Israel is Turning the Road Map Into a Road Block
By Marwan Bishara, Common Dreams/International Herald Tribune 8/14/2003
The Middle East "road map" is turning into the kind of initiative that gives international diplomacy a bad name, as the Bush administration, preoccupied with its occupation of Iraq, is proving unfit to undo the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories. The road map, conceived in Europe as an international initiative based on a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, was drafted in Washington and implemented in the context of the U.S. "war on terrorism." So the Bush administration ignores - and at times even rewards - Israel's flagrant violations of the road map under the guise of combating terrorism. Israel's logic of force was demonstrated in military raids last week in Nablus, killing and injuring Palestinians. The raids triggered retaliatory suicide bombings Tuesday - both carried out by Palestinian teenagers from Nablus - in the Israeli town of Rosh Haayin and near the West Bank settlement of Ariel. With Israel waging war in the occupied territories, the Palestinian Authority cannot crack down on Palestinian factions who signed on to the current cease-fire. That would amount to political suicide for the new Palestinian government and eventually lead to a Palestinian civil war. As well as threatening the cease-fire, the escalation of violence this week will further overshadow Palestinian measures to enact reforms called for by the road map, measures that have largely been discounted by the Bush administration.
On relinquishing the Right of Return
By Issa Qaraqea, Jerusalem Times 8/14/2003
The political initiative known as the Public Campaign for Peace and Democracy, headed by Sari Nusseibeh and born out of a document between him and Ami Ayalon, a former official in the Israeli security system, came at a time when the Palestinian people are under aggression the like of which unseen since 1967. The Palestinians saw their land reoccupied, mass murders are being committed against them, and all aspects of life have been destroyed. The Israeli use of undue military force to face the Palestinian intifada, which erupted on 28 September, 2000, were justified by unreasonable motives concerning the size of the struggle for land occupied in 1967, which Israel agreed to surrender according to UN Resolution 242, which paved the way for the Oslo Accord and the following interim period. Neither was the use of force an attempt to disallow the establishment of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders. Instead, it was driven by other motives, expressed by Israeli leaderships and revealed by the media. The force is a war against the Palestinian minds, against the Palestinian culture and history, trying to force the Palestinians to give up their dreams, historical rights, and identity. Israeli general Shaul Mofaz expressed that by calling the current struggle the battle of "existential settlement," which means etching defeat in the minds of the Palestinians and forcing them to relinquish the right of return to their villages and homes, which they left in 1948.
Abu Mazen: The policy of betting on rationality
By Hazem Saghiyeh, Jerusalem Times 8/14/2003
It is difficult to recall any images of Mahmoud Abbas (Abu-Mazen) in military uniform, or surrounded by any of the symbols and rituals that usually surround military officials and leaders of freedom movements. The man who ranked seventh among the Fatah historical leadership, and they are plentiful, can only be recalled as an ordinary person you could meet on a street or in an elevator. To those watching him, the ‘message’ he emanates is a very civil one, entwined with domestic features familiar in a father or uncle. He presents himself without artificial symbols, compared to fighters wearing fatigues or green military uniforms and long beards, creating for themselves a charisma that quite often turns out to be a non-charisma, in the opposite direction, as in the case with Yasser Arafat in particular. But Abu Mazen, much to his misfortune, does not only contradict freedom fighters, but also the military mentality that now dominates the leadership in Israel. Such mentality is reflected by General Ariel Sharon who, well-shaven and in military uniform, has been behind more than a bloody and brutal incident, and who is presently building a wall that will swallow half the area of the West Bank. The Palestinian Prime Minister has moved too far away from struggle rituals, and exhibited an ‘open mindedness’ that is censured by struggle movements, as well as national armies which prefer fervor to reason. For by fervor alone is mobilization achieved and the imagination militarized. This, indeed, weakens a leader’s charisma, whatever shape it has, especially because a struggle requires a certain level of charisma that exceeds what is required by rational policies. When achievement is lacking, compensation should come in the form of lies and inflated promises that keep a leader in his position. Abu-Mazen, the reticent leader with no promises, is not the right man for a job like this one.
Americans won't be paying the price
By Meron Benvenisti, Ha'aretz 8/14/2003
U.S. President George Bush has a knack of coming up with simplistic answers to complex questions. It's not clear if that is his understanding of reality, or whether he is merely trying to provide an answer anyone can understand. A week ago, when asked about the separation fence - on another occasion he referred to it as a wall - he answered, "it's a problem because it goes through the West Bank and makes it difficult to develop a Palestinian state with contiguity later on." An independent Palestinian state, said the president, "will be a wonderful thing for the entire region." When he remembered that his job isn't to present problems but to solve them, he added, Israel is "in dialogue" with the U.S. on the issue and the Israelis are "ready to work with us." The separation fence issue, let alone the "wonderful" Palestinian state, requires a somewhat deeper examination, and the superficial comments create the impression the president doesn't attribute any particular importance to these issues. The fact that his clients in the Holy Land perceive his comments as fateful says nothing about the seriousness of the president, but only about the fear of what comes from the mouth of the most powerful person in the world. A similar lack of clarity, over simplification, rhetorical smoke screens and contradictory statements emerges from references to the road map made by senior administration officials. What exactly is the American position on a settlement freeze, prisoner releases, dismantling checkpoints, dismantling the terror infrastructure or the line of the separation fence in Jerusalem? Most important of all, what tangible steps does the U.S. intend to take to advance its position? Instead of presenting its position and demanding the implementation of what is required by the road map, the Americans invented a "points system" - but without any sanctions against violators. But demanding that the Americans make their position on the road map unequivocally clear is absurd, because the road map itself is a vague document. True, it might be the "only game in town" right now, but it is not a new game, just another round and the players have become experts at fooling a referee who doesn't seem particularly upset by the efforts to trick him - the referee knows he won't pay the price, but those directly involved will.
Preserve the right to medical treatment
By Zvi Bentwich, Ha'aretz 8/14/2003
Last Saturday I took part in the Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) visit to the Nur A-Shams refugee camp on the outskirts of Tul Karm. Once again, I was struck by the appalling human and medical conditions there. There is an acute shortage of medication and routine treatment for chronic diseases, such as heart disease, diabetes, kidney failure and arthritic problems. A large number of heart patients cannot get adequate treatment. Catheterization or heart surgery are out of the question. But above and beyond that, extreme cases of medical negligence, the like of which are not seen in Israel, stand out. Y. is a single woman in her 30s who came to the day clinic we set up with a swelling in her stomach, as well as a shortness of breath that has been worsening over the past few months. She had a large lumpy growth in her stomach and a heart defect causing insufficient blood flow. These symptoms are defined as medical emergencies requiring urgent action to extract the growth and treat the heart condition.Although the problem had been diagnosed previously, the woman had no way of reaching the local hospital in Nablus, a mere few kilometers away, because of the siege and closure around the camp. She reached us in despair, harboring faint hope that we might find a way to get her out of there and to a medical center.
What Condoleezza Rice could have also said
By George S. Hishmeh, Jordan Times 8/14/2003
WASHINGTON — The meteoric rise in popularity of Democratic presidential hopeful Howard Dean, who has just appeared on the cover of both Time and Newsweek magazines, has largely been attributed to his vehement stance against President George W. Bush's “reckless foreign policy” and his pledge to “stand up for affordable healthcare and create new jobs.” The former governor of Vermont is now running neck and neck with longtime Democratic Party stalwarts Missouri Congressmen Richard Gephardt and Connecticut Senator Joseph Lieberman, who ran as his party's vice presidential candidate in the last national election, according to a just-released nationwide poll conducted by Zogby International between July 16 and 17. Until recently the “Anti-Bush” campaigner was being derided by several commentators for being, as one noted, “a short-tempered toff turned fiery populist.” In fact, his state, Vermont, according to this writer, was “so small, northern and liberal that many Middle Americans suspect that it is part of Canada.” But as prominent conservative columnist Robert D. Novak wrote last week, “The `he can't win' argument did not stop Barry Goldwater, George McGovern, Ronald Reagan or Jimmy Carter from being nominated, and the last two were elected..” He went on, “The party faithful liked the purity of those candidates and did not care about electability.” In other words, “the same might be proved true of the anti-Bush.” ....But whether Dean, whose wife is Jewish, will be ready to take on the Arab-Israeli conflict as forthrightly as he has tackled the American venture in Iraq is difficult to predict. American politicians, especially those running for office, and the media remain tongue-tied on this issue, much to America's discredit. Similarly, the failure to date of any major American publication, or media outlet, or American politicians to deal with the eye-catching call of National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice for a “generational commitment to helping the (Arab) people of the Middle East transform their region” is unbelievable, if not shocking.
