According to a report I first saw on Al-Jazeera the UN stated that the Palestinian Authority (PA) is capable of governing their own state, and the only thing holding them is Israeli occupation. I do not agree with this assessment, for a few reasons. My main point of contention is that the land the PA is requesting for it's new state include the Gaza strip, which it doesn't control. And in recent events it has been the actions of Hamas in Gaza that have been disrupting the peace process. Granting statehood to the PA when they don't have control of the area they are requesting is a ridiculous proposition. According to the article, Israel occupies 62% of Gaza and if there were to be a Palestinian state Israel would withdraw and the violence would likely escalate.
As I am writing this blog post I realize that there are too many problems with certifying the PA as a government ready to assert control over an autonomous state. Other problems include borders, and economic viability etc.
Additionally, besides the fact that the PLO was not elected in Gaza, there is also the issue that the West Bank and Gaza are not connected, and I do not think that even if there was one elected body between Gaza and the West Bank, there would be enough bureaucracy or organization to control a nation not divided by Israel...which may be negative but I think honest.
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