PA Employees in Gaza Key to Reconciliation
The return of the Palestinian Authority to work in Gaza may be a tentative step in reconciliation efforts between Hamas and the PA, writes Omar Shaban.
In response to the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip in June 2007, the Palestinian Authority (PA) took several measures, all of which — according to their claims — aimed to render the Hamas government’s task of running the Gaza Strip impossible, and to push it to quickly be exposed and collapse.
Among these measures, the PA in Ramallah asked its employees in the Gaza Strip to stop working with the “sacked” Hamas government. The reason for this decision was attributed to confusion on the part of the Hamas government, which suddenly found itself responsible for 1.5 million Palestinians in the absence of a competent and qualified government. As a result, and in an attempt to assert its ability to address the challenge, the Hamas government was forced to fill thousands of vacancies with its supporters, most of whom lacked the necessary qualifications, experience and training.
On the other hand, employees found themselves between the hammer of the PA's decision to strike and cut salaries in the event of noncompliance, and the anvil of a desire to work and feel productive.
The PA’s request from its employees not to work with the Hamas government spurred diverging debates about the legitimacy of such a decision and its negative effects on Palestinian society. Also, their resumption of work posed a challenge. It was easy to take such a decision without careful consideration of its ramifications.
