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March 7, 2014
Daily summary - Friday, March 07, 2014
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Main News
THE PRESIDENT: NO DEAL WILL PASS WITHOUT A REFERENDUM INLCUDING ALL PALESTINIANS IN THE WORLD
President Mahmoud Abbas said yesterday that any peace deal would not pass without a referendum that includes all Palestinians in the world, adding that ‘it is not enough for the leadership, the central committee, the executive committee and the revolutionary council to take a decision”. He said those outside of Palestine would have to agree first and if they don’t agree, the deal would be rejected. If it is accepted, “then that’s it, we’re done.” Abbas, who was addressing Palestinian Fatah youth in universities, said that “we depend on you and build our hopes on you,” adding that he hoped they would “carry the banner high and complete the journey until its end.” He pointed out that Palestine’s youth is 50% of the population, a sector which is capable of facing difficulties and obstacles and stand up for their rights.”
The President addressed political issues with the youths, discussing negotiations and Palestinian stances. He said: “Our positions are the following: when we talk about the capital of Palestine, we are not talking about Abu Dis, we are not talking about Beit Hanina or any other village around Jerusalem. We are talking about East Jerusalem as the capital of the state of Palestine.”
The second point he said was: “When we sign an agreement, the Israelis will withdraw gradually and after a certain amount of time, there will not be one Israeli left.”
On refugees, Abbas said: “We have said that the right of refugees is an individual right, which means that you and your son are refugees, you may relinquish this right but your son does not. It is a personal option. They could stay where they are with compensation; or they could agree to go to another country upon agreement with them and with compensation. But wherever they go, they will always be Palestinian. Or they could decide to return to the state of Palestine and take compensation or decide to return to the state of Israel with compensation.”
Abbas also told the youths that the leadership’s position on the Jewish state remained the same, saying they would not recognize it, adding that the Palestinians remained committed to the principles of international law. He said it was a Palestinian right to go to the UN and international agencies and that the overall option of the Palestinians was peaceful popular resistance. (http://maannews.net/arb/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=679410)
NETANYAHU: WE WILL REJECT ANY DEAL THAT DOES NOT MEET OUR NEEDS; WE WILL NOT COMMIT TO A FREEZE ON SETTLEMENTS
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday that he would reject any peace deal that does not meet what he called “Israel’s needs” and which would subject its security to danger, “even if anyone tries to impose this on us,” he added. Netanyahu also said he would not obligate himself to US President Barack Obama on a freeze of settlement construction in Palestinian territories. He said he believed the document which US Secretary of State John Kerry was trying to develop would not lead to any disruption in the stability of Israel’s coalition government. On his way back to Israel from the United States, Netanyahu responded to a question of whether Israel might unilaterally withdraw from the West Bank should peace talks fail, answering: “I would prefer that we do not reach this situation,” adding that there was nothing to justify a unilateral withdrawal yet. (http://maannews.net/arb/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=679425)
TEL AVIV: THE LAST GROUP OF PRE-OSLO PRISONERS WILL INCLUDE PRISONERS FROM THE ’48 AREAS
Israeli and Palestinian sources confirmed today that the fourth and last batch of pre-Oslo prisoners slated for release at the end of the month would include prisoners from inside the Green Line. Sources told Qudsnet, that Netanyahu had signed off on all the pre-Oslo prisoners one time, which included those from inside the Green Line. The sources said the rumors that Israel had rejected ’48 prisoners was ‘media propaganda” given that the political echelons in Tel Aviv had already agreed to their release. the sources said, however, that their release date is expected to be changed or postponed as part of the pressures on President Abbas to accept the American framework agreement. Fatah leader Mohammed Shtayeh had previously warned of Israel refusing to release the prisoners as a way of blackmailing the Palestinians, saying this would mean ending the negotiations even before the end of their allotted time. (http://www.qudsnet.com/news/View/267862/)
SETTLERS CONTINUE THEIR ATTACKS; DEMOLITION ORDERS HANDED OUT
37-year old Haytham Mohammed from the village of Mughayer east of Ramallah was attacked yesterday by a number of settlers while on the outskirts of the village. He was seriously injured and hospitalize. Mohammed says while he and two of his friends were in the area, not far from the settlement of Kawkab Sabah, built on lands from their village, several settlers approached them, screaming at them before hitting him on the head with a stick. He passed out and did not regain consciousness until he was in the hands of his fellow villagers who took him to hospital, where he received 10 stitches to his head.
