Hubbry Logo
search
logo

Palestinian National Initiative

logo
Community Hub0 Subscribers
Write something...
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Be the first to start a discussion here.
See all
Palestinian National Initiative

Palestinian National Initiative (PNI; Arabic: المبادرة الوطنية الفلسطينية al-Mubādara al-Waṭaniyya al-Filasṭīniyya) is a Palestinian political party led by Mustafa Barghouti.

Its formation was formally announced on 17 June 2002 in Ramallah on the West Bank, part of the Palestinian Territories, by Haidar Abdel-Shafi, Mustafa Barghouthi and Ibrahim Dakkak. The PNI views itself as a "democratic third force" in Palestinian politics and opposes the dichotomy between Fatah (which it views as corrupt and undemocratic) and Hamas (which it views as extremist and fundamentalist).

The platform of the PNI states:

"Only through the establishment of a sovereign, independent, viable and democratic Palestinian state on all of the territories occupied by Israel in 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital, can a just peace be achieved.

The Initiative calls for the implementation of relevant United Nations resolutions requiring the withdrawal of the Israeli army from the West Bank and Gaza and safeguarding the internationally recognized right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homeland."

The PNI defines this as collective Palestinian goals but sees as its own role to democratize and unite the Palestinian movement, with the focus on the Palestinian National Authority (PNA). It has campaigned extensively for democratic reform within the PNA and advocates a national emergency government encompassing all factions (including the islamist Hamas) as a means of stopping autocracy and lawlessness in Palestinian politics. This is in part motivated by the desire for democracy and in part by the inefficiency and self-destructive tendencies of the Palestinian factional system.

The PNI demands the proclamation of a single political direction, to be determined democratically, and a single policy for achieving these goals. The PNI itself believes that the methods used should be based on a reversion of what it refers to as the "militarization" of the intifada and a continued struggle by peaceful means. It has no armed wing and does not use nor advocate violence, although it states that it supports in principle a right of resistance to occupation.

The PNI is dominated by secular intellectuals, some of them former members of the far-left Palestinian People's Party. It is strongly based in civil society organizations and NGOs operating in the Palestinian Territories and has extensive connections with foreign aid and support groups. Its lack of a role within the PLO and in the PNA has greatly reduced its visibility to ordinary Palestinians.

See all
User Avatar
No comments yet.