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Nov. 26, 2013
Daily summary - Tuesday, November 26, 2013
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Main News
Britain warns Israel: don’t play with fire!
After the world gave Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu the opportunityon Sunday to express his anger of the Iranian international agreement, saying that Israel is not bound by this agreement and hinting at the possibility of military action, It is now the role of the world's great powers to defend their agreement and warn Israel from playing with fire, this is what Israeli sources reported on Monday regarding warnings of British Foreign Minister William.William Hague said the "State of Israel is bound and forced to not act and seek to sabotage the agreement, and Britain will be watching".Hague added during remarks in Switzerland: "we warn all the world including Israel of any conspiracy against the agreement with Iran, and we'll make this very clear, we do not yet see signs of a State opposing the agreement that will try to disrupt the process in any way, but Britain will remain vigilant and will keep watching.” (http://maannews.net/arb/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=651144)
Abbas: we have shown our willingness to establish our State on 22% of historic Palestine
President Mahmoud Abbas said that the Palestinian authority accepted and continues to accept a Palestinian State on only 22% of historic Palestine. Abbas' statements came in a speech on his behalf by the Permanent Observer of Palestine to the United Nations Ambassador Riyad Mansour, on Monday evening, before the United Nations Committee on the Palestinian people’s right to exercise its inalienable rights, on the international day of solidarity with our people.Abbas said: "we have shown our readiness for decades to reach a solution of the conflict with Israel in line with the international resolutions and initiatives to establish our Palestinian State on only 22% of the historical land of Palestine, with east Jerusalem as its capital and finding a just and agreed-upon solutionfor the Palestine refugees issue, according to General Assembly resolution 194." Abbas continued: "We reiterate once again our commitments and readiness despite the wasted hopes and grave situation on the ground because of Israeli violations, we remain committed to the two-State solution in negotiations with the full recognition of the vital support of the United States, members of the Quartet and the Arab League, and all other concerned States, our hand is still stretched out for peace."Abbas said that the reason for the decision some months ago to engage in a new round of negotiations with the Israeli side is to reach settlement of all final status issues, and a final and comprehensive peace agreement.(http://safa.ps/details/news/116872/%D8%B9%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%A3%D8%A8%D8%AF%D9%8A%D9%86%D8%A7-%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%AA%D8%B9%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%AF%D9%86%D8%A7-%D9%84%D8%A5%D9%82%D8%A7%D9%85%D8%A9-%D8%AF%D9%88%D9%84%D8%AA%D9%86%D8%A7-%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%89-22-%D9%85%D9%86-%D9%81%D9%84%D8%B3%D8%B7%D9%8A%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%AE%D9%8A%D8%A9.html)
The occupation authorities hand demolition notifications of a mosque in Kherbet Al-Twayel east of Nablus
The Israeli occupation authorities handed, on Monday night, demolition notifications of a mosque in Khirbet Al-Twayel near the town of Aqraba east of Nablus, in the northern West Bank. Ghassan Daghlas, responsible for thesettlements file in northern West Bank told “Wafa agency” that the occupation authorities demanded the residents of the village to evacuate the mosque, in preparation for its demolition within days. (http://www.pnn.ps/index.php/policy/73856-%D8%B3%D9%84%D8%B7%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%AD%D8%AA%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%84-%D8%AA%D8%AE%D8%B7%D8%B1-%D8%A8%D9%87%D8%AF%D9%85-%D9%85%D8%B3%D8%AC%D8%AF-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%AE%D8%B1%D8%A8%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B7%D9%88%D9%8A%D9%84-%D8%B4%D8%B1%D9%82-%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%A8%D9%84%D8%B3)
Haniya invites his Jordanian counterpart to visit the Gaza Strip
Prime Minister of the deposed Government in Gaza, Ismail Haniya called his Jordanian counterpart Abdullah Nsour, to discuss bilateral relations and the situation in the region. Haniya updated Nsour on the continuing Zionist violations against the Palestinian people, Judaization of occupied east Jerusalem, settlements construction and the continuing raids against the Gaza Strip.Haniya asked Nsour to reactivate the Hashemite charitable organization in the Gaza Strip, citing its significant role in serving of the Palestinian people and its relief work. Haniya also asked his Jordanian counterpart to visit the Gaza Strip. (http://paltimes.net/details/news/53427/%D9%87%D9%86%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D9%8A%D8%AF%D8%B9%D9%88-%D9%86%D8%B8%D9%8A%D8%B1%D9%87-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D8%B1%D8%AF%D9%86%D9%8A-%D9%84%D8%B2%D9%8A%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%82%D8%B7%D8%A7%D8%B9.html)
The President: settlements will lead the region and the world into a tunnel nobody knows its end
President Abbas said that "the Israeli Government's determination to go ahead with the settlements, destroy all possible chances for peace, and will lead the region and the world at large into a dark tunnel that no one know its end." Abbas confirmed during a meeting with visiting Chinese Communist Party delegation, led by Member of the Standing Committee of the Chinese Advisory Board, the Palestinian commitment to achieve a just and lasting peace through negotiations, in accordance with the timeline agreed with the US administration, for the establishment of an independent Palestinian State on the 1967 borders with Jerusalem as its capital.(Al-Hayat Al-Jadida)
Palestinian activists forced the occupation to make adjustments to Al-Ezareyeh road
