Vermonters for a Just Peace in Palestine/Israel
Elections Archive - January 2009
Elections Archive - January 2009
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Israel’s Netanyahu rejects evacuation of settlers Middle East Online 1/30/2009 TEL AVIV - Hardline former premier Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed not to evacuate illegal Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank if he is named prime minister after February 10 elections, Haaretz daily reported on Friday. Netanyahu, the frontrunner for the parliamentary elections, insisted he would not be tied by any pledge made by outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to withdraw illegal settlers from the occupied Palestinian territory. "I will not keep Olmert’s commitments to withdraw and I won’t evacuate settlements. Those understandings are invalid and unimportant," the newspaper quoted Netanyahu as saying. Olmert told visiting US peace envoy George Mitchell earlier this week that Israel had offered in negotiations with the Palestinians to remove 60,000 settlers from the West Bank, according to Yediot Aharonot newspaper. U.S. envoy Mitchell: Mideast peace process faces substantial hurdles Barak Ravid and Reuters, Ha’aretz 1/31/2009 United States Mideast envoy George Mitchell said on Friday the new U. S. administration’s push for Israeli-Palestinian peace after the war in the Gaza Strip faced substantial hurdles, and he predicted further setbacks. The somber assessment by former U. S. Senator George Mitchell followed two days of talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders about shoring up a shaky cease-fire that ended Israel’s 22-day offensive on Gaza. Mitchell said consolidating the truce and "addressing immediately the humanitarian needs" of Gaza’s 1. 5 million residents were the Obama administration’s priorities. "Then we must move forward," he added, apparently referring to stalled peace talks that have now been derailed by the war. Earlier on Friday, Mitchell told Likud Chair Benjamin Netanyahu he plans to return to Israel shortly after February’s general elections. Troika to Mitchell: We will respond to any Hamas violation Barak Ravid, Ha’aretz 1/29/2009 Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni told United States Mideast envoy George Mitchell that Israel would respond to every Hamas violation of the cease-fire, be they rocket attacks, strikes along the border fence or smuggling through tunnels. Mitchell told Israeli officials that the new administration was committed to Israel’s security, to the road map, and to the 2004 letter by president George W. Bush stating Palestinian refugees would not return to Israel and the border between Israel and the Palestinian Authority would take into consideration facts on the ground, meaning large settlement blocs would remain in Israeli hands. A government source in Jerusalem said yesterday that it was understood during talks with Mitchell that President Barack Obama expects Israel and the Palestinian Authority to renew diplomatic talks right after elections here. Obama’s initiative: Denmark conference on Gaza smuggling Roni Sofer, YNetNews 1/27/2009 Next week will see meeting of representatives from US, EU, Israel and possibly Egypt in Copenhagen for in-depth discussion of arms smuggling from Sinai into Gaza - US President Barack Obama has no intention of waiting for the general elections in Israel before tackling one of the region’s most contentious problems. Ynet has learned that a meeting of high-ranking officials on arms smuggling into Gaza is shaping up to take place as early as next week in Denmark. Expected participants include European nations, Israel and possibly Egypt. President Obama vowed he would work aggressively to advance the process between Israel and the Palestinians, and this initiative is focused primarily on stabilizing the ceasefire between Israel and the Islamist Hamas. Obama, officials in Jerusalem say, wants to make it clear that the US is present, active and adamant. . . Livni: Gaza offensive chance for Mideast peace George Rishmawi, International Middle East Media Center News 1/26/2009 Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni said on Monday that the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip opened new chances for peace in the Middle East, the AFP reported. Livni’s comments came as US President Barack Obama’s newly-appointed Mideast envoy George Mitchell is expected to arrive in the region. Livni argues that the offensive weakened Hamas and boosted what she described as the "Moderates among the Palestinians. " It is only two weeks until Israel’s general elections for which Livni is running for Prime Minister, which raises speculations about political achievements she is trying to make out of the gaza warfare. On the other hand, political analysts say, the offensive on the Gaza Strip strengthened Hamas and enhanced its popularity. The groups is still able to bring weapons to Gaza and until the last moement of Israel’s offensive, Hamas was still able. . . Israeli poll: Killing Palestinians shortest way to winning elections Palestinian Information Center 1/26/2009 OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- An Israeli opinion poll has displayed that the shortest way to win general elections in Israel was to kill the biggest possible number of Palestinians. The poll published by Hebrew daily Ha’aretz on Sunday indicated that the right wing parties in Israel would secure 64 seats in any current elections, which would bring Benjamin Netanyahu to the premiership. The Israeli war minister Ehud Barak also enjoyed soaring popularity with 70% favoring him in the poll after the war on Gaza while before the war his popularity was only 53%, the paper noted. Israeli foreign minister and leader of the Kadima party Tzipi Livni had warned that a new Israeli government with Netanyahu as premier would be on a collision course with the new American administration. Meanwhile, the same paper said that a number of issues were not solved yet despite the end of the war on. . . Fatah faithful rally to support Abbas, with harsh rhetoric for Hamas Ma’an News Agency 1/25/2009 Jenin – Ma’an – The Fatah movement staged a rally in the West Bank city of Jenin on Sunday in support of President Mahmoud Abbas and in denunciation of the “killings and tortures by Hamas against Fatah members in Gaza. ”The rally was attended by Rafiq Al-Huseini, head of President’s Office in addition to other senior Fatah