Latest news with #PalestinianNationalCouncil
Arab News
8 hours ago
- Politics
- Arab News
Will PLO elections serve the people or the status quo?
In a surprising political development, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday announced that elections for the Palestinian National Council — the legislative body of the Palestine Liberation Organization — will be held before the end of 2025. This is the first time such a step has been taken since the council's inception in Jerusalem in 1964. The announcement, made through the official Palestinian news agency WAFA, stipulates that 350 representatives will be elected: two-thirds from within the Occupied Territories and one-third from the diaspora. On the surface, this declaration may appear like a long-overdue democratic revival. But its timing raises critical questions. Why now? Why in the midst of the most brutal and prolonged war on Gaza since 1948 — a war that has claimed the lives of more than 38,000 Palestinians and displaced more than 2 million? What purpose do elections serve when a large portion of the Palestinian people is either starving, under bombardment or buried under the rubble of their homes? One cannot separate Abbas' announcement from the broader political landscape. The PLO has long suffered from a legitimacy crisis. For years, the Palestinian Authority has governed parts of the West Bank under Israeli occupation, while Hamas has controlled Gaza since the 2006 legislative elections — ironically, the last time a national vote took place. That rift has rendered Palestinian politics fractured and paralyzed, with no clear roadmap for unity, nor for meaningful resistance. By calling for PNC elections now, Abbas may be aiming to reassert the relevance of the PLO as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people — especially at a time when many in Gaza, and even some in the diaspora, feel alienated from traditional political institutions. The decision also seems designed to counter growing criticism from both inside and outside Palestine that the PA has become increasingly disconnected from the realities on the ground. With Gaza engulfed in suffering and resistance rising to the forefront of regional and global discourse, the PLO leadership likely feels pressured to project a sense of political dynamism — even if symbolic. Yet symbolism, in this context, may not be enough. What Palestinians need now is not just elections but transformation. They need leadership that reflects the reality of occupation, resistance and survival under siege. They require an inclusive democratic structure that transcends bureaucratic reshuffling and provides a unified vision for liberation. They need leaders who understand that credibility is not restored at a ballot box alone — but through action, sacrifice and standing firmly with their people, especially in Gaza. The criteria for PNC membership, as outlined by Abbas — namely, commitment to the PLO's political program and international legitimacy — may also be a double-edged sword. While they may ensure some ideological cohesion, these stipulations risk excluding key factions like Hamas and Islamic Jihad, both of which, regardless of political position, represent significant segments of Palestinian society and have borne the brunt of the current Israeli assault. Any elections that reinforce old divisions rather than healing them may only perpetuate the fragmentation that has plagued Palestinian politics for decades. Furthermore, the war in Gaza continues to rage with horrifying intensity. According to UN estimates, more than 90 percent of homes in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed. Hundreds of thousands of people are on the brink of starvation. In this context, how realistic — or ethical — is it to talk about elections? What guarantee is there that Gazans will be allowed to participate freely and fairly in a vote, when their cities lie in ruins and their internet and electricity are regularly cut off? There is also the question of diaspora representation. The announcement that one-third of PNC seats will go to Palestinians abroad is significant, as it nods to the historical breadth of the Palestinian cause. However, ensuring meaningful participation from refugee communities in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Europe and the Americas will require extraordinary logistical, legal and diplomatic coordination — something the PA has consistently struggled to deliver in the past. The PLO leadership likely feels pressured to project a sense of political dynamism — even if symbolic. Hani Hazaimeh Let's be clear: Palestinian elections are long overdue. Democratic renewal is essential — not just for optics, but for survival. The Palestinian people are not just victims of military aggression; they are active agents of their own future. They deserve a voice and they deserve leadership that does not treat elections as a mere rubber stamp, but as a tool for genuine change. However, if these elections are held merely to polish the fading image of the PLO without addressing the root causes of Palestinian disunity and institutional paralysis, they may backfire. They may reinforce the perception that the leadership in Ramallah remains detached from the daily struggles of Palestinians in Gaza, in refugee camps and under occupation in the West Bank. At this critical hour, Palestinians need more than announcements. They need justice. They need an end to the siege on Gaza, accountability for war crimes and a bold, united political front capable of speaking for all Palestinians, in all places. If the planned elections for the PNC can be a step toward that future — one that includes every voice, prioritizes resistance and breaks with the stagnation of the past — then perhaps they will be worth the effort. But if not, then this may be yet another performance in a political theater long disconnected from the suffering of its own audience.
