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Dec. 2, 2013
Daily summary - Monday, December 02, 2013
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Main News
HEAD OF ISRAELI OPPOSITION: WE ARE READY TO OFFER NETANYAHU A SAFETY NET IN ORDER TO MOVE FORWARD WITH PEACE NEGOTIATIONS
Israeli opposition leader Yitzhak Herzog said yesterday that he was willing to offer a safety net to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he moves forward with peace negotiations with the Palestinians. Herzog, who was elected last week as the head of the Labor Party, told journalists after receiving President Abbas yesterday at his headquarters that the “negotiations are a historical opportunity to make peace,” reaffirming his willingness to offer a safety net to Netanyahu’s government in order to move forward with the talks according to the principle of a two-state solution. Herzog commended what he said was Abbas’ “real desire” to end the conflict and achieve peace and security between the two sides. He also said his party would pressure the government to take ‘brave decisions’ to achieve peace and stability “for our children.”
Mohammed Al Madani, head of the Palestinian committee for communications with Israeli society, told Xinhua that during the meeting, Herzog reaffirmed that peace was a ‘higher Israeli interest’. He also said that Abbas would meet with 25 Israeli political figures today in Ramallah. (Al Ayyam)
BENNET: NO PALESTINIAN STATE; WE WILL NOT GIVE THEM ONE PIECE OF LAND
Second man in the Israeli government Neftali Bennet said yesterday that he was against the establishment of a Palestinian state or giving the Palestinians any piece of land. Israel’s Channel Two ran an interview with Bennet, who is the head of Jewish Home Party, with the interviewer almost quarrelling with him for his extremist positions. She even asked him to leave the government as long as he did not abide by its policies and was only there to achieve his own interests. Bennet, however, said that Palestinians were, “trying to kill Israelis and Abu Mazen does not want to sign a peace deal. When I entered into the government, I said I would honor previous agreements but there was no condition that I agree to future ones.” He went on to say that: “Whenever we give the Palestinians a piece of land, more of us are killed. The only solution is separation – that is, division of the West Bank into areas A, B and C.” He said he would not allow that any piece of land is given to the Palestinians in the next three years because Israel would only be met with “terror.” (http://maannews.net/arb/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=653133)
SHAATH: ISRAEL WANTS US TO BECOME ZIONISTS; WE CALL FOR THE APPLICATION OF THE GENEVA AGREEMENT
Fatah central committee member Nabil Shaath said yesterday that the Palestinian leadership would continue negotiations with Israel until the end of the time allotted for them, which is another five months , but said it was unlikely that these talks would lead to an agreement. Shaath said that the Palestinians “did not want to appear to the world, which is supporting us, as if we were withdrawing from the negotiations. We don’t want Israel and America to hold us responsible – like usual – for the failure of the peace process”. Shaath also said it was unlikely that the US would exert any pressure on Israel. Shaath continued that Israel wanted the Palestinians to accept the continuation of the Israeli occupation, even if a Palestinian state is established, under the guise of security. In terms of Israel’s demand that the Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state, Shaath said: “It’s as if Israel wants us to become Zionists and accept Zionist ideology that negates our history, heritage and ancestors on this land.” (Al Ayyam)
WHAT IS BEHIND HAMAS’ CANCELLATION OF ITS ANNIVERSARY FESTIVAL?
Hamas has said that its cancelled its festival marking the anniversary of its inception in Gaza to “establish a principle” that the other factions should go by, which is holding factional festivals in closed halls instead of public arenas. Hamas leader Ahmad Yousef told Maan that: “The purpose of the government for cancelling the celebrations is to restrict factional celebrations in public places and focus having them in closed halls or hotels,” adding that public arenas would only be used for national celebrations. In spite of his indication that the reason behind Hamas’ cancellation of this year’s festival was because of the difficult economic situation in the Gaza Strip, Yousef said: “Factional appearances will be limited and narrowed down to these closed areas.” He said that a meeting was held yesterday headed by de facto Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and 40 intellectuals and scholars from the Strip, who c called for Hamas’ decision to be “sunna – or a religious-oriented decision” that the other factions should follow. According to political analyst Talal Okal, Hamas is trying to implement the motto “What goes for the geese goes for the gander” through this decision. (http://maannews.net/arb/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=653057)
HAMAS CALLS ON EGYPT TO INVESTIGATE CASES OF HARRASMENT AGAINST FEMALE PALESTINIAN AND SYRIAN REFUGEES; EGYPTIAN AMBASSADOR DENIES
