Palestinians need to hold their government accountable
11 April 2024
I support the mission statement of the nonprofit ROPES, The Regional Organization For Peace, Economics & Security, which states in part:
We are united by our vision of a post-conflict Middle East in which the State of Israel and a well-governed, territorially viable State of Palestine are fully integrated into the region.
However, a well-governed, territorially viable State of Palestine can only exist if Palestinians act consistently to hold their government accountable, which they have not done.
1. On 7 October 2023, the government of Gaza (Hamas), elected by Palestinians in 2006 in relatively free and fair elections, launched an attack on Israel killing over 1200 Israelis and taking over 200 Israelis hostage. Based on past attacks by Hamas, Palestinians knew that Israel would retaliate severely to protect its citizens, which would necessarily kill large numbers of Palestinians in Gaza.
Why haven’t more Palestinians protested this act of war initiated by their government that they knew would kill large numbers of Palestinians in Gaza?
2. The Palestinian government has turned Gaza into a military camp, firing weapons from residential areas, schools, mosques and medical facilities, which they knew would damage these facilities and nearby Palestinians as Israel responded.
Why haven’t more Palestinians protested these actions by their government in using civilian areas for military activities?
3. The Palestinian government has intentionally promoted Palestinian deaths as a public relations weapon against Israel.
In the wake of Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre, Hamas is counting on human shields and the effect of their deaths on international opinion as their best way to restrain, if not halt, Israeli military force. Hamas considers two million Gazan civilians, including children, as martyrs, whether they want to be or not.
“We are called a nation of martyrs,” said another top Hamas official, Ghazi Hamad. “And we are proud to sacrifice martyrs.” He promised more attacks: “There will be a second, a third, a fourth.” When asked whether he sought the annihilation of Israel, Hamad matter-of-factly replied, “Yes, of course.”
This is not simply terrorism, which is the use of illegal violence to achieve political objectives. It is cold-blooded human sacrifice, and on a scale that evokes the ritual slaughters of ancient times. The Hill
Why haven’t more Palestinians protested these actions by their government to use Palestinians as human sacrifices?
4. The Palestinians have loudly protested the actions of Israel and the United States in this war.
Why have so few Palestinians protested against the actions of their own government, which started the war, which has refused to release the hostages and which has refused to enter into cease-fires?
5. Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib and other Palestinian leaders claim that they care about Palestinian lives in Gaza. Yet Congresswoman Tlaib and other Palestinian leaders, have not, to my knowledge, made any attempts to pressure the Palestinian government to release the hostages, have not gone to Gaza or taken any substantial action to mediate the end of hostilities.
Why do Palestinians accept Palestinian leadership that is so inadequate and inept at solving their problems?
The Palestinians, at least in the United States, are very talented and educated people, with a high percentage in professional, technical and managerial positions. Yet they have refused to accept responsibility for the Palestinian government in Gaza that they (or their friends and relatives) have put into power or to hold them accountable in any significant way. No Palestinian government can be successful without these actions by its constituents. It’s time for Palestinians to be politically responsible and pressure their Palestinian government to act reasonably.
Follow me on Substack, LinkedIn, Threads: npernickmich and Tribel: @nat385440b
I have another blog on Cancer and Medicine.
The index to these articles is here.
Email me at Nat@PathologyOutlines.com.
I also publish Notes at https://substack.com/note. Subscribers will automatically see my notes.