Sunday, May 19, 2002

Just Try to Imagine a Palestinian Democracy
REFORM of Yasir Arafat's Palestinian Authority is suddenly dominating the diplomacy for Middle East peace, and as is so often true of this suffocating conflict, the debate is already narrowing to self-serving questions: Is Mr. Arafat speaking of reform simply to sustain his power? Is Ariel Sharon, Israel's prime minister, calling for reform just to postpone peace talks? Will the Bush administration settle for cosmetic change to appease Arab states?

Reform, in short, is turning into a political football. But consider if it were a grail instead.

True democratic reform would be a gamble for everyone, but one with a potentially impressive payoff: it could create a model for ending not only the crisis over Israel's legitimate borders and even its right to exist, but also the similar, simmering doubts about Arab nations arbitrarily sketched out by Europeans on the map of the dying Ottoman Empire 80 years ago.

The Palestinian Authority is being asked to do something that American administrations have not asked of any established Arab state: to create a true democracy, with civil protections, separation of powers, direct accountability of officials, freedom of the press and speech, and transparency of governing institutions.

Many Palestinian officials and citizens are eager to take up the challenge — perhaps a higher proportion of the elite and the average citizenry than elsewhere in the Arab Middle East. The ache for civic change was captured last week by the speed with which members of the Palestinian Legislative Council, the oft-sidelined legislature of the Palestinian Authority, responded to Mr. Arafat's invitation for proposals.

It is perhaps Pollyannaish even to conjure the scenario, at such a dark moment in Israeli-Palestinian relations. But imagine the effect on Israeli fears about Palestinian intentions, and on Arab-Israeli diplomacy, if a democratic Palestinian government sought a peace accord guaranteeing a two-state solution with Israel. Imagine the effect on Palestinian life.

To play Pollyanna for a moment, there are reasons to think this could happen, with enough work by other nations and daring by leaders on both sides here.

Among the Arabs, Palestinians are uniquely suited for such a democratic experiment, because of their bitter, close relationship with Israel, their stateless years and the intense international focus on their cause.

Nader Said, a sociologist at Bir Zeit University in Ramallah, said that the Israeli occupation had instilled in Palestinians "their defiance of authority in general, and this sort of tendency for freedom — wanting personal freedom, and to not be controlled." At the same time, he said, "even under the worst of circumstances, Palestinians have admired Israeli democracy." These are experiences that Mr. Arafat and his closest associates, in exile for so many years, did not have.

Palestinians have traveled the world, and many have lived in the United States. As agriculture floundered here, the importance of education grew, partly as a path to jobs overseas. Particularly in the West Bank, Palestinians are relatively wealthy, not because of the oil that sustains elites elsewhere, but because of their own efforts and foreign assistance. The aid has led to corruption within Mr. Arafat's administration, but it also has helped develop a strong middle class outside it.

The gamble is that elections might benefit extremists. Recent polling has shown Mr. Arafat's more secular Fatah movement and Islamist groups like Hamas each supported by a quarter to a third of Palestinians, leaving 40 to 50 percent in play.

THE advocates of secular democracy have watched the current conflict with growing despair, marking the steady march of Islamic fundamentalism as more young women began covering their heads and Islamic groups scored a smashing victory in student elections at Al Najah University in Nablus. Few Palestinian leaders spoke up against suicide attacks against Israeli civilians, as they became more frequent.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/19/weekinreview/19BENN.html

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