Following Israel's devastating reoccupation of the West Bank, Palestinians are expecting the Palestinian Authority to do more than clear away the rubble, Talal Jabari reports from Ramallah New signposts dot Ramallah's busy town centre these days, as does a whole army of labourers. They are all employed by the Palestinian Authority's (PA) Ministry of Public Works and their job is to clear away the rubble left in the aftermath of the Israeli Defence Forces' (IDF) 5-week invasion in April, and start the long process of rebuilding. But most Palestinians want more from their leadership than just labour crews. They want change. "We want everything to change in our government, in our lives, because the things that happened before didn't work," says Ghada, a resident of nearby Betunia. So far, the biggest criticism of Yasser Arafat's PA has come from the US, Europe and Israel. But people like Ghada represent a growing voice on the Palestinian street calling for reform in the PA. And for the first time, high-ranking officials in Arafat's own Fatah Party are also calling for change. "We asked him to start large domestic reforms. He said this is not the right time, so I resigned," states Nabil Amr, who until recently held a cabinet position as the minister of Parliamentary Affairs. The timing of Amr's resignation is no coincidence. The destruction that the IDF left in its wake has led to Palestinians calling for national introspection and reflection on a grand scale. "It pushed us to make more active reforms and in this case the timing is very important. We cannot let the recent events pass without reviewing what happened," admits Amro. At the top of Amr's agenda is the reform of the security services. They have been plagued by vicious infighting that has sometimes spilled over into deadly gun battles. It has been suggested that all 13 Palestinian security agencies be collected under one umbrella command structure. Maintaining a large number of security forces is a typical Arafat tactic. "He is a maestro. He keeps everything loose, with no clear mandate for anyone," according to Mahdi Abdel-Hadi, director of PASSIA, a Palestinian thinktank. Israel would welcome a reform of the security forces as long as they stop would-be suicide bombers from crossing over into Israel and carrying out attacks. Many in the Israeli government, however, view Arafat as the real problem and want to sideline him. "The effort now is to have [Arafat] stay on as some kind of figurehead while persuading other Palestinians that he has not been useful to his people's interests and that the opportunity for compromise is being missed," says David Horovitz, editor of the right-wing Israeli weekly The Jerusalem Report. Arafat's popularity -- which soared during his one-month confinement in his compound by the IDF -- has been rapidly ebbing away since his reemergence onto the streets of the West Bank. This sharp dip in Arafat's approval ratings is largely being attributed to the deal he struck with Israel in ending the siege of the Church of the Nativity and to his handing over to Israel six men that were on its most wanted list and who had sought refuge in his compound. People like Mohammed, a local shop owner, however, still see him as leading the reform process. "[The PA] should fight corruption. They should find new leadership, of course, under the leadership of Yasser Arafat. We have to start a new era." That would mean the end to an era of corruption and cronyism that reach the highest levels of the PA, including some cabinet ministers. Visions of the new PA are for fewer cabinet positions filled by technocrats. Amr intends to continue pushing for reforms from his position as member of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) by calling for local and parliamentary elections to be held. He rejects Israel's attempts to sideline Arafat and insists that change must be internal. He accepts the idea of a power-sharing scheme whereby Arafat's mandate is balanced off by the presence of a prime minister, saying, "If the PLC decides that we need a prime minister, why not?" The reform process will be slow in coming, but Amr is confident. "I think that [Arafat] got the message, and he will do something. I am sure that he will, but as for when, I don't know exactly."
