February 5, 2015 | Quote

West Bank Gun Battle Exposes Growing Resentment Towards Palestinian Authority


Grant Rumley, an expert in Palestinian politics at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington points out that there is a growing gap between the younger and older members of Palestinian society in terms of how they view the leadership.

“For Palestinians under 45, all they have known is the PA as this bloated, bureaucratic instrument. They have very antagonistic opinions towards it,” he says.

“Palestinian youths and the middle-aged look at these raids into camps like Balata, and look at protests in the West Bank that are quashed by the PA forces, and they think: ‘What is the point of having a PA like this if this is what it is doing?’ I think moments like these are data points along the path of frustration against the PA.”

Abbas is opposed to armed resistance against Israeli occupation and has so far been unsuccessful in his negotiations to set up an independent Palestinian state. Despite his claims that Israel and Hamas are the parties to blame for the failure of talks, his approval ratings have slumped from 50% last summer to 35% in December 2014.

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Issues:

Palestinian Politics