Ihsan
Abbas: End of a Glorious Chapter in Arab literature
By Najla Al Rostamani, Originally published by Gulf News Research
Centre, reprinted by Palestine Media Center 8/14/2003
“I wish I were still writing poetry for it has always saved me from myself and from the moments of despair that threatened to engulf my very existence. Poetry sparks in me beautiful feelings for life." These evocative words, penned by Ihsan Abbas when he was barely in his thirties, encapsulate the essence of a yearning which characterised his life - a yearning for a homeland and a passion for knowledge.With his death, a glorious chapter in the world of Arabic literature has come to an end. Hailed as the "custodian of Arabic heritage and culture" Abbas was a writer par excellence who yearned for his beloved homeland of Palestine and died a refugee at the age of 82.Abbas was among those who guided the course of literary criticism, translation and in-depth studies of Andalusia and other areas in Islamic and Arab history and culture. For many, he was on par with the great Greek philosophers and thinkers, for his work explored the vast reservoirs of knowledge. "You cannot understand literature in isolation from history and geography. Neither can it be viewed apart from the development of philosophical thought. All these fields are closely intertwined," said Abbas. Hence, it was natural for him to study how Arabic literature was influenced by the Greek. His journey through life was that of an adventurer in the world of heritage and culture, history and literature. Like many Palestinians, Abbas and his family were forced to leave his village of Ain Al Ghazal in Haifa in 1948, when Israel was created.
Sacred Israeli Terrorism
By Jihad Al Khazen, Al-Hayat 8/14/2003
When Fatah and Hamas were either secretly or openly negotiating in the months preceding the formation of Mahmoud Abbas' government, an Israeli assassination or invasion would always come to disrupt the talks every time they would get close to reaching an agreement. I once called Abbas after an Israeli crime and told him that it couldn't be possible these incidents were pure coincidence every time, and he replied that I was "a million per cent" right.This has already been published; but I would like to continue today with Israel's terrorism, which revolves around provoking retaliations by carrying out operations and expanding, based on Livia Rokach's book called Sacred Israeli Terrorism.The author says that Prime Minister Moshe Sharett had said in his diary that on March 12, 1955, the Americans had understood the reasons behind the Israeli terrorism; that they thought the Israelis had taken the decision to attack all fronts, so they are afraid that this would lead to a new war in the Middle East that would hinder their plans. "This is why they want us to commit not to do this again." Sharett also says that the Chief of Staff, Moshe Dayan, said that Israel "did not need a security treaty with the U.S. because it would limit their actions, and we need the freedom to move in the coming years, as the suicidal operations help us maintain a high level of tension among Israelis and in the army."
"We Offer Our Blood. Our Soul To." Whom?
By Hazem Saghieh, Al-Hayat 8/14/2003
Hezbollah succeeded in targeting its enemy. It was an over-success. Therefore, it missed the point politically. It missed it more than it should have.The more it is on target in shooting, the more it is off target in politics. This is our current equation. It contradicts the equation of the past: each hit with fire is a hit in politics.Hezbollah was not lucky in yet another thing. Something, which reveals the nature of the new period: it fired in the air, hoping to miss. It was on target on the ground.The Syrians have become well aware of these rules. They try to work according to those rules. The Iranians might have begun to know them with the arrival of the Americans next door to them. However the problem is that if Hezbollah don't play with fire, what would they play with?The truth is that the Party is starting to look weak and pathetic: it presented, to get back in the picture, the prisoners' card. The card didn't find any buyer. It fired in the air, hoping to miss. It was on target. Its regional sponsors are no longer excited about its operations. The international situation does not fit with its analysis of the Blue Line and Shebaa Farms. Even Kofi Anan and France disapprove. The Lebanese, after the liberation of the South, are fixated on the summer season and tourism. The Shiites, after the ousting of Saddam, are interested in Iraq. The Arabs and the Muslims have their own concerns. The "cause" is split between Palestine and Iraq.
