The Question is One of Sovereignty

By Muhammad Hallaj

The Palestinians are often put in a position where they appear oblivious to their own good. In 1947, they opposed a partition that "gave" them only 46 percent of their own country, and appeared to be rejecting a state of their own. In the 1970s, they refused "autonomy" as a substitute for independence, and appeared to be turning down an opportunity for self-government. The idea of holding elections in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, while Israel still occupies them and opposes Palestinian self-determination, faces the Palestinians with another one of those "choices" between a greater and a lesser evil.

The idea is intended to cast doubts on the legitimacy of the Palestine Liberation Organization as the representative of the Palestinians, and to rekindle the debate over "who represents the Palestinians" after it has been settled by the world community.

The PLO Executive Committee is the only group elected by a body which represents the entire Palestinian community.

The proposal for elections in Israeli-occupied areas also reinforces the idea that something is unthinkable if it is opposed by Israel. Since Israel refuses to talk to the PLO, according to this logic, other Palestinians must be found who are worthy of Israeli approval.

Another problem with the idea is that it reduces the Palestine question to a matter of the West Bank and Gaza. Granted, the future of these territories is critical to the future of Arab-Israeli peace, but there are other issues of vital importance to the Palestinians and their future, such as the status of the two-thirds of the Palestinians who are not residents of the West Bank and Gaza.

Holding elections in the West Bank and Gaza to negotiate the future of the Palestinians limits the pool from which the Palestinians are allowed to choose their leadership. The people of the West Bank and Gaza have been denied the political experience and connections needed to give the Palestinians a fighting chance in negotiations which promise to be a diplomatic mine field.

The PLO Executive Committee is the only group elected by a body which represents the entire Palestinian community. No group chosen in elections held in the West Bank and Gaza, no matter how freely, can possibly enjoy the same degree of Palestinian legitimacy, as well as the authority, to honor an agreement reached on behalf of all of the Palestinian people.

There are also the problems of holding free elections under foreign military occupation, the right of the 130,000 Palestinian-Arab residents of Jerusalem to participate, and other details of the proposal.

The last thing peace in the Middle East needs is another rigged game. Peace requires courage, not posturing. It demands intelligence, not cleverness. The idea of holding elections in the occupied territories fails to meet these tests.

Elections are an exercise of sovereignty, not a shrewd way to get around it. Israel's problem with peace is not one of finding Palestinians with whom to negotiate Israel's withdrawal from the occupied territories. Israel's problem is that it does not want to withdraw at all.

Muhammad Hallaj is director of the Palestine Research and Education Center in Fairfax, VA, and editor of its magazine, Palestine Perspectives.