RAMALLAH, West Bank: “Now we have become a state!” Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian national Authority, announced on Sunday to a crowd of thousands in the courtyard of his headquarters in this Palestinian city.
But an airplane flying high above the compound served as a reminder that the Palestinians have no airport, and they depend on Israeli ports for access to the high seas for shipping.
The traffic was as clogged as usual around the Israeli-controlled Qalandia checkpoint, which largely seals off Ramallah from occupied Jerusalem, the eastern part of which has now been widely endorsed as the future Palestinian capital.
At least in the short term, with Israeli elections scheduled for January, things are likely to get tougher for the Palestinians before they get better.
”We are celebrating our dignity,” said Xavier Abu Eid, a Palestinian spokesman. “Our small nation withstood a lot of pressure for something that is our right.”
But the way forward may be fraught with legal obstacles as the Palestinians try to balance their diplomatic victory with the demands of their previous, more concrete achievements.
Israel signed its agreements with the Palestine Liberation Organisation, which resulted in the creation of an interim self-rule body, the Palestinian National Authority. Asked whether the PNA would remain the Palestinian Authority in name, Abu Eid said: “That requires a decision of the leadership. I think it will not be changed in a day.”
Palestinian officials have insisted that they will not give up the option of seeking to join the International Criminal Court and pursuing claims against Israel, and some Palestinians now expect their leaders to take legal action against the Israelis’ colony building.
Letters of application for membership in various UN bodies and international agencies have been signed “The State of Palestine.”
But the Palestinians may not rush to change the name on the front of their passports to Palestine. Even Abbas is dependent on Israel’s good graces to be allowed to travel through checkpoints and across borders.
Many Palestinians were hoping Abbas would now seek genuine reconciliation with his rivals in Hamas, the Islamic group that controls Gaza.
”Unity is the most important step,” said Malek Barghouti, an employee of the authority’s Finance Ministry in Ramallah.
“We are one people.”
But if there is no tangible change on the ground, some Palestinians warned, the celebrations could eventually be eclipsed by frustration.
”Most people here think we now have lots of rights,” said Mahmoud Mansour, 22, a student of electrical engineering from Jenin in the northern West Bank, who attended the welcome rally. “When they realise that nothing has changed, they will be angry.”