leaders from as far away as Gaza. The demonstrators chanted slogans in support of Abbas and carried Palestinian flags, pictures of president Abbas and of the late Palestinian leader Yasser ArafatSpeaking to the rally, Rafiq Al-Huseini called for national unity among Palestinians in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip inside Israeli and in the Diaspora. He also called for new to parliamentary and presidential elections. He denounced “what Hamas is doing including shooting at Fatah members in Gaza preventing them from acting in resistance [to Israeli occupation] and sending them to jail. Nonviolent resistance in southern Bethlehem calls for national unity to combat occupation Najib Farrag, Palestine News Network 1/23/2009 Bethlehem -- Demonstrations in the West Bank today confirmed the desire of the people for national reconciliation. The call has not wavered in the two years since the Fateh and Hamas parties split over elections results. In southern Bethlehem’s Al Masara and Umm Salamuna villages, Palestinians protested the Israeli takeover of their land. All violations of international law are exacerbated, demonstrators said on Friday, due to the internal split. "It is only through reconciliation that we can truly fight this," organizer Mohammad Briggia said today. "Divided we are an easier target. "As media spokesperson for the Popular Committee against the Wall in the Southern Villages, Briggia paid tribute to the "Palestinian resistance and the masses of our people in the Gaza Strip who fought the Israeli war machine and called for the realization of national unity, a split that works only in the interest of Israel. " Demonstrators urge Olmert to ’finish the job, bring Shalit home’ Ronen Medzini, YNetNews 1/23/2009 Dozens gather in outside PM’s Jerusalem residence, demand he live up to promise to bring about kidnapped soldier’s release before his term ends -Some 50 people gathered outside Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s official residence in Jerusalem Friday and demanded that he live up to his promise to bring kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit home before the conclusion of his term. Israel’s general elections are scheduled for February 10. "Olmert, finish the job and bring Shalit back," the protestors chanted. Shalit was captured by Palestinian terrorists during a cross-border raid on an IDF base near Gaza on June 25, 2006. Guy Eliasif, of the Headquarters for the Release of Gilad Shalit told Ynet "it is time for (Olmert) to make a brave decision and bring an end to this affair. "Another demonstrator said "especially now, after we’ve pulled. . . Rightwing opposition set to win Israel elections Middle East Online 1/23/2009 TEL AVIV - Rightwing opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu looks set to profit from Israel’s military assault on the Gaza Strip, stretching his lead in the polls for the February 10 elections. The Likud party chairman totally opposes an Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian and other Arab territories occupied since 1967 and is campaigning on a platform of security for Israelis. Traditional rightwing leitmotifs such as Greater Israel or the spread of illegal Israeli settlements are kept well in the background. The 22-day Operation Cast Lead against Gaza may have been considered a military success for Israel but the ruling Kadima party of Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni has not reaped the benefits. The opposition, which opposed Israel’s 2005 withdrawal from Gaza and the dismantling of illegal settlements, cheered the December 27 launch of the assault saying, "we told you so". Obama: We will aggressively seek lasting Middle East peace Barak Ravid and Natasha Mozgovaya, Ha’aretz 1/23/2009 President Barack Obama’s newly minted Mideast envoy George Mitchell will arrive in Israel even before the Knesset elections on February 10, a senior government source said. According to Obama, it "will be the policy of my administration to actively and aggressively seek a lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians as well as Israel and its Arab neighbors," he said yesterday. Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni spoke with U. S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and told her Israel would not open the Gaza crossings without progress toward the release of kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit. Over the past several weeks, particularly after Operation Cast Lead began, Obama and his staff reiterated their intention to become very involved in the Middle East, especially on the Palestinian issue. Report: Most Israeli ministers want prisoner swap Ma’an News Agency 1/22/2009 Bethlehem – Ma’an – Senior Israeli analysts said the public atmosphere within the country has shifted to support prisoner swaps with Hamas in exchange for captured soldier Gilad Shalit. Television commentator Ehud Ye’ari warned of “believing Palestinian news outlets that say this swap could happen within three weeks or before Israeli elections,” noting that “it’s not that quick. ”“Although Hamas wants in, getting Turkey and Syria involved in brokering this deal” would remove Egypt as a major negotiator, he added. Channel Two reported that “Israel is convinced that it should approve the list of prisoners of those sentences for life terms,” but did not reveal names of any prisoners under consideration. Hadash Web sites proves two-faced in view on Gaza war Yoav Stern, Ha’aretz 1/23/2009 The Hadash party’s Internet sites offer different messages about the recent war in Gaza depending on whether you view them in Hebrew or Arabic. In Arabic, the site quotes a senior party official proclaiming "We are with the resistance everywhere" - a statement that could be interpreted as support for Palestinian terror organizations. In contrast, the party’s two Hebrew-language Web sites denounce the war without expressing support for terrorist organizations. This policy was discovered - and lambasted - by activists from a smaller Jewish-Arab party, Da’am. An article by one Da’am supporter accused Hadash of running two contradictory campaigns, one for Jews and the other for Arabs. Da’am, incidentally, received a mere few thousand votes in the last elections - not nearly enough to enter the Knesset. Iran: Palestinian resistance has the right to arms Ma’an News Agency 1/21/2009 Bethlehem – Ma’an/Agencies – Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on Tuesday that Palestinian