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Nov. 10, 2013
Daily summary- Sunday, November 10, 2013
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Main News
Prisoners threaten in protest to rescue their patients’ colleagues
Minister of prisoners Affairs Issa Qaraqe, said yesterday evening that administrative prisoners threatened to escalate their protests if their demands to be released and the abolition of administrative detention are not met. Qaraqe added that administrative prisoners threatened to go on hunger strike if their demands are not met.According to the Ministry of prisoners' lawyer Amer Abu Hamdiya prisoners at "Nafha" prison threatened the prison administration to begin a protest to save the prisoners with difficult health conditions and provide them with treatments.(Al-Hayat Al-Jadida)
Barghouti: Israeli checkpoint turned to assassination centers at Palestinian cities and towns entrances
Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi, Secretary-General of the national initiative said that Israel has turned the military checkpoints in the occupied territories to death and assassination barriers at the gates of cities and towns in the Palestinian territories.Barghouti said that the "Israeli occupation forces killed in cold blood two citizens, Anas Al-Atrash residents of Hebron, who was killed at the container near Bethlehem when Israeli soldiers shot and killed him, and Bashir Habanin who was killed by the Israeli occupation soldiers at za'tara checkpoint south of Nablus.” Mustafa Barghouti added that Israeli occupation soldiers hunt citizens at the checkpointswhich cut across the Palestinian territories, and most of those who were killed at checkpoint were killed in the same circumstances.MP Barghouti called to organize a broad campaign of boycott Israel and proceed immediately to seek admission of Palestine to the United Nations organizations and bodies, particularly the International Criminal Court to prosecute Israeli criminals for their crimes against our people and their land.(http://wattan.tv/ar/news/79522.html)
For the first time: security forces fighting "crime" on the outskirts of Jerusalem
For the first time since the establishment of the Palestinian Authority, security forces entered the villages and towns around Jerusalem, under Israeli security control, in an attempt to eliminate criminal acts that are almost up to organized crime.These towns and villages such as Al-RAM, Anata, Shuafat, Beit Hanina and Jabal Mokaber, are under occupation. Israel does not lend it any security or legal attention, and has become a haven for fugitives from justice and a place the proliferation of thefts, drug trafficking and assault on property, what made authority request the assistance of friendly countries to intervene with Israel to allow security forces’ access to these areas and fight crime, as spokesman of security services Major General Adnan Al-Damiri said to “Ma’an”. Al-Damiri said: "Yes, we have received complaints and communications from citizens in Al-RAM, in which the security forces began its operation on Friday, and has so far arrested 25wanted, we hope that we will be able to enter other towns."But Al-Damiri denies that the entry of Palestinian security forces to those towns come under an agreement to transferee security control to the PA, saying: "I have no information on any political link, we hope for this to happen, and we asked to intervene because the occupation police don't care for the moral and security situations in those towns which increased the spread of organized crime threatening civil peace."(Al-Hayat Al-Jadida)
President Abbas meets Egyptian intelligence Chief and discusses Palestinian reconciliation
President Mahmoud Abbas met Egyptian intelligence Chief Minister Mohamed Tohami, and agent intelligence major General Tariq Salam, an official of the Palestinian file in the Egyptian intelligence Brigadier Wael El-Safty, and Brigadier General Ahmed Abdel Khalek athis residence in Cairo Saturday. The meeting discussed the general situation in the Palestinian territories, Israeli settlement activities in all its manifestations in Jerusalem and the West Bank, in addition to continuing consultations to implement the reconciliation agreement, according to the Egyptian official news agency.(http://maannews.net/arb/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=645734)
The President is scheduled to hold talks with his Egyptian counterpart today, and will discuss all issues of mutual concern, particularly the outcome of the Palestinian-Israeli negotiations currently under way under the auspices of the US, and the efforts to implement the reconciliation and ending the Palestinian division.(Al-Ayyam)
Settlers in the West Bank protest against negotiations today
Extreme Israeli settlements from the West Bank organize today omorning a sit-in in front of the Office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, asking him to withdraw from negotiations with the Palestinians.According to the Hebrew channel 7, settlers would move to the place the car hit by a Molotov cocktail near "Gush Etzion" Friday morning, and was burned almost entirely injuring Israelis.The channel said that settlers are expected to arrive from all settlements in the West Bank demanding Netanyahu to stop negotiations with the Palestinians, because of what they describe as the wave of terror in the West Bank.(http://www.alquds.com/news/article/view/id/472058)
"Peace Now" report: tenders for the construction of 3472 units and plans to build 8943 units since the formation of the Netanyahu Government