Popular resistance activists succeeded in forcing the Israeli occupation to make adjustments to the main road linking southern and Northern of the West Bank, after a sit-in for hours in front of "Ma'ale Adumim".Spokesman of the popular resistance committees Hani Halabiya said that dozens of Palestinian activists insisted on a sit-in in front of "Ma'ale Adumim" in protest at the occupation narrowing the road leading to the villages (Abu Dis, Ezareyeh, Sawahra and Wadi Al-Nar), until the occupation municipality approved a modifications to the road, by removing two stop signs which were put at a crossroads for Palestinian citizens, and that it will start tomorrow expanding the road to include two paths. (Al-Ayyam)
Settlers cut trees in the vicinity of Taqo’ village
Settlerscut tens of olive trees yesterday morning, in the vicinity of Teqo’villagesoutheast of Bethlehem, under the protection of Israeli occupation forces.Activist against settlements and the wall Hasan Briejeh said: “settlers cut olive trees in the area bordering the Wadi Sair road, in lands owned by residents of Taqo’and Sair villages,” adding that settlers have used electric saws to cut the olive trees. (Al-Ayyam)
Haaretz: Israeli scientific institutions will lose 300 million euros because of settlements
The European Union rejected a proposal for a compromise on boycotting settlements, leading to an impasse in the negotiations between Israel and the European Union, which would cause the loss of 300 million euros for Israeli scientific institutions.Haaretz said on its website yesterday that negotiations between the two sides were to sign a scientific cooperation agreement "Horizon 2020", whereby research centers will receive high amounts from the European Union, but the latter issued new instructions preventing support, collaboration or providing awards or loans to institutions that work in settlements and east Jerusalem.Haaretz said Netanyahu convened a second emergency meeting last night, with the participation of a large number of Ministers to discuss the crisis with the EU on a European support for research funding in Israel within the European research project “Horizon 2020”, if Israel will not sign the agreement on scientific cooperation with Europe, which prevents support for Israeli companies and institutions active in settlements in the West Ban. (Al-Hayat Al-Jadida)
Israel approves construction of 800 housing units
Haaretz revealed that Israeli civil administration approved building 800 housing units in settlements, including units in random outpost. “Watan” news agency quoted Haarezt as saying thatthis happened few days after the announcement of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stop planning to construct 20,000 housing units in settlements and east Jerusalem.Protocols of the "Supreme Planning Council” in civil administration show thata plan to construct 356 housing units in the settlement outpost “Neve Efrat” was approved near Ma'ale Adumim, although the occupation considered the outpost as illegal and was previously evacuated several times, but today was legalized and converted into a large settlement.(Al-Quds)
Palestinians in America plan to sue “Price Tag”
A group of Palestinians citizens of the US prepare to file a lawsuit in a court in the United States to put extremist Israeli "Price Tag" on the lists of banned terrorist organizations. head the council of Jaba’ village, north of occupied Jerusalem, Abdel Karim Bsharat, said in an interview with “Al-Quds.com” that 15 Palestinian citizens of the US will approach an American court as American citizens to ban the extremist settlement organization “Price Tag”, which carried out acts of sabotage against the Palestinians, to be added to the list of terrorist organizations, and to stop financing it and to prosecute its members. (http://www.alquds.com/news/article/view/id/474853)
Maariv: Israeli students will visit Al-Muqata’
Maariv newspaper reported yesterday that an agreement was reached following a tense meeting of the students' Union in Israel that an Israeli students delegation will visit Al-Muqata’ in Ramallah and meet with President Mahmoud Abbas next December.The paper said the delegation will include about 200 University students, who will arrive in the Muqata’ to a dialogue with President Abu Mazen.(http://www.alquds.com/news/article/view/id/474885)
Reports: Israeli government allocates NIS 3 billion to encourage Palestinian migration of the West Bank
Israeli website published a report saying that Israeli government will allocate NIS 3 billion, to encourage Palestinian migration from the West Bank, the plan suggests to start with 30,000 families a year. The report mentioned that 1,800,000 Palestinians live in the West Bank today, while the average number of family members is 6, offering 1,00,000 $ for each family that agrees for immigration, this will be implemented while Israel will encourage foreign states to accept Palestinian migrants. (Al-Quds)
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Headlines
** Army demolishes a house and two shacks in Ethna; and takes over tens of dunams of lands in Kufur Jamal (Al-Quds)
** The Ramle hospital patients threaten in an open strike (Al-Quds)
** Clashes between PA and armed men in Balatah (Al-Quds)
** Israeli military exercise preparing for a potential attack on the Gaza Strip (Al-Quds)
** Chairman of the Knesset Interior Committee demands the police to facilitate and protect break inns during the week of lights (al-Quds)
** President continue communicating in the coming hours to reach a solution to the Fuel and electricity problemsin Gaza (Al-Ayyam)
** Obama defending the agreement with Iran: we cannot close the door to diplomacy (Al-Ayyam)
** Netanyahu’sadviser to Washington to discuss the Iranian nuclear agreement (Al-Ayyam)
** Katatneh: Israel cut out 2.4 billion NIS since 2001 to pay for electricity to Gaza (Al-Hayat Al-Jadida)
** United Nations: “Geneva-2"will be held on 22 January (Al-Hayat Al-Jadida)
** A solution to the Yarmouk refugee camp crisis is close (Al-Hayat Al-Jadida)
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Front Page Photos
Al- Quds:Ezareyeh: Israeli police officers suppress a demonstration blocking the entrance of Ma’ali Adomim”
Al-Ayyam:Bethlehem: settlers cut olive trees in the vicinity of Taqo’ village under protection of occupation forces.
Al Hayat Al Jadida:Occupation forces during suppression of a sit in at the entrance of Ezareyah.
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Voice of Palestine Interviews
*Hanna Issa, head of the Islamic-Christian commission for the defense of holy sites, on the Israeli news report about a Jewish museum underneath Al Aqsa
Q: How dangerous has this plan become in turning the Aqsa’s underground into a Jewish museum?
