'Don't think about the children'
By Gideon Levy, Palestine Monitor/Ha'aretz 12/14/2003
Why was Asma Abu al-Haija arrested? Why did she have to spend nine months in prison, sleeping on the floor of her cell? Why was a woman arrested, not interrogated, not accused of anything and then released nine very difficult months later, without any explanation? Just because she is a Palestinian, so anything can be done to her? Was she really arrested solely in order to put pressure on her husband, the Hamas spokesman in Jenin, who is also in Israeli prison? Is this legal? Moral? Could there be any other reason? If so, why wasn't she brought to trial for it? Forget justice, but what about a drop of compassion for a sick woman with a brain tumor, who is going blind, has undergone brain surgery twice, who has five children left alone at home in the refugee camp, without a mother, without a father, without their older brother?
All these questions continue to hover in the attractive home in the heart of the Jenin refugee camp, the home to which Asma Abu al-Haija finally returned a few weeks ago. She returned to her five free children and to a house that had been refurbished, and of course, there was much happiness.
Asma says the children became very independent when she was away. One after the other, they returned from school one afternoon this week, kissed their mother and tossed down their bookbags, as if nothing unusual had happened. Only 7-year-old Sajida still gets up sometimes in the middle of the night, frightened by the sound of tanks or jeeps in the street, and leaps into her mother's bed to hold her tight. Sajida has not forgotten that cold, dark night in February when the soldiers came and took her mother away. She won't ever forget it.
The Machines Take Over
Editorial, Miftah 12/12/2003
Envisioning the Likud and the other extremist Israeli parties’ ideal plan for resolving their conflict with the Palestinians is not difficult, but is most certainly terrifying. In short, lock all the Palestinians up and throw away the key! Imagining the practicalities needed to achieve this goal might lead some to venture into the realm of science fiction, and then have the natural inclination to discard the possibility of actual implementation.
Horrifically, Israel is already in the midst of this plan, which has been kept under wraps by instigating violence and proposing countless ‘peace’ plans intended to never see the light of day, as the Wall continues to rapidly encircle the West Bank. Once the wall is completed, the West Bank will become a prison akin to Gaza today.
Not satisfied by this draconian measure alone, Israel plans to keep the imprisoned Palestinian population in line by the usage of remote-controlled machines. The giant Caterpillar D-9 bulldozer, used by the Israeli military to destroy Palestinian homes in the West Bank and Gaza, has already been modified to include a remote-control feature. Moreover, Israel has a remote-control version of the Humvee, equipped with machine guns, and is already using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) or drones. All three machines are US-made, with modifications by the Israeli army and the Israeli Technion Institute of Technology.
Review: Arna's Children
By Arjan El Fassed, Electronic Intifada 12/11/2003
Speechless. Silent. I could not move. I just sat there, watching the screen, the scrolling text of dedication and the names of Arna's children: Youssef, Nidal, Ashraf, Ala, Zakaria and the others. Arna's children form a small theatre group of Palestinian children in Jenin refugee camp.
The film begins with a shot of Arna, Juliano Mer's mother. She is bald, due to cancer, covered with a kaffiyeh, and is screaming at Palestinian cars that they can pass through a nearby Israeli military roadblock. Arna Mer comes from a Zionist family. In 1948 she served in the Palmach. She became a member of the Communist Party and married Saliba Khamis, a Palestinian from Nazareth. During the previous Intifada, Arna moves to Jenin and established an alternative education system for Palestinian children, after the schools were closed by the Israeli occupation.
Through her dedication to the children, Arna Mer Khamis plays an important role in the Jenin community. The theatre group that she started engaged children from Jenin refugee camp, helping them to express their everyday frustrations, anger, bitterness and fear.
Arna's son Juliano, director of this film, was also one of the directors of Jenin's theatre. All those years, from 1989 to 1996, Juliano used his camera to film the rehearsals and performances of the plays. Arna Mer Khamis was awarded for her work with the Right Livelihood Award, an alternative Nobel Prize from the Swedish parliament. With the $50,000 award she set up a small theater in the refugee camp.
