So far no one has been charged, let alone tried, for any of these unlawful killings. If Israelis and Palestinians are to pave a path toward peace, the peace process must be linked to building and strengthening Palestinian civil society. It is high time that Palestinian civil society be fully recognized by the international community as a prerequisite to peace. If Palestinian civil society is not empowered, the Fatah-controlled West Bank may soon be ruled by Hamas. Natan Sharansky, a former Soviet dissident and Israeli politician, is chairman of the Adelson Institute for Strategic Studies at the Shalem Center in Jerusalem. Bassem Eid is the founder and director of the Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group, based in Jerusalem.
2008-08-08 01:00:00
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