Vermonters for a Just Peace in Palestine/Israel
Elections Archive - August 2008
Elections Archive - August 2008
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Shin Bet chief: Abbas’ time as PA President is running out Barak Ravid, Ha’aretz 9/1/2008 Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin on Sunday told the cabinet that Mahmoud Abbas’ time as Palestinian President was nearing its end as elections in the Palestinian Authority approach. Diskin added that, "Hamas knows that Abu Mazen’s time is running out,", referring to Abbas by his nom de guerre. He told the ministers that Israel has to monitor closely developments in the PA that are likely to turn into a political crisis. "Given the fractious state of the Palestinian Authority, presidential elections are impossible [to hold]," Diskin said. The Shin Bet chief said PA officials are mulling a number of alternatives. One option is for Abbas to retire from politics. Another is for the PA to adopt a constitutional amendment which would permit Abbas to continue his term beyond the allotted period. Fayyad: transitional government must be formed to oversee elections Ma’an News Agency 8/30/2008 Ramallah – Ma’an – Palestinian Prime Minster of the caretaker government Salam Fayyad affirmed the need for a transitional government to replace the caretaker government in order to restore national unity. The statement came on Saturday during the swearing in ceremony of thirty new assistants to the Attorney General in the West Bank City of Ramallah. As Fayyad spoke to the group he explained that a national transitional coalition government made up of independent and qualified figures must be assembled. This body, he continued, would be charged with managing the country in preparation for general legislative and presidential elections. Fayyad called the transitional government a necessity if Palestinians wanted to end the separation between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Fayyad’s audiences, participants in a program called Siyada (Sovereignty), are charged with the heavy task of empowering the Palestinian judicial system. Olmert ’willing’ to release 450 Palestinian prisoners for Shalit The Daily Star, Daily Star 8/30/2008 OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is willing to release some 450 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for an Israeli soldier held by militants in the Gaza Strip, an Israeli newspaper reported Friday. Olmert has asked the five ministers dealing with the proposed swap with the Hamas movement to draw up the list which would increase from about 80 the number of prisoners Israel is willing to release in exchange for Gilad Shalit, the Haaretz newspaper said. The Israeli corporal, who turned 22 on Wednesday, was captured in a deadly cross-border raid from Gaza in June 2006 and is believed to be held by Hamas. The Islamist movement routed the rival Fatah movement from the impoverished Palestinian territory in June 2007 after reports emerged in the Arab press of an impending Fatah-led takeover. Hamas soundly beat Hamas in legislative elections in early 2006. Kafa! Film on Palestinian infighting premiers in Bethlehem Ma’an News Agency 8/29/2008 Bethlehem – Ma’an – Quietness prevailed in the hall of "Dar An-Nadwah" a local community center and organization in the West bank city of Bethlehem. This quietness that shrouded the room was interrupted sometimes by the sounds of crying and rare laughter during the screening of the movie Kafa (Enough), in which the issue of Palestinian infighting between Hamas and Fatah was portrayed in dramatic form. The movie is a 45 minute drama that presents the political unrest in Palestine beginning in January 2006 with the second set of elections for the Palestine Legislative Council (PLC). The elections were the first that saw a rival party run against the Fatah movement, and many were surprised when the new party won the elections with a decent majority. The film catalogues some of the aftermath of that victory, which led to the severance of international aid to Palestine, and the growth of the internal disputes between Fatah and Hamas. Shalit’s father slams Israeli government Agence France Presse - AFP, Daily Star 8/29/2008 OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: The father of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit who was captured by Gaza militants in 2006 accused the government of failing to do enough to seek the release of his son, who turned 22 on Thursday. "Politicians are dragging their feet. The prime minister [Ehud Olmert], who pledged to get Gilad released. . . might not be determined enough, otherwise he would have resolved the issue," Noam Shalit told Israeli public radio. Corporal Gilad Shalit was captured in a deadly cross-border raid on June 25, 2006, and is believed to be held in the Gaza Strip by Hamas. The Islamist movement took control of the territory after trouncing the rival Fatah party in Palestinian legislative elections in early 2006. On Wednesday a group of Shalit supporters demonstrated near the border with the Gaza Strip to mark the soldier’s birthday and demand the government do its utmost to