In related news, Israeli occupation authorities handed out stop-work orders to a number of homes in Ithna, west of Hebron. (Al Quds)
FESTIVITIES IN DISTRICTS MARKING INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY
Several Palestinian districts will hold celebrations and activities marking International Women’s Day on March 8. Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah said on the occasion that there are 97 women who hold the post of deputy and deputy assistant in Palestinian ministries and other high level jobs in municipalities, the security establishment, local government, the judiciary and the government; he added that there were 1431 women in mid-level positions. he added that 33.9% of civil servants are women. (Al Quds)
In related news, President Abbas issued instructions yesterday to the cabinet to form a legal committee in order to review all material in the various legislations on discrimination against women, asking them to amend the necessary laws. According to legal advisor to the president, Hasan Arouri, the committee is to come out the cabinet but in coordination with all relevant parties including civil society institutions. He said the president said it was urgent to change any laws in order to preserve women’s rights and provide them with the necessary legal protection in addition to harshening the punitive measures against those who commit crimes against them. (Al Ayyam)
PRESIDENTIAL GUARD GRADUATES FIRST GROUP OF WOMEN IN UNIT FOR ‘FIGHTING TERROR’
The Palestinian presidential guard graduated the first women’s group designed for protecting public figures, fighting terror and carrying out special operations, from the Princess Basma institute for women’s police in Jordan. A total of 23 officers made up the graduating group after taking three months of training courses on the subject in Jordan. The women learned self-defense and martial arts skills as part of their training. (Al Quds)
EGYPTIAN-BASED ‘YOUM AL SABE’’: AN APPROACH TO REVOKE EGYPTIAN CITIZENSHIP FROM THOUSANDS OF PALESITNIANS, MOSTLY FROM HAMAS MEMBERS
Al Youm Al Sabe newspaper’s website said yesterday that Egyptian security services were gathering information on 13,757 Palestinians, most of whom are Hamas members, with the intention of revoking their Egyptian citizenship, which was given to them during the Muslim Brotherhood’s rule. The decision comes after the court verdict to ban Hamas activities in Egypt and to seize their headquarters and funds. The newspaper said these people’s citizenships could be revoked given that they are affiliated with Hamas, a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, which is considered a terrorist organization in Egypt. The paper said the security services were gathering information on these individuals and their place of residence in Egypt and whether they were involved in acts of terror. It added that several of the Palestinians who were granted Egyptian citizenship during Mohammed Mursi’s time in office were involved in several terrorist operations after the Brotherhood fell. (Al Ayyam)
QASSAM BRIGADES: THE RESISTANCE IN GAZA HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE ARMS SHIP
Hamas’ military wing, the Izzedin Qassam Brigades said yesterday that resistance groups in Gaza had nothing to do with the arms ship which Israel announced it had taken over in the Red Sea on Wednesday. Yesterday, Israel announced that its navy had intercepted a ship carrying weapons in the Red Sea about 1,500 kilometers off Israeli shores, which it said was on its way to the Gaza Strip. Israeli sources said the ship was carrying M-302 missiles and was on its way to the Islamic Jihad In related news, Israeli raid said yesterday that the complaint filed by the Palestinians at the Security Council on Israeli violations in the Aqsa Mosque ‘had caught the attention of the SC members more than the Israeli complaint about arms smuggling from Iran to Gaza.” (Al Ayyam)
JERUSALEM: ISRAELI OCCUPATION FORCES ARREST FOUR JERUSALEMITES INCLUDING TWO OF ISSAWI’S SIBLINGS
Israeli occupation forces arrested last night attorney Shireen Issawi and Shadi Issawi, brother and sister of freed prisoner Samer Issawi. Also, violent confrontations broke out in the town of Issawiyeh and two youths were arrested by undercover Israeli forces. According to eyewitnesses, a large Israeli army force raided Essawiyeh and stormed Medhat Issawi’s home, searching it before arresting Shirin and Shadi. The father said Medhat’s computer and cell phones were confiscated along with documents in the house. (Al Ayyam)
ISRAELI INTERIOR MINISTRY: 375,000 SETTLERS IN THE WEST BANK
The number of settlers living in West Bank settlements has risen by a rate of 4.2% in 2013 and has reached 375,000 people, according to statistics from the Israeli interior ministry. The ministry said that in January 2013, the number of settlers was 360,000 with an increase rate over two times more than the average population growth among Israelis, which was 1.9%. (Al Ayyam)
AL ALOUL: FATAH COMPLETED ELECTIONS IN FIVE DISTRICTS; NEGOTIATIONS WILL BE HALTED AFTER APRIL
