Before Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas postponed the Palestinian legislative elections, some observers thought that there would be fierce electoral competition that could lead to political change. Others argued that elections are the only way to achieve national unity and end the Palestinian internal rift between Fatah and Hamas, the two dominant political movements in Palestine.
But a closer look at what was going on in the electoral race betrays a different reality. The election was more likely to produce a “shamocracy” that would maintain the deep-rooted structures of oppression, tyranny and fragmentation.
This is because the two political forces that have dominated the Palestinian political scene over the past 15 years and are vying for power again, have inflicted severe damage on the Palestinian national movement, depleted the national liberation project, and exacerbated vertical and horizontal fragmentation within the Palestinian society.
Published at Al-Jazeera, 1 May 2021
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Alaa Tartir, Program Director of Al-Shabaka, Engaged Scholar, Global Citizen 