get him freed. Az Zahhar to PNN: internal unity rests on end of US control, thanks Free Gaza movement PNN, Palestine News Network 8/28/2008 Gaza -- A leader in the Hamas government, Dr. Mahmoud Az Zahhar, told PNN on Thursday that true reconciliation will not occur while the United States has the power to veto internal politics. As individual faction meetings take place in Cairo before the comprehensive internal dialogue, several members of the Hamas leadership have said that there will be no internal unity until after the US presidential elections. The US dismissed the coalition government because Hamas was involved. The party was elected to the Palestinian Legislative Council and immediately the US imposed a boycott. "As long as the US veto stands the issue is at a dead-end," Az Zahhar told PNN today referring to both the strife between Hamas and Fateh, and the plug to put Arab forces in the Gaza Strip. He also said, "The release of 198 captives was just a game that the Israelis tried to market to the world. Fayyad: Palestinian unity still possible through Abbas’ initiative Ma’an News Agency 8/19/2008 Ramallah – Ma’an – Restoration of Palestinian unity is still possible through implementation of President Mahmoud Abbas’ initiative and the formation of a transitional government to run the country and prepare for elections, said Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad on Tuesday. Fayyad’s comments came during a graduation ceremony for the Palestinian Food Products Industry Syndicate. The celebration was held in association with USAID. The graduating class included 128 experts who were awarded certificates in quality control and inspection. Fayyad added that a national consensus could be achieved through Arab countries’ support to for restored PA control of the Gaza Strip. He said this renewed control would be based on professionalism and objectivity rather than partiality and factionalism. Arab states’ support would help residents of the Gaza Strip during the transitional period until security arrangements are completed. Hamas agrees with four factions on the need to accelerate national dialog Palestinian Information Center 8/17/2008 GAZA, (PIC)-- The Hamas Movement on Saturday evening agreed with four Palestinian factions on the importance of accelerating comprehensive, national dialog and welcomed Egyptian patronage of such dialog. Representative of the PFLP, DFLP, people’s party, Islamic Jihad and Hamas met in the PFLP headquarters in Gaza to discuss means of ending the internal Palestinian rift and restoring unity. A closing statement said that they approved a number of general principles and basis of dialog topped by national concord document and the Cairo declaration. It added that the dialog should focus on formation of national unity government, restructuring security apparatuses on professional, national basis, activating the PLC, respecting election results and restructuring the PLO through elections. The conferees were unanimous in calling for preparatory steps to ensure success of the dialog. . . Hamas and Jordan continue talks, ending 10-year boycott Ma’an News Agency 8/15/2008 Gaza – Ma’an – Hamas met with Jordanian officials Wednesday in the second such meeting this month. Hamas spokespeople say the meetings are part of attempts to open lines of communication in the Arab world. Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said on Friday that the meetings seek openness among the Arab, Islamic and international communities as well as promoting "Palestinian legitimacy. " "Such relations enhance and strengthen support to the Palestinian people supports them as they face challenges around the Palestinian question," Barhoum told Ma’an. Asked whether the meetings between Hamas and Jordan were being brokered by any third party, Barhoum answered, "There are no mediators as there have been no disputed issues. They had their own attitude towards Palestinian elections [calling them fair and free] which we respect since it is not our policy to interfere in any country’s affairs. Netanyahu: Kadima is selling Jerusalem to our enemies Mazal Mualem, Ha’aretz 8/4/2008 Opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday accused rival faction Kadima of planning to make sweeping concessions over Jerusalem to the Palestinians. "For the first time in the history of our nation, we come upon a development that we are unfamiliar with and that we cannot remember whereby the ruling party in our midst will come and offer up Jerusalem even to the worst of our enemies," Netanyahu said during an appearance at a Jerusalem conference commemorating 70 years since the founding of the Rabbi Kook Institute. Also in attendance at the event was Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, who uncharacteristically showered praise on the Likud chairman. Yosef referred to Netanyahu as "my dear, beloved friend" who "does a great deal for the Torah. "Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz (Kadima) on Sunday vowed to form a coalition government before local authority elections on November 11. Livni: hopes for peace-deal by the end of year alive Ma’an News Agency 8/1/2008 Jerusalem – Ma’an - Tzipi Livni, the Israeli Foreign Minister and tipped to be the next Prime Minister said on Thursday that there is still hope of reaching a peace agreement with the Palestinians by the end of the year and appealed to all parties to unite around the cause. Livni’s comments came after a meeting with Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations Secretary-General. For his part Ban Ki-Moon told reporters, following the meeting, that Livni was committed to reaching a peace-deal and that she was working hard to achieve it. Livni did not comment directly on the calls from Benjamin Netanyahu, leader of the rightist Likud Party, for early elections after Prime Minister Ehud Olmert resigns in two months. She did however indicate that her party wants to form a government without holding early elections, calling all other parties to unite for the sake of Israel’s security. Barak: We’ll join coalition that functions according to spirit of our values Haaretz Service, Ha’aretz 8/1/2008 Defense Minister, Ehud Barak met on Friday with representatives of the immigrant organization at the Labor Party Headquarters in Tel Aviv. Barak referred to the latest political events, saying: "If it turns out that a government can form in this Knesset that functions according to the spirit of our values, we will consider joining it. If it turns out that we must hold elections, then we will be prepared for elections. "Barak added that Israel is currently in the middle of negotiations with the Palestinians and is simultaneously feeling out negotiations with Syria. In referring to the issue of Gilad Shalit, Barak said "We are examining the calm with Hamas, and are taking advantage of it to become stronger, to prepare and to intensively advance the efforts to return Shalit home. " When speaking to the representatives of the immigrants organization of the Labor. . .  Articles
Hamas Seeking to Come in from Cold Sana Abdallah, MIFTAH 8/30/2008 Chances of coming in from the cold are looking better for Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist movement ruling the Gaza Strip, as the world braces itself for crucial changes in political leaderships and power shifts that might also bring strategic policy turns in the Middle East. The U.S. George W. Bush administration, which has led a fierce campaign against Hamas and is widely seen as the friendliest U.S. government yet to Israel, has fewer than 150 days left in office, with no sign that the peace talks it is sponsoring between the Palestinian Authority (PA), led by President Mahmoud Abbas, and Israel are getting anywhere. The Israeli leadership is also on its way out, as a corruption scandal forced Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to announce his resignation next month to elect a new Kadima party leader who will need to keep the coalition government together or else hold snap elections. Abbas, too, has not yet said whether he will seek re-election if a Palestinian presidential poll is held next January. And he has indicated on several occasions he wants to step down out of frustration that peace negotiations are not making headway toward statehood; neither has he been able to reunite Palestinian ranks and mend the split between Gaza and the West Bank. Is Israel One Disaster from Collapse? Ghassan Michel Rubeiz – New York, Palestine Chronicle 8/28/2008 ’Israel has recently joined this club of high-risk countries.’ Israelis are not united in supporting their government’s policies of a four-decade festering occupation of Palestinian, Syrian and Lebanese territories. The occupation is costly, morally troubling and beyond the capacity of Israel to maintain. Israelis are relatively free to question the occupation; surprisingly, American politicians, especially politicians who are running for national elections, find it hard to question the occupation. If for nothing else, mere concern for Israel’s future should embolden Americans to be more discerning on issues of the Middle East. An important Carnegie study recently showed that Israel is precariously open to breakdown. The study implies that tight-lipped Americans need to open their minds to Israel’s vulnerability as an occupier. The heaviest cost of the 1967 occupation of Arab land is the impact on Israel’s national security. Israel received dire warning in the July-August issue of Foreign Policy magazine in the article "The Failed States Index of 2008. The Index’s latest results give the Israel/West Bank regime a rank of borderline on national security. The Index lists and discusses a long list of vulnerable countries and identifies twelve variables that undermine their national security. According to this ranking tool, the Israel/West Bank regime is among sixty fragile countries that are "just one disaster away [from] collapse." The Distant Political Horizon of a Just Israeli-Palestinian Settlement Connie Hackbarth, Alternative Information Center (AIC, Palestine Media Center 8/28/2008 With all sides openly acknowledging, privately and even publicly, that the Annapolis process has failed in its promise to provide a viable political vision and structure for relevant negotiations between