resistance groups should have the right to weapons. Mottaki said during a televised speech from Tehran that Israel is well armed, and that it would therefore be wrong to deny Palestinians the right to arm themselves. In the speech, the Iranian minister was rejecting an attempt by the United States and Israel to stop alleged arms smuggling from Iran to Hamas in Gaza. Mottaki did not explicitly say that Iran had supplied weapons to Hamas in the past or would in the future. The minister also called for Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to be tried for war crimes. He also said that Palestinians should unite and put an end to their internal conflict, calling for new Palestinian presidential elections, as the current president, Mahmoud Abbas, finished his term earlier in January. Kuwait summit: Abbas presses Arab world for action; Egypt, Saudi Arabia promise support Ma’an News Agency 1/20/2009 Bethlehem – Ma’an – Addressing the Kuwait Summit Monday acting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas stressed the need for an all-factions talk in Cairo, so a long term agreement over Gaza and government can be reached soon. “What we need now,” Abbas said, “is a temporary national government that can take upon itself the duty of facing this humanitarian disaster. ” The new government would lift the siege, open borders and begin the reconstruction process in Gaza while preparing the country for simultaneous legislative and presidential elections with national agreement. The Israeli war on Gaza will “not go away,” he said, “Despite the excuses and cover-ups” that the Israeli military and government leaders have constructed. ”“We have not heard until now any rational voice that understands [Israel’s] motives” for the war in Gaza, Abbas noted. Turkish PM: we call for democracy but do not respect choice PNN, Palestine News Network 1/19/2009 Brussels - As international and regional meetings are underway focusing on the situation in the Gaza Strip, a number of which do not include Hamas, the Turkish Prime Minister warned against marginalizing the party. Recep Tayyip Erdogan called today on the international community to respect Hamas’s position and the election results. "We must refrain from marginalizing the party after the ceasefire was declared by both Israeli forces and Hamas in Gaza. " Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan told a conference in Brussels organized by the European think-tank Policy Center, "We should not push them into a corner because this will only strengthen extremism. "Hamas won the Palestinian Legislative Council elections held in the Gaza Strip, West Bank and East Jerusalem in 2006. The Turkish Prime Minister said, "If we want to advance democracy in this region, we must respect the decision of the people who went to the polls. Arab leaders urge Fatah, Hamas to reconcile Avi Issacharoff, Ha’aretz 1/20/2009 The leaders of the Arab world called on the rival Palestinian factions yesterday to reconcile and achieve national unity. Speaking at an Arab summit in Kuwait on restoration efforts in Gaza, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said representatives of the factions should meet in Cairo "under the wings of the Egyptian people and its president, Hosni Mubarak, and work out an agreement - even if it takes thousands of hours. " He said the Palestinians needed a national consensus to cope with the "human disaster" in Gaza. This would help open the crossings, lift the blockade, restore infrastructure and pave the way for presidential and parliamentary elections. Hamas’ position on holding reconciliation talks with Fatah, which it ousted from power in Gaza in a bloody coup in 2007, remains unclear. Forming a national-unity government with Fatah means Hamas would have to be a partner to. . . Abbas in Kuwait: Need new temporary government leading to simultaneous presidential and legislative elections Ma’an News Agency 1/19/2009 Bethlehem - Ma’an - Speaking to the assembled nations at the Arab League summit in Kuwait, acting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas expressed his hopes for elections in Palestine. He explained that a new interim government made of agreed upon figures from all parties must be constructed. This government will lead the country as it prepares to hold simultaneous presidential and legislative elections. This is the only way, he explained, to ensure unity and governmental legitimacy. Abbas, who took office four years ago on 9 January 2005, has remained in the office of President after his four-year term expired. [end] Hamas: We will never accept the presence of IOF troops in Gaza Palestinian Information Center 1/18/2009 GAZA, (PIC)-- In its comment on Israeli unilateral ceasefire claims, the Hamas Movement on Saturday highlighted that it would never condone the presence of any Israeli soldier in the Gaza Strip under any circumstances. In a statement broadcast by Al-Aqsa satellite channel, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum underlined that his Movement would never accept less than stopping the Israeli aggression, full withdrawal of IOF troops from Gaza, lifting the siege and opening the crossings. Barhoum said that Israel’s declaration of a unilateral ceasefire bore out that the war was waged by only one side and in one direction, adding that the Israeli war on Gaza has nothing to do with Palestinian rockets or the resistance as much as it is a cheap employment of the blood of women, children and civilians in the coming Israeli elections. Arab Israelis caught between fear and rebellion Middle East Online 1/17/2009 SAKHNIN, Israel - The Gaza crisis has left Israeli Arabs caught between a fear of voicing solidarity with the Palestinians and an urge to condemn the onslaught fuelled by a ban on two of their parties from next month’s elections. "Our state is at war with our Palestinian nation," said Gazal Abu Raya, an Arab Israeli and head of the Jewish-Arab Institute for Peace in Sakhnin, in the northern Galilee region. Sakhnin, which has an Arab population of 25,000, was the site of a demonstration of over 100,000 people on January 3 to protest the Israeli offensive in Gaza a week after it began. As the death toll has spiralled, spontaneous protests against the war have multiplied in Galilee -- home to around half of the 1. 