Debates over disbanding PNA reflect despair
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Recent remarks over disbanding the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) due to the stalled peace talks with Israel sparked debates over the option again which the Palestinians have been thinking for years.
Dismissing the PNA, which was created in 1994, hit the headlines whenever Palestinian-Israeli negotiations reached a deadlock, but it always faded away soon for the lack of a Palestinian consensus.
Observers believed that the renewed debates over disbanding the PNA reflect despair among the Palestinians, as well as the differences among Palestinian factions.
On Friday, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, speaking at a seminar in New York, said the Palestinians would wait until the end of this year to reach a solution with Israel based on having two states. After that, the option of disbanding the PNA would be put on the table.
"Time is important," Erekat said at the seminar which was organized by the International Peace Institute. "The PNA was created in order to reach a two-state solution."
Hani al-Massri, a West-Bank-based independent analyst, believed that Erekat's statements and debates on disbanding the PNA were " no more than political tactics aimed at putting pressure" on Israel through the international community and moderate Arab countries.
Erekat's remarks also reflect internal Palestinian differences after more than a decade of failed negotiations to broker an agreement on final-status issues which would pave the way for a Palestinian statehood alongside Israel.
A binational state in the region and a unilateral declaration of independence are two of the choices for the Palestinian leaders. Observers believe the PNA might resort to one of them rather than disbanding itself to avoid hard political consequences.
Ahmed Majdalani, an official from the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), said "the Palestinians are still looking to give a chance to the Palestinian-Israeli negotiations with the hope that they might make the awaited results."