Fatah announced yesterday that it had completed almost half of its regional elections in West Bank areas, saying the remaining elections would be completed within the next two months. Fatah central committee member Mahmoud Aloul said the movement had completed elections in five of the 14 regions, saying that new leadership blood had been pumped into the regions where elections had taken place. He also said that Fatah’s 7th conference would be held next August. In regards to negotiations with Israel, Aloul said the nine month slot for talks was approaching, adding that he did not expect any breakthroughs. He also said the negotiations would be halted after this period came to an end. He also denied that the Palestinians had received a copy of the framework agreement. “We don’t know what it includes,” he said, but added that the Palestinian position was clear and that the leadership had told the US administration that if the agreement did not include the basic issues for them, it would be rejected. (http://maannews.net/arb/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=679417)
EGYPT: PREVENTING ACTIVISTS FROM GOING TO GAZA IS OUT OF FEAR FOR THEIR SAFETY
Egyptian authorities said yesterday that they prevented a delegation of women activists from reaching the Gaza Strip out of fear for their safety while crossing the troubled Sinai peninsula. Around 100 women from Europe and the United States had attempted to go to Gaza via Rafah to participate in festivities for International Women’s Day but were stopped at Cairo Airport. Irish activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Mairead Maguire and American anti-war activist Maddie Benjamin were deported. According to Egyptian foreign ministry spokesperson Bader Abdel Ati, the women were not given permission to cross Rafah crossing in light of the exceptional security conditions in northern Sinai and the difficulties in guaranteeing their safety. (Al Ayyam)
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Headlines
*Physicians Union decides on escalatory measures as of Sunday (Al Ayyam)
*March 16 date for start of voter registration in the West Bank and Gaza (Al Ayyam)
*Israel: the Iranian arms ship will arrive in Eilat on Saturday (Al Ayyam)
*Arab League: international solidarity campaign with the Palestinian people to be launched on Monday (Al Ayyam)
*Six Palestinian martyrs in Syrian camps (Al Ayyam)
*Congress ratifies draft law considering Israel a central strategic partner (Al Ayyam)
*Young man dies after being shot during a wedding in Deir Al Balah (Al Hayat Al Jadida)
*Family in Kufr Deek lives mostly on one kidney (Al Hayat Al Jadida)
*Settlers break into the Aqsa; settlers attack three in Mughayer (Al Hayat Al Jadida)
*4.5 million, population of the Palestinian territories (Al Quds)
*Remains of martyr Khaled Sanjaq to be handed over on Tuesday (Al Quds)
*Television tax cancelled in Israel (Al Quds)
*Wolf bites Israelis in Tiberius (Al Quds)
*Qawasmi: the new Egyptian ambassador is welcomed and appreciated (Al Quds)
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Front Page Photos
Al- Quds:Ramallah: a man lies in Ramallah hospital after being attacked by settlers in Mughayer village
Al-Ayyam: 1) President Abbas speaking to a Fatah youth delegation in his headquarters; 2) Small fleet of Israeli naval ships intercept Iranian ship that was taken over in the Red Sea; 3) Aleppo: Woman cradles her child at site of explosive barrels attack by Syrian forces in Sakhour neighborhood
Al Hayat Al Jadida:.1) The president, during his meeting with Fatah youths; 2) Haytham Mohammed being treated in hospital after being attacked by settlers; 3) Family of Tayseer Nassasr
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More Headlines
Israel denies European request to visit prisoners
The Israeli government denied permission for a European parliament to visit Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails to look into their conditions, according to the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahranoth. The newspaper said the order to reject the request came from Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Leiberman. Head of the foreign affairs committee in the European parliament Elmar Brok had approached the Israeli ambassador to the EU asking to arrange a visit for the delegation to meet with prisoners. Lieberman rejected the request, saying it would only be allowed if the EU allowed an Israeli delegation to visit prisons in Europe. (http://safa.ps/details/news/124067.html)
Population of Palestinian territories 4.5 million
The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics announced yesterday that the number of Palestinians in the Palestinian territories (West Bank and Gaza Strip) reached at the end of last year to 4.5 million people. the PCBS issued the statistics ahead of International Women’s Day, saying that males comprised 50.8% of the population while females comprised 49.2%. The report also showed that there was a 35% unemployment rate among females as opposed to a 20.6% for males. In terms of the murder of women in Palestine, the statistics showed that 27 women were killed in 2013 for various reasons – 15 in the West Bank and 12 in the Gaza Strip. (Al Quds)
March 16 is start of voter registration in the West Bank and Gaza
The Central Elections Committee decided yesterday that annual voter registration would begin on Sunday, March 16 in all districts of the homeland for five consecutive days and in coordination will all relevant parties in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. (Al Ayyam)
Has the international boycott of Israel actually failed?
