Beyond the Written Constitution: Constitutional Crisis of, and the Institutional Deadlock in, the Palestinian Political System as Entrenched in the Basic Law

Abstract

In this paper the focus is on the Palestinian political system, its current crisis, its roots and its future. The current crisis reached its apex with the clash of arms between Palestinian factions, which took place in 2007. Its historical roots, however, are much older and deeper. They are inherently connected to the legacy inherited by the Palestinian Authority itself. The current crisis of the Palestinian Authority is often debated constitutionally. While the centrality of the Basic Law is undisputed, this written constitution-like text seems to be part of the problem, not of the solution. In this paper I will adopt a positivist approach to constitutions only to suggest its deficiency whenever it leads to formalism in interpreting written constitutions. Instead I suggest using different paradigms that contribute to a better understanding of the role of written constitutions whenever conflicts between political actors are threatening the same political structure that made it possible for a political system to exist at first place.