There is not just the museum under the Aqsa. There are excavations reaching 18 meters underground, halls that can hold 5,000 people – a whole city that will be ready to receive up to 6 million people by 2020. All this is being done in front of the eyes of the world and it is not doing anything. Israel is planning now to do everything it can to impose a Jewish nature on the Aqsa Mosque and quell the Arab and Islamic nature of it. There is the Strauss building that overlooks the Dome of the Rock, more than 100 temples in the vicinity, cracks in the structures, etc.
Q: What can be done now at the local and Arab levels to confront these violations?
We only have our strong will and determination and our bare chests to confront these measures. But this is not enough; Israel is an occupying power and therefore international laws apply to it. That is why we must go to the Arab League, the Islamic Cooperation Organization in this matter so they can pressure the UN and its countries, especially the US, to oblige Israel to stop these violations.
Israel wants to send a message to the Palestinians through these measures, which is that we will have nothing left to negotiate over in the future.
**Jawad Bulous, head of the legal unit at the Prisoners’ Club, on the punitive measures taken against administrative detainees
Q: What kind of measures are being taken against the prisoners?
In the Negev, the prison services’ response to the strike was worse than in Ofer for example. In Ofer, the prisoners told the administration that they would return their meals and go on strike for a day, so prison services closed the section – they prevented the prisoners from walking around and told them they may deprive them of family visits. But in the Negev, the response was more severe. Administrative detainees were put in isolation; they were preventing from buying anything from the canteen along with other measures. We strongly denounce these measures, especially since the strike was not directed against the prison services. It was directed against the parties that carry out the oppressive measures – the security services. The prison services are not a direct party, let’s say. Yesterday was the first step in their escalatory measures. There is another step in December 10 – 30 until they decide on other measures to take if Israeli prison services do not respond to their demands.
Q: Do you see somewhere down the line, any possibility of cancelling administrative detention?
Yes, during last years’ hunger strike, a large number of people and figures paid attention including the Red Cross, Catherine Ashton, Ban Ki Moon, etc. and they all called on Israel to halt this measure. Israel even said it would reconsider its policy but it went right back to practicing it. We don’t expect that this file will be closed completely; international law allows for its use but under specific conditions which Israel does not respect. It uses it as an oppressive measure that is unjustified legally.
Q: How many sick prisoners are there and how are they doing today?
There are two classes of sick prisoners – there are hundreds of them but we like to shed the most light on around 100 or so prisoners who are ill with chronic and painful sicknesses. Israel cannot secure treatment for these prisoners. Those in the Ramleh prison clinic, the eight in wheelchairs who have lived in these small quarters for years. There needs to be intervention for these 100 prisoners so they are given treatment, medical and otherwise.
**Mustapha Barghouti, secretary general of the National Initiative, on the dead end talks between the EU and Israel over their refusal to compromise over its settlement boycott
Q: Is it true that Israel will lose 3 million euros because of the EU’s new decision on settlements?
Yes and this achievement is going to be a precursor for much bigger things. First, Israel is going to lose over $1 billion because of this decision because of its insistence not to adhere to international law. This could turn into something bigger in the world, which we hope for and Israel’s isolation may grow.
Q: How can we build on this achievement?
The most important thing that we can do is go to the UN and from there, possibly go to the International Criminal Court. This could cause Israel the most damage, especially in terms of its settlement expansion. I think we have a huge opportunity before us. But of course Israel is trying to use the current negotiations to claim that such moves must stop. WE cannot allow Israel to use the negotiations as a cover for more settlement expansion.
**Dr. Saeb Erekat, PLO Executive Committee member and chief negotiator, on calling on the international community to stop treating Israel as if it is above the law
Q: You welcomed the Geneva agreement on Iran. Are you calling now on the international community to hold a special summit on Palestine?
We did welcome the agreement because it was an avoidance of war. This region needs dialogue and peace. We hope one day that the entire region will be free of nuclear weapons, including Israel’s. The precedent that took place is that the world (the large countries) all came together and agreed on Iran. This is huge and a precedent that could fully be applied to the Palestinian case to end the Israeli occupation. A world that wants peace in the region, must also realize that there will be no peace or stability as long as there is still an Israeli occupation and without a Palestinian state.
Therefore, the international community must stop treating Israel as if it were above the law; second, they must base their actions on international law; third Israel must be tried in international courts if it does not agree to abide by international law.
Q: Has there been any agreement with the countries involved in the Geneva agreement to hold a similar summit on Palestine?
No, this is still going to be discussed in Palestinian circles. The issue will be brought up during the PLO’s and Fatah’s meetings.
Q: Some say the US is trying to appease Israel for the Iran agreement through being lax on its settlement policies starting with the 800 settlement units announced a day after the Geneva agreement was signed
This is not true because even the Americans continue to say that settlements are illegitimate. This Israeli government is a settler government and the entire world must hold it accountable for its settlement policies.
Q: Have the negotiations really come to a dead end?