Yesterday, Hamas called on Egyptian authorities to open a serious investigation into cases of sexual harassment against female Palestinian and Syrian refugees being detained in Egyptian prisons after their escape from the war in Syria. Hamas politburo member Izzat Rishiq called on Egyptian authorities to clarify news about these cases of harassment against the women. Tareq Hamoud, from the Working group for Palestinians in Syria told Al Quds Al ARabi that several female Palestinian and Syrian women had been harassed and sexually assaulted inside the prisons, saying there was “a clear cover-up from Egyptian officials”. He called for the women to be released, saying there were 296 Palestinian refugees overall in prisons in Cairo and Alexandria. Rishiq also called for all Palestinian and Syrian detainees in Egypt to be released along with “investigating and holding accountable all those proven to be involved in these harassment cases.” (http://www.alquds.co.uk/?p=108962)
Meanwhile, Egyptian ambassador to Palestine, Yasser Othman denied charges of mistreatment and sexual harassment of Palestinian refugees in Egypt, saying they were ‘absolutely untrue.” He said the Palestinian embassy in Cairo investigated the matter in Alexandria yesterday and discovered that they were false reports. Othman admitted that there were ‘some problems’ facing the Palestinians trying to migrate to Egypt and Europe illegally, but said that was being followed up with the PA. (http://qudsnet.com/news/View/259051/السفير-عثمان-ما-اشيع-من-اعتدا-على-لاجئين-فلسطينيين-بمصر-كلام-غير-صحيح/)
NETANYAHU DENIES ISRAEL’S INTENTION TO BUILD 24,000 SETTLEMENT UNITS; TIBI SAYS NETNAYAHU DID NOT FREEZE PROJECT
Israeli PM Netanyahu’s office denied yesterday reports about plans for new settlement projects, including in the E1 area linking Maaleh Adumim to Jerusalem. According to the official, who did not want to be named, Israel is not making any preparatory plans to build around 24,000 units behind the Green Line, including 12,000 in E1. The official told the Jerusalem Post that the report in Yedioth Ahranoth was ‘untrue.” (Al Ayyam)
Meanwhile, Arab MK Ahmad Tibi said Netanyahu did not freeze the construction plans contrary to what he told US Secretary of State John Kerry, adding that the tender is still ongoing. He said the tender was still up on the housing ministry’s website with the word “active” in Arabic. (Al Quds)
A “SALAFIST JIHADIST GROUP’ ANNOUNCES THE START TO ACVITITIES IN THE WEST BANK; THE PA ARRESTS 20 OF ITS MEMBERS
A Palestinian security source said yesterday that the PA arrested 20 Salafist activists in the West Bank, denying that they are linked to Al Qaeda. The officials, who asked to remain unnamed, told France Presse that over the past days, scores of Salafist jihadist groups had been arrested in Nablus, Jenin and Qalqilya. The official said that all of the detainees were “Hamas members previously and advocate the ideas of the international Muslim Brotherhood”. He said they have local contacts between each other but are not armed.” The Mujahideen Shura Council recently announced that three of its members had been killed by Israeli troops in the West Bank after beginning “Jihadist activity” in the area. (Al Ayyam)
ISRAEL OPENS A ‘SECURITY ROAD’ IN JABAL MUKKABER WHICH THREATENS TO DEVOUR 300 DUNAMS OF LAND AND ISOALTE RESIDENTS FROM THEIR LANDS
Israeli bulldozers have been opening a “security road” for the past two days adjacent to the separation wall in Jabal Mukkaber in Jerusalem on land belonging to Palestinian residents. According to Mohammed Abu Hussein, one of the residents who are harmed by this road said that over the past two days bulldozers have been leveling land and destroying olive trees in order to open the security road which will connect to the Sheikh Saad crossing. The residents have turned to Israeli courts to halt work on their land, threatened with confiscation, which is estimated at about 300 dunams.. Head of the Eastern Sawahreh local council Yunis Ja’far said the step was aimed at taking Palestinian land so that the people could not expand on it and forcefully displacing them. He said the number of people harmed by this road is between 800-1000 residents because they will not be able to get to their land, much of which is planted with olive trees. He said the municipality is planning to eliminate the Sheikh Saad neighborhood altogether, saying it has been completely surrounded with no exit except through the town of Sawahreh Sharqiyeh. (Al Quds)
FOREIGN PRESS UNION ACCUSES ISRAELI ARMY OF ‘DELIBERATE TARGETING’ OF JOURNALISTS
The foreign press union in Israel accused the Israeli army yesterday of ‘deliberate targeting” of journalists after soldiers fired rubber-coated metal bullets and stun grenades at photojournalists. The union said that the army directly targeted a group of photojournalists on the job covering clashes at the Qalandiya checkpoint between Jerusalem and Ramallah. In a statement, they said the journalists had raided their hands in the air to indicate to the troops that they were leaving, but said the soldiers fired stun grenades at them from close range. (Al Quds)
ISRAEL ANNOUNCES IT WILL JOIN THE HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL
An Israeli official announced yesterday that Israel would join the UN Human Rights Council as a member of the Western European group. The official, who remained anonymous, said an agreement was reached where Israel would be part of the W. Europe group and was expecting an official invitation soon. Israel cut ties with the council in March 2012 when it called for an international investigation into the impact of Israeli settlements on Palestinian land. (Al Hayat Al Jadida)
ISRAELI OCCUPATION FORCES DEMOLISH HOMES, DISPLACE 40 CITIZENS IN OJA, JERICHO
Israeli occupation authorities demolished four homes at least this morning under the pretext of being built illegally in Area C in the village of Oja in the Jordan Valley. According to the residents, the Israeli closed off the area, preventing anyone from entering or exiting before demolishing the homes. One resident, Mohammed Njoum, said the homes had been built 5-10 years ago and would now result in the displacement of 40 people. (http://qudsnet.com/news/View/259060/الاحتلال-يهدم-منازل-ويشرد-40-مواطنا-في-العوجا-بأريحا/)
