Government & Politics

There are currently several authorities vying for power in the West Bank: the Israeli Military Administration, named the Civil Administration for Judea and Samaria, and the underground Palestinian resistance organizations, including PLO factions and Hamas. The PLO’s mam faction is Yasir Arafat’s Al-Fatah; more radical is the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).

The military administration was established after the 1967 war to govern the Palestinian population, who were not granted Israeli citizenship. Israel maintains control through a rigid system of permits-any Palestinian resident of the West Bank who wishes to construct a building, plant a crop, start a business, or dig a well must first painstakingly obtain permission from the military authorities. Israeli settlers in the West Bank have added another dimension to the imbroglio. Viewing the West Bank as part of Eretz Yisrael (the land of Israel), they have had little patience with rock-hurling Palestinians and the Israeli government’s inability to permanently quell the uprising. There have been violent incidents between settlers and Palestinians.

Most West Bank merchants have heeded the call of the Unified Command to open shops from 9am-3pm only. Hotels, bakeries, produce stands, street vendors, and pharmacies are exempted from the strike, but on occasional full-strike days even these establishments close. General strikes are held the 6th and the 9th of every month (the two days commemorate the beginning of the intifada in December 1987, but Hamas and Al-Fatah can’t agree on the date), and may be announced at any other time, usually following major collisions with Israeli armed forces. The Jewish holidays and Sbabbat are only observed in West Bank Jewish settlements. The holy month of Ramadan, with its daily fasting and nightly feasting, is observed in Muslim West Bank towns.