“Peace Now” said in report on Israeli settlement yesterday that settlement activities did not stop since the formation of the Israeli Government 8 months ago, saying that since March 8th, the day Prime Minister Netanyahuformed his Government tenders for the construction of 3,472 housing units in settlements were issued, and plans to build at least 8943 housing units were prepared."Peace Now" said: "these facts raise a serious question about the intentions of Prime Minister Netanyahu and his objectives with respect to peace, negotiations and a two-State solution." “Peace Now” added: "The question is whether Netanyahu believes sincerely that he is serious when he talks about the desire for peace, but, as Netanyahu constantly say with regard to his adversaries, especially Iran and the Palestinians, political leaders should be held for their actions, not their words, Netanyahu’s acts over the past eight months-period since the formation of his government, shows the opposite of commitment to peace and to a two-State solution."In this regard, member of the Central Committee of Fatah movement, Dr. Nabil Shaath said to "Al-Ayyam":“Netanyahu builds everywhere, near Nablus, near Ramallah and in huge quantities near Bethlehem and Jerusalem, so he does not recognize the 1967 border, stressing that the United states should impose pressure on Israel to stop settlements and recognizing the 1967 border as a reference for negotiations.” Dr. Shaath added, "US Secretary of state John Kerry said that settlements are illegal, and the Oslo agreement says settlement affect the outcome of the final status negotiations and international law says it is illegal, however, still what Israel is doing is based on their claim that the land is their not ours." Dr. Shaath also said: "this Israeli Government does not seem to be interested in a true settlement, nor the United States is prepared to press for stopping something it considers as illegal and is in the heartof the negotiation process," the United States is demanded to "impose pressure on Israel to abandon what is doing and destroying the peace process."(Al-Ayyam)
An attempt to arrest Dichter and Meridor in Spain on charges of war crimes against Palestinians
Yediot Aharonot said on its Website yesterday that activists in solidarity with the Palestinian people in Spain called for an arrest warrant against former head of Shin Bet, Avi Dichter and former Cabinet Minister Dan Meridor, who arrived in Spain for a visit.According to the newspaper, the attempt did not succeed, and that Dichter and Meridor who are in Spain since 3 days, would return today to the country.In details, the newspaper said the operation began several days ago, when Dichter, who has not visited Spain for 15 years, was expected to arrive to participate in a Conference of the Institute of security studies organized in cooperation with the Defense Ministry. Activists of the solidarity with the Palestinian people group issued an application to a court in Spain to begin a renewed legal proceedings against Dichter who as responsible for the assassination of Hamas leader Salah Shehadeh in 2002, by throwing an explosive device weighing more than a ton on a house in Gaza, which caused the death of a large number of women and children and injured hundreds.The newspaper said that the Ministry of Justice and the Israeli Foreign Ministry, have received a notice of what is happening, and they were in contact with authorities in Spain to prevent Dichter’s arrest, and re-open the "Shehadeh" file again. The newspaper continued, that when the activists new that that Meridor will also be in Spain to participate in security conference, they demanded his arrest for his role in the bloody Israeli attack on the Marmara ship in May of 2010, where he served as Minister at the time, however, this has not led to the arrest or investigation.(Al-Quds)
Hamas launchesan arrest campaign of arrests and summons dozens of citizens in Rafah
Hamas security forces arrested and summoned tens of yesterday evening dozens of citizens in the Rafah governorate. According to eyewitnesses, the campaign was aimed against Fatah leaders, University students, and two were released later. Eyewitnesses said that the released, were forced to sign a pledge not to participate in any event or activity to commemorate the death of Yasser Arafat, and reject "rebellion” movement and criticize it.Eyewitnesses described the unprecedented campaign, saying that the detainees were transferred to the Hamas headquarters in Gaza City.(Al-Hayat Al-Jadida)
Prisoner Raddad was unexpectedly transferred to hospital
Sources said that prisoner Mutasim Raddad who suffers cancer was suddenly transferred from Hadarim prison to “Assaf Harofi”' hospital by the prison administration, after the cancer has spread throughout his body and his health situation deteriorate.Prisoner Mutasim Raddad, a 32-year-old, from the village of Saida near Tulkarm is arrested since 2006, serving a sentence of 20 years in prison, andsuffers from intestinal cancer. (http://www.alwatanvoice.com/arabic/news/2013/11/09/456808.html)
Dozens of settlers attack the town of Burin, South of Nablus, and residents confront them
Dozens of settlers attacked, on Saturday, the town of Burin, South of Nablus, and clashes erupted with local residents. According to the official news agency “Wafa”, the settlers broke into the outskirts of the town, and clashed with residents, adding that Israeli troops stormed the village after the storming of the settlers, and fired tear gas, injuring a number of citizens.(http://www.pnn.ps/index.php/policy/72120-%D8%B9%D8%B4%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B3%D8%AA%D9%88%D8%B7%D9%86%D9%8A%D9%86-%D9%8A%D9%87%D8%A7%D8%AC%D9%85%D9%88%D9%86-%D8%A8%D9%84%D8%AF%D8%A9-%D8%A8%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%8A%D9%86-%D8%AC%D9%86%D9%88%D8%A8-%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%A8%D9%84%D8%B3-%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%87%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%8A-%D9%8A%D8%AA%D8%B5%D8%AF%D9%88%D9%86)
Injuries during confrontations with occupation in Ya’bad