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Headlines
**Settlers cause tension and army arrests three from Al Aqsa (Al Hayat Al Jadida)
*High court halts strike temporarily, education ministry calls for going to classes and teachers continue their activities (Al Hayat Al Jadida)
*Netanyahu says in Rome that he will not ‘shut up’ if Israel’s interests are at stake (Al Hayat Al Jadida)
*Hamdallah: Palestine still carries a message of love, peace and tolerance (Al Hayat Al Jadida)
*Village of Um Hayran awaits its fate from the Israel High Court (Al Hayat Al Jadida)
*Citizen accuses Hamas of kidnapping, torturing and killing his brother in Gaza (Al Hayat Al Jadida)
*Cold front to being tomorrow night until Thursday (Al Ayyam)
*UNRWA workers begin open strike as of tomorrow (Al Ayyam)
*Jerusalem: new attempts at Jewish prayer in Aqsa Mosque (Al Ayyam)
*Qurei calls for international intervention to protect the Aqsa (Al Quds)
*During meeting with Hertzog: President Abbas renews commitment to relationships and to establishing an independent state (Al Quds)
*Settlement department in Histadrut resumes plan to Judaize the Galilee (Al Quds)
*Arab Bank gets award for best bank for financial administrative services in the Middle East (Al Quds)
*Two bombs found near school in village of Sur Baher (Al Quds)
* Expenses Netanyahu’s three residences causes scandal in Israel (Al Hayat Al Jadida)
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Front Page Photos
Al- Quds:Jerusalem: Israeli authorities work on building separation fence in the Sheikh Saad area and turning it into a main checkpoint
Al-Ayyam:1) Ramallah: President Abbas receives Israeli opposition head Yitzhak Herzog in his headquarters; 2) Pro-Mursi university students protest at the gate to Alexandria university
Al Hayat Al Jadida: 1) The President, during his meeting with Herzog in Ramallah; 2) Scene from court session on teacher strike
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Voice of Palestine News
Jerusalem: Jewish settlements organizations announced they would enter the Menorah to Al-Aqsa courtyards during Tuesday and Wednesday, and light candles there. The organizations said they would call on their members to participate in the events. Also in this context, the high Islamic organization called for a press conference tomorrow at its headquarters in the old city, where Sheikh Ekrema Sabri will hold a speech. Another joint Muslim Christian press conference will be held at hotel in Jerusalem, where a number of protest steps will be announced against targeting holy places.
Inside the green line: Israeli court decided to release 6 detainees from Haifa, and kept 13 arrested, and 7 released in Beersheba and other are still arrested. 15 lawyers volunteered to represent the detainees, and demonstrations were held in Haifa and Beersheba in front of the courts.
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Voice of Palestine Interviews
** Ya’coub Odeh, Human Rights observer at the center for land research, on demolition orders for 400 families in Jerusalem.
Q: the deadline provided for the families in Jerusalem is over, what are the legal steps now?
The occupation municipality handed 11 demolition notifications for 11 housing buildings in Ras Khamis and Ras Shehadah, and a couple of days after the occupation authorities took pictures of these buildings, these buildings included 300 housing units, residing 2000 citizens, we say that residents of these building were displaced more than once, first from their villages in Palestine, some of them were also displaced from east Jerusalem. These are victims of Israeli ethnic cleansing. They have the right to own a safe housing. This is against all international laws and conventions, they don’t have any other place, they don’t have any other opportunity, and they can’t leave their houses. We say that international, Arab, Muslim and Palestinian communities should act now and support these people, and do whatever can be done in order to save these people. Palestinians should approach all international forums to support their fellow Palestinian brothers.
Q: with regards to the options available, can you succeed in canceling these orders or can you only delay it?
This is a long battle, the deadline ends today, but still, we can approach a higher court in Israel, but the problem is with the occupation’s policy, so we can’t guarantee that this will help.
** Jawad Bolus, Director of the legal department at the Prisoners’ Club, on the prisoners’ strike.
Q: administrative and sick prisoners, in addition to three prisoners in Ofer continue in their strike, what are their next steps, and will they continue with the strike?
First of all we are talking about Muhammad and Islam Bader, and Thaer Abdo, three administrative prisoners who declared strike on 16.11.2013 in Ofer, the Prison administration tried to end the strike last week, I tried to reach a solution but with no results, today I will try again when I visit them and see if the military prosecution would fulfill their demands of knowing when will their administrative detention will end. Just to remind us all, administrative detention is usually for 6 month and can be extended, so there is no sealing for this kind of detention, in addition to the fact that usually prisoners don’t know what are their charges, so they are taken without having the ability to defend themselves. Some prisoners have spent more than 30 months now.
