Financialization and the limits of the Palestine Authority actions
Only Russian and/or Chinese financial guarantees to the PA can challenge the status quo.
Israel and the US attempts to link Hamas and Palestinians to Alqaeda and ISIS to delegitimise their political agenda has been long going especially since the beginning of the global war on terror. Israel and the US used anti-terrorism financing laws to ensure Palestinian leaders’ compliance with their political agenda. Sanctions were used to discipline those interested in resistance. Today, the Palestinian Authority leadership is faced with a dilemma.
If Fatah decides to join Hamas and announce an uprising in the West Bank, it will almost certainly lose all the privileges it enjoyed for the past couple of decades including access to the international financial system which was hoped to help achieve economic peace with Israel. Lots of wealthy Palestinians save in dollars and shekels and they fill the ranks of the PA. They are individually worried they will be sanctioned by the US and Israel as were Russian and Iranian officials which would result in grave losses for them.
The Palestinian financial system is directly linked to the Israeli financial system according to Oslo Accords. Palestinian bank reserves are held in Israeli major banks. Israel decides who gets a bank account and who does not. Capital mobility to and from Palestine is also controlled by Israel.
Israel has weaponised the financial system against the PA. For example, in the past three years, Palestinian banks were ordered to shutdown accounts of political prisoners’ families or risk closure. The US judicial system was also deployed to seek reparations from the PA for militant attacks. Given the relatively high number of Americans deaths in the war, it is almost certain the PA will get sued and its financial assets frozen or seized if it is not politically protected by Israel and the US.
The harsh financial reality will limit the PA political manoeuvre as individual self-interest will limit the PA initiative and ensures it complies with Israel and the US expectations. Only Russian and/or Chinese financial guarantees to the PA can challenge the status quo.