The fog of peace
By Khaled Amayreh, Al-Ahram Weekly on-line 11 - 17 December 200
Despite feverish diplomatic activity, demographics were the only indication of progress for the Palestinian cause. -- In the occupied territories, Palestinians continued to protest against the Geneva Accord, with Fatah -- the backbone of the Palestinian Authority -- leading the opposition to the unofficial document. This week the movement organised several demonstrations in the Gaza Strip against the increasingly unpopular accord. The largest demonstration took place in Rafah, the devastated southern Gaza town, with protesters warning the PA leadership, particularly Chairman Yasser Arafat, against adopting the "surrender document". The protesters were mostly cadres and supporters of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, the armed wing of Fatah. They are Arafat's men and as such cannot be dismissed easily by the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah.
The growing opposition to the Geneva document across the Palestinian political spectrum, especially within Arafat's own Fatah camp, has apparently forced the Palestinian leader to gradually distance himself from it. Arafat's Advisor Jebril Rajoub said on Arab satellite TV this week that, "Chairman Arafat never really supported the Geneva initiative". Arafat had earlier described the Geneva document as a "courageous step", but stopped short of endorsing it for fear of alienating Palestinian public opinion.
It seems that initial Palestinian objection to the document developed into a flat-out rejection after it became clearer that the Geneva Accord departs from the Palestinian national consensus on two central issues; the right of return for some 3.5 million displaced refugees and the issue of Jerusalem. The document would allow Israel to retain control over virtually all Jewish settlements built in East Jerusalem since 1967; a fact which many Palestinians argue seriously undermines the principle of full Israeli withdrawal to its pre-1967 borders.
Unraveling Sharon
By Graham Usher, Al-Ahram Weekly on-line 11 - 17 December 200
In failing to reach a ceasefire the Palestinians have again handed Ariel Sharon the political initiative. What will he do with it? -- It looked as if it was in the bag. After weeks of quiet diplomacy Palestinian factions last week gathered in Cairo to agree to a new ceasefire, the keystone of Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei's plan to inject some life into a dead Middle East peace process. He expressed "optimism" that an agreement could be reached, as did Yasser Arafat and the chief mediator, Egyptian Intelligence head, Omar Suleiman.
Even Ariel Sharon intimated that Israel would be up for some kind of unwritten understanding. "Israel will make every effort to avoid any operations against terrorists if there is quiet," he told reporters on Sunday, adding, however, that were "terror to continue, Israel will feel responsible for its citizens and Israel will act".
He was not to be put to the test. Later that day the Cairo talks broke down without a statement being issued, let alone a ceasefire declared. Hamas, Islamic Jihad and three other factions refused even a moratorium on attacks on civilians inside Israel without international "guarantees" that Israel would end its military actions against civilians in the occupied territories.
The position of the PA, Egypt, Fatah and the other Palestinian factions was to have an unconditional end to attacks on Israeli civilians, followed by movement toward a general truce in return for specific Israeli commitments, such as the withdrawal of the closure in the occupied territories and cessation of the construction of the West Bank barrier.
Unilateral unity
By Azmi Bishara, Al-Ahram Weekly on-line 11 - 17 December 200
If inter-Palestinian talks ended in failure it is because they focussed on a ceasefire rather than unity -- Because of political and media hype the public expected the meetings of Palestinian factions in Cairo to produce a ceasefire. Headlines were already taking imaginary shape. Only the details needed to be worked out: would the ceasefire be unilateral or bilateral; and would it be within the green line, confined to civilians, or more comprehensive in nature?
Had the dialogue been about a genuine ceasefire it should have been between the Palestinians and the Israeli government and have broached such matters as the timeframe and international monitoring. This is what happens in ceasefire talks. The ceasefire lines of 1949 did not turn into a truce agreement until after the Rhodes negotiations. The ceasefire between Israel, on one hand, and Egypt and Syria on the other did not tern into a fact until after the 1973 war. The 1967 war did not end in ceasefire lines, but in a war of attrition.
So long as Israel is not a partner in the "dialogue" over the ceasefire such a ceasefire has no chance of holding. No one is negotiating with Israel over a ceasefire: the latter does not want one and is boasting of the fact. This boasting has not, however, stopped Israel from commenting on the outcome of the Cairo talks or from linking the failure of the dialogue with the building of the apartheid wall.
Baloons
By Uri Avnery, Arabic Media Internet Network 12/13/2003
He is at it again, and again it is working. He is launching colorful balloons, and the whole world is looking on with rapture and wonderment.
Ariel Sharon needs to divert attention. His popularity has dropped in recent opinion polls. The Geneva initiative has captured the national and international agenda. The police investigations into his corruption affairs have reappeared in the headlines. Army and Security Services officers have criticized him publicly. He has been accused of immobility, foot-dragging, the lack of a plan.
So he is launching balloons: “Unilateral steps”. Sensation! “In the future we shall not be in all the places we are now”. Shock! “We shall be moving settlements”. Uproar!
He has sent Ehud Olmert to exercise his jaw on every talk-show, warning against the terrible danger of a “bi-national state”. His plan, Olmert declares, will ensure the existence of a “Jewish state”, 80% of whose population will be Jewish. Since already more than 78% of Israel 's citizens are Jewish, this must mean that densely populated Palestinian territories would not be annexed. Sharon's office has leaked reports that Olmert is echoing Sharon's own view, and that Sharon himself will make a sensational statement to this effect next week in Herzlia.
General turmoil! The Geneva Initiative is almost forgotten. All the pundits are busy with wild speculation: What is Sharon up to? What does he mean? What is he going to do? Is Bush compelling him to change his spots?
Palestinians and Israelis Choose the Extreme to Break the Ice
By Walid Batrawi, Arabic Media Internet Network 12/14/2003
The fever of political meetings between Palestinians and Israelis, whether official or unofficial, may end up with a political solution to the conflict between the two nations but is yet far from breaking the ice among citizens on both sides who have suffered during the past three years.
Away from politics, not in Jerusalem, London nor Geneva but in Antarctica four Palestinians and four Israelis chose to break the ice in their own way.
Lead by the Israeli mountain climber Doron Erel the group will travel to the coldest point on earth in an attempt to better understand each other and team up to reach one goal despite their political and religious differences.
The 35-day expedition, set up for January 1st, 2004 is not only a challenge to beat the difficulties of nature but "will help to light the imagination of others, especially the younger generation on both sides. This expedition will never replace political attempts and activities among the Palestinian and Israeli peace camps but is an addition" says team leader Doron Erel.
The idea explains Erel came as a symbolic move to demonstrate to the whole world that the boat is not sinking "both Palestinians and Israelis are in the same boat that has to reach the shores of safety. During our expedition we will work together for 35 days to reach a shared target, we either win together or lose together."
Relative Humanity: The Essential Obstacle to a Just Peace in Palestine
By Omar Barghouti, Miftah 12/15/2003
Good riddance! The two-state solution for the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is finally dead. But someone has to issue an official death certificate before the rotting corpse is given a proper burial and we can all move on and explore the more just, moral and therefore enduring alternative for peaceful coexistence between Jews and Arabs in Mandate Palestine: the one-state solution.
Blinded by the arrogance of power and the ephemeral comfort of impunity, Israel, against its strategic Zionist interests, failed to control its insatiable appetite for expansion, and went ahead with devouring the very last bit of land that was supposed to form the material foundation for an independent Palestinian state.
Since the eruption of the second Palestinian intifada Israel has entered a new critical phase where its military repression against the Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza has reached new lows, and its flouting of UN resolutions new heights, where its incessant land grab has led it to erect a wall around Palestinian population centers, separating Palestinians from their lands -- thus dispossessing them yet again -- and where moral corruption and racial discrimination have more lucidly eroded the internal coherence of Israeli society as well as its marketed image as a "democracy." As a result, Israel's standing in world public opinion has nose-dived, bringing it closer to the status of a pariah state.
The infrastructure of terror
By Danny Rubinstein, Ha'aretz 12/15/2003
The Arabic daily Al-Hayat, published in London, came out at the end of last week with its sixth and final interview with Khaled Meshal, head of the political wing of Hamas, who is also considered to be at the pinnacle of the Hamas leadership. This young movement (established in Gaza 16 years ago) demonstrated its strength some days ago at the Cairo talks. Despite pressures brought to bear by Egypt and other Arab states, the Palestinian Authority, and, indirectly, Europe and the United States - almost all the parties involved in the Middle East conflict - its representatives remained steadfast in their refusal to accept an official cease-fire with Israel.
Meshal, 47, born in the town of Silwad, east of Ramallah, expounded upon his political, religious, and personal worldview in the interview. He related the history of the movement, spoke of his son, Yihye, born on the same day that Yihye Ayash, the "engineer" who planned the first suicide bombings, was assassinated, and told about the attempt on his life by Mossad agents in Amman in September 1997.
....The importance of Meshal's statements is that they provide a rather clear picture of the infrastructure of Palestinian suicide terror. It is built more on the existence of numerous volunteers, surrounded by a supportive community, and less on commands and the technicians who prepare the explosives. In other words, the pressure to carry out attacks comes mostly from below, from the suicide volunteers, and less from above, from the leadership making decisions at their meetings.
Sharon's perception of time
By Akiva Eldar, Ha'aretz 12/15/2003
Disturbingly, there's at least one indication that Ariel Sharon really thinks time is on his side: The prime minister clings to his belief that "a million Jews" will immigrate to Israel, and defuse the demographic threat to the Jewish state. Nary a meeting with wealthy, visiting Jews goes by without Sharon preaching to his guests about immigrating to Israel.
The troubling thing is that when a leader believes time is on his side, he has no reason to try to change reality. Yitzhak Shamir, who was sure the passage of time would strengthen the vision of Greater Israel, formulated the doctrine this way: "In the end, the Arabs will get used to the situation."
That doctrine brought about the first intifada, the struggle against the Oslo process (before the first terror attack), and various ploys to evade negotiations for a final status agreement. The camp that believes "time is on our side" accuses the left of succumbing to a "now-ism" that erodes Israel's bargaining ability. Let's give them another year or two (say those who believe that time is on our side), and ignore doomsayers, such as the former head of the Shin Bet security service, and the Israel Defense Forces will win the contest. Let's get rid of a heretic like Yossi Beilin, and the Palestinians will rid themselves of Yasser Arafat. Remove a defeatist like former IDF chief of staff Amnon Lipkin-Shahak, and Arafat will be replaced by a leadership that will happily lap up the fenced-off Bantustan that Sharon will so generously offer.
To negotiate, Palestinians need free polls
By Mustafa Barghouthi, Daily Star 12/12/2003
There is a problem in a country’s political system when it can say it has experienced five successive governments within the space of a year. The advent of Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei’s second government earlier this month must now bring the Palestinian people face to face with the crisis endemic in their system.
This fifth attempt to consolidate a Palestinian government carries with it little indication suggesting that a sixth will not shortly follow. The prevailing circumstances from which Qorei’s government arose are only negligibly different than those that hampered all previous attempts. The still-dominant and unrepresentative Palestinian “old guard” continues to rob the political system, and, subsequently, peace negotiators of any legitimacy. The ensuing impasse is providing Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon with justification for maintaining the status quo and pursuing calculated interests namely the systematic exacerbation of an illegal occupation, combined with the creation of a horrific apartheid system.
Meanwhile, it seems that those Palestinians in positions of authority can barely see beyond an escalating internal competition over who can take what to the Israelis first. They initiate new agreements constructed on nothing more than virtual realities, while Sharon continues to construct de facto realities of annexation and apartheid on the ground.
Saddam's Capture Will Not Stop the Relentless Killings From Insurgents
By Robert Fisk, Dissident Voice/The Independent 12/15/2003
"Peace" and "reconciliation" were the patois of Downing Street and the White House yesterday. But all those hopes of a collapse of resistance are doomed. Saddam was neither the spiritual nor the political guide to the insurgency that is now claiming so many lives in Iraq - far more Iraqi than Western lives, one might add - and, however happy Messrs Bush and Blair may be at the capture of Saddam, the war goes on.
In Fallujah, in Ramadi, in other centres of Sunni power in Iraq, the anti-occupation rising will continue. The system of attacks and the frighteningly fast-growing sophistication of the insurgents is bound up with the Committee of the Faith, a group of Wahabi-based Sunni Muslims who now plan their attacks on American occupation troops between Mosul and the city of Hilla, 50 miles south of Baghdad. Even before the overthrow of the Baathist regime, these groups, permitted by Saddam in the hope that they could drain off Sunni Islamic militancy, were planning the mukawama - the resistance against foreign occupation.
The slaughter of 17 more Iraqis yesterday in a bomb attack on a police station - hours after the capture of Saddam, though the bombers could not have known that - is going to remain Iraq's bloody agenda. The Anglo-American narrative will then be more difficult to sustain. Saddam "remnants" or Saddam "loyalists" are far more difficult to sustain as enemies when they can no longer be loyal to Saddam. Their Iraqi identity will become more obvious and the need to blame "foreign" al-Qa'ida members all the greater.
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