We are talking about 164 administrative prisoners, who started two months ago with some protest steps including boycotting military courts, in 25.11.2013 they decided to have one day hunger strike, and the steps continue. The prisoners decided on these steps since Israel did not comply with the terms of the agreement with the prisoners from two years ago, when the Egyptians took part in the process, after a long hunger strike of prisoners. With regards to the sick prisoners the situation is getting worse, some names are being heard in each news outlet, they suffer on a daily basis and Israel is not doing anything with these prisoners. No progress in this issue until now.
** Dr. Basel Ghattas, MK member of Balad, on the Poll law suggesting holding a poll on any concession in the occupied territories.
Q: Can you tell us more about the law with regards to its content?
This law is not new, but it was approved by the committeeit limit the authorities of the government with regards to withdrawal from occupied territories and transfer the authority to the people through a general poll. This law will be transferred according to the decision yesterday to a basic law, and according to this in order to change the law we need 80 MK’s voting to change the law. This means that any future government in Israel will have to gain 80 votes of MK’s in order to change the law. This makes reaching nay agreement more difficult.
Q: with regard to Judaizing the galilee?
What was reported yesterday was at the same time that we were fighting the Prawer plan, this is not new, its only reviving an old plan to Judaize the Galilee, they established Jewish communities before and they will keep on doing so, the thing is that we will not be threatened of such plans, the Galilee is our land, we love it, and Jews who come to live here usually leave at some point since they don’t have anything special related to this land. They will fail again, with the millions of shekels invested in the Galilee through Judaization plans, Palestinians are still the majority and this will stay the case, this is the center of our lives and will stay like this.
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More Headlines
Man accuses Hamas of kidnapping, torturing and killing his older brother in Gaza
Jehad Abdel Kareem Madhoun accused Hamas’ security services of torturing and killing his brother Jehad 46, hours after they kidnapped him day before yesterday in front of his children in his home in Gaza. Madhoun told WAFA that four masked Hamas operatives wearing police uniforms broke into his brother’s home in Beit Lahyiha late at night on orders from Hamas’ interior minister Fat’hi Hammad. They kidnapped him and tortured him to death before throwing his body in front of the Odwan Kamal Hospital. Madhoun confirmed that brutal signs of torture were on his brother’s body, which the family photographed before burying him. He denounced Hamas’ claims that his brother was mentally unstable and had fallen in the street. Apparently, Jehad was married to Hammad’s niece and there were differences between them. Anger spread in Beit Lahiya, with residents closing the roads with burning tires. The Madhoun family, one of the largest in the city, refused to open their home for condolences until revenge was exacted for their brother’s death. (Al Hayat Al Jadida)
UNRWA workers in the West Bank to begin open strike tomorrow
The UNRWA workers’ union in the West Bank announced that they would begin an open strike tomorrow until their demands are met. In a statement released yesterday, the union said that the strike was ‘their last option” after the agency’s intransigence and refusal to address their “legitimate rights and demands” (Al Ayyam)
1,781 Palestinians killed in Syria since the start of the revolution
The Working Group for Palestinians in Syria said yesterday that 1,781 Palestinian refugees had been killed during the ongoing conflict in Syria. The group said in a statement released today that Ayham Othman, a Palestinian refugees from Rukn Al Deen died under torture in a Syrian jail after being arrested two months ago. The group also said that the Yarmouk camp was s till under siege for the 139th day in a row, resulting in a humanitarian catastrophe. (http://safa.ps/details/news/117296/1781-فلسطينيًا-استشهدوا-بسوريا-منذ-الثورة.html)
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Arab Press
Israel aims to wreck a deal with Iran
By Norman Solomon, Abba A. Solomon
More than ever, Israel is isolated from world opinion and the squishy entity known as “the international community.” The Israeli government keeps condemning the Iran nuclear deal, by any rational standard a positive step away from the threat of catastrophic war. In the short run, the belligerent responses from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are bound to play badly in most U.S. media. But Netanyahu and the forces he represents have only begun to fight. They want war on Iran and are determined to exercise their political muscle that has long extended through most of the Washington establishment.
While it’s unlikely that such muscle can undo the initial six-month nuclear deal just reached with Iran, efforts are already underway to damage and destroy the negotiations down the road. On Capitol Hill, the attacks are most intense from Republicans, and some leading Democrats have also sniped at the agreement reached in Geneva.
A widespread fear is that some political precedent might be set, undercutting “pro-Israel” leverage over U.S. government decisions. Such dread is inherent in the negative reactions from Netanyahu (“a historic mistake”), Republican lawmakers such as House Intelligence Committee chair Mike Rogers (“a permission slip to continue enrichment”) and Senator Saxby Chambliss (“we’ve let them out of the trap”), and Democratic lawmakers like Senate Foreign Relations Committee chair Robert Menendez (“this agreement did not proportionately reduce Iran’s nuclear program”) and Senator Charles Schumer (“it does not seem proportional”).
