Palestinian security forces’ beating death of Nizar Banat, a critic of President Mahmoud Abbas and a candidate for parliament, has led to an explosion of pent-up frustration with a leadership that Palestinians see as both illegitimate and failing.
Demonstrations erupted immediately across the West Bank after the killing last week and have continued daily against Mr. Abbas, who protesters say bears responsibility for the killing and for government corruption and ineffectiveness. Tensions were already high after Mr. Abbas canceled elections in the wake of clashes with Israel over Jerusalem and Gaza.
Mr. Banat’s killing is being seen by most Palestinians as violating an unwritten code of solidarity even among political rivals, particularly in the West Bank. And the popular reaction, including demands that the aging Mr. Abbas must go, is drawing parallels to the 2011 Arab Spring.
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Abbasâs Call For Palestinian Elections Puts His Political Future in Peril Published February 9th, 2021 - 07:12 GMT
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (Shutterstock)
Highlights
Even a government of independents supported by Hamas could pose problems for Western donors.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbasâs call for elections has thrown his political future into peril, forcing him to negotiate competing demands to engage with a friendlier US administration, mend the rift with his militant Hamas rivals and keep his unruly Fatah movement from breaking apart.
The presidential decree issued last month, calling for what would be the first Palestinian elections in 15 years, stemmed from negotiations launched with Hamas last year aimed at shoring up ranks in the face of unprecedented crises.