Members of the Christian Peacemaker Team (CPT) in Hebron sat down to visit
recently with an old Palestinian friend, "Mahmoud." A professor at a local
university, he shared his intense disillusionment with the realities of life
under Israeli occupation and now under the Palestinian Authority (PA).
"They have just changed uniforms," he explained. "Now the PA are also our
oppressors."

As has happened in the past, professors have not received
pay for the past three months. The PA reports that there is
no money. Yet until recently the PA has forbidden the staff
and faculty to raise their own funds from abroad. Since
lifting this ban, the university has raised sufficient funds to
cover salaries, but only with strings attached. They must
first turn over 30% of the donations to the PA. Then the PA
further docks their share by using an old exchange rate,
essentially cutting the college's much-needed funding by an
additional 25%.

The professor explained that the Palestinian Authority
consists of Arafat's old friends, not local people with local
concerns and ties. "They are skimming millions of our taxes
for personal gain. We see this in their expensive cars and
lifestyles. All at the expense of the Palestinian people." ( For
example, Hebron public school teachers went on strike this
spring to protest low wages. They were making the equivalent of $250 per
month teaching in classrooms of up to
50 students.)

While he remains committed to his land and the struggle for
Palestinian rights, "Mahmoud" wonders how he will pay to
educate his children. The family continues to sell ancestral
land to meet expenses, and yet for some of the land close to
settlements, there are only Israeli buyers. "Mahmoud"
cannot sell to Israelis, because to Palestinians it is ethically
unacceptable to sell to those who are confiscating
Palestinian land. "Mahmoud" recalls feeling each year that it
can't get any worse. And yet to have Palestinian government that is hurting
the people as much as the occupation creates a sense of hopelessness.
Another friend, "Said," a human rights worker and activist,
shares this sense of profound frustration with the PA.

While applying for a radio license, he says he has experienced nothing but a
run around and inefficiency. After rescheduling appointments four times and
waiting 40 minutes to get in, the person in charge insisted that he
complete forms that don't concern his situation. When he confronted PA
officials with his frustrations, they asked him to do the best he can with
the forms, seemingly unable to comprehend the problem.
Then, this week "Said" reported that the PA is attempting to
curtail political activities of Palestinian human rights
organizations such as the one with which he works. These
groups research and publicize human rights abuses
committed by Israeli police, the Israeli military and the PA.

The PA Justice Minister claimed in a June 13 news article
appearing in the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz: "[these
organizations] are doing political work that does not serve
the Palestinian people. . . The money these institutions
receive (from abroad) is earmarked for the Palestinian people,
and we can't allow a small group of people to spend millions
of dollars without supervision."

"Said" is alarmed. "They don't appreciate what we say
about them. They want us to say nothing about their torture
and interrogation techniques." At the same time that they
work to silence the human rights organizations, "there are
people working for the PA who do nothing."
What do people do when their own representatives do not
represent our best interests? "Mahmoud" and "Said" have the same answer to
the question, "Can it get any worse?" It
has been difficult living under Israeli occupation, but it
becomes hopeless when their own people, their own
brothers, do no better.