Netanyahu and many other Israelis – as well as the powerhouse U.S. lobbying group AIPAC and many with similar outlooks in U.S. media and politics – fear that Israel’s capacity to hold sway over Washington policymakers has begun to slip away. “Our job is to be the ones to warn,” Israel’s powerful finance minister, Yair Lapid, told Israeli Army Radio Sunday. “We need to make the Americans to listen to us like they have listened in the past.”
This winter and spring, the Israeli government and its allies are sure to strafe U.S. media and political realms with intense barrages of messaging. “Israel will supplement its public and private diplomacy with other tools,” the New York Times reported Monday from Jerusalem. “Several officials and analysts here said Israel would unleash its intelligence industry to highlight anticipated violations of the interim agreement.” Translation: Israel will do everything it can to undermine the next stage of negotiations and prevent a peaceful resolution of the dispute over Iran’s nuclear program.
Looking ahead, as a practical political matter, can the U.S. government implement a major policy shift in the Middle East without at least grudging acceptance from the Israeli government? Such questions go to the core of the Israeli occupation now in its 47th year.
Israel keeps building illegal Jewish settlements in the West Bank; suppression of the basic human rights of Palestinian people continues every day on a large scale in the occupied West Bank and Gaza. There is no reason to expect otherwise unless Israel’s main political, military and economic patron, the United States, puts its foot down and refuses to backstop those reprehensible policies. They can end only when the “special relationship” between the U.S. and Israel becomes less special, in keeping with a single standard for human rights and against military aggression.
Such talk is abhorrent to those who are steeped in the notion that the United States must serve as a reliable enabler of Israel’s policies. But in every way that those policies are wrong, the U.S. should stop enabling them.
The long-standing obstacles to such a halt stand a bit less tall today, but they remain huge. No less than before, as William Faulkner said, “The past is not dead. In fact, it’s not even past.” This certainly applies to the history of gaining and maintaining unequivocal U.S. support for Israel.
Today’s high-impact American groups such as AIPAC (which calls itself “America’s Pro- Israel Lobby”), Christians United for Israel (“the largest pro- Israel organization in the U.S., with more than 1 million members,” according to The Jerusalem Post) and similar outfits have built on 65 years of successful Israel advocacy in the U.S.
Baked into the foundation of their work was the premise of mutuality and compatibility of Israeli and American interests. Until the end of the Cold War, routine spin portrayed aid to Israel as a way to stymie Soviet power in the region. Especially since 9/11, support for Israel has been equated with support for a bulwark against terrorism.
Ever since the successful 1947 campaign to press for U.N. General Assembly approval of Palestine partition, Israel’s leaders have closely coordinated with American Jewish organizations. Israeli government representatives in the United States regularly meet with American Jewish groups to convey what Israel wants and to identify the key U.S. officials who handle relevant issues. Those meetings have included discussions about images of Israel to promote to public, with phrases familiar to us, such as “making the desert bloom” and “outpost of democracy.”
As any member of Congress is well aware, campaign donations and media messaging continue to nurture public officials cooperative and sympathetic to Israel. For the rare officeholders and office seekers who stand out as uncooperative and insufficiently sympathetic, a formulaic remedy has been applied: withholding campaign donations, backing opponents and launching of media vilification. Those political correctives have proved effective, serving as cautionary tales for politicians who might be tempted to step too far out of line.
The mainstream American Jewish Committee decided in 1953 that for its pro- Israel advocacy, “To the utmost extent, non-Jewish and nonsectarian organizations should be used as spokesmen.” Such a strategic approach has borne fruit for the overall Israel advocacy project in the U.S. It is time-tested and mature; broadly distributing messages through organizations of most political flavors; and adept at touching almost all sizable media.
This year, Israeli leaders have intensified their lurid casting of Iran as the next genocidal Third Reich and Israel as the protector absent for Jews during the Holocaust. For some, the theme is emotionally powerful. But it must not be allowed to prevent a diplomatic resolution of the nuclear dispute with Iran.
From now until next summer, the struggle over talks with Iran will be fierce and fateful. All signs point to determined efforts by Israel – and its many allies in the U.S. – to wreck prospects for a peaceful solution.(http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Opinion/Commentary/2013/Dec-02/239570-israel-aims-to-wreck-a-deal-with-iran.ashx#axzz2mIFBIgEB)
Why Israel really opposes the Iran nuclear deal
By Sharif Nashashibi
Israel’s vehement condemnation of last week’s Geneva deal on Iran’s nuclear program was a surprise to no one as it had been lobbying hard against such an agreement from the outset. However, the stated basis for its opposition lacks any credibility whatsoever.
“This is a bad agreement that... allows Iran to continue to enrich uranium, leaves the centrifuges in place and allows it to produce fissile material for a nuclear weapon,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement. His Economy Minister Naftali Bennet added: “Iran is threatening Israel, and Israel has the right to defend itself.”
Tel Aviv is conveniently ignoring a central part of the deal. Tehran’s commitment to halt uranium enrichment above five percent purity would keep its enrichment level “well below the threshold needed for weapons-grade material, which is more than 90 percent enrichment,” Al Arabiya journalist Saffiya Ansari pointed out.