You said it – there are more violations, more settlement each day. Is this a government that wants peace or negotiations? We declared our commitment, but in front of these measures, can we even talk about peace? We need intervention by the international community to provide the necessary framework for a peaceful solution, just like it did with the Iran agreement. \
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More Headlines
A solution to the Yarmouk refugee camp crisis soon
A Palestinian official said that Palestinian factions would meet today to consider terms of a solution to the Yarmouk camp crisis for militants to leave the camp and the return of Syrian State institutions operation in the camp. Director of the political Department of the Palestine Liberation Organization Ambassador Anwar Abdul Hadi told “Ma’an”: "we will check all terms of the agreement to assess the situation and determine the implementation date." (Al-Hayat Al-Jadida)
Chairperson of the Interior Committee of the Knesset recommends facilitating Jews entry to Al-Aqsa
The Knesset Interior Committee Chair Mary Regev recommended creating the conditions for Jews entry to Al-Aqsa Mosque during Hebrew Hanukah which starts next Thursday, and requested the Israeli army forces to provide protection throughout the holidays that lasts eight days. Regev’s demand came during a meeting held in the Interior Committee yesterday afternoon, saying that "it’s the right of Jews to visit the temple mount during Hanukah”, and added that " Jews should be allowed to pray on the Temple Mount and determine time and places for that," noting that she will hold a private meeting with Israeli Justice Minister to discuss the issue. (Al-Ayyam)
Kabsa and its surrounding closed military zone
The occupation army announced after midnight last night, the "Kabsa" area between the towns of Abu Dis and Al-Eizariya southeastern Jerusalem, a closed military zone after the success of young Palestinians from the region in creating a hole in the separation wall between Jerusalem and the two towns. Eyewitnesses said that “dozens of young men managed to create a hole in the wall between Jerusalem and the villages of Abu Dis and Al-Eizariya late night.” The eyewitnesses added that “the army imposed a military Curfew on the area until dawn on Tuesday to repair what the youth made in the wall." (http://www.qudsn.ps/article/33627)
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Arab Press
The Nuclear Deal: Netanyahu vs. Obama
By: Alon Ben-Meir
The deal that was struck in Geneva between Iran and the P5+ 1 (the US, Russia, Britain, France, China and Germany) represents an important first step in curbing Iran’s nuclear program. Regardless of the multiple flaws it contains, it offers a chance to end Iran’s nuclear impasse peacefully. I have maintained all along that unless the US and Iran engage in direct negotiations, no agreement can be achieved. The fact that the US and Iran have conducted secret negotiations for more than six months has contributed appreciably to reaching this interim deal.
Unfortunately, however, the Obama administration and Israel see the deal from entirely different perspectives. To exemplify the stark differences between the two, brief quotes from President Obama, Secretary of State John Kerry and Prime Minister Netanyahu say it all.
President Obama said that “diplomacy opened up a new path toward a world that is more secure – a future in which we can verify that Iran’s nuclear program is peaceful and that it cannot build a nuclear weapon.”
On CNN’s “State of the Union” program, Kerry said: “From this day, for the next six months, Israel is in fact safer than it was. We’re now going to expand the time by which they [Iran] can break out, rather than narrow it.”
Netanyahu, on the other hand, characterized the deal in ominous terms, saying that the “world became a much more dangerous place because the most dangerous regime in the world made a significant step in obtaining the most dangerous weapons in the world,” calling the deal a “historic mistake.”
“It is a bad agreement,” he said, “because of what it symbolizes. It means Iran is getting an acceptance, a signature that it’s a legitimate country.” Even worse, the deal amounts to an “acceptance of Iran as a nuclear threshold state.” Moreover, it leaves Iran’s nuclear capabilities largely intact without air-tight controls to prevent it from clandestinely pursuing enrichment.
Whereas the US sees significant advantages in the concessions that Iran made, Israel and a majority of the Arab states look at these concessions with tremendous skepticism.
Israel sees Iran as the mortal enemy because Israel is the only country that top Iranian officials have time and again characterized as illegitimate, insisting it should be wiped from the face of the earth. Even as negotiations were underway, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei labeled Israel a criminal state and a “rabid dog.”
Israel felt indignant that the Obama administration’s reaction to Khamenei’s outrageous statement was lukewarm at best and refrained from condemning it publicly, fearing it would complicate the negotiations, which added to Israel’s deep reservations.
Netanyahu has serious doubts about Obama’s resolve to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons now or in any future agreement. He feels that Obama is simply too eager to make a deal with Tehran, first, to improve his low ratings at home because of the Affordable Care Act debacle, and second because of his diminishing credibility abroad, resulting from his vacillation and inaction in Syria that allows Assad to continue the slaughter of innocent people.
Netanyahu insists that the rollback of Iran’s nuclear program will, at best, slow it for only a few months. Tehran can resume it at will and, in any case, Ayatollah Khamenei will never close the door on the option to develop nuclear weapons.
Moreover, Netanyahu claims that the deal gives a false sense of security and that the US should have taken a harder line against Iran’s insistence on enriching uranium on its soil, which is, from his perspective, the central point over which the US should have never wavered.
Finally, Netanyahu strongly feels that this interim agreement will push other Middle Eastern states to seek a nuclear weapon, which will contribute to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction rather than containing them.
Put together, the deal has deepened the gulf between Netanyahu and Obama and may well harden Netanyahu’s position on the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations and further frustrate the US’ efforts to advance the peace process.
Obama’s position from the outset was that Iran can pursue a peaceful nuclear program as long as it does not seek the development of nuclear weapons. This deal, from his viewpoint, achieves just that as long as it is followed by a comprehensive agreement that will prevent Tehran from advancing its nuclear weapons program.
Moreover, this interim deal may offer new opportunities to develop a new strategy in the Middle East that could bring an end to Syria’s civil war and stabilize Afghanistan, where Iran can play an important role.
In addition, the deal will provide the US six months to pursue a more comprehensive accord, hoping to prevent the use of military force, which Obama has been averse to all along.
For obvious reasons, Netanyahu and Obama survey the deal from their own vantage point.
Although the deal requires Iran to halt enrichment of uranium above 5%, Tehran interprets that as the most significant concession that it has exacted from the US because the deal enshrines Iran’s “right” to enrich uranium now and in any future agreement.
While Iran agreed not to install a new generation of centrifuges, it is allowed to continue to enrich uranium with the existing ones (18,000) intact, providing it the opportunity to cheat, as it has for more than a decade.
