The 'West Bank First' Strategy: A Political-Economy Critical Assessment

Released on October 19, 2007
Contact: Carrie Simmons, 781-736-4224 or csimmons@brandeis.edu

The 'West Bank First' Strategy: A Political-Economy Critical Assessment
By Dr. Mohammed Samhouri, a Palestinian economist and a senior fellow at the Crown Center for Middle East Studies.

Introduction
June 2007 marked a turning point in the Gaza Strip’s long, troubled history. Five days of a new round of internecine fighting during the second week of that month between Hamas-affiliated armed militants and the Fatah-allied security forces of the Palestinian Authority (PA) left 135 Palestinians dead and 487 injured. The short factional face-off finally ended, on June 14, with the Islamist movement swiftly assuming complete control over the entire Gaza Strip.

Equally dramatic were the developments on the domestic political scene that soon followed. The PA president, Mahmoud Abbas, declared a state of emergency in the Palestinian areas; dissolved the fragile, three-month-old Hamas-led national unity government; appointed an interim emergency government, headed by former PA Finance Minister Salam Fayyad; and promised new elections. For its part, Hamas, having scored a stunning victory 18 months earlier in the January 2006 legislative elections, vehemently rejected Abbas’s move, deeming the new, West Bank–based PA cabinet unconstitutional and continuing to regard the Hamas-led government as the legitimate, democratically elected representative of the Palestinian people.

Read the full Working Paper. (PDF)

Crown Center Working Papers
The Crown Center Working Papers provide timely research on the contemporary Middle East by Center associates and guest researchers. Reader comments are most welcome and can by submitted by email to crowncenter@brandeis.edu.