4 million-strong Arab Israeli community, which makes up about 20 percent of Israel’s population. Hamas interior minister reported dead in Gaza attack Jo Adetunji, Peter Walker, Rory McCarthy in Jerusalem and agencies, The Guardian 1/15/2009 A senior Hamas leader was killed in Gaza today in an Israeli air strike on the Jabaliya refugee camp, Hamas officials said. Saeed Seyyam, the group’s interior minister, was killed in the attack on a house during one of the heaviest bombardments of Gaza in Israel’s military operation so far. Palestinian sources told Reuters the house had been rented by his brother, who was also reportedly killed in the attack along with Seyyam’s son. The attack flattened the house, leaving a large crater in the ground, Hamas officials said. Seyyam was appointed after the Palestinian elections in 2006 and was in charge of 13,000 Hamas police and security men. Speaking on al-Jazeera television, Mohammed Nazzal, a Hamas official, said there would be revenge for Seyyam’s death. "The blood of Saeed Seyyam will be a curse on the Zionist entity," he said. -- See also: VIDEO - Israel bombs UNRWA HQ in Gaza Balad chair: Abbas refuses to condemn Gaza ’slaughter’ Sharon Roffe-Ofir, YNetNews 1/15/2009 MK Zahalka lashes out at Arab parties willing to support Livni, Barak despite ’blood on their hands’ - Balad Chairman Jamal Zahalka, whose party was disqualified from the national elections earlier this week, slammed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for refraining from condemning Israeli leaders for the operation in Gaza. Speaking at a Shefaram conference Wednesday, Zahalka said, "Abbas is doing nothing. He is just watching from the sidelines. He must decide if he wants to be chairman of the PLO or chairman of Ramallah. " During the conference, intended to show support for the people of Gaza, Zahalka claimed the Palestinian president must answer appeals from rights organizations and sign a petition demanding Israeli leaders be tried in international court for the "slaughter in Gaza". Meshaal rips Israel for ’holocaust ... of children, of innocents’ Agence France Presse - AFP, Daily Star 1/12/2009 DAMASCUS: Hamas supremo Khaled Meshaal on Saturday slammed Israel’s assault on Gaza as a "holocaust" in which the blood of Palestinian children was being shed to bolster prospects in next month’s Israeli elections. "The enemy has failed by creating a real holocaust on the soil of Gaza," Meshaal, who lives in exile in Syria, said in a pre-recorded statement aired on satellite television stations Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiyya. "Palestinian blood has become a means to win elections," Meshaal said, addressing the Israeli people whose leaders are to face off in general elections on February 10. He also argued that the military campaign had been a failure. "What did you achieve through this war. . . other than the killing of children, of innocents? "Meshaal asked the Israeli leadership. "You have lost on the moral and humanitarian fronts. Meshaal brands failed Gaza offensive a ’Holocaust’ Middle East Online 1/11/2009 DAMASCUS - Hamas supremo Khaled Meshaal on Saturday slammed Israel’s assault on Gaza as a "Holocaust" in which the blood of Palestinian children was being shed to bolster prospects in next month’s Israeli elections. "The enemy has failed by creating a real Holocaust on the soil of Gaza," Meshaal, who lives in exile in Syria, said in a pre-recorded statement aired on Arab satellite televisions Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya. "Palestinian blood has become a means to win elections," he said, addressing the Israeli people whose leaders are to face off in general elections on February 10. Meshaal said the military campaign had been a failure. "What did you achieve through this war. . . other than the killing of children, of innocents? "he asked the Israeli leadership. "You have lost on the moral and humanitarian fronts. All eyes on Rafah Amira Howeidy, Al-Ahram Weekly 1/8/2009 Egypt is under pressure to open the only exit from Gaza not under Israeli control. - The Israeli siege on Gaza continues to torment civiliansThe Egyptian government has adopted a defensive posture since its decision to keep the Rafah border crossing closed came under attack as Israel’s war on Gaza, begun on 27 December, escalated. In the course of a week President Hosni Mubarak addressed the issue twice. He said that Egypt will not open the border because Gaza is an occupied territory and remains, therefore, the responsibility of Israel, the occupying force. A few days later he said that Egypt would not open the border "in the absence of the Palestinian Authority and European monitors", a reference to the 2005 border agreement formulated between the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Israel a year before the 2006 Palestinian parliamentary elections brought Hamas to power. The agreement expired a year after it went into effect and has not been renewed since. PA Chief of Staff: Abbas remains legitimate Palestinian leader; talks in Cairo show progress Ma’an News Agency 1/10/2009 Ramallah – Ma’an - Chief of Staff for the Palestinian Authority Dr Rafiq Al-Husseini announced Saturday that Mahmoud Abbas will remain in his role as Palestinian President until legislative and presidential elections are held. Those with complaints about the situation, said Al-Huseini, can challenge the decision in the Palestinian High Court of Justice and file a complaint. He added that under the current situation in Gaza, now was not an appropriate time to address the issue of the legitimacy of Abbas’ term. The comments came during a press conference in the Presidential compound in Ramallah, where Al-Husseini also announced the postponement of the start of the “Al-Quds Capital of Arab Culture” celebrations. The events, due to start in January, are now set for March. Several factions have contested the legitimacy of Abbas to remain in his role as President after 9 January, which is when his official four year term ended. Hizbullah didn’t launch rockets, but didn’t stop them either - analysts Rana Moussaoui, Daily Star 1/10/2009 Agence France Presse - BEIRUT: This week’s rocket attack from southern Lebanon on northern Israel is an isolated incident likely carried out by a radical Palestinian faction but with the tacit approval of Hizbullah, analysts say. "For sure this is not the work of a Lebanese group," Osama Safa, head of the Lebanese Centre for Policy Studies, told AFP. "All the Lebanese factions, including Hizbullah, want to maintain a minimum of stability, especially ahead of the June legislative elections. " He noted that Hizbullah’s style was not to fire "rusty rockets" just to provoke Israel. "Either they launch a major operation or they do nothing," he said. Still, Safa and several other analysts said Thursday’s attack could not have taken place without the indirect backing of Hizbullah, which controls much of southern Lebanon. 