(Gatestone Institute) Khaled Abu Toameh - The Palestinians are the only people in the Middle East who do not have a functioning parliament. The Hamas coup in Gaza in 2007 led to a split with the West Bank that has effectively paralyzed the Palestinian parliament ever since. In 2018, Abbas said he would hold elections within six months but has not fulfilled his promise. The absence of parliamentary life for the Palestinians has been highly convenient for Abbas, who continues to demonstrate zero tolerance towards his political rivals and critics. At the same time, Arab members of the Knesset in Israel are free to say whatever they wish about the Israeli government and its policies without giving a single thought to possible repercussions. If the Arab Knesset members were living under the Abbas regime, the likely scenarios would be arrest or worse. The Palestinian members of the PA parliament can only envy their Arab colleagues in Israel for the existence of free elections and for the exceptional freedom that Arab citizens of Israel enjoy. For the Palestinians, each Israeli election serves as a sad reminder of the catastrophic failure of Palestinian leaders and the complete absence of democracy under the PA and Hamas.
2020-03-05 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive