2004 – Still No Palestine; 2005?
Editorial, Miftah 12/31/2004
In most cultures and places around the world, come the end of the year, one reflects on what passed in order to make a few resolutions to try to learn from past experience and challenge oneself with the ultimate aim of improving oneself. In Palestine, the pace of fateful events is so quick, and year after year seems to pass while people are too consumed with the contingencies of everyday life to reflect objectively, with sufficient calmness and with self-criticism. In Palestine, the New Year’s Resolution has become more like a spontaneous, fleeting wish that one makes before blowing out the candles on a birthday cake. The past year has brought many changes which require a real process of reflection, if nothing else then in order to minimize the pitfalls we Palestinians are so infamous for never missing. With elections around the corner and an “end to an era”, we should perhaps wonder, is it an end to an era, or an end to an approach? In what state do we find our relations with the rest of the world? What are we planning for the upcoming year?
Palestinian State as Israeli Demand
By Dr. Azmi Bishara, Palestine Chronicle 12/31/2004
"One could not help but to be struck by the coincidence between Sharon''s optimism and an Arab optimism of a very particular stamp.." It is pointless to ask why the British prime minister or why the chief executive of the World Bank never visited Palestine while Arafat was alive. No one will answer. But there they were when, on 20 December, George Bush reminded us that he was the first American president to officially acknowledge the principle of the creation of a Palestinian state. Yet, the principle was implicit in Clinton''s proposals in Camp David II and even Sharon had declared his acceptance of the need to create a Palestinian state ahead of Bush. So, what distinguishes the current diplomatic drive on Palestine, explicitly, implicitly or otherwise? The question of Palestine, today, is being presented as the question of a state, and nothing but a state: a state without borders, without a capital and without a national cause ñ just a state. There is a concerted attempt to create the impression that if "a state", with the emphasis on the indefinite article, is offered to the Palestinians they cannot refuse. After all, everyone knows that that is what they have been fighting for, so when it is offered to them on a platter what more could they ask for? One could not help but to be struck by the coincidence between Sharon''s optimism and an Arab optimism of a very particular stamp. Something jarred, and instinctively one''s eyes did a double take and one''s ears pricked up. Certainly, both senses couldn''t be wrong, or perhaps one of the two senses had to accommodate to the other.
How About Mustafa Barghouti as an Alternative?
By Ramzy Baroud, Palestine Chronicle 12/31/2004
"Even before his almost certain victory, Abu Mazen has insisted on providing a model of the PA’s political line under his leadership.." Talks about national unity among various Palestinian factions, and the “opportunity” that might have emerged following the sudden death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat have all faded into uncertainty. What remains is the most predictable, albeit consequential outcome of the upcoming presidential elections scheduled for January. Islamic movements Hamas and Islamic Jihad, along with the socialist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) were undoubtedly interested in reconciling their differences with the mainstream Fatah movement that dominates the Palestinian Authority (PA). They remain firm on finding a formula that allows them to translate their popular support into political influence. And compromise they must. But for these factions, the dilemma was very intricate. Nominating a candidate to run for ‘office’ — so to speak — would have suggested that Hamas, among others in the Palestinian “opposition” have finally come to terms with the premise upon which this political process was founded. The casual rejection of the Oslo accords would no longer suffice when a Hamas candidate strives to win the same office that would have not existed if it weren’t for Oslo.
Assault on heritage
Al-Ahram Weekly on-line 12/31/2004
With international attention focussing on the violence that continues to consume Iraq, the fate of the country''s cultural heritage sites, collections and institutions slipped from the headlines in 2004. Nevertheless, their condition remains critical. Writing in the British newspaper The Guardian recently, Neil MacGregor, director of the British Museum in London, described 2004 as "a bad year, a very bad year indeed, for the Iraq Museum of Antiquities in Baghdad". Looted following the entry of US forces into Baghdad in April 2003 and the collapse of the Saddam regime, news of the destruction of the Museum''s collections, as well as of the parallel looting and destruction of the Iraqi National Library and Archives in Baghdad, the Museum in Mosul, and countless heritage sites across Iraq, helped bring home to the international public the scale of the crisis facing the heritage sites, collections and institutions of Iraq. More than 18 months on, MacGregor wrote, the situation has hardly improved, with, "the huge task of repairing the objects damaged in the liberation" hardly begun. "The Museum did not reopen. At all. Since Baghdad''s liberation by European and American troops last year the museum has been open on only one day -- for a press view ... foreign colleagues cannot travel to help, local staff find it increasingly too dangerous even to travel to work. Iraq''s past remains invisible. Meanwhile, the great archaeological sites are damaged and looted with impunity." Following the reports of the destruction and looting at Iraqi heritage sites and institutions -- but also at universities, libraries, and cultural centres throughout Iraq -- carried by the world''s media immediately following the entry of US troops into Baghdad, the situation of the country''s heritage largely dropped from the headlines in 2004, with the media concentrating instead on the violence that continues to consume the country.
We''re all suckers for playing that game
By Michael Bavli, Ha''aretz 12/29/2004
One of the curses we have brought on ourselves, and which may in the end destroy the fabric of our lives here, is the intrusion into language, mentality, behavior and public and private legitimacy of the expression "I am no sucker (freier)," or its equivalent, "You''re a sucker if you - ". For better or worse, this is part of the world of concepts we have created. To be called a tahman (a schemer) is a definite compliment. "Professor" is a disgraceful sobriquet, along with "good soul." As for sucker - there is no one stupider or more ridiculous than the person who wins that particular title. A sucker is a person who behaves according to the (unwritten) law. He pays his taxes, doesn''t link up to cable TV without paying, and doesn''t buy into the "one nation-one software program" as others do smilingly, understandingly, with pleasure and even undisguised pride - we''ll fix those anti-Semites. We are record-breakers in stealing intellectual property and in illegal copying and smuggling of CDs. We have become a pariah state not only because our policy is incomprehensible and unacceptable, but also because we have become a major refuge for black-market money, a world center for trafficking in women, and attained seniority status as drug-sellers and smugglers. We are champions at passing bad checks and are persona non grata in foreign hotels if they''re faucets are not soldered to the wall and their towels not under lock and key.
A parade of charlatans
By Hasan Abu Nimah & Ali, Electronic Intifada 12/29/2004
Supporters of Israel have often accused Arab states of cynically exploiting the Israeli problem and the suffering it has caused the Palestinians to distract their own populations from domestic troubles. But if this has occurred, others, far beyond the region have also found the conflict a useful tool for their own selfish purposes. UK Prime Minister Tony Blair is the latest leader to brazenly exploit this tragedy. During recent crises in Middle East, world powers have found themselves in the awkward situation of embarking on military action which risked inflaming Arab opinion, but needing the assistance of Arab states in order to stage the action. This is true presently as it was in 1991 when the United States led a wide, UN-sanctioned coalition to liberate Kuwait from Iraqi military occupation. Although the 1991 action was authorized by the Security Council and seen by much of the world as legitimate, people in the region could not fathom why Iraq was expected to comply instantly and unconditionally with UN Security Council resolutions demanding withdrawal or face devastating military action, while simultaneously, the Israeli occupation of Syrian, Lebanese, Jordanian and Palestinian lands since 1967 had never been treated with any urgency despite numerous UN Security Council resolutions demanding Israeli withdrawal and an end to Israel''s ongoing efforts to colonize most of those lands with its own settlers.
The Writing on the Wall: Hania Batar
By Toine van Teeffelen, Electronic Intifada 12/29/2004
Writing from Jerusalem, occupied Palestine -- Hania Bitar is director-general of the Palestinian youth association Pyalara (Palestinian Youth Association for Leadership and Rights Activation). Hania Bitar: "We try to challenge what cannot be challenged." When the whole story of the Wall started I was somehow dealing with it in disbelief. It was something that was about to happen, but at the time I was pushing it away, or I dealt with it from a journalistic or political point of view. It was being built in this area or that area, but still it was far away. It was not part of my life. But when they started constructing the Wall in Ar-Ram area where I cross, where I work and live, suddenly this thing forced itself upon my existence, my daily life, upon my day and night. Every time I looked out of the window I saw the Wall. It was really shocking. Suddenly this wall of concrete cement became very scary. I try to be and present myself as a courageous woman, but to tell you the truth: sometimes when I am driving and it is evening, this Wall really looks cold, long and winding, like a snake. When I am driving alongside it, it is an endless road. Although I am not claustrophobic, that Wall looks like as if I am in a bottle. I want to shatter it into pieces. Then I feel like I can''t wait until I reach the end of this road. All the time I am driving the Wall is either on my left hand side or on my right hand side. It really gives me a feeling of suffocation. I just want somebody beside me sitting in the car, to make jokes on the Wall, to laugh, to sing aloud. We are trying to avoid looking at it directly. We try to continue with our lives, but it is always there.
Boycott as Resistance: The Moral Dimension
By Omar Barghouti, Electronic Intifada 12/28/2004
"Where is the world? Is it dead?" exclaimed the bereaved mother in Rafah on Al-Jazeera. Before her lay the lifeless body of her little child. Faced with overwhelming Israeli oppression, Palestinians under occupation, in refugee camps and in the heart of Israel''s distinct form of apartheid have increasingly reached out to the world for understanding, for compassion, and, more importantly, for solidarity. Palestinians do not beg for sympathy. We deeply resent patronization, for we are no longer a nation of hapless victims. We are resisting racial and colonial oppression, aspiring to attain justice and genuine peace. Above all, we are struggling for the universal principle of equal humanity. But we cannot do it alone. We need international support. The question of Palestine was created by the world -- mostly the western part of it -- and it is the world that must rise to its moral responsibility to resolve it. The renowned French philosopher Etienne Balibar captures this exceptional feature saying that the Palestinian cause is a "universal" one because "it is a test for the recognition of right, and the implementation of international law."[1] Indeed, in few other causes in modern history has the fundamental primacy of the rule of law and moral principles been put to such a fatal challenge.
Elections without Democracy
By Sam Bahour and Todd, Electronic Intifada 12/28/2004
During the 1970''s, the apartheid government of South Africa sought to bolster its claims to legitimacy by allowing elections in the Bantustans - the equivalent to today''s walled in Palestinian communities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The thought was that if people elected local officials, even to hold largely ceremonial offices, then the rest of the world would stop whining about how undemocratic and illegal apartheid was. There were two problems with this strategy. First, the world understood that ceremonial elections do not make a democracy. Second, the major candidate in any election that would be endorsed by black South Africans-Nelson Mandela-was being held in a South African prison. Instead, black South Africans were being offered collaborator candidates that were chosen by the white South African government. Through its policy of "constructive engagement," however, the Reagan administration tacitly endorsed this strategy, even when Congress resisted by passing the Anti-Apartheid Act in 1986. How little has changed. Except for the lack of Congressional resistance, the situation in the Israeli-occupied territories mirrors that of apartheid South Africa. Palestinians are being forced, either by choice or fate, to agree to "acceptable" candidates for elections to offices that will have only as much power as the Israeli government, underwritten by the Bush administration, grants.
A Wreath For Blair
By Uri Avnery, Arabic Media Internet Network 12/25/2004
“The curious incident is the barking of the dog,” Sherlock Holmes remarked. “But the dog did not bark!” exclaimed Dr. Watson. “That is the curious incident!” This week’s curious incident concerns the wreath of Tony Blair. The wreath that he did not lay on the grave of Yasser Arafat. Elementary, dear Watson. Blair did go to the graveside. But he omitted the natural and customary thing: laying a wreath. Neither did he bow. He just tilted his head a few centimeters and hastened to get away. In my imagination, I can hear the frantic consultations before the event. Blair’s advisors are discussing it: To lay a wreath? No, no, that will make President Bush angry. To bow? Ariel Sharon won’t like it. To tilt the head? Alright. That should satisfy the …. Palestinians. But how much? Ten centimeters? Too much. Two? Not enough. Five, then? That should do it. I see Blair practicing in front of a mirror. And, indeed, he did it exactly as planned. To the millimeter.
Religious tourism and freedom of movement denied in isolated Bethlehem
By Maureen Clare Murphy, Electronic Intifada 12/23/2004
Writing from Bethlehem, occupied West Bank -- "It is quite simple. We have no business," a shopkeeper in Bethlehem''s Old City tells me when I ask him how his business is faring after four years of Intifada and intensified Israeli military occupation. Camels and religious figures carved out of olive wood sit neatly and undisturbed on their shelves. His inventory is the same as it was four years ago. Since no one comes into his store to buy his souvenirs, he doesn''t replenish his stock. And because businessmen like him are not ordering more merchandise, the factories in Bethlehem are at a standstill. However, cheerful international media reports on Bethlehem make it seem as though the historic town is enjoying a rebirth of tourism. An Associated Press article reports that the city is "often still full of tour buses," and because of a November joint agreement between the Israeli and Palestinian Ministers of Tourism to cooperate to help build their respective tourism industries, the press is singing hopeful songs about the revival of religious pilgrims to the area. It has been reported that during the Christmas season, an Israeli Tourism Ministry official will greet religious tourists with bags of sweets at the Gilo checkpoint that separates Bethlehem from Jerusalem, named after the illegal Israeli settlement nearby. But there was no such reception for this visitor Wednesday morning. Instead, I was made to wait on a bench for fifteen minutes while the bored Israeli soldiers flipped through a car magazine before they finally checked my passport and let me through, asking me brusquely in Arabic what I was intending to do in Bethlehem, and what I was planning on buying.
First we vote, then we kick you out
By Pepe Escobar, Asia Times 12/24/2004
No matter what the spin from Time magazine''s "man of the year", US President George W Bush, or defense chief Donald Rumsfeld, there''s one overarching question facing the 83 entities - nine coalition lists, 47 political parties and 27 individuals, totaling more than 5,000 candidates - now competing for the 275 seats in Iraq''s interim parliament and that will be entitled to write the next Iraqi constitution. The absolute majority of Iraqis want the Americans out of their country as soon as possible. But how? The United Iraqi Alliance - the Shi''ite, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani-supervised electoral list (228 candidates) - has a detailed, 23-point platform. According to its main negotiator, Hussein Shahristani, the platform insists on the "sovereignty, unity and Islamic identity" of Iraq, and most crucially includes a plan with a precise date for the end of the military occupation. Whether the Americans will accept the plan (neo-conservative dreams for the Middle East collapsing in the sand), or whether this will be enough to placate Sunni anger, no one yet knows. The powerful Sunni Association of Muslim Scholars is maintaining its boycott of the elections. But a few Sunni formations are running, such as the Islamic Party, an offspring of the Muslim Brotherhood (275 candidates); the independent democrats of former ambassador Adnan Pachachi (70 candidates); and the Democratic National Party of Nassir Chaderchi (12 candidates).
The mother of all disasters?
By Hasan Abu Nimah & Ali, Electronic Intifada 12/22/2004
The Palestine Liberation Organisation has, over decades, committed many strategic blunders that continue to reverberate today, especially as its leadership seems poised to commit yet more, if granted the opportunity. First, a little historical context. The 1967 Arab defeat led to a reluctant revision of previous Arab positions which viewed Israel as an illegal implant in the heart of the Arab world. That position was no longer sustainable, in spite of the postwar Arab Summit in Khartoum in September 1967 which produced the famous "three nos"; no recognition, no negotiation and no peace with Israel. While appearing rejectionist on its face, the summit declaration actually signalled a major conciliatory shift. Arab leaders unanimously agreed "to unite their political efforts at the international and diplomatic level to eliminate the effects of the aggression [not the aggressor itself] and to ensure the withdrawal of the aggressive Israeli forces from the Arab lands which have been occupied since the aggression of June 5, [1967]", and, significantly, not from any occupation that had taken place earlier. In other words, the declaration indirectly laid the basis for an accommodation with Israel as long as Israel withdrew from the territories occupied in 1967. This set the stage for Security Council Resolution 242, which enshrined the land-for-peace formula in international law.
Abbas'' rival strikes confident note
By Khalid Amayreh, Electronic Intifada 12/25/2004
The independent Palestinian presidential contestant, Mustafa al-Barghuthi, has said he can beat the front-runner, official Fatah candidate Mahmud Abbas, in the 9 January election. Speaking during an election rally in the town of Dura, 45km southwest of Jerusalem, on Friday, Al-Barghuthi said Palestinians shouldn''t trust "biased and tendentious polls", an allusion to recent opinion surveys which gave Abbas a substantial lead over al-Barghuthi and other candidates. "The results of the municipal elections prove that all the opinion polls we had seen were false. So don''t trust these polls," he said. "Instead I urge you to work with me to create a new leadership that will feel and identify with the pain of our people, not the pain of others." Those remarks were an implicit reference to Abbas'' Aqaba speech of 4 June 2003 in which he, then Palestinian Authority (PA) prime minister, said he understood and was saddened by the suffering Jews had endured throughout history. Two approaches: Al-Barghuthi said Palestinians on 9 January will choose not only a person but an approach, a system of thinking and a plan of action.
Israeli Peace Overture Follows Gaza Destruction
By Ben Lynfield, Miftah 12/21/2004
The sights, sounds, and emotions in Gaza Sunday were those of war, not of the turning point toward peace being hoped for and proclaimed in the Middle East and abroad. "This is my house," says Qais Nofal, pointing to twisted metal rods and concrete, the remains of one of an estimated 40 houses destroyed by the Israeli army during a two-day operation that ended Saturday night. After the operation, the Israeli army said in a press release that Palestinians ordered to leave their houses for their own safety were now free to return home. "What home?" asks Mr. Nofal, a bearded, brown-eyed tailor. "My brother and I lived here with our wives and children. I built it gradually, bit by bit, over seven years." Omar Sabah, a refugee from the fighting at Israel''s creation in 1948, adds: "We came here this morning and found there is nothing left. There is no house, and no existence. It is finished."
Israel’s war on the milieu
By John Collins, Electronic Intifada 12/21/2004
When the Nobel Committee announced its decision to award its 2004 Peace Prize to an environmental activist best known for planting trees, more than a few observers raised their eyebrows. After all, isn''t the world''s most prestigious peace prize typically reserved for those who have a direct hand in resolving armed conflict? More cynically, isn''t it often given to those who resolve conflicts only after spending years starting and perpetuating them?.... ....Israel''s "war on the milieu" - For much of the rest of the world, however, the importance of defending trees is self-evident, for it is a matter of life and death. Palestinians know this as well as anyone. Since the advent of the Israeli occupation in 1967, Palestinians have seen Israeli machines uproot hundreds of thousands of olive trees, each one a tangible source of livelihood and identity for a family, a village, a nation. According to Nadia Hijab, executive director of Washington, DC''s Palestine Center, more than 360,000 olive trees have been uprooted since 2000 alone. There are other, equally ecological reasons why Palestinians might have cheered the selection of a grassroots activist for the Nobel Peace Prize. The past four years have seen a continuation of Israel''s policy of home demolitions, with hundreds of Palestinians rendered homeless in the face of the infamous D-9 Caterpillar bulldozers that mete out collective punishment and pave the way for Israel''s apartheid wall. The Israeli human rights group B''Tselem reports that over a thousand Palestinian homes have been demolished since the start of the first intifada in 1987. Israel''s policy of expropriating land and water resources from under the feet of Palestinians falls into the same category.
Somerville Divestment Failure is Bittersweet
By Tom Wallace, Electronic Intifada 12/21/2004
It is not difficult to find the silver lining in the very sad and infuriating conclusion (temporary) to the issue of divestment in Somerville, MA. After a long process and sometimes rancorous debate, the aldermen caved to pressure from powerful Jewish groups who blindly support Israel; as one woman said to me "no matter what, no matter what, "no matter what" with her eyes closed and shaking her head poetically. That the Somerville Divestment Project got as far as it did towards passing a divestment resolution is nothing less than spectacular. They were extremely successful in raising public awareness of Israeli oppression and human rights violations as well as the plight of the Palestinian people, and most importantly, Somerville''s role in that plight. Like many other American cities, towns, states and labor unions, Somerville is directly, albeit unwittingly, contributing to the oppression, dispossession, humiliation, and overall suffering of the Palestinian people. Many did not know this and when they found out, they could not understand why. But now that they do know, the issue will not go away. Somerville residents are claiming the right to determine how their money is spent and invested. And they have vowed to continue to claim that right. As the discussion continues so will the free flow of information. This is not a good trend for oppression and ethnic cleansing. It''s much easier to continue when no one knows about it.
Non-Violent Resistance Maybe a Miracle Recipe
Editorial, Miftah 12/17/2004
The Palestinian uprising or Intifada entered its 4th year on September the 29th 2004. This Intifada was sparked by a controversial visit by the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to the Haram al-Shareef in Jerusalem’s old city. Unlike its predecessor this Intifada has been considerably different. Frequent suicide bombings and unprecedented Israeli violations have given this Intifada the violent character it so embodies. Undoubtedly the death of President Arafat has affected the course of this Palestinian uprising, in addition to recent developments in the area such as the visit by Mahatma Ghandi’s grand son Arnun Ghandi as well as the recent calls by the Palestinian presidential candidate and former Prime Minister Abu Mazen for both the demilitarization of this Intifada, as well as, the pursuit of non-violent resistance as a means to achieving independence and freedom from occupation. On Tuesday the PLO Chariman Mahmoud Abbas made some very sensitive statements concerning the Palestinian uprising, that have been greeted with positive feedback by many Palestinians including the US and Israel, however, have been rejected publicly by many Palestinian factions. In his tour of Middle-Eastern states to rally support for the newly emerging leadership in the post Arafat era, Abbas called for the demilitarization of this Intifada by saying, “Using weapons has been harmful to our cause and has got to stop.” However, Abu Mazen reiterated that the Palestinian people have the inalienable right to resist, but should keep arms out of the uprising, “keep the use of arms out of the uprising, because the uprising is a legitimate right of the people to express their rejection of the occupation by popular and social means.”
An entire village in the balance
By Nir Hasson, Ha''aretz 12/20/2004
On Thursday, 10 days ago, the building inspectors from the Ministry of the Interior came to Al-Sidr, an unrecognized Bedouin village that is located next to the Be''er Sheva-Dimona highway. They circulated among the 70 tin shacks in the village and pasted court demolition orders on each of them bearing the heading: "The State of Israel versus Unknown." The buildings are home to 150 members of the Al-Anami family - more than half of them children. If the orders are carried out, the Ministry of the Interior will be able in another 35 days (the legal period for appeal) to erase the entire village from the face of the earth. "They told us that if we built houses of stone and concrete they would destroy them - so we built from tin," explains Ali al-Anami, a member of the village committee. The members of his family have resided in the area since before the establishment of the state; until 1982 they lived undisturbed in the area of the Nevatim airbase. Then, in the wake of the peace agreements with Egypt and the withdrawal from Sinai, it was decided to build an Israel Air Force base on the site.
Politics, Israeli Policies, and International Law
By Naseer Aruri, Miftah 12/20/2004
After more than 50 years of UN Resolutions, deals and talks, one question stands out: Whence the Palestinian right of return? -- Analysis THE MARGINALIZATION OF PALESTINIAN RIGHTS The primacy assigned to geo-politics over international law in the so-called peace process has resulted in the marginalization of Palestinian rights, particularly refugee rights, said Dr. Naseer Aruri during a briefing to the Washington, DC chapter of Al-Awda, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition. International law does provide a principled framework for a durable resolution of the Palestine-Israel conflict, however the peace process did not, he said during the briefing, which was held at the Palestine Center to honor the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People on Nov. 29. Instead, the issue must be placed within the larger context of old-fashioned imperialism and settler colonialism. Aruri explained that from the 1969 Rogers plan to the 2003 Geneva Initiative, the diplomatic emphasis has always been on what is "possible" and "practical" - that is, what Israel will accept - rather than on what is just and legal by international standards. Putting geo-politics over international law is the name of the game, which has eroded the earlier consensus built around Article III of UN General Assembly Resolution 194 (Dec. 11, 1948), plus numerous resolutions affirming the rights of the Palestinian people to sovereignty, international protection, and the freedom to struggle for independence by all necessary means, including armed struggle, as was seen during the 1960''s and 70''s.
The Mountain and the Mouse
By Uri Avnery, Miftah 12/20/2004
Ariel Sharon’s speech at the “Herzliya Conference”, an annual gathering of Israel’s financial, political and academic aristocracy, proved again his wondrous ability to conjure up an imaginary world and divert attention away from the real one. Like every successful con-man, he knows that the audience desperately wants to believe good tidings and will be happy to ignore bad ones. It was an optimistic message, as the bewitched commentators proclaimed. According to him, we are on our way to paradise, 2005 will be a year of tremendous progress in all fields and all our problems will be solved. Most of the speech was devoted to his fabulous achievements since he launched, at the same conference a year ago, the “Unilateral Disengagement Plan”. This (in my own free translation) is what he said: America is in our pocket. President Bush supports all of Sharon’s positions, including those that are diametrically opposed to Bush’s own former positions. Europe has resigned itself to him. The Great of the World are standing in line to visit us, starting with Tony Blair. Egypt and the other Arab states are cosying up to us....
US up in arms over Sino-Israel ties
Asia Times 12/20/2004
BANGALORE - Israel''s relationship with its closest ally, the United States, seems to have hit a rough patch, with Washington apparently upset with Israel''s clandestine dealings with China. The spat is not new, however. It has its roots in a decade-old issue. Old suspicions have returned. It is an explosion into the public domain of a row that has been going on for a few years. The quarrel is over Israel''s alleged concealing from Washington of an upgrade of a major weapons system it sold to China more than a decade ago. The United States claims that by upgrading the system, Israel violated its commitment not to transfer US technology to China without Washington''s permission. Israel, however, insists that the upgrade was really just routine maintenance of a system that had originally been sold to China with US approval.... ....Israel is China''s second-largest arms supplier (the first being Russia). Although diplomatic relations between Israel and China were established only in 1992, military ties go back to the early 1980s. Until formal diplomatic ties were established, the military relationship was covert. Israel sold about US$4 billion worth of arms to China during the covert courtship. In the 1990s, the Sino-Israel military relationship grew rapidly. In fact, arms sales contributed to the strengthening of diplomatic engagement.
A few notes on optimism
By Azmi Bishara, Al-Ahram Weekly on-line 12/16/2004
So suddenly it''s all rosy on the Palestinian track. Well, not quite -- One of the peculiarities of politics and of politicians, of political commentators specialised or otherwise, and of other persons of sway and influence is the business of creating popular moods, shaping public opinion and disseminating climates of optimism or pessimism. They manufacture the flavour of the month and then invite people to confirm this choice through a democratic electoral process. The climate being manufactured today is that things will get better now that Arafat is dead because now there is a chance to revive the peace process and the "street" is upbeat. Some who shed tears over the death of Arafat will not openly acknowledge the cause of all this optimism. Yet, the death of Arafat is the only observable change that has occurred and this event is somehow solely responsible for the shift from stagnation and despair to a new breath of life and hope. How odd. Is it really possible that a single person confined to a few crumbling rooms in Ramallah was responsible for bringing everything to a standstill? Of course we could look at the situation another way and say that the Palestinians are getting a new leadership. But then, if that new leadership held the same positions for which Arafat was placed under siege, we would not have had this sudden change in mood manufactured. Arafat was not confined to his Ramallah compound because of the way he looked or dressed -- his appearance did not keep him from being nominated for and winning the Nobel Prize -- but because of the views that were attributed to him, regardless of whether or not we agree with the attribution. Evidently, the propagators of the new mood believe that the position of the new leadership will be different, or at least they think they have some good reasons for believing this. But nobody wants to bring up the subject, not even in the midst of the electoral campaigns.
Democracy at gunpoint
By Khaled Amayreh, Al-Ahram Weekly on-line 12/17/2004
Whatever its public stance, on the ground Israel is intent on obstructing Palestinian elections -- While Israeli officials make almost daily statements to the effect that they will facilitate the organisation of Palestinian elections scheduled for 9 January, on the ground the Israeli army has been doing the exact opposite. Last week Israeli soldiers at one of the hundreds of roadblocks in the West Bank harassed, beat, handcuffed and briefly detained Bassam Salhi, a presidential candidate representing the Palestine People''s Party. Salhi was travelling with a few supporters from Ramallah to East Jerusalem when he was stopped at the Qalandiya checkpoint. Israeli soldiers trained automatic rifles at him before arresting him for "trying to enter Israel without permit". "I knew all along that the Israeli occupation authorities were anti-democracy, anti-election, anti-peace, anti-civility...Occupation is the antithesis of democracy, they just can''t coexist...I don''t know how can we practise democracy when we can''t travel freely in our own country." Earlier, another candidate, Mustafa Barghouti, had a similar encounter with Israeli soldiers who prevented him travelling in the West Bank and to the Gaza Strip. "As you see they are preventing us from moving around. How can we conduct an effective and orderly election campaign if we are unable to meet supporters and talk to the electorate," he told Al-Ahram Weekly.
Old beginnings
By Graham Usher, Al-Ahram Weekly on-line 12/17/2004
The world breathed a collective sigh when Marwan Barghouti announced he would not be standing for Palestinian president. But it is a setback for Palestinian democracy -- Ever since Yasser Arafat''s death there has been a concerted effort to recast the Israel- Palestinian conflict in the mould of a "new beginning". This is not altogether wishful thinking. There is a renewed international and regional engagement in the conflict, with Egypt taking the lead on the Arab side. There is in effect a new Israeli government, led by an old prime minister, but armed for the first time with a mandate to remove Jewish settlements from occupied Palestinian land. Finally, Palestinians are poised to participate in a genuinely comprehensive suffrage, with a batch of municipal elections later this month, a presidential poll in January and, perhaps, parliamentary elections in May. But these new realities are being determined by old dynamics and even older ambitions. For example, Israeli defence minister, Shaul Mofaz, said this week that the aim of Ariel Sharon''s disengagement is not a comprehensive peace settlement ("since this is unimaginable in the present circumstances"). It is rather another "interim" agreement, under which, presumably, Israel can more easily "separate" itself from the burden of Gaza while consolidating its hold on the West Bank.
Out of the cold
By Mona El-Nahhas, Al-Ahram Weekly on-line 12/17/2004
Restored warmth in Egyptian-Israeli relations is triggering heated debate within Egypt -- After years of chilly relations with Israel, Egypt took a series of initiatives in just two weeks time that seemed to put normalising the Egyptian-Israeli relationship on the fast track. The public quickly discovered that releasing Israeli spy Azzam Azzam was just the start; soon thereafter, Egypt also signed a major trade accord with Israel. Despite official claims that the moves were not part of a larger normalisation plan, many were worried by the perception that Israel was being rapidly transformed into a partner. While some also saw the moves as confirmation of increasing Israeli hegemony in the region, others welcomed what they saw as a more pragmatic and realistic posture by a government that puts Egyptian interests first. The fact that Egyptian officials remained mostly tight- lipped about the whole thing did not help. The initial shock came with Azzam''s release. After consistent denials that the release was in exchange for six Egyptian students being held by Israel for infiltrating the borders into Israeli held territory, Egyptian officials eventually changed their tone. "If they want to describe it as a deal," said presidential spokesman Maged Abdel- Fattah, "well, it''s a deal as long as it helped our youth."
Killing children is no-longer a big deal
By Gideon Levy, Palestine Monitor/Ha''aretz 12/17/2004
More than 30 Palestinian children were killed in the first two weeks of Operation Days of Penitence in the Gaza Strip. It''s no wonder that many people term such wholesale killing of children "terror." Whereas in the overall count of all the victims of the intifada the ratio is three Palestinians killed for every Israeli killed, when it comes to children the ratio is 5:1. According to B''Tselem, the human rights organization, even before the current operation in Gaza, 557 Palestinian minors (below the age of 18) were killed, compared to 110 Israeli minors. Palestinian human rights groups speak of even higher numbers: 598 Palestinian children killed (up to age 17), according to the Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group, and 828 killed (up to age 18) according to the Red Crescent. Take note of the ages, too. According to B''Tselem, whose data are updated until about a month ago, 42 of the children who have been killed were 10; 20 were seven; and eight were two years old when they died. The youngest victims are 13 newborn infants who died at checkpoints during birth. With horrific statistics like this, the question of who is a terrorist should have long since become very burdensome for every Israeli. Yet it is not on the public agenda. Child killers are always the Palestinians, the soldiers always only defend us and themselves, and the hell with the statistics.
Can Bush Notice the Palestinian Olive Branch?
By David Hirst, Miftah/The Daily Star 12/16/2004
Since the death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, there has been a shift of international attention away from Iraq toward that other, older, and most imperishable of Middle East crises. British Prime Minister Tony Blair urged the re-elected U.S. President George W. Bush to revitalize the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, "the single most pressing political challenge in our world today," while Foreign Secretary Jack Straw called it more important than Iraq itself. Then the view that the two crises are malignantly linked found forceful corroboration in a surprising quarter. In a report flatly contradicting Bush administration orthodoxy, the Pentagon''s Defense Science Board said America''s problems in Iraq and elsewhere arose from Muslims'' hatred of its policies, not of its freedoms, and especially "what they see as one-sided support in favor of Israel and against Palestinian rights." To Arabs, this discovery is hardly Archimedean. To them it has always been self-evident: the Palestine problem, a legacy of Western colonialism as virulent today as it ever was, has always been the greatest single source of anti-Western sentiment in the region. So if Islamist terror now ranks as the greatest single contemporary threat to global order, and Iraq is its most profitable arena, Palestine must have a great deal to do with the political climate in which it took root.
Leaflets of fear
By Nigel Parry, Electronic Intifada 12/15/2004
The above leaflet was dropped on Gaza this morning from Israeli military helicopters. The translation says: TO THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE Your life is being harmed by irresponsible elements who exploit you by firing missiles from in between your houses at the Israeli settlements. These missiles backfire on you causing only destruction and loss of your source of living without leaving you any road to hope. Be aware !!! that firing missiles from your area will compel the Israeli Defense Forces to act in your area and to hit missile-launching elements in any place they act from. Get rid of terror which leads you to the bottom. Follow the road of hope. Do not allow the terrorists to come close to your area. It is clear from reports from multiple human rights organizations that Israel''s actions in Gaza are not necessarily related to any Palestinian shooting at Israeli settlements. Case after case reported on the international human rights newswires speak of people shot inside their homes with bullets.
Sanctions against apartheid South Africa should inspire the Palestinian people
By Adri Nieuwhof and Bangani, Electronic Intifada 12/14/2004
The South African people, led by the African National congress (ANC), fought for decades to free themselves of apartheid. The ANC departed from its non-violent policies in the early 1960s and Nelson Mandela was one of the leaders who guided the ANC in this shift, becoming actively involved in the armed liberation struggle. The violence used by the ANC was directed at government institutions, economic targets and the forces involved in oppression. Nelson Mandela was arrested and imprisoned for almost 30 years. International solidarity movements supported the ANC by organising massive campaigns for sanctions and public boycotts against South Africa to apply pressure to end the apartheid regime. The South African example can be a source of inspiration for the Palestinian people. In this article the writers look back on activism during the struggle against apartheid in South Africa, offering the perspectives of a Dutch anti-apartheid activist, and a South African ANC supporter whose father was imprisoned for 10 years on Robben Island for his involvement in the resistance.
"It Was Like Abu Ghraib": Israeli Abuse of Birzeit University''s Gazan Students
By Charles Stratford, Electronic Intifada 12/15/2004
The Israeli army issued a statement yesterday (Tuesday 14th December 2004) that a decision would be made in the next 48 hrs concerning four Birzeit University students who were illegally ''deported'' back to Gaza last month. An international letter writing campaign involving hundreds of academics from around the world has been launched demanding they are returned to the university to complete their degrees. All were due to graduate this year. Bashar Abu Salim is one of the four. This is his story about what happened on the night of his arrest. On Wednesday 17th November, I went to university as normal. Everything was okay. I had been in Ramallah visiting friends. Although my permit to study in the West Bank had expired 4 months after the beginning of the Intifada, I never experienced serious problems with the Israeli army. The Israeli authorities stopped renewing permits for Gaza citizens to travel to and from the West Bank in 2000. When the Intifada started we decided to stay in the West Bank and complete our degrees rather than risk not being able to return. Until our deportation we hadn''t seen our families in four years. ....Then we realised this wasn''t a normal check. We were handcuffed and blindfolded. I was wearing my pyjamas so I asked if I could put on my jeans. The captain said okay, but no jacket. We were allowed to take our mobiles and a little money, but nothing else. We were led outside and pushed into the back of a military vehicle. The soldiers sat swearing at us but we couldn''t see them because of the blindfolds. After ten minutes, the truck stopped and the doors opened. The soldiers pushed us out onto the ground. Then the beatings started.
Israel''s Holocaust victims are bilked by their own
By Jonathan Cook, Daily Star 12/17/2004
Remember the longest-running story of the 1990''s? It began at the turn of that decade with the revelation that European banks and financial institutions had been secretly profiting for more than half a century from bank accounts and assets deposited by European Jews who later died in Nazi concentration camps. The banks, it emerged, had avoided returning the money to surviving family members. Soon financial houses across Europe were being called to account. The story reached its climax at the end of the 1990''s with the Swiss banks agreeing to pay out the huge sum of $1.25 billion, after their initial foot dragging was exposed in a media campaign led by Holocaust reparation funds and the Israeli government. The Swiss banks affair had a sad coda: much of the restitution money never made it to the Holocaust families. Instead, a sizeable chunk went to the reparation organizations themselves to pay off the inflated salaries of the lawyers who had advised them. But another, yet more embarrassing, Holocaust banking scandal is belatedly playing itself out today in Israel, even if no one - not even the reparation funds or the Israeli government - is drawing attention to it. In Jerusalem, auditors working for an investigative committee of the Israeli Knesset have unearthed thousands of dormant accounts belonging to Holocaust victims from which Israel''s own banks have long been profiting. According to information leaked by the committee to the Hebrew-language media, the scale of the plundering of the victims'' accounts is huge.
Palestinians Call for Boycott of Israeli Academia
By Victor Kattan, Electronic Intifada 12/15/2004
The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel has called upon their colleagues in the international community to "comprehensively and consistently boycott all Israeli academic and cultural institutions" as exemplified in the struggle to abolish apartheid in South Africa through diverse forms of boycott. The call was made at an international conference on "Resisting Israeli Apartheid Strategies and Principles" at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London on Sunday 5 December. The campaign urges the international community to refrain from participating in any form of academic and cultural cooperation, collaboration or joint projects with Israeli institutions; to suspend all forms of funding and subsidies to these institutions; to promote divestment from Israel by academic institutions; and to condemn Israeli policies by pressing for resolutions to be adopted by academic, professional and cultural associations and organizations - as a contribution to the struggle to end Israel''s occupation, colonization and system of apartheid. Giving the welcoming remarks at the conference, the author, journalist and playwright Victoria Brittain said "many of you may not know how very, very sharp was the struggle for South Africa''s freedom. Ten years after majority rule it is easy to forget that just a very few years before that we in the anti-apartheid movement were deeply absorbed in battles over perception, over media bias, over western government indifference and downright lying, which mirror exactly what the solidarity movement is doing for Palestine today."
The risks of the al-Zarqawi myth
By Scott Ritter, AlJazeera 12/14/2004
An interesting phenomenon is taking place today in the Iraqi city of Falluja. For months now, the Bush administration had been building up the image of a massive network of foreign terrorists using Falluja as a base for their terror attacks against targets associated with the interim government of Iyad Allawi and the US military which backs him. One name appeared in western media accounts, over and over again: Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a wanted Jordanian turned alleged "terror" mastermind. Almost overnight, Zarqawi''s terrorist group, al-Qaida Holy War for Iraq, expanded its operations across the width and breadth of Iraq. Al-Zarqawi was everywhere, his bombers striking in Mosul, Baghdad, Samarra, Najaf, Baquba, Ramadi and Falluja. Islamist websites published accounts of al-Zarqawi''s actions, and the western media, together with western intelligence services, ran with these stories, giving them credibility. The al-Zarqawi legend, if one can call it that, was born. The problem is, there is simply no substance to this legend, as US marines are now finding out. Rather than extremist foreign fighters battling to the death, the marines are mostly finding local men from Falluja who are fighting to defend their city from what they view as an illegitimate occupier. The motivations of these fighters may well be anti-American, but they are Iraqi, not foreign, in origin.
Developing the Palestinian private sector: Integrating it into the region
By Henry T. Azzam, Miftah 12/14/2004
The future of the Palestinian economy is highly dependent on the existence of a viable private sector able to interact and integrate with its regional Arab surroundings and to draw on resources available at the national, regional and international levels. This will help move the Palestinian economy from one based on labor exports to Israel and on being fully dependent on the Israeli economy for survival, to one that is capable of providing employment opportunities for its citizens and producing enough goods and services to be exported to Israel, the Arab region and the world at large. The economic dimension of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict deserves as much attention as the political one, since economics play an important role in reducing instability. The Palestinian private sector is believed to be among the more vigorous and resourceful in the region and Palestinian entrepreneurs have proved remarkably resilient throughout the crisis years. Although private sector activities have declined considerably since mid 2000, a period that saw the Palestinian economy plunged into a deep crisis, the enterprise culture of Palestinians during this period nevertheless became well entrenched, and the private sector learned how to operate under very difficult conditions. Several institutions had to shut down, but those who survived stand today on quite a solid foundation. They are well positioned to spearhead economic activities if and when a sense of security and stability is restored to the Palestinian territories.
Palestinian People’s Dream of Statehood
By M. Shafiullah, Miftah 12/14/2004
The frequently asked question - why there is no state for the Palestinian people? - had its answer back in 1947. As a matter of fact there was a Palestinian State according to the UN Partition Plan of that year. The newly born United Nations inherited British Mandated Territory of Palestine with an estimated mixed population of two million. The Special UN Commission recommended for the creation of two separate States: [1] A Jewish State which would include 52 per cent of the land with population 4, 98,000 Jews and 4, 97,000 Arabs. [2] An Arab State which would include the remaining 48 per cent of the land with 7, 25,000 Arabs and 10,000 Jews. [3] Jerusalem and the area surrounding it would become an International Zone. Britain and the US threw full weight behind the Partition Plan. The UN Resolution 181 was passed with overwhelming majority vote in the General Assembly on 29 November 1947 because of the Anglo-US heavyweight prodding. Israel was born under cover of the United Nations. The Jewish dream of a homeland for a thousand years was fulfilled in the Partition Plan. In a pre-mediated manner Britain ended her Mandate on Palestine on 14 May 1948. Few hours after the same day Jewish icon Dr Carl Weizmann, himself a Russian Jew, raised the flag of David and proclaimed the State of Israel.