Whereas the deal stipulates that Iran neutralize its stockpile of 20% enriched uranium, it gives Tehran the choice to convert it to 5% or dilute it to oxide (less likely to be readily used), rather than ship it to a third country.
While suspending the work on the heavy water Arak reactor that can potentially produce plutonium useable for nuclear weapons is held as a major achievement, Iran agreed only to stop further development of the facilities rather than dismantle it altogether, leaving Iran able to resume its development at any time.
Finally, despite Iran’s assurances to address UN concerns including the Parchin military site, it did not agree on the intrusive inspection regime that the International Atomic and Energy Agency requires to ensure that Iran’s program is peaceful.
To be sure, Netanyahu sees the deal as bad because it relies heavily on Iranian goodwill; he is adamant that Israel cannot gamble on Iran’s goodwill and the unfounded prospect that Iran will eventually abandon its nuclear ambitions in favor of lifting the sanctions.
Furthermore, Israel is extremely concerned about Iran’s unwavering support of terrorist groups along with Hamas and Hezbollah, who are committed to Israel’s destruction. For these reasons, Netanyahu bluntly said that “Israel is not bound by the agreement” and has the right to “defend itself by itself.”
That said, Netanyahu knows that he can do little to openly sabotage the deal as long as it remains in place and progress is being made. He also knows that he must go along with the US and find a way to climb down in an effort to limit the schism with the US.
To take any military action before the six month interim period expires, Netanyahu will have to produce indisputably hard evidence that Iran is cheating and is at the threshold of assembling nuclear weapons, and present it to the US and its European allies.
I believe that not only Netanyahu but any Israeli prime minister will use force against Iran if he or she concludes that Iran has reached the “break out” stage and that Obama is unwilling to take military action and instead settles for containment.
President Obama needs to understand that regardless of how committed he is to Israel’s national security, because of a deep sense of historical insecurity no Israeli prime minister will take the Iranian threat lightly and place Israel’s ultimate national security even in the hands of its closest ally.
Netanyahu, on the other hand, must be fully cognizant of America’s global responsibility and its obligations to find peaceful solutions to any conflict whenever possible before resorting to the use of force. He must give the president the space he needs to explore any possibility to end Iran’s nuclear conflict peacefully.
Regardless of the present discord between Netanyahu and Obama, the two leaders must begin to cultivate anew mutual trust and develop a much closer working relationship on Iran’s portfolio.
There must be no daylight between the two because the stakes are too high and mistakes and miscalculations would have calamitous consequences.(http://www.amin.org/articles.php?t=ENews&id=4306)
Israeli Genocide of Palestinian Olive trees
By: Dr. Elias Akleh
Extreme hatred of everything non-Jewish seems to be ingrained in the blood of Zionist Israeli Jews. This hatred is expressed by their warmongering politicians, their terrorist army, their fundamentalist rabbis, and their extremist civilians starting from their children up to their elderly of both sexes. They spew out this hatred against everything Palestinian; people, homes, and fields. Last few years they have developed what could be called a yearly terrorist harvest ritual where they target Palestinian harvest products particularly the olive trees.
Palestine has been very well known for citrus products on its coastal line and vine and olives on its hills. Palestinians are mainly farmers, who depend on agriculture with olive production comprising about 25% of income for almost 100,000 families. Olive trees, many as old as 5,000 years, are spread all over Palestine and keep yielding plenty of olives year after year. Nearly 48% of the agricultural land of occupied Palestine is planted with 10 million olive trees; the vast majority is in the West Bank. The yearly economic revenue of the olive harvest used to total $100 million. The olive oil industry, alone, makes up to 14% of the agricultural income for Palestinians, and supports the livelihood of almost 80,000 families. For Palestinians olive tree is a national symbol of resilience, steadfastness, and attachment to the land. For the whole world an olive branch is a symbol of peace.
Yet this symbol of peace has become the main target for destruction by every Israeli especially the religiously extremist armed squatters, who forcefully occupy Palestinian land, mainly hill tops, and build their illegal colonies/settlements. During every harvest those colonizers attack Palestinian farmers, prevent them from cultivating their land and harvesting their own crops. The Israeli military has the practice of preventing Palestinian farmers from accessing their field claiming them as military areas. While denying access to the Palestinian farmers, Israeli colonizers descend on the area, and under the protection of the army they steal the Palestinian olive crops. When done, many times, they cut the trees with gas-chain saws down to the bare trunks, spray chemicals on the trees, set the whole field ablaze, and uproot the trees with their own bulldozers.
Young Jewish thug colonizers/settlers have developed the game of torching Palestinian fruit trees especially olive trees. They would set ablaze one small field initially to get Palestinian farmers and the fire department busy in that area, then they target a larger area far away on the other side. By the time the fire engines get to the second fire, hundreds of olive trees would have burnt.
When in some areas Palestinian farmers, with the help of ISM (International Solidarity Movement) volunteers gain access to the fields and start picking up their olives, armed thugs from the nearby illegally Israeli colonies attack them causing some injuries and at times shooting dead anyone who tries to stop them. This happens under the watchful eyes of Israeli soldiers, who stand by ready to protect the assailant Israeli thugs. Many Palestinian farmers had complained to, and requested protection from the Palestinian Authority and from the Israeli police. Yet the Palestinian Authority is miserably helpless and can barely protect itself, while the Israeli police ignore most of these complaints and protect the Israeli thugs rather than Palestinian farmers. At least 90% of Palestinian complaints against settler’s thugs have been closed without any indictment or even simple investigation. Such an act promotes a culture of impunity that encourages and contributes to settlers’ continued attack.