A number of citizens from the village of Ya’bad, southwest of Jenin were injured today, as a result of the occupation forces use of tear gas during clashes.Mayor of Ya’bad Samer Abu Baker told the official news agency“Wafa” that occupationforces broke into the town today morning amid intenseuse of sound bombs, especially at the town center and in the vicinity of schools, resulting in clashes between youths and occupation forces injuring a number of citizens with no arrests were reported.Abu Baker noted that occupation forces directly targets Ya'bad village, through the continuous and deliberate raids and destroying vehicles and launching arrests campaigns, and its practices against farmers and olive trees, following the delivery of notifications yesterday of uprooting hundreds of olive trees near the “Mevo Dotan” settlement, on the Jenin-Nablus road.(http://www.alquds.com/news/article/view/id/472088)
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Headlines
** A settler who was run over south of Bethlehem died (Al-Ayyam)
** Egypt doubt the possibility of reaching peace because of settlements (Al-Ayyam)
** Belgium formally raised the Palestinian diplomatic representation (Al-Ayyam)
** Geneva: talks between Iran and world powers on nuclear program fail (Al-
Ayyam)
** Palestinian delegation arrives in Damascus to "save the camps" (Al-Ayyam)
** Philippines: 1,200 people died in the devastating typhoon Haiyan (al-Ayyam)
** Syria: opposition fighters recovered control of the strategic base near Aleppo (Al-Ayyam)
** Obama calls“angry Netanyahu” of the possible agreement with Iran (Al-Ayyam)
** Confrontation in Hebron resulting in injuries (Al-Quds)
** Haneyeh: Hamas has honest intentions to implement reconciliation (Al-Quds)
** President Abbas receives Belgian Foreign Minister (Al-Hayat Al-Jadida)
** Mustafa: we are in the final stages of bidding for oil exploration in West Bank (Al-Hayat Al-Jadida)
** Fahmy: Egypt will expand its cooperation with Moscow after its dispute with Washington (Al-Hayat Al-Jadida)
** Head of Meretz ": return of Lieberman for to Foreign Ministry means that Israel does not want peace (Al-Hayat Al-Jadida)
** Teachers' Union threatens to escalate (Al-Hayat Al-Jadida)
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Front Page Photos
Al- Quds:An invitation to attend the Arafat Memorial ceremony with Arafat’s portrait
Al-Ayyam:1) Gaza – a child holding a sign saying “we call on the world to save Gaza”, during a protest against Power outage, 2) citizens watching damage caused by Typhoon in the Philippines.
Al Hayat Al Jadida:1) Students in Nablus finishing a mural presenting Yasir Arafat, 2) President Abbas during his meeting with Belgian Foreign Minister in Amman.
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Voice of Palestine Interviews
** Ali Maslamani, Mayor of Al-Ram, on Palestinian security forces operation in Al-Ram.
Q: what is your position on the news about organized crime in this area in light of the security campaign?
Our position was always demanding from the security forces to enter the outskirts of Jerusalem, especially Al-Ram, to deal with crimes committed and with the unauthorized weapons, the occupation is interested in this situation of Chaos like the daily shooting, so we approached the President more than once for an intervention, and finally they agreed to intervene, citizens are very happy this is happening, and welcomed this campaign, the only reason preventing security forces from entering AL-Ram until now was the occupation. The occupation supported this chaos and encouraged it through turning a blind eye on the illegal and unauthorized weapons. The occupation is interested in turning these areas surrounding Jerusalem into total chaos.
Q: Did you begin already to see the results of this campaign in ground?
Yes, from the beginning, the council, citizens and organizations, banks, all were demanding this action.
Q: So you’re saying that the occupation intended to spread crime in the outskirts of Jerusalem?
This is the truth, and we have a lot of evidences that the occupation is the only side that is destroying our society. Security forces are only interested in decreasing crime level.
** Samer Abu Baker , Mayor of Ya’bad , on handing notification of uprooting olive trees in Ya’bad.
Q: what are the pretexts expressed by the occupation in implementing this crime against our people?
The occupation always has its pretexts, this time it’s on the pretext of throwing stones at settlers.
Q: how many olive trees the occupation is planning to uproot?
More than 1000 olive trees.
Q: these are owned by citizens?
Yes, last Friday the occupation placed the uprooting notification on the trees calling it “clipping olive trees”, in lands near “Mevo Dotan” along the road. These trees belong to more than 70 citizens.
Q: Can this decision be canceled; did you begin with procedures to stop this from happening?
This is an oppressive decision, we see it as very dangerous and another step to harm our agriculture and citizens, e called on the negotiations unit and government in order to stop this from happening.
Q: Is there already a date for the uprooting?
No, they didn’t set a date yet.
** Issa Qarae’, Minister for Prisoners’ Affairs, on threats by administrative prisoners to go on a hunger strike.
Q: Escalating steps by the administrative prisoners, can you give us more details regarding these steps?
Yes, 47 administrative prisoner in the Negev prison, who were all held in one section, issued a statement yesterday saying they will escalate, the prison administration escalated and prevented them from having any visits from their families, all their electric devices were confiscated and they are prevented from reaching the prison yards, all as a response for the prisoners boycott of the occupation courts, protesting against the administrative detention policy. Some of these prisoners suffer diseases, as a response the prisoners decided to take steps as threatening to go on a hunger strike if their demands are not met.
Q: are these actions protest including all administrative prisoners or are they on individual bases?
These steps include all administrative prisoners; it is the first time that all prisoners act together on such steps against hos policy, and it is a result of the individual protests in the past, this time t is a strategic step, since all administrative prisoners stick together in such a protest.
Q: with regards to the number of administrative prisoners, is it 111 prisoners?