Barnama
06-07-2025
- Politics
- Barnama
Palestinian National Council Urges Global Action To Stop Israeli Crimes
RAMALLAH, July 6 (Bernama-QNA) -- The Palestinian National Council (PNC) called on the international community to take immediate action to stop the crimes of the Israeli occupation and to provide urgent international protection for the Palestinian people, Qatar News Agency (QNA) reported. It demanded that the occupation be held accountable before the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the atrocities committed against civilians in both Gaza and the occupied West Bank. PNC Chairman Rawhi Fattouh stated on Sunday that the forced displacement of dozens of Palestinian families from the Arab Al Malihat area northwest of Jericho is a new crime added to the occupation's long record of violations of international law.
Middle East Eye
24-06-2025
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
Palestinian official says Gaza aid strike a 'deliberate war crime'
Rawhi Fattouh, speaker of the Palestinian National Council, has condemned the killing of over 27 Palestinians in an Israeli strike on Salah al-Din Street in central Gaza, calling it a 'new war crime' added to the occupation's 'bloody record'. Fattouh said Israeli forces targeted civilians as they waited for food aid, wounding dozens and turning a site meant for relief into what he called an 'open field of death,' the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported. 'Never in the history of war have pain and hunger been turned into tools for mass murder, aid used as bait for death, and food distribution centres turned into arenas for mass executions,' he said in a press statement. He accused Israel of deliberately transforming aid convoys into 'death traps,' saying the attack was carried out with 'American cover and international silence.' 'This complex crime reveals complete complicity between the occupation army and its American backer in the killing of innocent civilians,' he said, calling the attack a violation of international humanitarian law. Fattouh urged the UN and International Criminal Court to launch an immediate investigation and called on people worldwide to take to the streets to protest what he called 'planned crimes' and a 'genocidal war' against the Palestinian people.
Barnama
22-06-2025
- Politics
- Barnama
Palestinian National Council Calls For Urgent Relief For Gaza Strip
RAMALLAH, June 22 (Bernama-QNA) -- The Palestinian National Council (PNC) on Sunday called on international, regional, and Arab parliaments to take urgent action to protect the Palestinian people and provide urgent relief to the Gaza Strip amid the worsening humanitarian disaster resulting from the ongoing Israeli aggression. Qatar News Agency reported that PNC Speaker Rawhi Fattouh emphasised that the Gaza Strip is witnessing unprecedented humanitarian conditions, including mass deaths from bombing, hunger, thirst, displacement, lack of treatment, and the complete collapse of the health system. Fattouh pointed out that all cities and towns in the Gaza Strip, from Rafah to Beit Hanoun, from Gaza to Khan Yunis, have become a disaster zone, overcrowded with displaced people who are being hunted by death even in their makeshift shelters and at food distribution centres, which have turned into direct targets for killing.
Saba Yemen
07-06-2025
- Politics
- Saba Yemen
Fattouh: Occupation's massacre of Khader family in Jabalia crime of genocide against humanity
Ramallah-Saba: Palestinian National Council Chairman Rawhi Fattouh has affirmed that the Israeli occupation's massacre of the Khader family in Jabalia camp, which claimed the lives of more than 40 martyrs, including doctors, engineers, academics, and children, is a crime of genocide against humanity and a deliberate act of ethnic cleansing aimed at erasing Palestinian families from the civil registry, a scene reminiscent of the most horrific crimes in modern history. Fattouh explained in a statement issued by the Palestinian National Council on Saturday: "We remind the world that self-defense does not involve killing and wounding more than 50,000 children, destroying homes over their residents, or erasing Palestinian families from the civil registry. These crimes represent the height of organized terrorism practiced by the criminal terrorist government." He pointed out that the United States bears direct responsibility for the continuation of these massacres through its political and diplomatic protection of the terrorist government and its repeated obstruction of any Security Council resolutions aimed at halting the aggression and imposing accountability. Fattouh emphasized that this blatant American bias not only prolongs the war, but also directly encourages the commission of further crimes and undermines any hope of achieving justice or peace in the region. He concluded by saying that the international community's silence in the face of these crimes amounts to complicity in the crime. Security and stability will not be achieved as long as the Israeli killing machine operates unchecked and as long as the major powers collude through silence or political cover, contenting themselves with verbal statements for 608 days, during which tens of thousands of innocent victims have been victims. Whatsapp Telegram Email Print