Israeli political sources in Jerusalem have said that campaigns to boycott Israel have suffered a setback in the past few days, saying they have failed to impose a boycott of Israel according to the Israeli daily Maariv today. The newspaper cited an announcement from the biggest student organization in Europe, which said it would not boycott Israeli products even if they were produced in the settlements. Also the high court in Britain ruled that economic activity of Israeli companies east of the Green Line did not contravene with international law. The French high court ruled the same. The newspaper said German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s opposition to a boycott of Israel had a huge impact on this setback along with the European parliament head’s position, who also said they would not impose a boycott. Maariv continued that the Dutch pension fund, which originally declared a boycott of Israeli banks and its intention to withdraw its money from them reneged on their position due to pressure from the Dutch parliament and from Jewish organizations. The Dutch water authority also reneged on its decision to cancel cooperation with the Israeli Mekerot water company. (http://maannews.net/arb/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=679445)
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Arab Press
Iran and Israel, the best of enemies
By Gareth Smyth
Rounds of talks since last November between the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, plus Germany, and Iran over Tehran’s nuclear program have relatively quickly accustomed the world to regular discussions between Iranian and American officials.
However, the notion of Israeli and Iranian diplomats meeting has long seemed unthinkable. But there have been recent instances – whether or not related to the flurry of diplomacy since Iranian President Hassan Rouhani addressed the U.N. in September – of Iranian and Israeli diplomats sitting in reasonable proximity, and these have been enough to set off speculation that a shift in relations may be in the offing.
In mid-January, Iran’s energy minister, Hamid Chitchian, attended a presentation by the Israeli water and energy minister, Silvan Shalom, during a conference on renewables in Abu Dhabi. At the Munich security conference early last month, Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon sat in the front row for a panel discussion involving Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran’s foreign minister.
Distancing the Rouhani government from Iran’s previous president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Zarif has at least twice acknowledged the reality of the Jewish Holocaust. This was a significant move, although unsurprising as pragmatists and reformists in Iran expressed distaste at Ahmadinejad’s 2006 Holocaust conference in Tehran, attended by prominent Holocaust deniers from Europe.
Could Iran go further, and could Israel react positively? There is a long-standing argument that enmity between the two states results from ideology rather than national interest. Trita Parsi, the Iranian born founder of the National American Iranian Council, is perhaps best known for this view, expressed especially in his 2007 book “Treacherous Alliance: the Secret Dealings of Iran, Israel and the United States.”
The story traditionally goes back to the decision of King Cyrus the Great (600-530 B.C.), recorded in the Biblical book of Ezra, to allow Jews exiled in Babylon to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple.
In more recent times, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi had extensive military and security cooperation with Israel. This was based on a perception that non-Arabs in the Middle East shared opposition to strong Arab states and to the Nasserite Arab nationalism growing from the 1950s.
But that was hardly the outlook of those behind the 1979 Islamic Revolution, whose leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini believed Islamic unity would supplant Arab nationalism. Khomeini compared Israel to a cancerous tumor and his first guest as the new ruler in Tehran was Yasser Arafat.
