Editing Palestinian Authority (section)

===Law===
{{main|Palestinian law}}

====Human rights====
{{main|Human rights in the State of Palestine}}
In theory the Palestinian Authority has guaranteed [[freedom of assembly]] to the Palestinian citizens residing in its territory. Nevertheless, the right to demonstrate for opponents of the PA regime or of PA policy has become increasingly subject to police control and restriction and is a source of concern for human rights groups.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/dd/report8/report8j.htm#israel |title=Israel |access-date=30 July 2006 |year=1998 |work=Politics in Public: Freedom of Assembly and the Right to Protest |publisher=Democratic Dialogue |archive-date=1 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180601200155/http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/dd/report8/report8j.htm#israel |url-status=dead }}</ref> In August 2019, the Palestinian Authority banned LGBTQ organizations from operating in the West Bank, targeting the group [[Al Qaws]].<ref name="JPost">{{cite news|url=https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/PA-bans-LGBT-activities-in-West-Bank-598980|newspaper=[[The Jerusalem Post]]|date=19 August 2019|access-date=20 August 2019|title=Palestinian Authority bans LGBTQ activities in West Bank}}</ref>

The [[Fatah–Hamas conflict]] has further limited the freedom of the press in the PA territories and the distribution of opposing voices in Hamas-controlled Gaza and the West Bank where Fatah still has more influence. According to the Ramallah-based Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms, in 2011, there were more assaults on Palestinian press freedom from the PA than from Israel.<ref>{{cite news|last=Eglash |first=Ruth |url=http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=260884 |title=More assaults on media by Palestinians than Israel |work=The Jerusalem Post}}</ref> In July 2010, with the easing of the [[2007–present blockade of the Gaza Strip|blockade of the Gaza Strip]], Israel allowed the distribution of the pro-Fatah newspapers [[Al-Quds (newspaper)|al-Quds]], [[Al-Ayyam (Ramallah)|al-Ayyam]] and [[al-Hayat al-Jadida]] to Gaza, but Hamas prevented Gazan distributors from retrieving the shipment. The [[Palestinian Centre for Human Rights]] (PCHR) condemned the Hamas restrictions of distribution of the West Bank newspapers in Gaza, and also condemned the Fatah-led government in the West Bank for restricting publication and distribution of the Gazan newspapers {{ill|al-Resala|ar|الرسالة (صحيفة)}} and [[Falastin]].<ref>{{cite web| title=Latest Repercussions of Fragmentation: Prevention of Publication and Distribution of Palestinian Newspapers in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip| url=http://www.pchrgaza.org/portal/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6820:latest-repercussions-of-fragmentation-prevention-of-publication-and-distribution-of-palestinian-newspapers-in-the-west-bank-and-the-gaza-strip-&catid=36:pchrpressreleases&Itemid=194| access-date=12 July 2010| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100903030319/http://www.pchrgaza.org/portal/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6820:latest-repercussions-of-fragmentation-prevention-of-publication-and-distribution-of-palestinian-newspapers-in-the-west-bank-and-the-gaza-strip-&catid=36:pchrpressreleases&Itemid=194| archive-date=3 September 2010| url-status=dead}}</ref>

Women have full suffrage in the PA. In the 2006 elections, women made up 47 percent of registered voters. Prior to the elections, the election law was amended to introduce a quota for women on the national party lists, resulting in 22 percent of candidates on the national lists being women. The quota's effectiveness was illustrated in comparison with the district elections, where there was no quota, and only 15 of the 414 candidates were women.<ref>[http://domino.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/db942872b9eae454852560f6005a76fb/236f02cf539aa9418525710600587785!OpenDocument "Statement of Preliminary Conclusions and Findings: Open and well-run parliamentary elections strengthen Palestinian commitment to democratic institutions"]; European Union Election Observation Commission, West Bank and Gaza 2006, 26 January 2006 {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090123032020/http://domino.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/db942872b9eae454852560f6005a76fb/236f02cf539aa9418525710600587785!OpenDocument |date=23 January 2009 }}</ref>

Selling land or housing to Israeli Jews is punishable by death, and some high-profile cases have received high media coverage.<ref>{{cite news |title=Palestinians Face Death For Selling Land to Jews (6 May 1997) |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/05/06/world/palestinians-face-death-for-selling-land-to-jews.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=6 May 1997 |access-date=8 December 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Abu Toameh |first1=Khaled |title=PA: Death penalty for those who sell land to Jews (1 April 2009) |newspaper=The Jerusalem Post |url=https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/pa-death-penalty-for-those-who-sell-land-to-jews |access-date=8 December 2022}}</ref> Although president [[Mahmoud Abbas]] has never ratified a death sentence in such cases, as late as December 2018 a [[Ramallah]] court sentenced the [[Palestinian Americans|Palestinian-American]] Isaam Akel, a resident of [[East Jerusalem]], to life in prison with hard labor for having sold land in the [[Old City of Jerusalem]] to Israeli Jews. His family maintained his innocence.<ref>{{cite web |title=Family surprised by life sentence for Palestinian-American over land sale |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/family-surprised-by-life-sentence-for-palestinian-american-over-land-sale/ |work=[[The Times of Israel]] |access-date=8 December 2022}}</ref> The Palestinian governor of [[East Jerusalem]], Adnan Gheith, was arrested twice by Israeli authorities in connection with the case.<ref>{{cite web |title=Palestinian sentenced to life for selling land to Israelis|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/12/31/palestinian-sentenced-to-life-for-selling-land-to-israelis |publisher=[[Al Jazeera Media Network|Al Jazeera]] |access-date=8 December 2022}}</ref>

Hamas has begun enforcing some Islamic standards of dress for women in the PA; women must don headscarves in order to enter government ministry buildings.<ref name="autogenerated2">{{Cite web |title=Palestinans pull folk tales from schools |url=https://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070305/ap_on_re_mi_ea/palestinians_book_ban_1 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070311213701/http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070305/ap_on_re_mi_ea/palestinians_book_ban_1 |archive-date=11 March 2007}}</ref> In July 2010, Hamas banned the smoking of [[hookah]] by women in public. They claimed that it was to reduce the increasing number of divorces.<ref>{{cite news|work=The Daily Telegraph|date= 18 July 2010 |url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/7897218/Women-banned-from-smoking-hookah-pipes-in-Gaza.html |title= Women banned from smoking hookah pipes in Gaza |access-date=18 July 2010 | location=London | first=Adrian | last=Blomfield}}</ref>

In June 2011, the Independent Commission for Human Rights published a report whose findings included that the Palestinians in the [[West Bank]] and the [[Gaza Strip]] were subjected in 2010 to an "almost systematic campaign" of human rights abuses by the Palestinian Authority and [[Hamas]], as well as by Israeli authorities, with the security forces belonging to the PA and Hamas being responsible for torture, arrests and arbitrary detentions.<ref>{{cite news|last=Abu |first=Khaled |url=http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=224143 |title=PA bans journalists from reporting human rights abuses |work=The Jerusalem Post  }}</ref>