Politics in Palestine has always played a major part of the day-to-day life of the Palestinians. While this can be said about most other people, there is a certain level of specificity in the Palestinian case, namely because the Palestinians never governed themselves. Throughout their modern history, they were either under mandate rule, or Jordanian and Egyptian rule, or under Israeli occupation. Thus, the absence of self-rule rendered them more politically active. The very fact that almost all Palestinians were in one form or another engaged in “resisting” occupation has raised the political awareness of the average Palestinian and enabled them to comprehend and appreciate the values of political participation, at least, more intensely than most peoples in the region.

While it is not the intention of this chapter to examine the political culture of the Palestinians, it is, nonetheless, particularly important to stress that the absence of an organized Palestinian political structure during the Israeli occupation, and even during the quasi control of the Palestinian Authority, brought about an “informal” Palestinian institutional structure which was reflected in the strong NGO community that had, and still have, roots and links with the Palestinian public in all its sectors. Thus by the time the Palestinian Authority was established, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip were experiencing a strong movement towards the development of a feasible and effective civil society which rooted a sense of participatory politics in these areas. This regional exclusivity of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip was further strengthened by the freedom of various Palestinian institutions, during the occupation and under the rule of the PA, to conduct survey research without restrictions, thus enabling the Palestinian public to freely express its opinions on various political, social, and economic matters. As such, the monopoly of authority over public opinion, which has so much characterized the largest part of the Arab World, was not so much a problem for the Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Not only that, the PA has also contributed to this effort especially with respect to the media. While there remain some restrictions on free press under the Palestinian Authority, it is not an exaggeration to say that the freedom pf press in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip is far more positive than in most Arab and Middle Eastern countries.

This reality and the ability to carry out fieldwork without any governmental interference was the motive behind the decision to expand this study to include part on the Palestinian political reality. The objective of this is two fold: One direct objective and the other is indirect. The direct objective is to understand the impact of some political variables on the overall developmental and humanitarian efforts in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The indirect objective is to provide some insight on the reasons behind the general political and socio-economic deterioration in the Middle East since the Palestinians are part and parcel of the Middle East and, accordingly their views could reflect that of many Arabs in the region.