I think that the number is bigger, this number is an old number, the current number reached almost 150 prisoners.
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More Headlines
Occupation issued more than 200 demolition orders in Jerusalem last month
Palestinian data revealed an escalation of Israeli violations against Palestinian Jerusalemites in the city during the month of October, such as arrests of children and minors, and an unprecedented campaign of demolitions, and distributing demolition orders for buildings, apartments and business buildings in different areasof occupied Jerusalem. Wadi Helwi information center of Silwan said in its monthly report, that the occupation arrest more than 75 Jerusalemites during the past month, including 45 children, where 22 detainees are from Silwan and the rest of the old city of Jerusalem neighborhoods and Esawiyeh,aged between10-17 years, indicating that a number of them have been accused of throwing stones 100 days ago. Also last month, Jerusalem witnessed an unprecedented campaign of distributing demolition orders of residential buildings and homes, in all neighborhoods of Jerusalem, in particular in Shu'fat and Beit Hanina, Silwan and Al-Sowaneh, where the largest campaign was implemented in Shu'fat refugee camp and included the distribution of demolition orders of 200 apartment buildings and homesbelonging to about 16,000 citizens in Jerusalem. (http://www.qudsn.ps/article/32650)
Settlers from "Revava" bulldoze territories west of Salfit to build new settlement units
Eyewitnesses said that bulldozers of settlers from "Revava" settlement west of Salfit have bulldozed land for settlement expansion and construction of new settlement units.Mayor of Deir Istiya, Ayoub Abu Hijleh, said that the area near the main road was bulldozed, and that the razing operations continue all day. Researcher Khaled Mali said that "Revava" – one of the 23 settlements in the governorate -was established in 1991 at the expense of farmers; land in Deir Istiyavillage, and prevented expanding the town from the west.(http://www.pnn.ps/index.php/policy/72150-%D9%85%D8%B3%D8%AA%D9%88%D8%B7%D9%86%D9%88-%D8%B1%D9%81%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%A7-%D9%8A%D8%AC%D8%B1%D9%81%D9%88%D9%86-%D8%A3%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%B6%D9%8A-%D8%BA%D8%B1%D8%A8-%D8%B3%D9%84%D9%81%D9%8A%D8%AA-%D9%84%D8%A8%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%A1-%D9%88%D8%AD%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%AA%D9%8A%D8%B7%D8%A7%D9%86%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%AC%D8%AF%D9%8A%D8%AF%D8%A9)
Occupation arrests 4 citizens from Bethlehem and Ramallah
Israeli occupation forces arrested early Sunday, Mohammed Abu Sarhan (16 years old) andMuhammad Khaefeh Jararha (16 years old), after raiding and searching the homes of their parents, during the incursion into Al-Ebedeyeh village, east of Bethlehem.According to Maariv website, Israeli occupation forces arrested two citizens from Beit Leqia village, west of Ramallah, and the two were detained for questioning. Also, the Ofer prison Court, sentenced prison Mohammed Elias Sarahna for actual imprisonmentfor two years and a fine of 2000 NIS and sentenced Mohammed Muheisen Hajajreh for 20 months and 2000 shekels fine, claiming they belong to the popular front for the liberation of Palestine, and participating in resistance against the occupation.(http://www.alquds.com/news/article/view/id/472098)
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Arab Press
What’s in a name?
By URI AVNERY
On my 16th birthday, in 1939, I rushed to the district registration office of the Government of Palestine to change my name officially.
I shed the German name I was given at birth and adopted the Hebrew first and surname I had chosen.
It was more than a mere change of names. It was a declaration: A divorce from my past in the Diaspora (“exile” in Zionist parlance), from the tradition of my German-Jewish forebears, from everything that was “exilic.” “Exilic” was the worst insult you could throw at anyone at the time.
It said: I am a Hebrew, a part of the great adventure of creating the new Hebrew nation, the new Hebrew culture, the future Hebrew state that was to come into being once we had driven the British colonial regime out of the country. This was the normal thing to do. Almost all my friends and acquaintances did so the moment they legally could.
When the state was founded, it became official policy. You could not join the diplomatic service or obtain a senior commission in the army if you bore a foreign name.
And indeed, could one imagine an Israeli ambassador in Germany called Berliner? Or an Israeli ambassador in Poland called Polonsky? Or an Israeli Prime Minister called Grün (Ben-Gurion’s former name)? A chief of staff of the army called Kitaigorodsky (the former name of Moshe Dayan?) Or an Israeli international soccer star called Ochs? Ben-Gurion was a fanatic in this matter. It was, perhaps, the only matter on which we agreed. The changing of names symbolized a basic ideological attitude. Zionism was based on a total negation of the Jewish Diaspora, its way of living, its traditions and expressions.
The founding father of Zionism, Theodor Herzl, now officially designated here as “the Visionary of the State,” envisioned the total disappearance of the Diaspora. In his diary he foresaw that after the founding of the “Jew state” (wrongly translated as the “Jewish State”), all the Jews who wished to do so would settle in Israel. They (and only they!) would henceforth be called Jews. All the others would finally assimilate in their host nations and cease being Jews. (This part of Herzl’s teachings is completely and deliberately obliterated in Israel. It is neither taught in the schools nor mentioned by politicians.) In his diaries, which are of high literary value, Herzl did not hide his contempt for the Diaspora Jews. Some passages are positively anti-Semitic — a term that was invented in Germany after Herzl’s birth.
