Palestinian protesters take part in a protest to mark the Land Day in the West Bank town of Beit Jala near Bethlehem, March 30, 2017. Picture by Xinhua/SIPA USA/PA Images. All rights reserved.The past few years have proved vital to the Palestinian national discourse. Beyond rigid theoretical themes and historical-ideological frameworks, a mixture of contemporary political and economic developments are aggressively shaping a more pragmatic bottom-up national identity. These factors are giving rise to a narrative based on decentralized identity preservation and localized nonviolent resistance.
The 1993 Oslo Accords established the Palestinian Authority (PA) which has dominated the national Palestinian discourse since. The PA’s state building project promised Palestinians a national statehood on the 1967 borders of the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem. The PA has established government-like institutions operating under the tight control of the Israeli military in all major city centers in the West Bank and Gaza. Furthermore, the World Bank and various other international organizations declared the PA institutions ready for statehood by 2011. However, a dichotomy between the PA and the political and economic realities on the ground has eclipsed its achievements. This dichotomy is best characterised by institutionalized fragmentation and Israel’s accelerating colonisation.
The Oslo Accords divided the West Bank into three administrative divisions; Area A, B, and C. Areas A and B, which represent 39 percent of the West Bank, were to fall under the responsibility of the PA at various levels of civil administration and internal security. Area C, however, which represents 61 percent of the West Bank, was to remain under full Israeli control until a final settlement is reached. This area consists of more than 250 Israeli settlements and outposts, most agricultural lands, all major roads in the West Bank, and all Israeli Army declared strategic areas. For ordinary Palestinians, the Oslo accords demarcated their lands and institutionally confined their economic and social activities to a portion of the West Bank for the first time since 1967.
