The Palestinian Authority seems set on maintaining its illegitimate rule. As PA leader Mahmoud Abbas makes plans for a future in which his post is vacated, he named vice-president Hussein al-Sheikh to assume the presidency for an interim period of 90 days, after which elections should be held. Elections have not been held since 2006.

Abbas’s choice of al-Sheikh extends the PA’s current colonial complicity. His name is synonymous with the PA’s security services and collaboration with Israel. A July 2023 article in Foreign Policy opens with accolades for al-Sheikh on account of his being welcomed at Israel’s Defence Ministry, while juxtaposing his earlier resistance activities with the curated image of a “Rolex-sporting, globe-trotting official” that works to prevent the PA’s collapse. None of these adjectives remotely address the Palestinian anti-colonial struggle –........

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