[Salon] The PA will write its own downfall

[Chas Freeman <cwfresidence@gmail.com>]

https://thealtworld.com/ramona_wadi/the-pa-will-write-its-own-downfall

The PA will write its own downfall

Ramona Wadi

Friday 1 Sep 23

If the Palestinian Authority is concerned about anti-colonial
resistance, it is certainly acting in a way that will bring about its
political downfall. This week, the PA’s security services killed
Palestinian Abdul Qader Zaqdah at the Tulkarem Refugee Camp, merely
for preventing the security services from removing barriers enacted
against the Israeli Occupation Forces’ incursions.

According to the PA’s security services spokesman, Talal Dweikat, the
intervention happened after complaints about the barricades from
residents. Dweikat did not place culpability upon the security
services for Zaqdah’s killing, but members of the Tulkarem Brigade
stated that the PA’s security services fired live ammunition at the
camp’s residents.

While, within diplomatic circles, the PA calls for intervention
against Israeli brutality, it kills Palestinians with complete
impunity just as Israel does. The more the PA loses political control,
the more it seeks opportunities to oppress Palestinians to the point
of occasional annihilation.

“The security services removed the barricades that were placed to
block the movement of the Occupation Forces,” the Tulkarem Brigade
explained . “We will not remain silent over this act that helps the
occupation, and we will not tolerate anyone who committed this bloody
violation.”

The statement is a warning for the PA in several ways. Primarily, the
PA should take heed that its tactics will ultimately place it on the
same plane as Israel – colonial collaboration and colonial violence
should both be accounted for. If the PA had a shard of attachment to
Palestine, it could also take the warning as a sign that its politics
should change and the first step would be to allow Palestinians a say
in new governance, thus ending its illegitimate rule.

Zaqdah’s killing prompted statements from Hamas, which demanded
punishment for targeting Palestinians involved in anti-colonial
resistance. The Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade was reported to have
declared, “The Palestinian Authority and its security apparatus are
expressly forbidden from entering the Tulkarem Camp and will be dealt
with by bullets as the Occupation Forces are treated.” Such a
statement is indicative of how the Palestinian people are swiftly
shifting to the perception of the PA as their enemy. Its mandate has
long expired, and its legacy is one of overt collaboration with
Israel, to the point that murdering Palestinian civilians occasionally
is how the PA aims to establish control.

The recent killing indicates that the PA is amenable to the option of
making the camps easier to target, thus rendering displaced
Palestinians more vulnerable to attacks by Israel and the PA’s
security services. The PA has a track record in begging for protection
where it knows none will be forthcoming while, at the same time,
offering no refuge for Palestinians. If the PA was serious about
Palestinian political independence, it would ensure the camps are
protected with more than barricades that are no match for Israel’s
military might. The recent bombardment of Jenin Refugee Camp is
indicative of what might befall Palestinians for altering the status
quo. Zaqdah’s killing by the PA’s security services only portrays that
the PA is only too happy to let Palestinians become collateral damage
in this latest phase of its pathetic and desperate political survival.