Netanyahu can make as many cartoon-like drawings of bombs as he wants, but even he knows that the Geneva deal negates the possibility of Iran becoming a nuclear threat to Israel or any other country. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was right to state that the agreement “will make our partners in the region safer. It will make our ally Israel safer.”
Regional hegemony
Tel Aviv’s opposition has nothing to do with its safety (though the media has been happy to give ample space and credence to its propaganda). It has everything to do with its regional hegemony being challenged.
The partial lifting of sanctions against Iran (to the tune of $7 billion) will help its struggling economy. The deal leaves room for the possibility of further relief and benefits in this regard, depending on successful implementation and cooperation from Tehran. The potential for a complete lifting of international and unilateral sanctions would be a tremendous economic boost.
Netanyahu can make as many cartoon-like drawings of bombs as he wants, but the Geneva deal negates the possibility of Iran becoming a nuclear threat to Israel or any other country
Sharif Nashashibi
The agreement also paves the way for a thawing of relations with key Western powers that were involved in brokering it: the United States, UK, France and Germany. All are important allies of Israel (Washington particularly) that have had strained relations with Iran since its Islamic revolution of 1979.
If Tehran has managed to pose a challenge (albeit an exaggerated one) to Israel’s regional hegemony even under crippling sanctions and tensions with world powers, the Geneva deal could enhance Iran’s economic, political, and even conventional military standing, and thus its overall position in the Middle East.
It will also make it much harder for Israel to carry out its repeated threats of military action against Tehran, when the latter has agreed to limit uranium enrichment to levels well below those required for weapons-grade material.
An attack under these circumstances would be seen worldwide as brazen, unwarranted aggression. Israel’s allies would be unable to defend it, and may even openly condemn it, not just for the dangerous implications of military action, but for the undoing of the arduous work involved in reaching the Geneva deal.
Nuclear spotlight
Another fundamental reason for Israel’s opposition to the agreement is that it turns the spotlight back on its nuclear weapons. It also highlights the hypocrisy of the Middle East’s only nuclear power complaining about others in the region obtaining them, and the subsequent absurdity of its constant self-portrayals as vulnerable and existentially threatened by its neighbors.
Indeed, since the Geneva deal, calls for international pressure on Israel’s vast nuclear arsenal have resurfaced, either directly, or via general statements urging a Middle East free from WMD.
“It seems a touch unbalanced to have so much concern about nuclear bombs that do not yet exist, and so little apparent concern for the thousands of nuclear bombs that already do. Israel’s nuclear arsenal is an obvious example of this because of its status as the only country in the Middle East actually with nuclear weapons,” wrote Kate Hudson, general secretary of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.
Even Saudi Arabia, which has long been wary of Iran’s nuclear intentions, responded to the Geneva deal by calling for a comprehensive solution that leads to the “removal of all weapons of mass destruction, especially nuclear, from the Middle East and the Gulf.” This is as direct a reference to Israel as one can get without mentioning it specifically.
The Geneva deal was signed soon after the Syrian government’s decision to give up its chemical weapons. Libya agreed 10 years ago to dismantle its WMD programs, and Iraq gave up its own ambitions in the 1990s.
With Israel no longer threatened by WMDs, the rest of the region calling for a Middle East free from such weapons, and Tel Aviv’s undoubted conventional military superiority, it can no longer rely on its already-spurious excuses of self-defense and deterrence. Israel’s concern is not about being threatened, but about being able to impose its will on the region unchallenged.
After the signing of the Geneva deal, Iran’s recently-elected President Hassan Rowhani said some countries had tried to isolate his, but instead, “now our enemies are isolated.” In referring to “an illegitimate, occupier regime,” he obviously meant Israel. It remains to be seen what the long-term implications of the deal will be on Iran, Israel and the rest of the region, but for now at least, Rowhani has out-maneuvered Netanyahu.(http://english.alarabiya.net/en/views/2013/12/02/Why-Israel-really-opposes-the-Iran-nuclear-deal.html)
Bedouin rise up against Israel eviction plan
By Nigel O'Connor
Protesters clashed with police in response to plan that would relocate 40,000 Bedouin living in the Negev Desert.
Rahat, Israel - Those passing by Al Araqib may call it a shanty town, but to Sheikh Siah Altori it is a home he says he is prepared to die for. After a reported 62 separate demolitions by state authorities, the remains of the Bedouin community, off the road from Rahat to Be'er Sheva, consists of several portable buildings, and a clutch of shacks and animal pens clinging to a hillside in the north of Israel's Negev Desert.
Portions of the village's lands have been designated to be planted with a state-sponsored forest. Al Araqib is one of the Bedouin communities known as an "unrecognized village", which receive no state services such as electricity, water or sanitation. As many as 200,000 Bedouin live in the Negev, an area comprising 60 percent of Israel's territory. Under a government proposal known as the Prawer-Begin Plan, $340m has been allocated for land and monetary compensation to move up to 40,000 of the Bedouin into state-sponsored townships.