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) had reported in 2011 that the number of settlers attacks resulting in Palestinian casualties and property damage has increased by 32% in 2011 compared to 2010, and by over 144% compared to 2009. The report states that during 2011 the settlers had damaged or destroyed about 10,000 Palestinian-owned trees, primarily olive trees, which significantly undermined the livelihoods of hundreds of Palestinian families. In 2012 OCHA reported that 7,500 olive trees belonging to Palestinians were damaged or destroyed by Israeli settlers in the West Bank between January and mid October 2012. In Gaza Strip the Israeli military operations had leveled 7,300 dunums of land that were previously planted with olive trees. In 2013 OCHA has recorded the damage or destruction of over than 9,400 olive trees, so far, compared to 8,500 in all of 2012. Many other settlers’ attacks go unreported.
The Israeli army had also adopted a policy of destroying Palestinian agricultural assets along with the destruction of Palestinian homes and the cold blood murder of their children. The army would select an agricultural area; mainly hill tops planted with olive trees. Then they will declare it as a military area prohibited for Palestinian farmers. The soldiers would build a barbed wire fence to prohibit the farmers from tending the land and cultivating their olive crops. Later armed extremist fundamentalist squatters bring their own caravans on top of the hill, and with time they raze the area uprooting all the olive trees in order to build their own colony. All this happens under the protection of the army.
Under the false security justification the Israeli government has built what has been called the apartheid wall/fence. Bulldozers had uprooted hundreds of thousands of ancient olive trees to clear the way for this wall. The Israeli government sends giant bulldozers to raze vast Palestinian agricultural areas uprooting thousands of ancient olive trees in order to build Jewish-only highways leading to illegal colonies on usurped Palestinian agricultural hills. The Israeli army is sent to protect the bulldozers.
One other main problem out of several Palestinian farmers face is access to water. Palestinian villages share a water line with nearby colonies/settlements, access to which is controlled by the Israeli government. During the summer Palestinian villagers are only allowed access to water 2 days a week while the illegal colonies/settlements have a continuous supply.
In the Gaza Strip the Israeli army had designated a 300-meter wide separation area along the borders. Eventually the army had sent its bulldozers to raze this area and extending it to 1000 meter wide, cutting and uprooting all the olive trees in the area. Palestinian farmers tending their land and harvesting their crops are routinely targeting by Israeli border snipers.
The Israeli hatred does not spare the Palestinian farmers, who were able to harvest their olives. The farmers face severe export restrictions of their crops. Ready for export Palestinian olive products are stored under the sun in ports and in border crossings allegedly waiting for shipping permits. Many of these products get spoiled before shipping causing high losses to Palestinian farmers. This is a deliberate practice aiming to put pressure on Palestinians so that they would sell their olive products to Israeli companies for very cheap price. The Israeli companies turn around and export the Palestinian products under Israeli names for higher prices.
The reporter Maya Zeinstein from Haaretz had exposed a flourishing industry in the theft, the smuggling, and sale of ancient Palestinian olive trees. While Palestinian farmers are prohibited from entering their olive orchards, Israeli occupying settlers would use bulldozers to uproot Palestinian ancient olive trees from the West Bank, smuggle them into Israel, and sell them for thousands of Shekels to rich Israelis and to Israeli developers, who want to adorn their homes and building with thousands old olive trees.
The Israeli hatred had turned into a genocidal campaign of stealing, cutting, torching and uprooting Palestinian olive trees after, then, the extremist Iraqi born Chief Rabbi of Israel, Ovadia Yosef (given name Abdullah Youssef) had declared an edict urging Israeli Jews to steal Palestinian olive crops claiming the theft an adoption of the Jewish faith. He claimed that rain would not come down except for the Jews, that crops would not grow except for the Jews, and thus it does not make any sense that evil Palestinians would enjoy olive crops and its oils.
It was estimated that 2.5 million olive trees have been uprooted in the occupied West Bank. From 1976 to 1999, Israel had uprooted an estimated 1,000,000 olive trees and an additional 1,405,658 trees from between 2000 and 2006 (source: Status of the Environment, Applied Research Institute – Jerusalem (ARIJ), 2007). Between 2006 and 2013 another million olive trees are estimated to be uprooted or torched due to the intensifying occupiers/settlers campaign of torching olive trees every season.
The Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture indicated that the 2013 olive season’s production will see a deficit of 60%; a deficit is even more severe than the 2012 season. This is so due to the continuous Israeli campaign of razing agricultural land planted with olive trees, in particular in Gaza Strip where the Israeli army had razed 20,000 dunums of land planted with an estimated half a million olive trees.
This uprooting genocidal campaign against Palestinian olive trees is meant to be the first step of uprooting Palestinians, themselves, from their fields and eventually from their villages. It is meant to alter the original natural Palestinian landscape to a more foreign European atmosphere more suitable for the Jewish foreigners/immigrants.
The Jewish extreme hatred against non-Jews has extended beyond hating and aggressing against Palestinians to hating and aggressing against Mother Nature itself. The Israeli myth of turning desert into bloom is actually turning the vast green olive orchard of Palestine into a desert of ugly foreign-to-the-land colonies of cold concrete.(http://www.amin.org/articles.php?t=ENews&id=4305)
Gaza is rotting away
By Ramzy Baroud
The latest punishment of Gaza may seem like another familiar plot to humiliate the strip to the satisfaction of Israel. But something far more sinister is brewing.