American Born, addicted to Happiness
By Carolyn Baker, From The Wilderness 12/15/2004
Last week, as I do every November 22, I reflected again on that day in Dallas forty-one years ago, my second year in college, when John F. Kennedy was assassinated. After reading Wayne Madsen’s fine article on the increasing inaccessibility to visitors of the grave of JFK in Arlington National Cemetery in 2004 (www.copvcia.com ), I pondered once more not only the unresolved and unanswered questions of November 22, 1963, but the lingering, lethal legacy of that moment in history which is now being visited upon America in the twenty-first century. As an historian, I am frequently confronted with the agonizing consequences of human history, including humanity’s sins of omission. I do not wish to re-hash the details of the assassination. Any astute researcher who is not serving the interests of the Central Intelligence Agency is forced to conclude that the murder of JFK was a complicated and meticulously organized coup which guaranteed the unscathed longevity of the military industrial complex and the political pre-eminence of the CIA for decades thereafter. My generation was never sufficiently committed to solving the crime of the assassination. It was much easier for us to protest the Vietnam War, revel in the counterculture we were creating, and convince ourselves that the JFK assassination was only one piece of the pie and that the revolution we thought we were creating would inevitably reveal all of its mysteries. But the revolution didn’t happen, and wounds to the psyche, whether individual or collective, do not simply vanish. As a nation, we paid, and are still paying a price, for the crime for which we refused to demand justice. What is more, we have repeated history by passively submitting to yet another “Warren Commission” (the 9-11 Commission), as yet another coup d’etat, the U.S. government-orchestrated atrocities of September 11, 2001, fade into distant memory. As Mike Ruppert reminded his audience in his Portland State University lecture of 2001 regarding the Kennedy assassination and the 9-11 hoax, “the bills are coming due, and now it’s your turn to pay.”
The Functional Dimension in the Local Government in Palestine
By Abdulnasser Makky, Arabic Media Internet Network 12/12/2004
1.1 The legal framework: According to the Jordanian Law of Municipalities (No. 29, 1955), municipalities were empowered to act in such municipal functions as water and electricity supply, the establishment of public markets and slaughterhouses, schools and other institutions. The municipalities could issue bylaws (subject to the approval of the Council of Ministers). Some municipalities served as local planning commissions. In villages with a Mukhtar, a function of the Mukhtar was to sign documents for which he would receive a fee from the inhabitants. Due to the lack of formal land percolation and land title deeds, the Mukhtar had to sign all planning documents and ownership maps. After 1967, the situation deteriorated .Both the 1954 and 1955 laws were amended by Israeli orders to transfer all the central government powers, previously held by the Ministry of Interior to an Israeli officer appointed by the Israeli commander of the West Bank, thus bestowing him with very wide powers over the affairs of local authorities. Council members were appointed by this officer .A positive amendment to the Municipalities Law of 1955 was introduce in 1975 and it enabled Palestinian women to participate in the municipal elections as candidates or voters for the first time.
The Boss Has Gone Crazy
By Uri Avnery, Arabic Media Internet Network 12/11/2004
When the fruit sellers at the Tel Aviv market shout “the boss has gone crazy!” they mean that they are selling their merchandise at ridiculously low prices. In the world’s capitals, a similar cry is now being heard: “The boss has gone crazy!” – but it is not about the price of tomatoes. It refers to the new situation, after the reelection of George W. Bush for four more years. In many places, Bush is seen as a crazy cowboy, the kind who rides into town shooting in all directions. He has attacked Afghanistan. He has attacked Iraq. His neo-con handlers want to attack Syria and Iran in the next phase. They want to establish subservient regimes everywhere (“promoting democracy in the Middle East”), station permanent American garrisons in the region and control the world’s oil market, and - last but not least - help Ariel Sharon to fulfil his plans. Now, in his second term of office, Bush can do pretty much as he pleases. The Middle Eastern rulers have drawn this conclusion with impressive speed. Every one of them rushed for cover in the nearest political cave, until the danger is over.
The message to the soldiers was clear
By Reuven Pedatzur, Ha''aretz 12/14/2004
In the best case, the chief of staff is feigning innocence when he asks whether the army must examine "whether the messages we are sending to combat units are not ambiguous" and when he suddenly discovers, after four years of fighting in the territories, that "in some places, there has apparently been a blunting of the senses and erosion that stems from the prolonged service in the territories and the fighting." In fact, the messages sent to soldiers by Lieut. Gen. Moshe Ya''alon and other senior officers were sharp and clear. They stated that soldiers fighting in the territories are absolved of the need to worry about moral dilemmas. In this war, everything is permissible, and they will be backed by the high command even if it turns out that they acted contrary to basic moral norms. Ya''alon gave his soldiers a free hand in the use of their weapons, even though this use often proved to be indiscriminate and exaggerated. The message was clear. Soldiers would not be called to account for acts of abuse against civilians, unnecessary shooting that caused the death of children or the elderly, the daily humiliation of thousands at checkpoints, or confirming a kill. The soldiers understood clearly "the spirit of the commander". When hundreds of innocents are killed, including many children, but in many of those cases the Israel Defense Forces does not even bother to carry out a serious investigation; when after four years of fighting, numerous incidents of abuse and repeated cases in which innocents were killed, less than a dozen soldiers have been indicted and only two have been convicted - when all this happens, a clear message is sent to the soldiers: In the territories, we have immunity; our hands are free.
Four Reasons Why Israel Should Disengage from East Jerusalem
By Akiva Eldar, Miftah 12/8/2004
On the Friday when the late Palestinian Authority chairman, Yasser Arafat, was buried in the courtyard of the Muqataa in Ramallah, the media reported that because of the fear of riots, the Israeli government had decided to close the Temple Mount mosques to residents of the Occupied Territories. From this prohibition it could have been understood that on an ordinary holiday, masses of Arabs from Ramallah and from Hebron are allowed to come to Jerusalem to pray at the holy site. The listener will wonder: If the gates of Jerusalem are regularly opened to the residents of the territories, what are those ugly separation fences that surround East Jerusalem? Indeed, if the capital is wide open, why do the Arabs living in the suburb of Abu Dis need the permission of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to vote for a Palestinian Authority president? It was probably convenient for Sharon to have Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom depict Sharon''s granting of permission to the residents of Anata to participate in the Palestinian Authority elections as a danger to Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem. The world will see how generous Sharon is. In the eyes of the international community not only is the prime minister suffering for his plan to separate from one-and-a-half million Gazans, and from four settlements in the northern West Bank stuck like a bone in the throat of Israel''s armed forces. For the sake of Middle Eastern democracy, Sharon is making it seem that he is even willing to undermine the holy of holies - Israeli sovereignty over parts of Jerusalem.
Is Marwan Barghouti right to run?
By Hasan Abu Nimah & Ali, Electronic Intifada 12/8/2004
Marwan Barghouti, the Palestinian resistance leader imprisoned by Israel, has caused an uproar by reversing his earlier decision not to run for president of the Palestinian Authority. Barghouti may not be able to run on the Fatah ticket after the movement picked Mahmoud Abbas as its sole candidate in an opaque process. However, Barghouti has the right to run as an individual and as one of a handful of Palestinians widely-known enough in the occupied territories to make the election a serious contest, his candidacy can only benefit democracy. He must obviously be aware that he may be breaking Fatah rules, and he must be equally prepared to face the consequences. If there is any validity to the claim that the Palestinian Authority intends to run democratic elections then everyone ought to welcome Barghouti''s candidacy. Unfortunately, though, Barghouti''s candidacy has provoked some very negative reactions that cast serious doubt on the sincerity of those who have long been calling on the Palestinians to speed up democratization and reform as a way to advance the peace process. These attitudes indicate that many of those calls were simply a cover for inaction and fear of confronting the true obstacle to regional peace: Israel.
On Palestine''s Dead: Israel''s Chilling Concept of "Good News"
By Nigel Parry, Electronic Intifada 12/8/2004
Today''s Israeli Ha''aretz newspaper brought good news to those disturbed by the relentless death toll resulting from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; a headline that stated "IDF: 29 Palestinian civilians killed in W. Bank in 2004". "The Israel Defense Forces released figures Wednesday showing that since the beginning of the year," wrote Ha''aretz correspondent Amos Harel, "148 Palestinians have been killed by IDF fire in the West Bank, at least 29 of them, by army count, innocent bystanders, Israel Radio reported Wednesday." With the IDF figures showing less than 3 "innocent" West Bank Palestinians killed each month during the year, one might conclude that Israeli commanders have been reining in their troops on the ground more effectively than earlier on in the 4-year-old Intifada. Reading the Ha''aretz article closely, the first clue of statistical sophistry comes in the second paragraph, where we are told that, once the 29 innocent bystanders are subtracted from the total of 148, "the remaining 119 casualties include armed militants, along with firebomb and rock throwers." Having personally stood and watched young Palestinian stone throwers gunned down outside of stone-throwing range — therefore posing no conceivable threat to Israeli troops — I am left wondering how many of these "included" in the figure of 119 experienced similar fates?