On Saturday, thousands of demonstrators gathered in more than 30 cities - in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories as well as in other countries - to protest the Prawer-Begin Plan.
At Hura, a town in the northern Negev, more than 500 protesters gathered peacefully until youth began throwing stones and police used water cannon, horses and stun grenades to disperse the demonstration. Clashes continued throughout the night as the highway from Be'er Sheva to the Dead Sea was blocked with burning barricades and scores of young people throwing stones and Molotov cocktails.
Earlier, Bedouin were joined by busloads of supporters to voice opposition to the Begin-Prawer Plan. While the Israeli government maintains that the policy will ensure its Bedouin population receives access to basic services and economic opportunities, critics see the plan as an attempt to displace and threaten an indigenous way of life.
Refusing to leave
Although many people have left Al Araqib over the years due to the demolitions, those remaining are adamant on staying.
Sheikh Siah, along with family and supporters, has maintained the protest tent since his release from prison on Thursday. He was arrested after rebuilding his tent following its demolition on November 20, and was released on condition that he would not return to Al Araqib.
"My grandfather was born in Al Araqib, my father was born there and I was born there - and so were my children," the now-elderly sheikh said from his protest tent outside the Rahat police station. "I am staying in Al Araqib - alive or dead. It is better to live with dignity than to leave. We are Arabs, Palestinians, Bedouins and Israeli citizens. If the State of Israel likes it or not, we are going to stay."
I don't believe this government gives justice.
- Sheikh Siah, Bedouin activist
A court will rule on his case in early December and if unsuccessful, Sheikh Siah said he would pursue other legal actions. "I believe in the justice of the courts - if not in Israel than in international courts - but I don't believe this government gives justice," he said. “We need a normal village at Al Araqib and to have agricultural opportunities."
In July, Navi Pillay, the United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights, expressed concern that the Prawer-Begin plan might threaten Bedouin culture. "If this bill becomes law, it will accelerate the demolition of entire Bedouin communities, forcing them to give up their homes, denying them their rights to land ownership, and decimating their traditional cultural and social life in the name of development," she said at the time.
Amos Gvirtz, one of the many Jewish Israelis supporting the Bedouin at Hura's demonstration, described the plans as "racist" and said the majority of Israelis did not understand the issues facing the Negev's Bedouins. "It's like a wall we have to break through," he said. “A lot of people don't even know about the Bedouins' issues. Removing people from their villages is removing their human rights and we are legalizing the theft of their land."
Khalil Alamour, a Bedouin from Al Sira, whose community is subject to demolition orders, said he hoped his village would receive official state recognition. "We want recognition and to stay in our village in order to maintain our culture, lifestyle and the link with our land," he said. “Seven generations of our family have lived in the same place since the Ottoman times, and it is only the Israeli government that is narrowing the space we have."
One the protest organizers, Amir Abokweder, said he was proud at the mobilization of supporters across Israel, the West Bank and Gaza Strip. "It gives a sense of justification to receive this support and confidence for us to continue the struggle to halt the process," he said.
Abokweder, from the unrecognized village of Al Zarnoug, added that violent acts at the demonstration were a result of people feeling disenfranchised. "People behaved in this way because they feel like nobody is listening to them," he said.
Gradual recognition?
Ami Tesler, deputy head of the Headquarters of the Economic and Community Development of the Negev Bedouin, the Israeli government office responsible for implementing the Prawer-Begin Plan, said in one month the government would present a map recognizing 17 of the unrecognized villages and reveal the sites for at least 10 new villages.
The new villages will be planned with the Bedouin and will have places for sheep and access to agriculture but with roads, electricity and water.
- Ami Tesler, Headquarters of the Economic and Community Development of the Negev Bedouin
"What we are trying to do - as quickly as possible - is build two or three successful villages to be a model for success," he said. "The new villages will be planned with the Bedouin and will have places for sheep and access to agriculture but with roads, electricity and water."
Economic development is the major focus of the policy, according to Tesler. "The goal of all of it is to bring the Bedouin, in 20-30 years from now, to a better future," he said. “Education is the most important part of it and will enable them to find work and live a modern life."
He recognized that mistakes had been made in the past when planning Bedouin villages, but he expressed confidence that the new plan would balance the needs of the communities and the state. "If they are large concentrations we realize we can't move them, so we will make them normal villages," he added. “The idea is to give fair compensation in land and money."
Following Saturday's protests, which included additional clashes in Haifa and Jerusalem, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement saying the government would not tolerate such disturbances.
"Attempts by a loud and violent minority to deny a better future to a large and broad population are grave," the statement read. "We will continue to advance the law for a better future for all residents of the Negev."(http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2013/12/bedouin-rise-up-against-israel-eviction-plan-2013121143616676711.html
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Opinions
2014, solidary with Palestinians year
By Adel Abdurrahman
UN organizations, issued a number of resolutions in favor of the Palestinian national rights, supporting the struggle of the Palestinian people, perhaps most notably was declaring 2014 as a year of solidarity in international forums, raising angry reactions in Israel, reflected in a statement of the crazy representative of the State of ethnic cleansing in the United Nations, revealingan arrogant impudence.