As a pupil in an elementary school in Palestine I was imbued with this contemptuous attitude. Everything “exilic” was beneath contempt: The Jewish shtetl (town), Jewish religion, Jewish prejudices and superstitions. We learned that “exilic” Jews were engaged in “air businesses” — parasitical stock exchange deals that did not produce anything real, that Jews shunned physical work that their social setup was a “reverse pyramid,” which we were to overturn by creating a healthy society of peasants and workers.
In my company in the Irgun underground, and later in the Israeli Army, there was not a single kippah-wearing fighter, though some wore peaked caps. Religious people were objects of pity.
The prevalent doctrine was that religion had indeed played a useful role throughout the centuries in holding Jews together and enabling the survival of the Jewish people, but that now Hebrew nationalism had taken over that role, making religion redundant. Religion, it was felt, would soon die out. Everything good and healthy was Hebrew — the Hebrew community, Hebrew agriculture, Hebrew kibbutzim, the “First Hebrew City” (Tel Aviv), the Hebrew underground military organizations, the future Hebrew state. Jewish were “exilic” things like religion, tradition and useless stuff like that. Only when the full extent of the Holocaust became known, near the end of World War II, did this attitude turn into profound remorse. There was a feeling of guilt, of not having done enough for our persecuted relatives. The shtetl assumed the glow of infantile memories, people started to long for the warm Jewish home, the idyllic Jewish existence. Even then, Ben-Gurion refused to accept the idea that Jews may live outside Israel. He refused to deal with Zionist leaders living abroad. Only when the new state was in dire economic straits and desperately needed Jewish money did he finally agree to go to the US and ask the Jewish leadership there to come to the aid of Israel. Since then, Jewishness has made a huge comeback. The small group of religious Jews who had joined Zionism from the beginning is now a large and powerful “national-religious” movement, the core of the settlers and the extreme right, a pivotal party in the present government. The anti-Zionist “God-fearing” (“haredim”) Orthodox community is an even bigger force. Though all their eminent rabbis at the time had condemned and cursed Herzl and his supporters, they now use their clout to extort immense sums of money from the state. Their main aim is to keep a separate, religious, school system, in which their children don’t learn anything but scriptures. They prevent their young men from being drafted into the army, so as to avoid them from coming into any contact with ordinary youth, especially women. They live in a ghetto. A recent alarmist TV documentary quoted demographers who forecast that in 30 years or so the haredim will constitute the majority of Jewish citizens in Israel, by virtue of their enormous birthrate. Even now, certain towns and neighborhoods in Israel that are dominated by the Orthodox are closed to any kind of traffic on Saturdays. Women wearing short sleeves — as all non-Orthodox women do in the hot Israeli summer — are spat upon and sometimes beaten. EL AL does not fly on Shabbat, nor are there any bus or train services throughout the country. With an Orthodox majority in the state, this would become the general rule. No traffic of any kind on Saturdays, no shops open on religious holidays, no non-kosher food in the shops or in the restaurants (there is plenty now), no secular laws, no circumventing the laws forbidding marriage between Jews and non-Jews, a strict moral code enforced by the police. The secular population, now in the majority, would probably escape from such a country to greener Jewish pastures in New York or Berlin. All this was broadcast this week on Israeli TV.
A bill now being debated in the Knesset would overturn the present doctrine of Israel being a “Jewish and democratic state” and replace it with the doctrine that Israel is “the nation-state of the Jewish people.”
That is presented as the fulfillment of Zionism, but is in fact the very negation of Zionism. The process has come around 360 degrees and arrived back where it started. Instead of the ghetto in the shtetl, Israel itself would become a large ghetto. Instead of negating the Diaspora, the entire Diaspora would become a part of Israel — without having a say in the matter. The state would no longer belong to its citizens (both Hebrew and Arab) but to Jews in Los Angeles and Moscow.
The very idea is, of course, ridiculous. Jews are basically an ethnic-religious worldwide community, which has existed for 2,500 years without the need for a homeland. Even at the time of the Hasmonean kingdom, most Jews lived outside Palestine. Their abstract connection with Eretz Israel is like the connection of Indonesian and Malian Muslims with Makkah. Until the rise of European nationalism, Jews made no effort for all these centuries to settle there. Indeed, it was forbidden by Jewish Law to go to the Holy Land en masse.
Israeli nationalism, on the other hand, is rooted in a physical homeland, bound up with national sovereignty and citizenship — concepts foreign to religion. Early Zionists were forced by circumstances to combine the two opposed concepts. There was no Jewish nation in existence, Palestine belonged to another people. By necessity they invented the formula that for Jews, unlike other people, nation and religion are one and the same. The Israeli government now demands, as a condition for making peace, that the Palestinians officially recognize this formula — “Israel is the nation-state of the Jewish People.” If they refuse, it means that they are resolved to annihilate us, like Hitler, and therefore we won’t make peace with them. For me, this is absurd. I want the Palestinians to recognize the State of Israel, pure and simple (in return for our recognition of the State of Palestine). It’s not their business how Israel defines itself (as it is not for us to decide how the Palestinian state will define itself.) It’s for us — and us only — to decide whether our state will be Jewish or just Israeli. That’s where the matter of names comes in. Lately, only very few people have been adopting new Hebrew surnames. Most retain their German, Russian or Arab ones. I see this as a regression, sliding back into a ghetto. When I was interviewed this week on the army radio network (strangely the most liberal outlet in the country), my young interviewers attacked me for holding this opinion. They see the semi-compulsory changing of names that was practiced in the early days of Israel as an act of oppression, a violation of privacy, almost a rape.
