With the possible UN vote on recognition of a Palestinian state, i figured it would be useful to take a read of the current state of the drafts for the Palestinian constitution. Although Abbas has said there still haws to be a finalization of the constitution, the last accepted draft was written in 2003 and is available at http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Constitution_of_Palestine_(2003)#ARTICLE_1 or with legal commentary at http://www.pcpsr.org/domestic/2003/nbrowne.pdf. (Note, the wikisource seems to be less complete than the other – being a wiki, I would tend to favour the pcpsr version)
Overall it seems like a decent document, enshrining the rights of women and democracy, an independent judiciary, and personal freedoms. It even leaves it ‘technically’ possible for a Jew to be a citizen (rights for non-monotheistic religions don’t seem to apply though)
I did notice a couple things that seemed out of place with the arguments that are often put forward here. Most glaringly:
Article (5) Arabic is the official language and Islam is the official religion in Palestine.
At the same time the Palestinians are adamant that Israel should not have Judaism as their official religion as are the usual suspect in their attempts to bash Israel.
I will admit that I didn’t spend as much time going over the details of their government system but if this constitution was accepted and acted upon, it would be the basis for a responsible state. The question I guess is if and how this would be agreed upon. Considering the current divisions between Hamas and Fatah, I can’t see a Palestinian state being successful, even if Hamas et. al. were willing to accept a permanent peace with Israel.
Overall it seems like a decent document, enshrining the rights of women and democracy, an independent judiciary, and personal freedoms. It even leaves it ‘technically’ possible for a Jew to be a citizen (rights for non-monotheistic religions don’t seem to apply though)
I did notice a couple things that seemed out of place with the arguments that are often put forward here. Most glaringly:
Article (5) Arabic is the official language and Islam is the official religion in Palestine.
At the same time the Palestinians are adamant that Israel should not have Judaism as their official religion as are the usual suspect in their attempts to bash Israel.
I will admit that I didn’t spend as much time going over the details of their government system but if this constitution was accepted and acted upon, it would be the basis for a responsible state. The question I guess is if and how this would be agreed upon. Considering the current divisions between Hamas and Fatah, I can’t see a Palestinian state being successful, even if Hamas et. al. were willing to accept a permanent peace with Israel.