This time, the collective punishment of Gaza arrives in the form of raw sewage that is flooding many neighborhoods across the impoverished and energy-chocked region of 1.8 million inhabitants. Even before the latest crisis resulting from a severe shortage of electricity and diesel fuel that is usually smuggled through Egypt, Gaza was rendered gradually uninhabitable. A comprehensive UN report last year said that if no urgent action were taken, Gaza would be “unlivable” by 2020. Since the report was issued in August 2012, the situation has grown much worse. Over the years, especially since the tightening by Israel of the Gaza siege in 2007, the world has become accustomed to the reality: Gaza’s astonishing ability to withstand the inhumane punishment of an ongoing siege, blockade and war.
Two infamous wars illustrate this idea: The first is Israel’s 22-day war of 2008-9 (killing over 1,400 Palestinians and wounding over 5,500 more) and the second is its more recent war of Nov 2012 — eight days of fighting that killed 167 Palestinians and six Israelis. In the second war, for the first time in many years, Egypt sided with Palestinians. Because of this and stiff Palestinian resistance in Gaza, the strip miraculously prevailed. Gaza celebrated its victory, and Israel remained somewhat at bay — while of course, mostly failing to honor its side of the Cairo-brokered agreement of easing Gaza’s economic hardship.
Citing Gaza officials, the New York Times reported on Nov. 21 that 13 sewerage stations in the Gaza Strip have either overflowed or are close to overflowing, and 3.5 million cubic feet of raw sewage find their way to the Mediterranean Sea on a daily basis. “The sanitation department may soon no longer be able to pump drinking water to Gaza homes,” it reported. Farid Ashour, the director of sanitation at the Gaza Coastal Municipalities Water Utilities, told the Times that the situation is “disastrous.” “We haven’t faced a situation as dangerous as this time,” he said. But the situation doesn’t have to be as dangerous or disastrous as it currently is. It has in fact been engineered to be that way.
Gaza’s only power plant has been a top priority target for Israeli warplanes for years. In 2006 it was destroyed in an Israeli airstrike, to be opened a year later, only to be destroyed again. And although it was barely at full capacity when it operated last, it continued to supply Gaza with 30 percent of its electricity needs of 400 megawatts. 120 megawatts came through Israel, and nearly 30 megawatts came through Egypt. The total fell short of Gaza’s basic needs, but somehow Gaza subsisted. Following the crisis in Egypt, the shortage now stands at 65 percent of the total. In an interview with the UN humanitarian news agency, IRIN, James W. Rawley, the humanitarian coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, depicted a disturbing scene in which the impact of the crisis has reached “all essential services, including hospitals, clinics, sewage and water pumping stations.”
Israelis on the other hand, have been doing just fine since the last military encounter with Hamas. “The past year was a great one,” the Economist quoted the commander of Israel’s division that “watches” Gaza, Brig. Michael Edelstein. Due to the massive drop in the number of rockets fired from Gaza in retaliation to Israeli attacks and continued siege (50 rockets this year, compared to 1500 last year), “children in Israel’s border towns can sleep in their beds, not in shelters, and no longer go to school in armored buses,” according to the Economist on Nov. 16.
“But Israel’s reciprocal promise to help revive Gaza’s economy has not been kept,” it reported. Israel has done everything it its power to keep Gaza in a crisis mode, from denying the strip solar panels so that they may generate their own electricity to blocking Gaza exports. “In the meantime, Gaza is rotting away.” Desperate to find immediate remedies, Ismail Haniyeh issued new calls to Mahmoud Abbas for a unity government. “Let’s have one government, one Parliament and one president,” Haniyeh said in a recent speech, as quoted by Reuters. A Fatah spokesman, Ahmed Assaf, dismissed the call for it “included nothing new.” Meanwhile, the PA decided to end its subsidy on any fuel shipped to Gaza via Israel, increasing the price to $1.62 per liter from 79 cents. According to Ihab Bessisso of the PA, the decision to rescind Gaza’s tax exemption on fuel was taken because sending cheap fuel to Gaza “was unfair to West Bank residents,” according to the Times.(http://www.arabnews.com/news/483176)
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Opinions
After Netanyahu’s defeat in the Iranian file
By Ahmad Jamil Azem
The Israeli right-wing and widely published newspaper among Israelis Yedioth Ahranoth waged a scathing attack on US Secretary of State John Kerry, saying in its editorial that he was ‘persona non grata”. The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu considered the agreement of the six major countries with Iran over its nuclear file to be a “historical mistake.” Is this the start of a strategic transformation? And how is this related to the Palestinian-Israeli peace process?
The Israelis entered a public war whose goal was to hinder reaching any agreement with Iran, and they failed.
But President Obama could not completely anger the Israeli lobby altogether. Within a month, he will have to reach a new agreement over the budget with Congress to replace the temporary agreement reached following the recent US government shutdown. This will be an opportunity for bartering and bargaining. Obama even called Netanyahu to reassure him.
In order to understand the repercussions of the deal with Iran, three levels should be analyzed. The first is Obama’s doctrine in foreign policy; second is the vision for the future of the Middle East; and third, is the relationship with the Israelis.
Obama considers the deal cut with Iran as the most important diplomatic achievement for his administration. The truth is that this agreement, after arrangements were made with the Russians on the Syrian file, is considered a major indicator of the current American political approaches. This policy, firstly, does not give its regional allies a final word. This is the kind of behavior practiced by superpowers, which decide what they want in the end. Secondly, this step is an indicator that democracy, oppression and the bloodiness of regimes are not Washington’s concerns at the moment. A president such as Bashar Al Assad can manage his internal conflicts as he wishes, as long as he does not defy Washington in practical terms; furthermore, they can reach understandings with Tehran on it regional aspirations. The third indicator of America’s current policy is that that at the start of this term in office, Obama used to talk about an important partnership with western Europe as a recognition of the new international balances of power. However, Obama finally succumbed to the truth of Russia and China’s rise and is now prepared to cut deals with them.
