Governance in Palestine is not a typical topic of conversation during the reunion of two old friends, but in the case of Dr. Emile Sahliyeh, a professor at University of North Texas, and Mark Tessler, a professor at University of Michigan, it was quite appropriate.
Last night Sahliyeh and Tessler led a panel discussion about Palestinian politics. Invited by Northwestern’s Model Arab League, the two took turns talking about the issue and later answered questions both from the league’s officers and their audience of about 50 students.
To begin the dialogue, Tessler gave an overview of Palestinian history, including the current civil violence that is the result of severe division between two major political factions, Fatah and Hamas.
“As most of you probably know, Israel and the PLO signed an agreement in 1993,” Tessler said. “(It) was very much a psychological breakthrough. Both sides agreed to recognize one another … it was met with a lot of excitement and enthusiasm.”
But, said Tessler, both sides felt that the other was not holding up its end of the bargain. Israel was not pulling out of Palestine, but was actually increasing their number of settlements, Tessler said. Between 1993 and 2000, the number of Israelis in the West Bank and Gaza jumped from 112,000 to 190,000, Tessler said.
Israelis also had reason to be distrustful of Palestine, he said.
“There were a significant number of suicide attacks inside Israel,” Tessler said. “Something like 200 Israeli civilians were killed during the first three years of this peace process.”
Another factor that led to the conflict was the Palestinian Authority itself, which was dominated by Yasser Arafat’s Fatah party. The faction that is now in power, Hamas, emerged out of this environment of discontent.
Tessler said Hamas normally showed an approval rating of about 14 to 15 percent in public opinion polls, but because this dissatisfaction with the Palestinian Authority and a well-organized grassroots campaign, Hamas garnered 45 percent of the popular vote. That was enough to get them political dominance, with 74 of the 132 parliamentary seats in the last elections, Tessler said.
Sahliyeh went into detail about Hamas’s rise to power, including Fatah’s lack of popularity with the younger demographic. The old elite in Fatah failed to acknowledge the next generation, refusing them positions in Fatah authority, Sahliyeh said. Hamas, on the other hand, had the reputation of being “transparent.” Palestinians know them as caring about social welfare and the impoverished, which upped their popularity immensely, Sahliyeh said.
Mike Schoengold, a Weinberg senior and president of the league, said he hoped Tessler and Sahliyeh’s talk would open a dialogue on campus.
“We hope that by discussing the Arab world or just Palestine by itself or within its regional actors we’ll be able to have everyone get a better understanding of American relations toward the Arab world,” Schoengold said.
Tessler said he was pleased with the student response he and Sahliyeh got during the question and answer portion of the evening.
“I think it’s really important for American students to be intellectually engaged with this important part of the world and to expose themselves to diverse points of view,” Tessler said.
Students who attended said they particularly enjoyed the format of having two professors share ideas.
“It’s not just a lecture, it’s between the students and the two professors that are coming to speak about the issues that are happening in Palestine,” said Natasha Dossa, a Weinberg sophomore. “Not just on a governmental level, but how it affects the people living in the West Bank and Gaza.”
Reach Brittney Wong at [email protected].