7,000 Palestinians join largest Hamas rally in three years in Israeli-controlled area of Hebron Ma’an News Agency 1/9/2009 Hebron – Ma’an – More than 7,000 Palestinians marched in an Israeli-controlled area of Hebron in the largest Hamas demonstration in the West Bank since the Islamic movement won Parliamentary elections nearly three years ago. Hamas chose to stage the demonstration in the H2 area of Hebron, which is heavily patrolled by the Israeli military, after the Palestinian Authority refused to allow the march in the H1 area, which it controls. According to medics at Muhammad Ali Hospital in H2, 20 demonstrators were treated for injuries after Israeli forces opened fire on the crowd with rubber-coated metal bullets and tear gas. The march left the Wasaya Rasoul Al-Allah Mosque after the noon prayer. Angry protesters denouncing the Israeli invasion of Gaza marched towards the flashpoint Ibrahimi Mosque, where Israeli soldiers are stationed and right-wing Jewish settlers maintain a presence. Timeline: Gaza crisis Al Jazeera 1/9/2009 June 19: An Egyptian-brokered six-month ceasefire between Israel and Hamas comes into force. November 5: Israel closes all of its crossings with Gaza. December 14: Hamas political leader Khaled Meshaal announces the six-month ceasefire with Israel will not be extended. December 19: Six-month ceasefire between Hamas and Israel officially expires. December 21: Tzipi Livni, the Israeli foreign minister, says that her primary goal if she wins Israeli elections, will be to overthrow Hamas. December 27: Israel begins assault on Gaza, codenamed "Operation Cast Lead," by launching air raids that kill more than 225 Palestinians. One Israeli is killed and six others wounded in missile attacks by Palestinian fighters. December 28: Israeli aircraft bomb the Islamic University in Gaza City and the length of the Gaza-Egypt border, taking out more than 40 tunnels used to smuggle vital goods to the strip. Gaza invasion: latest news Matthew Weaver, The Guardian 1/8/2009 As the death toll among Palestinians passes 700, rockets have been fired from Lebanon into northern Israel prompting fears that the conflict in Gaza could spread - 8. 19am: Palestinian medical officials in the northern Gaza Strip said an Israeli air strike killed three members of a rocket-launching squad from Islamic Jihad. They said the air strike occurred in a crowded area about 150m from a hospital, according to Associated Press (AP). 8. 42am: No group has yet claimed responsibility for the rocket attack from Lebanon, but the Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz blames Hezbollah backed by Iran. It says: Hezbollah is too sophisticated to claim responsibility for Thursday’s rocket fire. Elections in Lebanon are scheduled to take place in about six months, and Hezbollah does not want to be perceived as the party that once again disrupted the relative calm the country has experienced. Bush plan beat obstacle to Gaza assault Gareth Porter, Asia Times 1/7/2009 WASHINGTON - Until mid-2007, there was a serious political obstacle to a massive conventional war by Israel against Hamas in Gaza: the fact that Hamas had won free and fair elections for the Palestinian parliament and was still the leading faction in a fully legitimate government. But the George W Bush administration helped Israel eliminate that obstacle, by deliberately provoking Hamas to seize power. That plan was aimed at getting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to dissolve the democratically elected Hamas government - something Bush had tried unsuccessfully to do for many months. Hamas won 56% of the seats in the Palestinian parliament in the January 2006 elections, and the following month, the Palestinian Legislative Council voted for a new government under Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh. The Bush administration immediately began to use its control over the "Quartet" (the US, Jordan and Egypt should take over Palestine - Bolton Agence France Presse - AFP, Daily Star 1/6/2009 WASHINGTON: Former acting US ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton said Monday that settling the Arab-Israeli conflict on the basis of a two-state solution was no longer workable and suggested splitting Palestine between Egypt and Jordan. "Let’s start by recognizing that trying to create a Palestinian Authority from the old PLO [Palestine Liberation Organization] has failed and that any two-state solution based on the PA is stillborn," Bolton wrote in The Washington Post. "Hamas has killed the idea, and even the Holy Land is good for only one resurrection. "Hamas won parliamentary elections deemed fair by international observers in 2006 but was boycotted by the West for refusing to give up armed resistance against Israeli occupation. A two-state solution has been officially adopted as the basis for solving the Middle East conflict by all interested parties, including Israel and the administration of US President George W. POLITICS: Bush Plan Eliminated Obstacle to Gaza Assault Analysis by Gareth Porter, Inter Press Service 1/6/2009 WASHINGTON, Jan 5(IPS) - Until mid-2007, there was a serious political obstacle to a massive conventional war by Israel against Hamas in Gaza: the fact that Hamas had won free and fair elections for the Palestinian parliament and was still the leading faction in a fully legitimate government. But the George W. Bush administration helped Israel eliminate that obstacle by deliberately provoking Hamas to seize power in Gaza. That plan was aimed at getting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to dissolve the democratically elected Hamas government -- something Bush had tried unsuccessfully to do for many months. Hamas won 56 percent of the seats in the Palestinian parliament in the January 2006 elections, and the following month, the Palestinian Legislative Council voted for a new government under Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh. Fatah party of Abbas: Israeli ground attack on Gaza won’t bring security Rami Almeghari&Agencies, International Middle East Media Center News 1/3/2009 The rival Fatah party of Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, stated this