During the 1980-1988 war with Iraq, Iranian troops sometimes went into battle under banners proclaiming that the “road to Jerusalem” went through Karbala, the Iraqi city where Imam Hussein was martyred in 680 A.D. Khomeini portrayed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein as hand in glove with Israel, and even accused him of luring the Israelis into bombing the Iraqi nuclear plant at Osirak in 1981 in order to “camouflage” their secret relationship.
The argument – employed by Parsi and others – that common geopolitical interests between Israel and Iran persisted after 1979 is best supported by Tel Aviv’s supply of weapons to the Islamic Republic during the Iraq war. And while the extent of the supply remains unclear, one estimate from Tel Aviv University has put sales as high as $500 million.
But that was a time when the Islamic Republic’s very survival appeared at risk, and Khomeini always flatly denied any dealings with Israel. This is important as deference to “the Imam” and regard for his words remain strong among all factions and officials in the Islamic Republic.
While Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, today’s “rahbar,” or leader, has said repeatedly that Iran’s policies toward the United States depend on Washington’s behavior – and found sufficient encouragement to support talks over Afghanistan, Iraq, and now the nuclear program – his speeches show implacable opposition to dealing with Israel.
Neither is there a practical incentive to moderate that stance. The Israeli government maintains a firm opposition to the November interim Geneva agreement between Iran and world powers, which accepted limited uranium enrichment in Iran.
And while there have been suggestions from some former U.S. officials – including former national security adviser Stephen Hadley and former Middle East envoy Dennis Ross – that the Israeli position may modify, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told President Barack Obama in this week’s visit to Washington that the only way to ensure Iran cannot develop nuclear weapons is to insist it suspend all uranium enrichment.
Netanyahu’s warmest reception in Washington will come with his address Tuesday to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which is at odds with Obama over Iran and indeed intensifying its calls for tightening sanctions and demands that Tehran dismantle all its nuclear facilities.
In Tehran, while Rouhani has successfully mobilized support for the nuclear talks, talk of the “resistance front” uniting Iran, Syria, Hezbollah and the Palestinians shows little sign of weakening as a consequence.
Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior adviser to Khamenei, recently accused the U.S. and Iran of harboring plans to dismantle Syria. A piece by the commentator Sadollah Zarei in Kayhan, the leading conservative paper, suggested Lebanon, Syria and Iraq were all “victims of a joint conspiracy” hatched by the United States, Israel and Saudi Arabia.
Iran’s rulers – like Israel’s – combine pragmatism with core beliefs and ideology. But on all these grounds, and even if relations with Washington improve, there is more than enough flammable material to keep animosity between Iran and Israel alive.(http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Opinion/Commentary/2014/Mar-07/249500-iran-and-israel-the-best-of-enemies.ashx#axzz2vGHSavNX)
Jordan Valley essential for a viable Palestinian state
By Ibrahim Sharqieh
Over the past 20 years, US and international peace efforts have not yielded tangible outcomes in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. As some observers put it, the peace process has only produced a “process without peace.” Yet, international intervention has caused new terms to be added to the discourse, such as the creation of a “viable Palestinian state.” Of course, the parties could spend years determining what really constitutes “viability.”
No matter how confusing the terminology of the conflict, one thing that should never confuse anyone is the centrality of the Jordan Valley to the envisioned Palestinian state. Full control of the Jordan Valley is essential not only to the survival of a Palestinian state but also to relieving the United States and other donor countries from financially supporting the “viable state” forever. The Jordan Valley, in simple words, is the mechanism that would ensure the economic independence of the future viable Palestinian state.
Controlled by Israel since the 1967 war, the Jordan Valley accounts for more than a quarter of the total area of the West Bank—nearly 1,500 square miles. Currently, there are 57,000 Palestinians living there. Israel intensified its settlement activities in the Jordan Valley during the beginning of the peace process in the early 1990s. The number of settlements in the Jordan Valley and the northern Dead Sea area has risen to 39, housing more than 10,000 settlers. In 2003, then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon announced that the Jordan Valley would be separated from the West Bank by the construction of a 186-mile wall. In previous peace negotiations, Israel has referenced security concerns to justify its control of the Jordan Valley. This past December, again using security justifications, Israel for the first time revealed a plan for permanently keeping the territory when the Ministerial Committee for Legislation passed “a bill to annex the Jewish settlements in the Jordan Valley to Israel and apply Israeli law to them.”
