A Palestinian MP On PA Corruption

Member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, Hussam Khadr, is a staunch opponent against corruption in the PA.

In a communique published on the eve of the Israeli elections [1], Khadr relates to the political, administrative and financial corruption in which we are all drowning"

Khadr demanded that Arafat "carry out a true Intifada… given the people's fury, disgust and despair at the persisting corruption at the top of the ruling pyramid." He warned of the possibility the incumbent Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, "will precede Arafat in striking at the interests of the corrupt by exposing them. This will once again embarrass the head of the PA, will thrust us into another whirlpool, and will widen the gap between the exploited public and the corrupt leaders, who have gotten rich for no reason other than the exploitation of their positions and the robbery of our people."

Khadr directly attacked Arafat's close circle and expressed astonishment that the Chairman continues to rely on "people whose national loyalty is questionable and [are loyal] to countries who target our people and program." Khadr also expressed his bewilderment that Arafat "turns his back on the Intifada's ceaseless cries [to dispose of the corruption], cries which are a triumph for the PA's national assembly headed by Arafat, over the economic group of Oslo, which cares about nothing but the personal interests of its members, who are closely tied with the occupation."

Khadr demanded that Arafat "look around him with his own eyes, and not with the eyes of the cheats and the liars, in order to see the magnitude of the corruption, the suffering and the pain caused by those same people who have amassed [fortunes] at the expense of our people, our hopes and our aspirations... It is inconceivable that Arafat is blind to the difference between the dictators, robbers and heads of prostitution and corruption, on the one hand, and the great people, who struggles and unites around his plan, on the other hand…

To whom will Arafat leave his people if he disappears and we remain in our present situation, in which the corrupt and vile members of the [security] apparatuses determine the fate of the brave and the martyred; in which the agents and the pimps run wild, law is forsaken, and the [PA] institutions are ruined and penetrable?"

Khadr stated "if a change is not made in the structure of the PA, especially in the government and vis-à-vis a number of the corrupt in the civilian and military apparatuses of the executive branch, a real opportunity will be missed and it will be a mockery of the achievements of the Intifada, which returned part of the steadfastness of which our people was deprived during the seven lean years [of the Oslo process]."

Khadr called on all of the forces and people to refrain from resorting to violence and taking the law into their own hands, whether their target is a corrupt figure or a traitor. He demanded that the traitors who have lent their services to the occupation and to other powers, turn themselves in, in accordance with the PA's proposal. He added that the PA has only been persecuting the little fish among the traitors. "The time has come to purge the Palestinian home of both [kinds of traitors:] the corrupt and those who lend their services [to Israel], because both are traitors of Allah, the homeland, the people, our religion, morality, heritage and values."

Khadr attacked those responsible for the Casino in Jericho, describing it as a den for Israeli intelligence: "There is no escape from putting on trial the Satan who whispered [that we must] build [a Casino], and to vomit him from our Palestinian home."

Khadr added that he knows many whose situation suddenly changed and who are "dealing with the millions that they robbed from the money of the people, and which they gained by subordinating our national economy to the occupation. They have taken concessions, brokerage fees and easy profits for themselves, at the expense of our people and our national economic independence. How many billions of dollars are sitting in these people's bank accounts? Hisham Maki [director of the Palestinian Television who was assassinated, and in whose account were found 17 million dollars] cannot even be compared to many of the exploiters who are robbing the people's resources."

Khadr called on the national and Islamic forces "to raise their voices and to use the little latitude that exists under the law in order to express the need for domestic reform and to get rid of the heads of the political, administrative and financial corruption. This goal must be included in our program and in our meetings with our brother, the President, and with the public."

"We have reached a situation of national disaster", exclaimed Khadr, "whose scope is almost indescribable… Impure hands have averted us from our path, and are pushing us towards collective collapse, only to enlarge their bank accounts, their concessions, and their status symbols."

"The confrontation with the new Sharon or the old Barak," Khadr stated, "necessitates a purification on the domestic front, so that we may unify it. The cries for unity will remain more fragile than a hen's egg, as long as they are not accompanied by concrete acts based on the building of the homeland and protecting human dignity."

Khadr also criticized the Legislative Council who "missed a true opportunity to establish a respectable regime that would be different from the various regimes that do not recognize human rights in our society. Unfortunately, many of its members did not even bother to attend a single session of the Council, while they were taking advantage of the citizens' preoccupation with finding a loaf of bread and their trauma at the complete collapse in all fields of life which has kept the people from overseeing their representatives…"