evening that the Israeli ground offensive on Gaza won’t bring security to Israelis. Fahmi Aza’reer, spokesman of Fatah in the West Bank, was quoted as saying "any Israeli attempt to reoccupy the Gaza Strip won’t make the Palestinian people succumb to the Israeli occupation",. The spokesman called on the international community to take the responsibility immediately by stopping what he termed the Israeli massacres against the Palestinian people and ensuring a ceasefire. The Fatah party has been at loggerheads with the ruling Hamas party in Gaza , since Hamas took over power after 2006’s parliamentary elections. President Abbas outlawed Hamas after the party seized control of Gaza amidst factional fighting with his Fatah party in June2007. Profile: Hamas Al Jazeera 1/4/2009 Hamas, the Palestinian political movement that controls Gaza, rose to international prominence following its armed campaign against Israel during the second intifada, or uprising, which began in 2000. The organisation, founded in 1987 as an offshoot of the pan-Arab Muslim Brotherhood movement, had already achieved widespread popularity in the Palestinian territories for its resistance to the Israeli military occupation and for its social programmes. The pinnacle of that popularity came in January 2006, when the movement won a stunning victory in the Palestinian parliamentary elections. But the years since then, marked by a crippling international embargo, internal conflict with rivals Fatah, and Israeli attacks on its members, have proved a testing time for the organisation. Majority of Israelis favour keeping up Gaza strikes Middle East Online 1/1/2009 TEL AVIV - More than two-thirds of Israelis are in favour of keeping up air strikes against the Gaza Strip, according to a survey published Thursday in the Haaretz newspaper. Seventy-one percent of those surveyed on Wednesday, day five of Israel’s aerial onslaught that has left nearly 400 Palestinians dead, supported continuing the air strikes against Gaza. Twenty percent backed launching a ground operation, while the same number supported declaring a ceasefire. Nine percent had no opinion. The poll also showed a surge in popularity for the Labour party of Defence Minister Ehud Barak since the start of the offensive. Labour now looks set to win 16 out of 120 seats in the Knesset in February 10 elections, up from the 12 it was credited with before poll. It holds 19 seats in the current parliament. The right-wing Likud party of former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. . .  Articles
Winning and Losing in Gaza Richard Falk, Middle East Online 1/28/2009 Now that there is a cease-fire in Gaza, questions are emerging about what Israel has achieved. Of course, the lopsided casualty figures and Israel’s military dominance certainly make it the battlefield winner. But such a "mission accomplished" assessment is as misleading in occupied Palestine as it was in Iraq. Although Hamas could not come close to matching Israel’s armed might, it may have won a major battle for Palestinian hearts and minds. Reports from the West Bank, Gaza and the Palestinian diaspora suggest widespread anger at the Palestinian Authority for its passivity and a rise in support for Hamas, even among secular Palestinians -- in appreciation of its determined resistance to the brutality of the Israeli occupation and military operations. If Hamas becomes the dominant political force in all of occupied Palestine when the next elections are held, Israel will be the loser. The scorecard is also complicated on the diplomatic front. Perhaps Israel’s military display will have some inhibiting effects on its opponents, but the extreme one-sidedness of the struggle evoked widespread protests and some negative diplomatic repercussions. Qatar and Mauritania, among the few states in the region that had accepted Israel, broke relations, and the European Union has suspended moves to improve Israel’s status as a trading partner. The Turkish prime minister even suggested expelling Israel from the United Nations. A decisive loss for Israel Mousa Abu Marzook, Electronic Intifada 1/23/2009 Israel’s objectives from the war on Gaza were set long before its launch: to remove the Hamas movement and government, achieve the reinstallation of the Fatah leader, Mahmoud Abbas, in Gaza, and end the armed resistance. Two other objectives were not announced. First, restore the Israeli public’s wavering confidence in its armed forces after its defeat by Hizballah in 2006. Second, boost the coalition government in the coming elections. Accordingly, we declare that Israel lost, and lost decisively. What did it achieve? The killing of large numbers of civilians, children and women, and the destruction of homes, ministry buildings and other infrastructure with the most advanced United States weapons and other internationally banned chemical and phosphorous elements. Almost 2,000 children were killed and injured in desperate pursuit of political goals. Many international organizations called these attacks war crimes, yet barely a word of denunciation was uttered by any western leader. What message does the European Union mean to send Palestinians by its shameful silence on these crimes, when it speaks incessantly on human rights? This Violence in Gaza Has Killed the Moderates The National - Editorial, MIFTAH 1/20/2009 After three weeks of bloodshed in the Gaza Strip a ceasefire is finally forthcoming, yet there is little to celebrate. Over 1,000 Palestinians have died as a result of the bombardment of densely populated urban areas. Much of Gaza’s infrastructure, already depleted after six months of crippling economic blockade, is demolished or non-functioning. And this ceasefire contains nothing that ensures that the violence will not resume in the immediate future. For, despite international efforts to impose a bilateral ceasefire on Hamas and Israel, little progress was made. Instead Israel has decided to halt its assault under what it terms a “unilateral ceasefire”, but the move amounts to little more than a face-saving measure. It had been hypothesised that Israel’s invasion would end before the inauguration of Barack Obama on Tuesday to avoid alienating its staunchest ally, the United States, but few realised just how cynically Israel would adhere to that deadline. It was always thought that the attempts to cripple Hamas amounted to little more than a public-relations campaign ahead of the parliamentary elections in February, and the triumphalist