US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (left) and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas (right), meet on Nov. 30, 2023. AFP.
By Khaled Barakat – Aug 27, 2025
The Arab region is entering one of its most dangerous and tragic phases. The genocide committed by the Israeli occupation persists throughout Arab and international silence. The Palestinian Authority, an agent of the occupation, stands as a central pillar which sustains this grim reality. Created by the occupier and its backers, the Authority embodies subjugation and economic and security dependency, serving as the clearest example of mercenary governance and normalization structures across the region.
Over time, the Authority has moved from failing to protect Palestinians to actively protecting the occupier’s colonies and army at the expense of Palestinian lives, dignity, and rights. Its role is anchored in “security coordination”, which entrenches the occupation, distorts the national cause, weakens resistance, dismantles resilience against settlement expansion, and helps suppress the masses while settlers seize more land. This coordination, praised by Authority President Mahmoud Abbas as “sacred”, follows US General Keith Dayton’s doctrine. It has turned the Authority into a subordinate partner tasked with facilitating the occupation’s operations instead of resisting them.
The “Oslo political elite” legitimized the occupier by recognizing it and accepting political and economic agreements that sidelined the national cause and abandoned basic Palestinian rights. This eroded the Palestinian position both domestically and internationally. The “Oslo group” has become an adversary to the overwhelming majority of Palestinians, deepening repression, corruption, political crimes, impoverishment, participation in Gaza’s blockade, and the spread of social decay.
Removing the Authority could realign the national compass toward the central goal of the Palestinian struggle and restructure the Palestinian internal scene through a comprehensive resistance. Dismantling this illegitimate, obstructive entity would break cycles of futility and waiting, undo the security and political shackles of past agreements, and strengthen the ability to confront the occupation effectively.
Some may argue that “Israel will not care if the Authority falls”. But the reality is that the Zionist occupier wants the Authority for one purpose only: its assigned security role, as mercenaries against the resistance. Otherwise, it would not keep it for a single day in “Judea and Samaria”, nor allow its presence in the northern West Bank. The occupation maintains and controls it to deepen internal fragmentation, treating it as a subordinate apparatus that must obey orders and prove absolute loyalty to the Zionist project. When it fails or hesitates, it is punished, just as a security guard disciplines his watchdog.
Over time, the Authority has moved from failing to protect Palestinians to actively protecting the occupier’s colonies and army at the expense of Palestinian lives, dignity, and rights. Its role is anchored in “security coordination”, which entrenches the occupation, distorts the national cause, weakens resistance, dismantles resilience against settlement expansion, and helps suppress the masses while settlers seize more land
It is a disgrace to allow the class that sold Palestine to dictate terms to the resistance or the Palestinian people, demanding commitment to illegitimate agreements signed by a defeated leadership behind the people’s back. These agreements have proven to be instruments of surrender. Should Palestinians have to accept defeat before joining the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)? Why not the reverse, demand that the Authority apologize to the people, hand over the “keys” and all institutions? The people, not Mahmoud Abbas, are the rightful guardians of the cause.
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Toppling the Authority requires preconditions:
– End the US-Israeli aggression on Gaza as the top priority. All national efforts must focus on this goal without political concessions that undermine the people’s rights in Gaza, the essence of the national cause, or the future of the resistance, ensuring that the suffering and sacrifices of our people are not wasted.
– Form a unified national Palestinian front that includes armed resistance factions, all segments of the Palestinian people in the homeland and diaspora, influential political and military forces, respected national figures, and popular movements under one umbrella representing the will of the entire people.
– Forge genuine political, organizational, and leadership unity that puts the national interest above all else, coordinating efforts across Palestinian communities to maintain a strong, cohesive front. This front must adopt a clear national program rejecting the so-called “two-state solution” and affirming comprehensive resistance in all forms as the strategic path to liberate all of Palestine.
– Build a revolutionary popular alternative to the current Authority rooted in streets, squares, prisons, and the struggle base, reflecting the aspirations of Palestinians in the homeland and exile. Only a people’s authority can genuinely connect with citizens and refugees, defend their rights, and guarantee their role in decision-making.
– Rebuild popular and armed resistance on sound national foundations, ensuring broad leadership participation by women, youth, and workers. Protect Palestinian communities, especially refugees and the diaspora, and strengthen global grassroots solidarity.
Toppling the Authority is neither easy nor procedural. It will not happen through a fleeting decision or emotional outburst. But openly declaring this as a political goal and a national mission opens the path to a revolutionary alternative. It paves the way for new Palestinian generations who are fed up with mercenaries and empty “reconciliation” slogans, and their endless tours from Doha to Cairo to Beijing.
There is a vast difference between superficial “reconciliation”, the politics of empty handshakes, and genuine grassroots national unity in the spirit of Ghassan Kanafani, Fathi Shaqaqi, and Mohammed Deif: unity of arms, hands, minds, and above all, unity of people, purpose, and destiny.
In conclusion, toppling the Palestinian Authority will not lead to the “division” or “civil war” some claim. These are empty scare tactics. This step has been part of every liberation movement against settler colonialism. It is decided by the masses, not by weapons or hollow negotiations. In Palestine’s case, it would be the natural entry point to rebuilding the Palestinian political structure on a unifying national foundation, restoring the essence of the liberation movement, and forging the front capable of halting genocide, preventing displacement, defending our people’s rights, and rescuing Palestine from liquidation.
Khaled Barakat
Khaled Barakat is a Palestinian writer and a member of the Executive Committee of the Masar Badil, the Palestinian Alternative Revolutionary Path Movement.