Most Israelis nowadays are content to retain the names of their Polish, Russian, Moroccan and Iraqi forebears. They are unaware that these names symbolize the re-Judaization of Israel.(http://www.arabnews.com/news/474536)
Appeasement dooms Palestinians to misery
By Stuart Littlewood
Later this month, Palestinians will be celebrating an important anniversary, namely the decision by the U.N. General Assembly a year ago to recognize Palestine as a non-member observer state.
But not with much joy, I suspect.
Its upgraded status enables Palestine to now take part in U.N. debates and join bodies like the International Criminal Court (ICC). Predictably, Israel flew into a rage at the prospect and said the move pushed the peace process “backwards,” while the U.S. said it was “unfortunate.”
So what has the Palestinian leadership done with this precious gift of empowerment from the international community?
Nothing.
In March this year the Russell Tribunal on Palestine, concluding four years of investigations, called for the ICC to investigate “crimes” committed by Israel in the occupied territories. The Tribunal said it would “support all initiatives from civil society and international organizations aimed at bringing Israel in front of the International Criminal Court.”
Since Palestine was awarded observer status at the U.N. the previous November, it could file complaints on its own behalf against Israel with the Court. The tribunal also called on the ICC to recognize Palestinian jurisdiction and for an extraordinary session of the United Nations Special Committee against Apartheid, set up for South Africa, to examine the Israeli case.
Also in March the United Nations Human Rights Council said Israeli settlements in the West Bank were a “creeping form of annexation” and the international community should take steps to halt business ties with those communities. Their report claimed that Israel could be culpable for these acts before the International Criminal Court. The mission asked Israel to withdraw its settlers from the West Bank and East Jerusalem and urged the international community to comply with their obligation under international law to act.
In April senior Palestinian officials were saying that if Israel began construction in the area designated “E-1,” a piece of land in the West Bank adjacent to Jerusalem seized by Israel in 1967, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas would join the ICC and seek indictments on war crimes charges. It is believed that Israel’s administration had just given provisional permission to build some 3,300 Jewish homes on E-1.
Palestinians say that Israeli construction there would make an independent Palestinian state virtually impossible because it would cut off East Jerusalem (which is Palestinian) from the rest of the West Bank.
But why is Abbas waiting for the bulldozers to go into E-1 when there’s a long list of other examples of criminal settlement building and atrocities that Israel ought to be charged with?
In June Dr. Saeb Erekat, Palestine’s chief negotiator, was criticizing the policies being pushed by Israeli PM Netanyahu “including aggressive settlement activity, home demolitions, evictions and ID revocations. This is part of Israel’s plan to destroy any possibility for a Palestinian State, by annexing and changing the status quo of Jerusalem, the Jordan Valley and other vast areas of the Occupied State of Palestine”.
The Israeli government, with its destructive policies, was determined to make U.S. Secretary Kerry’s efforts fail, he said. Israel’s actions made it clear they were declaring the end of the two-state solution.
The international community should be pushing Israel to implement previous agreements and adhere to international law instead of calling for a resumption of negotiations. “There is a new urgency to face reality and finally hold Israel accountable for destroying the prospects of justice and peace.”
Israel was turning up its aggression against the Palestinian people while we were trying to reach a negotiated solution, grumbled Erekat. “After the announcement to intensify negotiations made by U.S. Secretary John Kerry, Israel destroyed the village of Khirbet Makhoul for the fourth time and approved further settlement expansion aimed at sealing Occupied East Jerusalem from Ramallah.”
Palestinian leadership shows no sign of starting the justice ball rolling
“Our position is clear and in line with international law: all Israeli settlements in Palestine are illegal... and undermine the prospects of a negotiated two-state solution. If Israel is serious about peace, they must cease all settlement activities.” Erekat again demanded action by the rest of the world “to make Israel pay the price for its institutionalized defiance of international law and U.N. resolutions.”
But there was still no sign of his own people - the Palestinian Authority and the PLO - taking action on their own account, or at least starting the ball rolling, even though the international community had given them the wherewithall to do so.
Now I hear that Israel is drilling into 3.5 billion barrels of oil reserves straddling the armistice ‘green line’, most of it lying under the West Bank. According to official agreements, says Al-Jazeera, “Israel is obligated to coordinate any exploration for natural resources in shared territory with the Palestinian Authority, and reach agreements on how to divide the benefits.”
Ashraf Khatib, an official at the Palestinian Authority’s negotiations support unit, described the oil field as part of Israel’s “general theft of Palestinian national resources... the occupation is not just about settlements and land confiscation. Israel is also massively profiting from exploiting our resources. There’s lots of money in it for Israel, which is why the occupation has become so prolonged.”
