Transformation of Palestinian Politics: From Revolution to State-Building, The

Middle East Policy, Jun 2000 by Denoeux, Guilain

The Transformation of Palestinian Politics: From Revolution to State-Building, by Barry Rubin. Cambridge: Harvard University Press,1999. 299 pages, with notes and index. $29.95, hardcover.

Guilain Denoeux

Associate Professor of government, Colby College

The Transformation of Palestinian Politics is a natural extension of Barry Rubin's two previous works on Palestinian political history: The Arab States and the Palestine Conflict (Syracuse University Press, 1981), which focused on the pre-1948 period, and Revolution Until Victory? (Harvard University Press, 1994), which analyzed the history and politics of the PLO until 1993. In this new book, Rubin turns to the Palestinians' efforts at state-building since 1994. Writing about history in the making is always a difficult exercise, in part because it is conducive to overstating one's points and becoming entangled in current controversies. Rubin skillfully avoids these pitfalls to write a balanced and reasoned account of the transformation of the PLO from revolutionary movement to interim government. Drawing on first-hand observations and interviews as well as on a broad variety of sources in English, Arabic and Hebrew, the author has managed to write the most comprehensive and up-to-date analysis of the Palestinian polity available thus far.

The book is organized thematically, with separate chapters devoted to an overview of Palestinian political dynamics post-Oslo (Chapter 1), the Palestinian Legislative Council (Chapter 2), issues of democracy and human rights (Chapter 3), the relationship between the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the people (Chapter 4), the new Palestinian political elite (Chapter 5), and the opposition to the PA (Chapter 6). These chapters highlight the distinctive features of the political system, discuss key political players and their strategies, and contain a wealth of information about the composition, performance and roles of the cabinet, the executive branch agencies, the security forces, the Palestinian Legislative Council, the PLO's Executive Committee and Fatah's Central Committee. The chapter on the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), in particular, contains the best analysis this reviewer has seen of the main political blocs found in the PLC and of that institution's overall strengths and weaknesses. Rubin concludes that the PLC's inability to act as a genuine, significant check on executive power has stemmed not only from Arafat's determination to protect the prerogatives of the PA, but also from the PLC's tendency to overreach. By overplaying its hand and adopting a confrontational stance - repeatedly engaging in political battles it could not win and then being forced to back down - the PLC compounded the loss of credibility already created by the failure of many of its members to develop ties to civil-society institutions, explain their actions to the public, and keep their constituencies informed about their work in the PLC. The PLC's inability to force Arafat to comply with or enact its decisions or resolutions, combined with the disregard for rules and procedures that frequently characterized its sessions, fueled the public perception of it as a largely ineffective institution.

In Chapters 7 and 8, Rubin turns to an analysis of the PA's foreign relations. Chapter 7 examines the relationship between the PA and Arab states, noting that since 1993 Arab states have done "surprisingly little to help the PA" (p. 138). The author observes that between 1993 and 1998, Arab states provided less than 9 percent of the foreign aid to the PA (60 percent of that amount coming from Saudi Arabia alone) and that "Norway alone sent more money than all the Arab states combined" (p. 144). Moreover, Arab regimes showed no inclination to use their (limited) political and economic leverage to push PA demands in international fora. Most of them did not even make the normalization of their relations with Israel explicitly dependent on the Jewish state's willingness to satisfy basic PA demands. In the end, "moderate states were stingy with aid and eager to avoid confrontation [with Israel], . . . [while] radical states denounced Arafat, opposed the peace process, denied help to the PA, and funded its Palestinian rivals" (p. 141 ). It is "sadly ironic," Rubin concludes, "that after a half century-long Arab and Muslim obsession with the issue, the Palestinians were largely abandoned when the real opportunity finally did come for them to build a state" (p. 139). Chapter 8 documents the radical changes that have affected Palestinian thinking about Israel and the United States since 1993. The author describes meticulously the "waning of Palestinian hostility toward Israel to an extent inconceivable before 1993," noting that "even militant Palestinians [now use] Israel as their point of reference for democratic practices," while "members of the new Palestinian elite also put a value on knowing Hebrew and having personal connections with Israel" (p. 168). The shift "from viewing the United States as a chief enemy . . . to becoming a virtual American client" (p. 8) has been no less spectacular. It is reflected in Arafat's strategy of relying on Washington to take his side in negotiations with Israel and in his heavy dependence on direct American assistance and Western aid brokered through U.S. efforts. Finally, Chapter 9 speculates about the future of the PA, the succession to Arafat and the transition to a state. That chapter includes a well-informed discussion of the assets and liabilities of those best positioned to replace Arafat as the head of the PA.