rhetoric of the Kadima leadership illustrates the accuracy of that belief. The party, which suffered a severe blow to its credibility with the disastrous conclusion of the 2006 war in Lebanon, has enjoyed a resurgence in support for its actions in Gaza. Tzipi Livni, Kadima’s main prime ministerial candidate, has been eager to capitalise on the invasion to improve her standing against her chief opponent, Benjamin Netanyahu. Sacrificing Gaza to revive Israel’s Labor party Smadar Lavie, Electronic Intifada 1/19/2009 On 27 December 2008, Israel initiated yet another heinous carnage of the Palestinian people because of its democratically elected Hamas government. It did so with the silent encouragement of the US, the European Union and their Arab subcontractors, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan. I have spent the past few weeks talking on Skype with friends in Ashdod, an Israeli town about 30 kilometers north of the Gaza Strip. Several times, they have had to seek safety from the rockets by fleeing to Jerusalem. The background noise to our conversations has been the sophisticated newspeak oozing from the Israeli TV. How cynical are Israeli politicians that they have chosen to sacrifice the lives of innocent Gazan families to seek political advantage in the elections that will happen on 10 February. Not only has the Israeli regime sent its military machine to commit genocide in Gaza, it has also endangered the lives of its own citizens and soldiers. This, without even once trying to negotiate in good faith with the elected government of the Palestinian people. The West Bank: We’re all Hamas now: supporters of Fatah unite behind enemy Ben Lynfield in Ramallah, The Independent 1/9/2009 Even if Israel wins on the battlefield or in the diplomatic corridors it is already paying the price of its Gaza onslaught in intensified hatred in the hearts of its Palestinian neighbours in the West Bank. The campaign also appears to be increasing public scepticism about the Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s chosen path of negotiations as the way to establish an independent state alongside Israel. The diplomacy championed by Mr Abbas has for years been difficult to sell to Palestinians because it has brought little or no relief from occupation or improvement in their daily lives, only the expansion of Israeli settlements. This existing frustration –which helped Hamas defeat Mr Abbas’s Fatah movement in the 2006 elections – is now combined with popular anger and dismay at the carnage among fellow Palestinians in Gaza. Palestinian Authority security forces are keeping a tight lid on protests, preventing confrontations with Israeli troops and arresting anyone raising Hamas banners at rallies. But displays of identification with the beleaguered Gazans are everywhere. Nine-year-old green-kerchiefed girl Scouts, their foreheads marked with the word Gaza in red ink, were among those who marched through the main al-Manara square in a protest. They held up pictures of bandaged toddlers, and dozens of demonstrators chanted, "With blood and spirit, we will redeem you, O Gaza". Misreading Gaza Roane Carey, Middle East Online 1/9/2009 The current Gaza crisis is the culmination of more than two years of failed strategy, conceived and carried out jointly by the United States and Israel. The first mistake was their refusal to accept the results of the January 2006 Palestinian parliamentary elections, acknowledged by all observers to be free and fair. Hamas won that poll, but instead of engaging the new leadership -- and testing its avowal that it would accept, if not applaud, a two-state resolution of the conflict -- Israel, with US encouragement, cut off aid, tax revenues and, eventually, almost all connection with the outside world. The policy was brutal and straightforward: Gaza’s 1.5 million citizens would be punished for electing leaders unacceptable to Tel Aviv and Washington. The next stage was to encourage a coup by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, despite Hamas’ willingness to form a coalition with Abbas’ Fatah faction. But Hamas struck first, overthrowing the corrupt and discredited PA in June 2007. Since then, Israel has tightened the siege on Gaza, leading the UN’s human rights representative in the territories, Richard Falk, to accuse Israel of committing a "crime against humanity. Conditioning Gaza: preparing to deploy international forces in Palestine? Hani Asfour, Daily Star 1/6/2009 The Israeli attack on Gaza is likely timed to coincide with the February elections in Israel and this month’s inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama in anticipation of launching a comprehensive Middle East peace plan. The ultimate goal of the Gaza invasion is to create the conditions to introduce international troops into Palestine. Part of the purpose is to prop up the regime of President Mahmoud Abbas and allow the Palestinian leader to extend his mandate across all of Palestine. By calling for international military support, Abbas is seeking to end both the violence and the Israeli occupation at once. The hope is that he will re-establish his legitimacy and provide the grounds for a two-state solution as prescribed in President George Bush’s 2002 UN Security Council Resolution 1397, "of two States, Israel and Palestine, living side by side within secure and recognized borders," a proposition openly rejected by Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement, and Likud, the Israeli right-wing party. The idea for an international military intervention was first proposed by Martin Indyk, the former US ambassador to Israel under presidents Bill Clinton and George Bush 43, in a 2003 Foreign Affairs article, "A Trusteeship for Palestine?" The main idea is to replace the Israeli occupation with an international force that would train and guide the Palestinians into self-rule, while ensuring the security of both Israel and Palestine. The real goal of the slaughter in Gaza Jonathan Cook, Electronic Intifada 1/1/2009 Ever since Hamas triumphed in the Palestinian elections nearly three years ago, the story in Israel has been that a full-scale ground invasion of the Gaza Strip was imminent. But even when public pressure mounted for a decisive blow against Hamas, the government backed off from a frontal assault. Now the world waits for Ehud Barak, the defense minister, to send in the tanks and troops as the logic of this operation is pushing inexorably towards a ground