And, of course, the world knows how the Palestinians are prevented from benefiting from their offshore gas field and how, if Israel has its way, they’ll never get a sniff of their own gas either.
‘Life in Palestine is subject to the rule of the jungle’
Since the beginning of the Oslo process over 20 years ago, the rights of the Palestinian people have been sacrificed on the altar of so-called political progress, the glittering prize being ‘peace and security’.
But that was never really on the cards. All we’ve seen is a continuous slide downhill for the Palestinians while the Israelis’ colonization and expansion program goes from strength to strength. “In the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, the expansion of settlements continues relentlessly, while the illegal Annexation Wall creates a situation that is completely at odds with both international law and the stated goals of the peace process,” says Shawan Jabarin in an excellent article Time for the ICC to act on Palestine.
“Life in Palestine is subject to the rule of the jungle: generals and politicians know that they can violate the law with impunity, fuelling a continuous cycle of violations and suffering. The result has been an increase in war crimes committed against innocent civilians. Throughout Palestine we are struggling for the right to live, and the right to live in dignity.”
Talking of the right to live in dignity, only today I was reading how some of the Palestinian villages are used by Israel for military training exercises in which soldiers enjoy virtual impunity with regard to their cruel behavior in the Occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, the pretext being that the Israeli military is the sovereign authority over the whole territory. “This edict contradicts international law and numerous United Nations resolutions that question the Israeli claim to sovereignty over all Palestinian land,” reports the IMEMC.
The Israeli military frequently invades Palestinian towns and villages, with soldiers running through streets and alleys with loaded automatic weapons, ransacking homes and terrorizing residents, for the purposes of ‘training’. Residents and the human rights groups representing them have provided numerous examples of the soldiers tearing through homes and yards, breaking into houses, running up and down stairs and taking over rooftops of family homes as part of these exercises.
It’s bad enough that villages experience actual Israeli military invasions on a regular basis. Now, since the military makes no attempt to differentiate between an invasion and a ‘training exercise’, the villagers are just as terrorized as they are during real raids.
Wasting that all-important empowerment on a silly promise
International justice remains out of reach for millions of civilians because the corrupt U.S., UK and EU political establishments conspire to ‘persuade’ Palestine not to join the ICC or press war crimes charges and other complaints against racist Israel. The Office of the Prosecutor at the ICC, meanwhile, is waiting for Palestine to ratify the Statute of the International Criminal Court and become a full member if it wishes to commence proceedings.
To pretend there is something wrong with pursuing a brutal oppressor for war crimes through the proper channels - that is, the ICC - while talking peace, is absurd. No peace is sustainable unless it’s underpinned by international law and justice.
So a week ago I sent a ‘press enquiry’ to the Palestinian Embassy in London, addressed to Ambassador Hassassian. It said:
“What is the PA/PLO doing, please, to regularize its position regarding the ICC statute and satisfy any remaining requirements for exercising its membership rights and bringing charges against Israel for its crimes?
“What still remains to be done and why the continuing delay after the international community cleared the way and upgraded Palestine’s status?”
No reply, no acknowledgement, despite follow-up phone messages. Silence speaks volumes and is par for the course when dealing with Palestinian officials.
However, I’ve heard it said that Abbas promised Kerry not to seek justice through the ICC during the nine months or more the going-nowhere peace talks will be... well, going nowhere. That takes us by my reckoning to May next year, or beyond. And he gave the undertaking without wringing from the Israelis a corresponding promise to halt settlement planning, construction and enlargement.
Welcome to the Palestinian School of Appeasement.(http://english.alarabiya.net/en/views/news/middle-east/2013/11/09/Appeasement-dooms-Palestinians-to-everlasting-misery.html)
Report on Yasser Arafat’s death could give Palestinians an edge in peace talks
By the National
“This is just the beginning of the murder case of Yasser Arafat. From his resting place, the man who spent his life as a turbulent activist, irking his friends and enemies alike, is still capable of kicking up the dust at a very delicate phase,” wrote columnist Sawsan Al Abtah in yesterday’s edition of the pan-Arab newspaper Asharq Al Awsat.
“Even in their death, some people seem to have more presence and influence than living individuals in power,” she wrote, referring to the re-emergence of serious allegations that Israel might have murdered Yasser Arafat by poisoning him with Polonium-210 in 2004.
Swiss researchers issued a report last week confirming that high levels of polonium, a radioactive substance, were found in Arafat’s remains.
“Just as the US secretary of state, John Kerry, was conducting shuttle visits between the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, in an attempt to resuscitate the peace process … news of the Swiss experts’ findings was making headlines,” Al Abtah wrote.
The Palestinian Authority (PA) has not yet formulated a clear stance on these recent findings as it awaits the results of a similar report from Russian experts.
“And this is not all,” the author went on.
“A case that has been filed with a French court will now find in the Swiss report … a strong piece of evidence to open an investigation – which, all the same, should not be expected to yield results any time soon.”
But the Palestinian leadership – which has once been accused of helping to cover up, in conjunction with the French authorities, the murder of Arafat in hopes of making gains (that were never attained) in negotiations with the Israelis – must start to think about how best to respond to these new developments in the context of a wobbly peace process.