the Palestinian Authority and Israel that would result in an agreement by the end of this year, what comes next? The Americans are preoccupied with their presidential elections, elections that regardless of the outcome will result in a new administration and unknown set of domestic and international priorities. The Israelis are also busy with elections. The first wave on 17 September in the Kadima Party primaries to select a new leader following the decision by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to step down in September in the face of extensive police investigations and possible indictments. Then, perhaps, if and when the new leader of Kadima is unable to form a government, national elections will be held in Israel in early 2009. Meanwhile, the Palestinian internal situation has been in a fractured state—between the Hamas and Fatah, Gaza and the West Bank—in large part due to US and Israeli meddling and pressure on the Palestinians to reverse their democratic choice of January 2006. Once again, the Palestinians are compelled to understand, be patient and wait due to the crises of the Israelis and Americans. ’We are running out of time’ Akiva Eldar, Ha’aretz 8/15/2008 At the end of my conversation with Sari Nusseibeh at the American Colony Hotel in Jerusalem, the highly respected president of Al-Quds University - and cosignatory of "The People’s Choice" [see box below], a peace plan that he formulated with former Shin Bet chief Ami Ayalon - told me he wouldn’t be surprised if one of the Palestinian residents of the city ran for mayor in the municipal elections in November. The candidate would not run as a representative of Jerusalem per se, Nusseibeh stressed. Rather, he would be running on behalf of all Palestinians in the occupied territories. "Why don’t you do it?" I blurt out. The 59-year-old son of Anwar Nusseibeh, a Jordanian government minister, does not smile. "It’s possible," says the professor of Islamic philosophy, who briefly replaced Faisal Husseini a few years ago as the top Palestinian official in East Jerusalem. "Anything is possible," he adds without batting an eyelid. Nusseibeh’s previous contention that the Oslo "house of cards" had begun to collapse was further confirmed by this week’s report in Haaretz regarding Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s latest peace offering (Israel would annex 7 percent of the West Bank and compensate the Palestinians with territory in the Negev, which would be equivalent to 5.5 percent of West Bank land; an agreement on the future of Jerusalem would be postponed to a later date; there would be no right of return for Palestinian refugees to Israel; and the entire plan would be implemented after Hamas is removed from power in the Gaza Strip. -- See also: The plan's terms Arrows in the quiver Hani Al-Masri, Al-Ahram Weekly 8/14/2008 The Palestinian premiership, while not without faults, has made valuable advances that should be built upon. The Badael (Alternatives) Centre for Media and Research recently organised a "horizon scanning" seminar with Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. Attended by dozens of politicians, scholars and media figures representing all shades of the political spectrum, the conference had essentially a two-fold purpose. This was, first, to assess the performance of the Fayyad government just over a year since its establishment, and second, to shed light on a number of the prime minister’s recent ideas and actions that reflect a new policy and perhaps a new outlook. Some claim that this meeting was a form of electoral campaign publicity even though Fayyad has declared that he has no intention of fielding himself in the next elections or accepting a new post. They also suggest it was a tactical gambit, an attempt to pre-empt some of the fallout of an impending economic crisis or a response to Israel’s flagrant bid to undermine the Fayyad government in spite of its having met all Palestinian obligations under the US roadmap plan. Media war and war on media Fadi Abu Sa'ada, Palestine News Network 7/31/2008 Our PNN Arabic Director wrote the following, a similar version of which appeared on Menassat.com Since Hamas’ takeover of the Gaza Strip in the summer of 2007, and one year after Hamas’ victory over the Fateh party in early parliamentary elections, the battle for the hearts and minds of Palestinians has been waged in the media. For over two years now, there has been a well-documented media war between the two rival political factions. A new media battle was ignited on the night of 25 July after three explosions, all targeting members of Hamas, killing six Palestinians, including a child, and wounding more than twenty. On 26 July the front pages of several newspapers and websites affiliated with the two movements pulled no punches in ascribing blame for what happened. Given that five of the dead where known to be from Hamas' armed resistance wing, the Al Qassam Brigades, the first salvos came from Hamas, which soundly accused Fateh of being the masterminds behind the bombings. 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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