The Role of the Political Detachment -Values in Obstructing Political Development In West Bank

This study aimed at recognizing the circumstances, which should be attained to create a real political development, focusing on the role of the values of the political Detachment in hindering the political development in the West Bank. Besides, it focused on the ways of avoiding the reunion of the classes of the Palestinian people by regaining the political and geographical unity between the West Bank and Gaza strip. In this period, the Palestinian people were divided between the opponents and proponents of the decisions of the Palestinian Authority (hereinafter referred to as “PA”) back in 2006. At that period, the Palestinians stuck between the hammer of the occupation and the anvil of the Palestinian fragmentation. The sanctioned and personal interests played a role in the political detachment in the Palestinian national arena that they contributed to going away from the main national aim of the Palestinian national project of liberating Palestine and attaining its own political and national sovereignty. In this study, the concept of political divergence and other terms were defined since they were useful to clear out the idea of the thesis to the readers. The concepts, which the study came across, include values, political discourse and political development. The readers were meant to understand the essence of the study through highlighting the political phenomena along with recording, analyzing and explaining circumstances. In order to do the previously mentioned, the researcher employed three methods: 1. Historical Methodology. 2. Deductive or Speculation Methodology 3. Descriptive Methodology This study originated from the assumption that there was a relationship between the values of political divergence and initiating the process of political development. Thus, the researcher concluded that the stronger negative values were possessed, the possibilities of achieving the political development would be weaker. One reason for that was the deficiency of the political culture and the drop of the level of the political discourse in the elite, whom the researcher held responsibility for enhancing the divergent values between the classes of the Palestinian people and giving a high priority to the personal interest over the public interest. The absence of the fixed, unified and common political ideology went hand to hand with the practices of Fatah and Hamas against each other as institutions, individuals or leaders. Exchanging accusations and spreading rumors will turn a great part of the Palestinian society into an image of the divergence of the Palestinians. The researcher described the Palestinian political situation in terms of the presence of the sanctions and the society’s institutions relating them to the political divergence. The evolution of the political sanctions in Palestine was explained in terms of its essence, and the crises it caused by highlighting those divergent values, which spread for the best interest of the sanction. Today, the Palestinian people suffer from negative values, which enhance the political divergence, including fear, murder, breaking the law, political arrest, the wrong employment policies, payments absence and financial corruption. This affected the hindrance of the democratic process and the lack of spaces for liberties of the people where the values of the political divergence overran the values of unity and national reunion. On the other hand, the signed agreements with Israelis including Oslo accord had a great influence on solidifying the political divergence and creating hatred between the governed and governor. Thus, the PA’s forces arrested a number of Palestinian political activists, who opposed the signed agreements with the Israelis and the Palestinian political system. The PA sought to suppress and silence all who opposed it especially the group of intellectuals, political activists and media officials. The same situation occurred in the political scene in Gaza that in Hamas’s regime, the policy of security summons and political arrest were dominant for the opponents of Hamas and the government in Gaza. The researcher concluded that the systemized values, which are employed as the selection means, which may turn on the fire of the political development. It affects the achievement of the real political development that it is formed through the main official channels like the governmental institutions and ministries. Thus, it is formed through the non-official channels such as family, school, religious institution and the institutions of the civic society. Consequently, it is imperative to have adequate information along with the positive well and desire for unity and acceptance of the other in order to achieve political development.