“Israel will never stop being difficult and arrogant if it is not put under pressure, threat and force. And Arabs, who know how to use weapons only against each other, could benefit from the advice of Uri Avnery,” she wrote, referring to the well-known Israeli peace activist and dissident.
“A few days ago, Avnery said that the Israeli government will never make concessions in peace talks unless there is war, or fear of the demographic balance tipping in favour of Palestinians, or under serious international isolation,” the author cited.
“Here, we must recall the fact that new coalitions and maps are taking shape in the region, so it is not really the time for the PA to ignore the murder of Arafat as a pressure tool.
“It is actually the right time for the PA to use this card to reinforce its position at the negotiations with Israel,” she concluded.
The US is confused at home and abroad
The Obama administration seems to be having a very bad season, failing to preserve key foreign allies, especially in the Middle East, and faltering when it tries to solve domestic issues, wrote columnist Hazem Saghiya in the opinion pages of Al Ittihad, the Abu Dhabi-based daily newspaper.
“While observers are still waiting to see the outcome of the recent visit by the US secretary of state, John Kerry, to Egypt and Saudi Arabia, it has become a matter of consensus that the focus of Mr. Kerry’s boss, Barack Obama, clearly outstrips his interest in foreign affairs,” the writer said.
The problem is that this fraying of relations between the US and some of its closest allies is not counterbalanced by domestic successes, he observed.
Between the spying scandal involving the US National Security Agency – which has dented Washington’s relations with nations like Germany and France – and the government’s continuous difficulties to reactivate the local job market and get an affordable health care program going, the Obama administration took too many punches, the writer said.
One wonders, is this confusion in US policy attributable to Mr. Obama’s leadership, or is it more about a general overwhelming effect that the whole US establishment – Republicans and Democrats – are feeling in the aftermath of the Arab Spring and the global economic crisis?
‘Arab street’ for public opinion is demeaning
It is rare for media to refer to “Arab public opinion”, wrote Faisal Al Qassem in an opinion article for the pan-Arab newspaper Al Quds Al Arabi. Instead, media often refers to “Arab street” which is a loose, vague term and difficult to define.
“Did you ever hear American media speak of American street, for example?” Wrote Al Qassem, who moderates the Opposite Direction, a famous debating program on Al Jazeera. “Is there British street, French street, German street or even African street?”
“I don’t know why Arab citizens accept being linked to the street. That is probably intentional.”
Al Qassem adds that this media attitude towards Arab citizens is no different from that of the Arab leaders.
The term is “pejorative” and suggests that Arabs’ public opinion is “chaotic and crazy”, he wrote.
“The opinion of Arab citizens in most countries was and still insignificant to be taken into consideration,” he added. “How can their views be considered when they are abandoned, isolated and politically alienated in almost every country?”
The absence of that voice is perhaps why media avoids referring to a public opinion, the writer said.(http://www.thenational.ae/thenationalconversation/comment/report-on-yasser-arafats-death-could-give-palestinians-an-edge-in-peace-talks#full)
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Opinions
Developments in the region look serious
Al-Quds Editorial
Developments seem to occur in the region look strategicserious, developments related to Iran and Syria and the Palestinian cause. Tehran has improved relationship with Washington and seems to be further improved in a way that does not upset Arab Gulf states, mostly Saudi Arabia, but Angers Israel which seeks to make Iran the central issue in the region, and Iran's nuclear program talks about possible Western easements of sanctions, are in the advanced stagesthat may ultimately lead to an agreement.
In addition to the improved western-Iranian relations, the situation in Syria is closer to be resolved than ever, with preparations for the “Geneva 2” conference to find a way acceptable to all sides, Syrian opposition dumped the extremism of Al-Qaeda followers and their alike, who are in a difficult situation where everyone stood against them and they are involved in tight wars with other opposition parties.
These are two extremely important developments especially if things got to its hopeful end, this would impact the whole region, with this atmosphere and changes in Egypt that is also important brings back the focus to the Palestinian issue in one form or another, although pessimism prevails over any potential for success or progress in the negotiations because of the continuation of Israel's settlement policy, Judaization and displacement and the dismemberment of the West Bank, Foreign Minister Kerry unexpectedlyexpressed critical observations despite itsmysterious diplomatic nature, Kerry said in Amman that "important progress" occurred in the negotiations, and of course he didn't say what is this progress, he also said that the current situation could lead to a third intifada and increased isolation of Israel, and this is a clear message to the Israeli leadership. In addition to this sources at the US Government expressed their concern about the growing influence of the Orthodox Jewish political extremists in Israeli society, which led to the emergence of more radical and political leaders less inclined to any political solutions, and this made the US Administration more concerned.
According to sources close to the US team in the negotiations, Kerry is convinced of the possibility of success of the negotiations, and makes a lot of efforts to keep the peace process among the priorities of the White House.
Things may not look as simple in light of what we see and face in the West Bank and Gaza, but statements such as we have heard from Kerry is an indicator that something may happen, it may not take long until everyone realizes wither all were talks or it carried practical contentthatmight be translated into actions,especially since news reports“proposals”for a solution in some of the more complex issues, such as Jerusalem.(http://www.alquds.com/news/article/view/id/472080)
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