First, Let’s Talk Turkey About Palestine
By Fawaz Turki, Arab News 8/14/2003
America has high hopes for the Middle East, and “Hi” will tell young Arabs about them.Its uninspired name notwithstanding, “Hi” is a sprightly new magazine, with a $4 million annual budget, published in Arabic and funded by the State Department, aimed at reaching Arabs aged 18 to 35 in well over a dozen Arab countries. The glossy, full-color 72-page monthly — which came out with its premiere issue in July — is a “lifestyle magazine” that “doesn’t touch politics,” since, according to Christopher W. Ross, often identified as America’s ambassador to the “Arab street,” it is “in a very subtle way, a vehicle for American values.”A publication funded by the State Department, edited in the American capital, and produced by the Magazine Group, a Washington-based company that puts out innocuous publications, including Concrete Masonry, the magazine of the National Concrete Masonry Association, is hardly a challenge to Arab culture and the established order. But the United States does indeed have high hopes for the Middle East. It wants to promote the “spread of democracy and free markets” there through an ambitious though vaguely defined project whose terminus is the transformation of the Arab states into vibrant little Californias, sans election recalls, of course.
What’s next for Arab cultural rights?
By Khatoun Haidar, Daily Star 8/14/2003
The Casablanca Roundtable I attended in mid-July discussed “economic, social, and cultural rights” in the Arab world. The seminar was organized by the Arab Organization for Human Rights, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the UN Development Program and the National Human Rights Center. The diversity of the people invited made the discussions enlightening and constructive. However, the event went underreported in the Arab media. When asked for an explanation, some colleagues answered: “The subject is theoretical and not newsworthy given the daily developments in Iraq and on the Palestinian front.” I disagree. In an era where it is becoming politically correct to assign value judgments such as evil or good to national identities, and where conflicts are viewed as a manifestation of a cultural clash rather than an expression of economic and ideological factors, the question of cultural rights is relevant and current. Many are the examples showing a skewed approach to the issue in international relations. “Acceptable and in accordance with Iraqi tradition,” is how the coalition civil administration in Iraq described the gruesome display of the corpses of deposed dictator Saddam Hussein’s two sons. And the need to respect Arab cultural specificity was long used by US administrations to justify unconditional support for Arab dictatorial regimes. Today, some fundamentalist Christian and far-right extremist ideological movements argue that Arab-Islamic culture and Western Christian values are incompatible, and that Islam encompasses values that promote terrorism. One wonders with anxiety about their influence on decision-makers, as these ideological trends are mirrored in the Middle East by the likes of Osama bin Laden. Extremism of whatever faith or creed is based on the premise, “I’m right and he is wrong because God told me so,” or “because I am superior.” The world becomes a dangerous and frightening place when perceived through a lens that leaves no room for acceptance of the Other, making one’s elimination tolerable collateral damage of a war fought in the name of good. Human history is full of horrific examples of the consequences of such intolerance.
Israel: Change your vision for long-term peace
By Helena Cobban, Christian Science Monitor 8/13/2003
TOURNUS, FRANCE – How do Israelis see their relationship with their neighbors, the Palestinians, half a century from now? This is a question that President Bush and his advisers need to start asking seriously, in private and in public. The tangled relationship between the Israelis and Palestinians is at a turning point. The road map for peace crafted by Washington and three major allies seems to be leading nowhere. Israel has continued its construction of new housing for settlers in the West Bank, its tight clampdown on Palestinian society, and its extrajudicial killings of Palestinian activists. These actions are all infractions of the road map. And they make it very hard for the well- intentioned but politically weak Palestinian Authority prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas, to continue doing what he needs to do under the road map.There are two other Israeli policies of great concern. Israel is building a vast barrier snaking deep into the occupied West Bank. The barrier effectively attaches large portions of West Bank land to Israel while it encircles Palestinian communities and cuts offthousands of Palestinian farmers from their land.Israel is also hanging onto thousands of Palestinian hostages - men who have been detained without trial, sometimes for many months.Is this a way to build long-term peace?
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