While preparing his Framework Agreement for Palestinian and Israeli negotiators, US Secretary of State John Kerry should be very careful to not fall into the security trap that Israeli governments have constantly used to justify further grabbing of Palestinian land, thus undermining the prospects of a fair settlement of this conflict. No one knows the security value of the Jordan Valley more than the former chief of Mossad, Meir Daghan, who last month acknowledged publicly that control over the Jordan Valley is not essential for Israel’s security. He called the demand by Israeli leaders to maintain control of the Jordan Valley to defend its eastern frontier a “manipulative use of security issues” for political ends. “There is no longer an Iraqi army,” he said. “There is no eastern front. There is peace with Jordan. I don’t like the talk that the Jordan Valley is critical for Israel’s security.”
For Kerry’s Framework Agreement to make the region’s prospects for peace sustainable in the long run, the Jordan Valley must be viewed mainly in terms of economic means. In particular, sustainable peace requires a further definition of a truly viable Palestinian state. Currently, donor countries contribute more than $2 billion yearly to ensure the survival of the Palestinian Authority (PA) project. If properly used, the Jordan Valley should be able to provide most of this amount.
Benefiting from its tropical climate and fertile soil, farmers can grow products in the Jordan Valley all year long. The territory’s arability makes it suitable for developing industries related to agriculture. Exports can flourish due to the demands of Arab, European and US markets, attracting successful investment in the food industry. Such development will enable the area to become a hub for entrepreneurs, easing the population congestion of Ramallah, Nablus, Hebron and other West Bank cities. Many young Palestinian professionals are trapped in areas that reflect neither their socioeconomic background nor their future ambitions. Once private businesses begin creating jobs, it will relieve the pressure on the PA to add unnecessary bureaucratic posts.
Palestinian entrepreneurs will also be able to harness many of the Dead Sea’s valuable minerals, making use of phosphate, sodium, calcium and others. The Dead Sea could serve to diversify the economy, creating modern industries that would expand beyond food processing and agricultural products.
The Jordan Valley has many archeological and natural sites, including Jericho, the oldest civilization on earth. It could be developed to accommodate millions of tourists annually. The valley’s significance for Christians will ensure robust tourism all year long.
Another major source of economic viability for the Palestinian state is the tax collected from those who cross the valley to Jordan. Approximately 900,000 Palestinians pay $45 to take this route annually, and the fees are supposed to be divided evenly between Israel and the PA. Israel collects the money, but often fails to give the PA its share on time, withholding it to extract political gains, and thus undermining what little sovereignty the body has.
Equally important is the fresh underground water that the Jordan Valley preserves. Since many analysts expect that future war in the Middle East will be about water, enabling the Palestinian state to have control over its water resources in the Jordan Valley will contribute to building a sustainable peace.
The Jordan Valley represents the economic spine of the future Palestinian state. Any arrangements that do not recognize it as such will definitively undermine the spirit of “viability” that receives unanimous international recognition. If Kerry compromises the integrity of the future Palestinian state by failing to include the Jordan Valley as a part of it, he will set himself up for many additional visits to the region and leave his successor with the impossible task of managing its anarchy.(http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/03/jordan-valley-israel-occupation-palestine-peace-kerry.html)
What is and why a Jewish state?
by Rami G. Khouri
In my discussions about Palestinian-Israeli negotiations with various informed audiences around the United States during the past month, the question that comes up most often is about how the Palestinians can, should or will respond to the Israeli government demand that they must recognise Israel as a “Jewish state”.
The prevalent Arab and Palestinian demand is to rule out any such recognition, on several valid grounds, such as: the Jewish state concept is not defined, it does not take account of the Palestinian Arab and other non-Jewish Israelis, it does not address the implications of such recognition for the UN-acknowledged rights of the Palestinian refugees, and it does not have any basis in prevailing international law or diplomatic norms related to how states recognise each other.
These valid points do not seem to impress the Israelis, who have made this more central to their demands for any permanent peace agreement.
