Did a Palestine Spring Take Place? The Lost Decade in Palestine

Abstract

The Palestinian political system has been struck since 2007 by political and ideological feuding between Fatah and Hamas. The occupied Palestinian territories (OPT) have been politically divided between the PNA-governed West Bank and Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. This strategic framework has destructive implications for Palestinian politics and civil space given the hegemonic positions of both rival factions. Inter-movement enmity and the lack of willingness to reach national reconciliation have stalled presidential and legislative elections since 2010 and debilitated the Palestinian cause in the international arena. The Arab Spring movement, in its initial state, delivered to Palestinians a revolutionary stimulus and a strategic window to challenge domestic politics. In retrospect, however, the Palestine Spring proved to be short-lived and ineffective in achieving the demanded politico-economic reforms and national unification of Fatah and Hamas. The article suggests two main factors, among others: (1) the fiasco of the national movement / project and as a result the lack of a hierarchical and organizational role model for the social movement to emulate and (2) the occupational context of the Palestinian case that absorbs public discomfort and decreases the possibility of a mass social movement (a far-reaching Palestine Spring) against historical leadership.