President Yasser Arafat and his Prime Minister Ahmad Qurei (Abu Ala) have declared and sworn in eight ministers to serve in a Palestinian emergency government. This emergency government is to unify the eight security forces while enforcing law and order. Moreover, it sidelines the various Palestinian factions and the Legislative Council, as it is composed of only one political group, Fatah, and yet it has surprisingly received the blessing of the US government.

Again, we find ourselves in a position where Palestinians have to compromise their demands and rights for a free and democratic government that represents the majority and is truly capable of upholding Palestinian aspirations. When Oslo was engineered and signed, Palestinian negotiators who called for institution building and democratization of Palestine were regarded as trouble-makers who were upsetting the apple cart. The international community and the PLO wanted to sign an agreement, any agreement, and to move on and provide Israel with security.

A one man or one party show is not what the Palestinian people need, or even what America preaches and upholds as democratic values. The best way to empower the Palestinians is by setting up a democracy based on the rule of law and this can only be achieved with a participatory government.

Palestinian factions and political groups have expressed their concern about this ‘emergency government,’ built upon a mandate that could threaten Palestinian national unity. Appeasing US and Israeli demands without offering the Palestinian people true change on the ground will only assure the failure of this government accompanied by further deterioration of a volatile situation.

Abu Mazen had a much wider participatory government, but miserably failed because he was never granted any changes on the ground such as a halt on settlements, assassinations, the continued building of the separation concrete wall, incursions and restriction of movement throughout Palestinian cities and towns. Abu Ala’s government will surely meet the same fate unless America is willing to apply some pressure on the occupiers (Israel) and stop them from further expansion as they propose to build 600 illegal settlement homes and continue to erect a wall on land that will form part of a future Palestinian state on the 1967 borders.

US approval of this government shows a disregard for true democratic values and a grave desire to divide the Palestinian people and have the Palestinian prime minister and his cabinet provide ‘security’ to the occupier.

This Palestinian government is best empowered through democracy and rule of law. The Palestinians have justice on their side and reserving their unity is the best weapon at this time of emergency. United we stand, but divided we will surely fall.