Israel also seems to have convinced the United States to come down on its side on this issue, as the American president, secretary of state and other senior officials routinely confirm when they refer to Israel as “the Jewish state of Israel” or some other such formulation.
It is not clear if Palestinians will cave in and accept the Israeli-American demand, as they usually do, for three main reasons.
First, the demand comes in the context of final status negotiations that aim to resolve all outstanding disputes, so there is likely to be some room for give-and-take in any final agreement.
Second, the “Jewish state” concept remains undefined, and its clear definition, coupled with agreement on the rights of the Palestinians and non-Jewish Israelis, could pave the way for some mutual acknowledgements that satisfy both sides. Third, a central negotiating demand such as this, which springs up suddenly after over six decades of warfare, seems to be a proxy concept that reflects some deeper issues that must be resolved.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has only broadly commented on why the Palestinians must recognise Israel as the Jewish state or as “the nation-state of the Jewish people”.
He recently claimed at a conference by the Institute for National Security Studies that the Palestinians have long had a “basic objection to any Jewish presence”, which he traces back to the Arab-Zionist clashes of the early decades of the 20th Century, before the state of Israel came into being.
He sees the Palestinian Arab conflict with Israel as reflecting a “struggle against the very existence of the Jewish state, against Zionism or any geographic expression of it, any State of Israel in any border. The conflict is not over these territories; it is not about settlements, and it is not about a Palestinian state.... [T]his conflict has gone on because of one reason, the stubborn opposition to recognise the Jewish state, the nation-state of the Jewish people”.
As usual, Netanyahu offers a combination of outright lies and views that widely reflect Israeli and, to a lesser extent, worldwide Jewish sentiments on such core issues.
He lies because the Palestinians and other Arabs who rejected the formation of a Jewish state in 1948 have since come to terms with it, assuming that Palestinian national and individual rights are also implemented in a negotiated accord that both sides accept.
The Palestinians have also twice in recent decades recognised Israel and accepted its existence, on the same reciprocal basis that recognises and implements Palestinian rights.
The current Palestinian and Arab rejection of the Israeli demand should include asking for an authoritative Israeli explanation of the meaning and implications of a Jewish state, and the deeper reasons for why Israelis make this demand now.
I suspect that the need for such recognition mirrors profound insecurities and concerns in Israel about three issues: the state’s ultimate Jewish character, the sincerity of Arab recognition of Israel in a peace treaty, and the consequences of a peace accord that is likely to include agreement on options for the Palestinian refugees, including a limited number returning to what is now Israel.
If this is the case, Israel should articulate honestly and clearly the issues that it needs resolved, so that sincere negotiators can get on with the business of crafting an agreement that meets the critical needs of both sides.
The current Israeli strategy of trying to shape an agreement unilaterally while lying to the world about Palestinian sentiments is an embarrassment to Jewish traditions of justice, but seems to be a routine operating system for the extremists and deceit merchants who shape Zionism today.
The Palestinians should respond by demanding to know the meaning and motives of this idea, so they can formulate a nuanced response that promotes an ultimate peace that responds to the legitimate rights of both sides, rather than making this impossible, as the Israeli approach does.(http://jordantimes.com/what-is-and-why-a-jewish-state)
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Opinions
What is the point of extending the negotiations?
Al Quds Editorial
We don’t know how accurate the reports are which came out two days ago about President Obama promising Israeli PM Netanyahu to ‘pressure’ President Abbas into extending negotiations with Israel until the end of the year, especially since the reports have not been confirmed by any American or Israeli source.
Israeli sources offered varying assessments of Netanyahu’s visit to the White House: they spoke of the difference between the two men during their meetings behind closed doors but also focused on the warm handshake, no hug, between them in front of the media cameras.
This does not refute that there may be some kind of understanding between the United States and Israel over extending negotiations, especially since this is the demand that Netanyahu has made over the past two months and which the Palestinians have been very reluctant to respond to.
What can be noticed is that there is a near Palestinian, American and Israeli consensus over the talks having reached a dead end. This was confirmed in Netanyahu’s speech to AIPAC, in which he ticked off his impossible conditions before its members, including a Palestinian recognition of the Jewish state, the Israeli army’s control over the Jordan Valley and cancelling the right of return for Palestinian refugees. These are all conditions that any Palestinian leader would find impossible to accept now or in the future.