First of all, this international resolution reflects the increasing solidarity with the Palestinian rights; second it shows the depth of Israeli isolation, third, it shows the World's insistence on mobilizing an international public opinion to deepen solidarity with the inalienable Palestinian national rights and; fourth, it opens the doors to the Palestinian political leadership to address the peoples of the world to explain the tragedy the Palestinian people are suffering from, and the grave violations and war crimes being committed by the Israeli occupation against unarmed citizens, their towns, villages and farms, their interests and their Islamic and Christian places of worship,especially in Jerusalem the eternal capital of the State of Palestine.
This resolution, which came in the wake of promoting Palestine as an observer State in the United Nations a year ago, is a vital and important opportunity to exert more pressure on the State of organized terrorism - Israel, making its leaders various parties, especially extremist right-wing, know that racist and hateful occupation policy is in contrast with the simplest international laws, human rights and covenants, and only bring further isolation and siege as a first step towards more punishing policies against Israel.
This resolution suggests that the last occupation in the world, is rejected by the peoples and Governments of all States, particularly since the resolution won support from 110 countries in addition to the 56 States refrained from voting, refraining for political considerations without declaring their support, and Israel and six other countries, including the United States, Canada and Micronesia voted against the resolution, which clearly demonstrates that the world is fed up with Israel and its colonial policy, particularly since the legitimate leadership headed by President Abu Mazen, and Arafat before him, provided all conditions for a two-State solution on the borders of June 4th 1967, and extended their hands to the world to make peace, fulfilling the minimum Palestinian national rights that can be acceptable by the Palestinian Arab people.
But the outlaw Israeli leadership supported by the United States and Canada, still insist on its reckless conduct colonial position, and places obstacles that hindrances peace, and act around the clock to perpetuate occupation and colonization in the territories of the Palestinian State, and turn its back to the charters and laws of the United Nations, that support the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, assuming that the world "will accept" its occupations. But the dreams of the ethnic cleansing State of Israel failed and will be doomed with the escalation and widening circle of solidarity with the Palestinian people and its legitimate rights in freedom and independence, return and self-determination.
The resolution to declare 2014 as a year of solidarity with the Palestinian people, is a severe blow to Israeli occupation, and puts an end to the Palestinian tragedy of the last seven decades, and open the door wide to establish a sovereign and independent State with its capital in east Jerusalem, preparing international climate to exert pressure on Israel to guarantee the return of refugees on the basis of UN resolution 194 and the release of all prisoners of freedom.(http://amin.org/articles.php?t=opinion&id=22720)
Comprehensive aggression!
Al-Quds Editorial
The settlement plan prepared by the executive settlement arm of the Israeli Government unveiled yesterday aiming at the Judaization of the Galilee through housing 100,000 Jews in new residential communities and expanding the existing Jewish communities, announced a day after the mass outrages in the Negev, Jerusalem, Haifa and Jaffa against a the Prawer plan confiscatingBedouins’land in the Negev, and grouping them in four complexes, while also Druze expressed their anger and shock of the racial discrimination against Bedouinsalthough some of their sons join the army. This means that the Israeli Government started a new escalation against Palestinian citizens of Israel who suffersthe Israeli policyfor decades.
Thus, this unprecedented Israeli attack targeting Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and targeting Palestinians inside the green line at the same time, means a comprehensive targeting of the Palestinian people at a time when Israel asserts that it is a democratic State and that its Arab citizens enjoy the same rights,and claiming it wants to make peace with the Palestinian people, but ignores the lessons learned from earlier decades, including the successful first and second Intifada Earth day and others, where the policy of the Israeli Government explodes the situation in the occupied territories in 1967 and within Israel itself, leading to a level of tension andlead tointernational condemnation of Israel and to its isolation.
It is strange that Israel's hard-line Foreign Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, the new immigrant, tells us that Israel is fighting those who try to Rob a national territory in the Negev, as he is fully aware that the Arab citizens were living in their lands in the Negev before his emigration to Israel, and before Israel itself was established.
It is even stranger that Israeli media and newspapers identify with these Israeli official positions and visualize it as riots or an attack on Israel, while Arab citizens are defending their home and their presence against this racism and targeting.
It must be said here that the Israeli targeting of the Palestinian people, reiterates that this extreme right-wing Government is not seeking peace, but seeks to perpetuate the occupation and settlements in the territories occupied in 67, and also seeks to perpetuate racism and ignore the rights of Palestinian citizens of Israel, that means raising the tension level and push for exploding the situation in the region.
Therefore we say that the time has come for the international community, represented by the United Nations, the Security Council and all human rights organizations to condemn this Israeli racism and prevent Israel from undermining the rights of Palestinian citizens in the Negev the Galilee and other areas in 1948 territories, and compel Israel to end its illegal occupation of the Palestinian territories, since peace, security and stability cannot be built on racism and ethnic cleansing or on the basis of settlement and occupation.(http://www.alquds.com/news/article/view/id/475962)
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