Al-Zaytouna Centre for Studies and Consultations in Beirut has published a new book that addresses the infringements on the rights of West Bank (WB) legislators affiliated with the Islamic movement, namely their detention by the Israeli occupation during the second term of the Palestinian Legislative Council. The book also sheds light on what faced the Islamic movement, its supporters and institutions in the WB during the same period.
The 222-page Arabic book is titled The Fake Democracy and the Usurped Immunity: Sighings of a West Bank Deputy in the Palestinian Legislative Council. Dr. Naser A. Abdaljawwad, the author, is a prominent member of the Palestinian Legislative Council from Salfit governorate detained by Israel.
| Publication information: Arabic Title: al-Dimuqratiyyah al-Za’ifah wa al-Hasanah al-Maslubah: Zafarat Na’ib ‘an al-Daffah al-Gharbiyyah fi al-Majlis al-Tashri‘I al-Filastini (The Fake Democracy and the Usurped Immunity: Sighings of a West Bank Deputy in the Palestinian Legislative Council). Author: Naser A. Abdaljawwad Paperback: 222 pages Edition: 2013 (First edition) Price: $8 Book Review: By Saleh al-Shannat |
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A series of detentions and violations targeted the Islamic movement and its supporters following their victory in the Palestinian legislative elections. The book exposes the huge role played by the Israeli occupation in the orchestrated campaign of detention led by the major Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces.
The book also talks about the political and financial siege announced by the United States, the European Union and most Arab rich courtiers in order to push towards early legislative and presidential elections.
After the events of the Gaza Strip, in July 2007, the PA security forces pursued policies that included kidnapping and torturing Palestinians, security coordination with the occupation, and fabricating charges against Islamic legislators and members from their bureau teams, in addition to closing, burning and seizing offices and associations affiliated with the Islamic movement.
The book is indeed a historic document revealing the perspective of the Palestinian Islamic movement, documenting one of the most critical stages of the Palestinian issue in contemporary history as narrated by those who lived and faced it.
About the Book
By Saleh al-Shannat (Special for Al-Zaytouna)
The Palestinian Legislative Council second elections on 25/1/2006 represented an important turning point in the history of the Palestinian issue. The integrity and transparency of the elections were witnessed by all supervisory and legal bodies on the national and international levels. It is perhaps the first time in the history of the Palestinian people to witness the effective participation of all its components, and where the people, willingly and for the first time, expressed their beliefs and opinion in the political situation clearly and audaciously.
In fact, the Islamic movement’s participation in the elections and its consequent victory tipped the balance regarding the representation of the Palestinian people, and changed the prevailing impressions and assessment of power distribution.
Given the importance of this issue, Al-Zaytouna Centre for Studies and Consultations in Beirut has published a new book, The Fake Democracy and the Usurped Immunity: Sighings of a West Bank Deputy in the Palestinian Legislative Council, that casts light on the ways the WB legislators affiliated with the Islamic movement were targeted during the second term of the Palestinian Legislative Council. Particularly, the book casts light on the legislators’ detention by the Israeli occupation and other measures pursued against the Islamic movement and its supporters and institutions in the WB.
Since their election, the Islamist legislators in the WB have faced a ferocious war that prevented them from practicing their legislative role and the relevant duties. Israel had a major role in this war through the collective kidnapping of these legislators and sentencing them for long periods of time that extended to an average of 45 months of their term, which is most of the legal period of the electoral session. Administrative detention, as the book explains, was yet another threat the legislators had to face after their release, where such detention would be renewed automatically without setting a date for releasing the detainee.
By detaining 43 legislators and ministers in mid 2006, the occupation wanted to foil the PA’s legislative work, together with Hamas’s experience.
The author also explains the role of the PA and its security forces, in fighting the Islamic movement and resistance forces, particularly after the Palestinian division, and Hamas’s takeover of the Gaza Strip. The PA’s campaign included security coordination with the occupation and its intelligence, where the latter would detain the “suspects,” interrogate and torture them, and then send them to prisons for long periods. The security forces also prevented the Islamic movement’s affiliates and supporters from exercising their daily work, in addition, they closed, burned and seized offices and associations affiliated with the Islamic movement.
The book also talks about the political and financial siege imposed by the occupation together with the international community and regional environment on the Palestinian people following the legislative elections in order to undermine the newly elected council and the 10th government formed subsequently. This siege has had devastating impact on the Palestinian people in general and on the Islamic movement in particular, especially as it led to cutting the salaries of the civil servants and the military. The outcome was exploited by the PA to justify the prevailing state of lawlessness leading to the outbreak of the Gaza events in June 2007.
The book is indeed a historic document revealing the perspective of the Palestinian Islamic movement and documenting one of the most serious stages of the Palestinian issue in contemporary history as narrated by those who lived and faced it.
Al-Zaytouna Centre for Studies and Consultations, 23/12/2013
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