What any observer can deduce from the prevalent Israeli tendency in the negotiations is that the Israeli government is trying – and succeeding – to buy time through putting forth conditions impossible for the Palestinians to accept, in addition to denying the rights of the Palestinian people, first and foremost their right to an independent state and to ending the military and settlement occupation over all of the areas occupied in 1967 including Jerusalem and the Jordan Valley.
The Netanyahu government is also clearly trying to ride out the remainder of Obama’s time in office in the hopes that the next American president will be more loyal to his settlement policies and more tolerant to his measures in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The core of the matter is that there is no Israeli partner who is serious and credible and has the desire to achieve peace, even with its current ceiling, which is quite low in terms of Palestinian demands in comparison with the much higher ceiling in the 70s and before that.
This begs the following question: what is the point of extending the negotiations if Israel’s extreme positions are still the same, and as long as the nine months of talks have as good as failed to reach a framework agreement acceptable to both Palestinians and Israelis?
Even if negotiations were extended to the end of the year, or for several years, there is no way an agreement can be reached. The reason is because Israel does not want to withdraw from the occupied territories and continues to offer excuses and justifications for this in order to buy time and create more settlement facts on the ground that devour more and more Palestinian land. This reality has made the two-state solution nothing more than a mirage which can never be developed on the ground.
What is needed is pressure on Israel, not on the Palestinians, to change their politics and a put a halt to settlements; they need to recognize the rights of the Palestinian people to freedom, sovereignty and independence and the right of return for Palestinian refugees. Other than this, the negotiations will not bear any positive fruit, whether they continue for a year or a hundred. (Al Quds)
Daydreams
Al Khaleej Editorial
Netanyahu never tires of repeating his vision of conditions for a settlement, and the PA never stops repeating its own policy of daydreaming that there may be a ray of hope for a minimum-ceiling settlement. In his speech to AIPAC in Washington last Tuesday, Netanyahu displayed his vision for a solution, which he said required the acceptance of two demands: the first is that the Palestinians recognize the Jewish state and the second is that Palestinians abandon their daydream of refugees returning to their homes. This is not a new vision; this is something which has been ‘promised’ to the Palestinians in all of the Zionist movement literature and in its policies for over a century.
Both demands are basically saying that Palestine is the property of the Jews. Declaring Israel as a Jewish state means, in the lawful sense, that the real citizen is Jewish and anyone else is nothing more than a ‘pressing issue’ which only political and propaganda considerations bar from kicking them out of the country altogether. However, in the end, they can be kicked out whenever the opportunity arises or else put them in a situation that forces them to leave. And for Palestinians to leave their ‘daydream’ would mean their lawful recognition that they have no rights that can’t be changed or denied. So, both demands say that Palestine is not for the Palestinians and also confirms that it is for the Jews. The first confirms that Palestinians are on a land that is not theirs and the second insists on confirming that they have no right of return to a place that does not belong to them.
According to this standard, there is no place for history. The Palestinians in Palestine have no existence according to the recognition of a Jewish state. And the Palestinians who want to return have no existence except in daydreams. History has no value here, not just in terms of the past, but also the present. Neither those who want to return have a history even if they were born in Palestine, nor those already here because they are just a “pressing issue”. Netanyahu has locked out history for the Palestinians in terms of their connection to Palestine. However, he has not closed off history in terms of wanting to be only in Palestine. Netanyahu wants to remain linked to some measure of fake western liberalism, which gives the minimum status for humans the choice of death or slavery.
However, history remains open for the Jews. Jews who live in any corner of the world have a long history in Palestine even if they do not trouble themselves to make the trip to it. They are citizens the moment their feet touch the soil. In this way, history become racist because its character is doled out at whim. Still, Netanyahu is making a terrible mistake because he does not realize that history cannot be used as a servant by the Jewish lobby. Those who have spoken from the lobby’s podium are also drown in daydreams, imagining that Netanyahu is nothing more than a reflection of each and every Zionist. (http://www.alkhaleej.ae/studiesandopinions/detailedpage/bebd028e-f150-4052-a591-0374e6fe507a)
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