Fallujah, the US elections and 9/11: a matter of normalising the unthinkable
By John Pilger, Middle East Online 12/7/2004
John Pilger demonstrates how the attack on Fallujah has been ''normalised'' by the media. The same process of suppression has been applied to the ''blizzard of platitudes'' that was the US election campaign and, as if nobody noticed, to the revelations of the Kean report on 9/11. -- Edward S Herman''s landmark essay, "The Banality of Evil", has never seemed more apposite. "Doing terrible things in an organised and systematic way rests on ''normalisation''," wrote Herman. "There is usually a division of labour in doing and rationalising the unthinkable, with the direct brutalising and killing done by one set of individuals... others working on improving technology (a better crematory gas, a longer burning and more adhesive Napalm, bomb fragments that penetrate flesh in hard-to-trace patterns). It is the function of the experts, and the mainstream media, to normalise the unthinkable for the general public." On Radio 4''s Today (6 November), a BBC reporter in Baghdad referred to the coming attack on the city of Fallujah as "dangerous" and "very dangerous" for the Americans. When asked about civilians, he said, reassuringly, that the US marines were "going about with a tannoy" telling people to get out. He omitted to say that tens of thousands of people would be left in the city. He mentioned in passing the "most intense bombing" of the city with no suggestion of what that meant for people beneath the bombs. As for the defenders, those Iraqis who resist in a city that heroically defied Saddam Hussein; they were merely "insurgents holed up in the city", as if they were an alien body, a lesser form of life to be "flushed out" (the Guardian): a suitable quarry for "ratcatchers", which is the term another BBC reporter told us the Black Watch use. According to a senior British officer, the Americans view Iraqis as untermenschen, a term that Hitler used in Mein Kampf to describe Jews, Romanies and Slavs as sub-humans. This is how the Nazi army laid siege to Russian cities, slaughtering combatants and non-combatants alike.
From Al Nakba to ''Anata: 56 Years of Home Demolitions
By Jacob Pace, Electronic Intifada 12/7/2004
"I never dreamed I would see my village," she said as the wetness pooled in the corner of her eyes. "I never dreamed I would go back there." And as I watched her choke back the tears, I couldn''t help my own. But I wasn''t as strong as the 16-year-old refugee girl that sat beside me and I had to reach up to wipe my eyes with the back of my hand. I was sitting in a room on the bottom floor of the Ibdaa Cultural Center in Dheisheh Refugee Camp near Bethlehem. With me was a delegation from Berkeley Jews for Palestine (a group of anti-Zionist Jewish Americans), the Director of Ibdaa and a group of youth from the Center. Ibdaa is a cultural center for the youth of Dheisheh Camp. Al-Nakba: The residents of Dheisheh are from 46 villages which were depopulated by Zionist forces in 1948. There were over 418 villages cleansed of their Palestinian inhabitants in 1948 as nearly 800,000 Palestinians were forced to flee their homes in what is now the state of Israel. Israelis mark the event as their independence day, but for Palestinians it is Al-Nakba ("The Catastrophe"). Today, there are over 5 million Palestinian refugees spread around the world. Many live in refugee camps in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria.
A rude awakening is in the offing
Ha''aretz 12/7/2004
The media atmosphere over the last few days has been reminiscent of the Oslo-era euphoria, or the early days of Ehud Barak''s government. In the wake of Azzam Azzam''s release, there is once again talk of cooperation, public embraces and peace conferences. International diplomats are once again viewing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as an arena for diplomatic successes instead of a guaranteed recipe for frustration and failure. The current situation, in which the Palestinians are awaiting elections and Israel is preparing to evacuate settlers from Gaza and the northern West Bank, is convenient for everyone. It is possible to make cheap "gestures" without endangering genuine interests or making concessions on substantive issues. But this waiting period will not last forever. When it ends, and negotiations between the Sharon government and Yasser Arafat''s heirs begin, the real problems will come to the fore - and then, a rude awakening can be expected. Over the last few months, Israel has conducted indirect negotiations with the Palestinian Authority over the economic arrangements to be instituted "the day after" the disengagement, using the World Bank''s representative in the territories, Nigel Roberts, as a mediator. It is worth studying the lessons of these negotiations before resuming direct dialogue. The World Bank''s report, published last week, reveals the depth of the differences in the two sides'' attitudes and interests.
Execution of an Unarmed and Wounded Palestinian Leads to an Investigation in the Israeli Army
Editorial, Miftah 12/7/2004
After B’Tselem’s scandalous report revealing the details of the Israeli troop’s brutal murder of an unarmed and wounded Palestinian man, in the village of Arraba near Jenin in the northern West Bank, Israeli army chief of staff Moshe Yaalon called the army to “check” their method of passing the orders to the soldiers in the occupied territories. “In some places there seems to be a dulling of the senses, stemming from ongoing service in the territories and combat," Ya''alon told Haaretz. The Israeli human rights organization B''Tselem said Israeli troops shot Mahmoud Abed Ar-Rahman Hamdan Kamel, who belonged to Islamic Jihad, to death as he was lying on the ground unarmed and wounded. B’Tselem called the killing of Kamel an execution. "Troops threatened two Palestinian men at gunpoint, forcing them to bring Kamel’s body to them. The two men spoke with Kamel, who told them his name and requested medical treatment. After the two handed the soldiers a pistol that had been in Kamel''s possession, they carried Kamel toward the soldiers. According to their testimonies, the soldiers then told them to leave the area, and about a minute later, they heard a round of gunfire. The soldiers then sent one of the men to search Kamel in order to find his wallet. The man saw that Kmel had been shot in the head and killed." B’Tselem reported.
Israel teaches Dheisheh''s children a lesson they will not forget
By Ziad Abbas, Electronic Intifada 12/3/2004
1 December 2004, writing from Dheisheh Refugee Camp, occupied Palestine -- At a quarter to four this morning the Hamash family building was demolished with explosives by the Israeli Army. At least 12 Israeli military jeeps invaded Dheisheh refugee camp and surrounded the families'' homes, as well as Ibdaa Cultural Center''s kindergarten, which shares the same building. The Army ordered Musa Hamash, Aziz Hamash, Ahmed Hamash, and their families outside into the damp and chilly morning air. They were given 30 minutes to remove as many of their belongings as possible before the bombing. Not only was this not enough time, but the presence of Army jeeps blocking each of the nearby narrow streets made it even more difficult for them to save family memories and some meager possessions. The soldiers told them they were there only to bomb the 2 flats of Ahmed and Musa. Musa''s son, Mahmud, was recently sentenced to 50 months in jail and his other son, Mahammad, is currently awaiting trial. Mahmud was arrested over 2 years ago and Mahammad over 1 year ago. They both left behind young children and babies who until this morning lived in these flats.
Palestinian expectations tempered by reality
By Khalid Amayreh, Electronic Intifada 12/4/2004
For many in the Middle East and beyond, the death of Yasir Arafat on 11 November and the re-election of President Bush a week earlier gave rise to new hopes for peace in the Middle East. But to hear many Palestinians say it, their feeling of optimism regarding the future is largely psychological since there is no practical justification for it. Palestinian officials readily recognise that Arafat''s departure from the scene has deprived Israel of a vital propaganda tool which the Sharon government used rather effectively to narrow Palestinian options (through the building of the separation barrier) and effect territorial expansion in the West Bank. However, these officials, as well as most ordinary Palestinians, are convinced that Israel will seek any other pretext to avoid a meaningful peace process that would lead to the termination of 37 years of military occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem. No intention: According to Abd Allah Abd Allah, director-general of the Palestinian foreign ministry, Israel is only indulging in "public-relations diplomacy" and has no real interest in entering into a serious political dialogue with the Palestinians. "Their obsession with public relations is a thousand times greater than their interest in reaching an equitable peace with the Palestinians. Only through meaningful American pressure will Israel realise that its military occupation must be ended immediately," he said. Speaking to Aljazeera.net, Abd Allah said Israel is "neither ready nor willing to make peace with Palestinians".
The Good, the Bad, the Ugly and the "Mullahs"
By Sasan Fayazmanesh, CounterPunch 12/3/2004
The international community now realizes that Iran--with missiles that can reach London, Paris, Berlin and southern Russia - does not only pose a threat to the security of Israel, but to the security and stability of the whole world. Indeed, Iran has replaced Saddam Hussein as the world''s number one exporter of terror, hate and instability. - (Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom speech at the U.N. General Assembly September 23, 2004) In reference to a deal being worked out between Iran and the EU negotiators, Britain, France and Germany, over Iran freezing uranium processing, Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said on November 20, 2004 that "my view would be that the incentives of the Europeans only work against the backdrop of the United States being strong and firm on this issue . . . In the vernacular, it''s kind of a good-cop bad-cop arrangement. If it works, we''ll all have been successful" - (New York Times, November 21, 2004). Instead of the "good-cop bad-cop" scenario, it would have been more apt for Mr. Armitage to use the good, the bad and the ugly scheme, since Iran faces not two characters, but three. The third character, the "ugly," is played by Israel. Mr. Armitage conveniently left out the important role of this last character. But this is quite expected. Israel, as the late Edward Said used to say, is the last taboo. It is sacrosanct. No mention of it in the context of the US foreign policy is possible. It is the Teflon state. Nothing sticks to it, not even the charge of spying.