At the level of the Middle East and Iran’s regional role, we are before two scenarios: What is happening could be the beginning of an alliance or cooperation with Tehran, which would restore a kind of “dual containment” policy in the region: it would allow Iran to be a regional pole that is a source of concern and fear for the Gulf states, which would be the other pole, which would enter into arms races and confrontations with Tehran. This way, Washington guarantees that no particular party will make a definite rise to power in the region. Israel is trying to play this card by pitting Arab countries against John Kerry and against the agreement. The second scenario is that what is happening is a precursor to more comprehensive agreements, which would include demanding of Iran to offer sufficient guarantees on its nuclear file and also in terms of the extent to which it can intervene in its regional Arab surroundings and regarding Israel. The chances for a deal here are possible, which would include securing the future of Syria in exchange for a relationship with Hizbullah and Hamas. Just how much Iran can play a role in regional affairs would be up for bargaining.
At the level of the relationship between the Israeli and Iranian issues, Netanyahu and the Israelis have consistently blackmailed Washington to complicate the Iranian file in exchange for America’s laxness on their demands regarding settlement construction and a solution with the Palestinians. Here, we stand before two scenarios as well: the first is that ample reassurances will be offered in order to satisfy Israel; this will be achieved through continuous laxness on the issue of a settlement with the Palestinians; that is, they will be compensated for Iran at the expense of the Palestinians. The second scenario is that a huge turnaround will take place in the nature of how this file is managed. Instead of Netanyahu pressuring the Americans over Iran while he keeps one eye on the Palestinian file, the Americans will begin to pressure Netanyahu; perhaps they will offer him some consolation on the Iranian file in exchange for progress in the Palestinian settlement file. Kerry’s statements on the future of the peace process and his implied criticism of Israel trump the second scenario. There is talk in the Israeli press that during his last visit to Israel, Kerry refused to appear with Netanyahu for a photo-op at the airport while the latter was there to bid him farewell.
Much of what will happen depends on how the Israelis, Palestinians and Arabs will manage the various files, whether in terms of Iran’s regional role or the Palestinian issue. Perhaps Kerry is now in the process of preparing his vision of a settlement on the Palestinian file and will pressure and negotiate to impose it. But this needs a separate forum for analysis altogether. http://www.alghad.com/index.php/afkar_wamawaqef2/article/34620/html
Bethlehem is uttering Israeli lies!
By Adel Abdel Rahman
Israel’s ambassador to Italy distributed a brochure about the tourist spots in Israel, including Bethlehem. This is completely in contradiction to reality, to the option of peace and with the principles of UNESCO, which adopted the Palestinian-Arab draft resolution in June 2012, which considers the Nativity Church part of occupied Palestine’s historical, religious and heritage sites.
Besides that, the intentional mixing of religious and historical sites in the land of occupied Palestine by the Israeli ambassador is aimed at first, misleading Italian public opinion in particular, and international opinion in general; second, it is aimed at investing this in its tourist campaigns ahead of Christmas and New Years to attract tourists to Israel; third, to disseminate the Israeli colonialist and settlement perspective, which rejects any admission of the two-state solution on the borders of June, 1967.
We don’t want to get into a historical debate over the historical sites and places in Palestine from the river to the sea, where every corner shows its Palestinian-Arab depth ever since the first Canaanite walked the land thousands of years ago. Therefore, the debate will be confined to the political option of the Palestinian leadership, which is committed, until now, to the two state solution along the ’67 borders. Hence, the city of Jesus Christ is an integral part of Palestine, still under Israeli occupation. Therefore no one – neither the Israeli ambassador to Italy, Prime Minister Netanyahu, Lieberman nor the settlers – can claim that Bethlehem, East Jerusalem, Hebron, Nablus or anywhere else is a part of Israel. Such a claim has dangerous ramifications on the peace process and fuels anger among Palestinian and Arab circles.
In the face of this Israeli immorality, the responsibility lies first on UNESCO, whose duty is to address the Israeli leadership and demand that it stop its false claims over Palestinian cities and halt its policy of deception regarding historical and archeological sites in Palestinian land; second, the Quartet committee and namely the United States and UN must obligate Israel to respect international laws and legitimacy, especially since last year, the UN raised Palestine’s status to an observer state, which ended the debate over that land occupied in 1967 and debunked any claim or falsity in that matter. It also debunked the Oslo phrase over the lands of the state of Palestine, which were vague and ambiguous because of the phrase “disputed lands”. All this ended on November 29, 2012. Third, the Palestinian leadership must bring this to the negotiating table and demand that Israel halt its policy of colonialist tampering. In this context, it should also demand from the Israeli peace camp to take a political stance based on exposing this policy of misleading and deception adopted by the Israeli government; fourth, Arab and Islamic countries, which will hold a conference in Conakry, Guinea on December 9 and a special session on Palestine, should include in their statement and resolutions an article condemning this Israeli policy. They should also couple this condemnation with the weapon of sanctions against the rogue state of Israel should it not respond to the option of the two-state solution, holding the right-wing Israeli coalition government full responsibility for the failure of the peace process as a result of its colonialist policies in Palestine.
Bethlehem does not need to defend its Palestinian and Arab identity. Even so, we cannot stay silent over Israel’s misleading policies. They should be exposed to the entire world and on Arab, Israeli, regional and international platforms at all levels. The world should wave the disliked ‘stick’ at Israel, especially the weapon of sanctions, in order to rein in its aggressive, colonialist nature. If not, Netanyahu’s government will continue in its colonialist ways and will completely sabotage the peace process. (http://www.amin.org/articles.php?t=opinion&id=22682)
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