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Dangerous Illusions: Reform of the Palestinian Authority
Shlomo Avineri - There is no doubt that the Palestinian Authority in its present form cannot be a partner for peace negotiations. But in the quest for alternatives, some dangerous nonsense is being touted as new conventional wisdom. The most outlandish is the possibility of the PA becoming democratic and transparent. While the last two decades have witnessed momentous movements for reform and democratization, there is no such parallel in Arab countries. There has been no Arab Gorbachev, Arab Solidarity, or Charter-77 movement. Neither from the top down, nor from the bottom up, has Arab society shown a capacity for democratization or reform. The success of democratization depends on the existence of numerous social conditions: mediating institutions, a civil society, social tolerance, and pluralism. No such conditions exist today in any Arab country; none exists in Palestinian society, which has been mobilized by a terroristic nationalism for decades. To imagine, therefore, that the PA can be democratized with or without Arafat is a pipe dream. (The author was Director-General of Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs during the first government of Yitzhak Rabin. From the Jerusalem Post.)