Another reason for refusal to serve
By Uzi Benziman, Ha''aretz 11/29/2004
Silence fell in the hall of the picturesque German building on the edge of Camp Schneller in Jerusalem 46 years ago, as the president of the military court, Colonel Benjamin Halevy, began to read the verdict in the Kafr Qasem case. Halevy convicted eight of the 11 accused in the killing of 43 Arab Israeli citizens who had been innocently returning home from work after a curfew had been declared, unbeknownst to them. Because of the gravity of their acts, the accused were sentenced to between seven and 17 years in prison. The friendly atmosphere between the prosecution and the defense, especially during recesses, gave way to shock and dismay. The military judicial authority had seemingly created an iron-clad rule that is part and parcel of the state and the Israel Defense Forces to this day: Soldiers must refuse an order that is patently illegal; those who do not expose themselves to severe penalties. In 1958, when the verdict was given in the Kafr Qasem case, the court assumed that the meaning of the word "patently" was clear. From then on, an illegal order could be easily identified, with no doubt as to its prohibitive nature. The reality of the last four years attests to the fact that this assumption is becoming increasingly baseless. There is debate now over whether the shooting a 13-year-old Palestinian girl who happened innocently into a no-pass zone by virtue of an IDF decision (just like in Kafr Qasem in `56) constitutes obedience to a patently illegal order that has "a black flag flying over it" (as the court formulated it) - or whether it is carrying out a legal and even legitimate order.
No great miracle here
By Gideon Samet, Ha''aretz 12/3/2004
What is left of this interesting and repulsive week after the dust settles is not the lies, the ostensibly sudden betrayals, the payments to the ultra-Orthodox, the sleazy style, or even Ehud Barak''s horror show or Shimon Peres'' maneuvers. We''ve had many such incidents in the past, and they came and went like garbage, from the payments for votes and other dirty tricks, to the unforgettable performance of judoka Barak on Nissim Mishal''s television talk show. What remains are trends that were seen in full force last week, and that will influence proceedings in the coming year, perhaps the coming years. They are moving the country toward even more frightening depths of national crisis. Here are the main trends: 1. The destruction of the opposition: The collapse of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon''s majority in the Likud and the Knesset did not inject a stimulant into the arteries of the political opposition. It only weakened it. Labor, stuck with the same pathetic number of MKs in all the surveys, was awaiting Sharon''s stumbles not to exploit them, but to realize the erotic dream of getting into bed with him. Peres is now involved in another maneuver - once again turning Shas from Mr. Hyde into Dr. Jekyll - so that Sharon''s demand that it be brought into the government can be realized. This will be done by means of some verbal trick, which will call the unilateral disengagement a bilateral step in cooperation with the Palestinians, as demanded by statesman Rabbi Ovadia Yosef. Labor will not easily free itself from this destruction of its standing as an alternative, even if Peres waits until the age of 83 to run for prime minister again. 2. Bye, bye, disengagement: This week saw a reinforcement of the innate tendency of the present government not to carry out the disengagement in full (and of course, not to try to achieve a broader agreement). Sharon''s desire to disengage from Gaza is limited. It is limited by massive opposition in the Likud, and now by his ultra-Orthodox partners in the government plus the National Religious Party and perhaps Shas. With such a combination, they may begin to withdraw and to evacuate a settlement and a half, in response to the pressure of America and of an Israeli majority - but no more than that....
An Israeli Accusation with No Substance
By Ghassan Khatib, Palestine Media Center 12/2/2004
The issue of incitement returned to the debate recently when Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon downgraded Israeli conditions for resuming negotiations from stopping Palestinian attacks on Israelis to stopping Palestinian incitement. This was not perceived as a dramatic development nor did it attract much attention from either the Israeli or the Palestinian media, both of whom seem to be judging Sharon on what he does rather than what he says due to the rather large gap between the two. But it is also because incitement is an accusation leveled at the Palestinian Authority that has no substance. The Palestinian public does not need incitement from the Palestinian Authority, media or school curricula. The reality we live--whether we choose to focus on the extensive killing especially of civilians, our increasing poverty or the daily humiliations we are exposed to--are causing enough hostility, anger and desire for revenge among Palestinians whatever words may be bandied about. In fact, Palestinians, living under a direct, foreign, and belligerent military occupation, feel it is a duty, indeed an honor, to fight for their liberty and independence. This is a well-trodden path that all peoples before them who have lost their freedom have pursued. Nor do Palestinians feel that this hostility toward the Israeli occupation is in any way wrong. There is a clearly stated objective to their struggle, an objective based on international legality: recognizing Israel within its legal borders and demanding an end to the illegal occupation.
Why they love Mahmoud Abbas
By Hasan Abu Nimah, Electronic Intifada 12/2/2004
Mahmoud Abbas was recently selected chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO). As the sole candidate of Fatah, the faction that dominates the PLO and the Palestinian Authority (PA), he is almost certain to be elected on 9 January as president of the PA, replacing Yasir Arafat in both key positions. This "smooth transition" will be a great relief to many Western peace processors. In their view, not only has the "biggest obstacle" to peace been removed with the departure of Arafat, but the man set to succeed him is someone long prepared to climb down on final status issues, such as Jerusalem, refugees, settlements and the character of a Palestinian state. The notorious secret agreement Abbas reached with Israel''s former Justice Minister Yossi Beilin in October 1995, which has since become the benchmark for any other subsequent blueprints, including the "generous offer" at Camp David, the Clinton proposals and the Geneva Initiative, foresees 130 Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian lands remaining where they are and being "removed" from Palestinian land only by virtue of their annexation to Israel. The Beilin-Abbas agreement also envisioned allowing Israeli military forces to stay in the Jordan Valley. Worse still was Abbas'' acceptance that the village of Abu Dis be deceptively renamed "Al Quds" -- the Arabic name for Jerusalem -- and made the capital of the Palestinian state, while the real occupied city of Jerusalem, be simply surrendered in toto to Israel. Another great source of comfort for Abbas'' Western admirers is his declared opposition to all forms of Palestinian violence against Israel. Long before his brief tenure as prime minister, he travelled the length and breadth of the region, campaigning against "the arming of the Intifada," and lamenting the great damage the Intifada has caused the Palestinians.
And the occupation goes on...
By Matthew Cassel, Electronic Intifada 12/2/2004
All over the world things are constantly changing, but in Palestine things stay the same. Home demolitions are a regular tactic of the Israeli occupying army. On a recent trip to the northern West Bank city of Jenin, I met with a family in the Jenin Refugee Camp. Their home was destroyed for the second time in just over two years this time because one of their 11 children was "wanted" by the Army. In April of 2002 their home was also destroyed during the invasion of Jenin Camp where over 50 people were killed and hundreds of homes destroyed. Their home was rebuilt over the past year and recently completed with nearly 30 million (US) in aid being donated by the United Arab Emirates to help rebuild the camp. In the week leading up to November 7th, the Israeli army made two trips to the family''s home looking for their son. On one of the occasions they came in the middle of the day and arrested the father. He described what happened, "It was Ramadan and I was fasting. They came to my home, blindfolded me and forced me into a jeep in front of my children. The ride was rough and I was unable to sit comfortably. I would fall over and the soldiers would hit me in the stomach because they knew I was fasting. When we arrived at a military base I immediately recognized the commander. He apologized for the soldiers if they hurt me on the ride and then he asked where my son was. I would not tell him. He said if I didn''t tell them where my son was then bad things will happen to him and your family."
Lives torn apart in Ramallah
By Charles Stratford, Electronic Intifada 12/2/2004
"My son was shot by them on a day like today," says Georgette, "the bullet passed straight through his chest but he''s alright now, thank God." She leans frailly on the fence that separates our gardens in Ramallah. "Best you not go out just yet, if you need anything just ask." The Israeli Defence Force are in town again. They''ve been here all night arresting men suspected of involvement with armed resistance groups. They bang on doors and pull young Palestinians into the back of waiting jeeps. They come and go as they please. On the street an elderly man is thrust up against the wall by a soldier less than half his age. The man looks terrified. The harness he wears is used to carry a container of tamarind juice which he sells to thirsty shoppers in the market. The soldier doesn''t know this. He continues to shout at the man in a standard learnt Arabic. "What''s your name? Where are you going? Where do you live?" "We never know what time they will come," says Georgette, "It might seem quiet half the time but anything can happen. Even if this was news, they''re too fast for the T.V cameras to catch." "Even if this was news," that says a lot about life in Ramallah. The worlds press may have set up shop for a few days to witness President Arafat''s spectacular funeral. They may now be flooding in behind visiting foreign statesmen for optimistic quotes about the future - words of hope now the man around whose grave some lay wreaths has gone. But when the suits and Mercedes disappear the press aren''t far behind.
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