war. Nonetheless, officials have been stalling. Significant ground forces are massed on Gaza’s border, but still the talk in Israel is of "exit strategies," lulls and renewed ceasefires. Even if Israeli tanks do lumber into the enclave, will they dare to move into the real battlegrounds of central Gaza? Or will they simply be used, as they have been in the past, to terrorize the civilian population on the peripheries? Israelis are aware of the official reason for Barak’s reticence to follow the air strikes with a large-scale ground war. They have been endlessly reminded that the worst losses sustained by the army in the second Palestinian intifada took place in 2002 during the invasion of Jenin refugee camp. How Hypocrisy on ’Terrorism’ Kills Robert Parry, Middle East Online 1/1/2009 Israel, a nation that was born out of Zionist terrorism, has launched massive airstrikes against targets in Gaza using high-tech weapons produced by the United States, a country that often has aided and abetted terrorism by its client military forces, such as Chile’s Operation Condor and the Nicaraguan contras, and even today harbors right-wing Cuban terrorists implicated in blowing up a civilian airliner. Yet, with that moral ambiguity excluded from the debate, the justification for the Israeli attacks, which have killed at least 364 people, is the righteous fight against “terrorism,” since Gaza is ruled by the militant Palestinian group, Hamas. Hamas rose to power in January 2006 through Palestinian elections, which ironically the Bush administration had demanded. However, after Hamas won a parliamentary majority, Israel and the United States denounced the outcome because they deem Hamas a “terrorist organization. Hamas then wrested control of Gaza from Fatah, a rival group that once was considered “terrorist” but is now viewed as a US-Israeli partner, so it has been cleansed of the “terrorist” label. LinksAdalah Adalah (Justice in Arabic) is the first non-profit, non-sectarian Palestinian-run legal center in Israel. The main goal of Adalah’s work is to achieve equal rights and minority rights protections for Palestinian citizens of Israel. Addameer Prisoners’ Support and Human Rights Organization: Addameer (conscience) is a Palestinian non-governmental, civil institution which focuses on human rights issues. Supports Palestinian prisoners, advocates for rights of political prisoners, works to end torture. Amnesty International Amnesty International (AI) is a worldwide movement of people who campaign for internationally recognized human rights. AI’s vision is of a world in which every person enjoys all of the human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights standards. Amnesty International USA Amnesty International (AI) is a worldwide movement of people who campaign for internationally recognized human rights. AI’s vision is of a world in which every person enjoys all of the human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights standards. Arab Association for Human Rights - HRA The HRA was founded in 1988 to promote and protect the political, civil, economic, and cultural rights of the Palestinian Arab minority in Israel and to further the domestic implementation of international human rights principles. It is an independent non-governmental organisation registered in Israel. Association for Civil Rights in Israel - ACRI In Hebrew - The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) was founded in 1972 as a non-political and independent body, with the goal of protecting human and civil rights in Israel and in the territories under Israeli control. B’tselem The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories. It endeavors to document and educate the Israeli public and policymakers about human rights violations in the Occupied Territories, combat the phenomenon of denial prevalent among the Israeli public, and help create a human rights culture in Israel. Boycott Israeli Medical Association UK: The Medical Committee for Boycott of the Israeli Medical Association (IMA) will document the systematic torture of Palestinian people by agents of Israel. It will publicise the practice in order to bring world opinion to bear on Israel. And it will challenge the Israeli Medical Association which has repeatedly failed to issue advice to doctors who are involved in any way with torture. Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch is an independent, nongovernmental organization, supported by contributions from private individuals and foundations worldwide. Human Rights Watch is dedicated to protecting the human rights of people around the world. Palestinian Center for Human Rights The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) is an independent legal body based in Gaza City dedicated to protecting human rights, promoting the rule of law, and upholding democratic principles in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Palestinian Prisoners Society The Palestinian Prisoner Society is a social and human institution and its members are prisoners inside prisons and released prisoners. Membership is open to every Palestinian prisoner inside and outside prisons who meets the conditions of membership. Physicians for Human Rights - Israel Physicians for Human Rights - Israel (PHR-Israel) was established in 1988 as a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, dedicated to promoting and protecting the medical human rights of all residents of Israel and the Occupied Territories. Public Committee Against Torture in Israel - PCATI An independent human rights organization founded that monitors the implementation conditions in detention centers and continues the struggle against the use of torture in interrogation in Israel and the Palestinian Authority. United Nations Information System on the Question of Palestine The main collection contains the texts of current and historical United Nations material concerning the question of Palestine and other issues related to the Middle East situation and the search for peace. World Organisation Against Torture OMCT is today the largest international coalition of NGOs fighting against torture,summary executions, forced disappearances and all other forms of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment in order to preserve Human Rights. It has at its disposal a network, SOS Torture, consisting of some 240 non-governmental organisations which act as sources of information.
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