"Palestinian Authority’s woes are a problem for US, Israel" October 01, 2012
On Thursday, speaking before the UN General Assembly, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas renewed his call for recognition as a state. The United States and Israel oppose the move, because it would allow the Palestinians to use the UN system to further their cause, rather than negotiatiate with Israel....
Wasn't that how Israel was founded?
Notably, Israel itself wants to avoid the Palestinian Authority’s collapse. Since its creation by the Oslo Accords in 1993, the Palestinian Authority has taken over much of the heavy lifting of governing Palestinians in the West Bank, including reining in protests and arresting terror suspects. Israeli deaths from Palestinian terrorism have declined steadily, even as attacks by Israeli settlers on both Palestinians and the Israeli military have dramatically risen.
And yet I so rarely see the term Zionist militants in my paper.
Six Zionist Companies Own 96% of the World's Media
Declassified: Massive Israeli manipulation of US media exposed
Wasn't that how Israel was founded?
Notably, Israel itself wants to avoid the Palestinian Authority’s collapse. Since its creation by the Oslo Accords in 1993, the Palestinian Authority has taken over much of the heavy lifting of governing Palestinians in the West Bank, including reining in protests and arresting terror suspects. Israeli deaths from Palestinian terrorism have declined steadily, even as attacks by Israeli settlers on both Palestinians and the Israeli military have dramatically risen.
And yet I so rarely see the term Zionist militants in my paper.
Six Zionist Companies Own 96% of the World's Media
Declassified: Massive Israeli manipulation of US media exposed
Oh, yeah, right.
But so far, the Palestinian Authority has little to show for its cooperation with Israel. Settlements continue to expand on land that Palestinians hoped would become their state. In the Arab neighborhoods of East Jerusalem, where Palestinians hoped to build their capital, settler groups are building housing and institutions for Jewish Israelis in an attempt to prevent it from becoming part of a future Palestinian state.
Abbas’s West Bank could have provided a vibrant, prosperous contrast to life in the Gaza Strip, which is ruled by Hamas, a militant group that advocates violence against Israel.
That's a LIE! They have been abiding by a unilateral truce despite occasional Israeli provocations.
Instead, economic growth in the West Bank continues to be stymied by restrictions on the movement of Palestinian goods and people. Area C — the largest and most fertile part of the West Bank — remains under complete Israeli control, and Palestinians are not allowed to build factories, mines, or farms there without permission. Private investment will never flow freely under such restrictions.
Even so, Israel should be commended for taking steps to prevent the Palestinian Authority’s financial collapse. The Israeli government, which controls all borders, has offered advances on customs duties that it collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority. It has also issued thousands of additional permits allowing Palestinians to work in Israel and approved new infrastructure projects in Area C.
Yeah, Israel should be commended for giving the Palestinians their own money.
But now frustration is running so high that some Palestinians are calling for the body to be dissolved, which would make Israel financially responsible for the well-being of Palestinians in the West Bank. Such voices should be careful what they wish for. That would be a terrible step backward.
I wonder how many millions Israel has given the Globe.
But Israelis who are holding out for Israel to permanently control as much territory as possible — including East Jerusalem and Area C — should also be careful what they wish for. If current trends continue, whatever land is left to form a Palestinian state will be too small and too poor to be viable.
ALREADY IS!
Then Israel will be forced to choose between remaining a democracy — giving equal rights to millions of Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza — and retaining its Jewish majority.
Supremacism is okay in select circumstances.
That’s an existential decision that no Israeli government wants to make.
A final solution!
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"Israeli minister wants Palestinian leader’s ouster" by Ian Deitch | Associated Press, August 23, 2012
JERUSALEM — Israel’s foreign minister urged the international community to help oust Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose policies he called an obstacle to peace, in a letter released Wednesday.
Avigdor Lieberman wrote to the Quartet of Mideast mediators — the United States, the United Nations, the European Union, and Russia — this week calling for new elections in the Palestinian Authority to replace Abbas, accusing the Palestinian Authority of being ‘‘a despotic government riddled with corruption.’’
Instead it is Lieberman who has been ousted.
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Elections for new Palestinian leadership were scheduled for 2010, but have repeatedly been delayed because of the bitter dispute between Abbas’s Fatah and the militant Hamas, bitter rivals that had a violent falling-out in 2007 and now separately govern the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel also sought to quickly disassociate himself from the letter.
‘‘While Abbas has created difficulties for restarting negotiations, the government of Israel remains committed to continuing efforts to restart a dialogue with the Palestinians,’’ said an official in the prime minister’s office who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
Lieberman, who leads a hard-line party in Israel, is known for inflammatory rhetoric that has at times agitated his partners in government.
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Related:
Palestinians to seek UN recognition
Palestinian head hints he would waive right of return
That will put him in hot water with his own people.
"France to back Palestinians at UN; Critics contend move endangers Mideast process" by Christine Hauser and Scott Sayare | New York Times, November 28, 2012
PARIS — France will vote in favor of the Palestinians’ request to heighten their profile at the United Nations, its foreign minister told Parliament on Tuesday, embracing a move that Israel and the United States oppose.
The support of France, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, is the most significant boost to date for the Palestinians’ hopes to be granted nonmember observer status and thus greater international recognition. Russia and China, two other permanent members, have also thrown their support behind the Palestinian bid.
The French support appeared calculated to strengthen the position of the Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, whose party governs the West Bank, after fighting with Israel in the Gaza Strip this month that left Hamas, the Islamic militant organization that oversees Gaza, ascendant.
The announcement is a blow to Israel, whose diplomats have been working feverishly to try to ensure what they call a ‘‘moral majority’’ in the UN vote, meaning that even if a majority of nations vote in favor of the Palestinian bid, the major world powers would not....
More like an immoral majority.
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"Israel downplays Palestinian UN bid" by Isabel Kershner | New York Times, November 29, 2012
JERUSALEM — Israel engaged in damage control on Wednesday....
Israeli officials began to play down the significance of a draft resolution that calls for the upgrading of the Palestinian status from observer to nonmember observer state — a move also opposed by the United States. Israel has also toned down its threats of countermeasures after the vote in the General Assembly, which is virtually certain to pass, aware that a harsh reaction would only isolate it further.
Israel isolated? What?
‘‘The United Nations General Assembly will pass a one-sided anti-Israel resolution that should come as a surprise to nobody, and certainly not to anyone in Israel,’’ said Mark Regev, an Israeli government spokesman. ‘‘We always said that the reality was that the Palestinians have an automatic majority in the General Assembly.’’
The Palestinians only want what the U.N. gave you. I can see why Israel is isolated. What assholes.
While Regev acknowledged ‘‘a certain amount of disappointment’’ over the decision of some friendly European countries to support the Palestinians or abstain from the vote, he said: ‘‘Ultimately what we will see at the United Nations is diplomatic theater. It will in no way affect the realities on the ground.’’
Israel’s response, he said, will be ‘‘proportionate’’ to how the Palestinians act after the vote.
At first, Israel had hoped to deter the Palestinians from pursuing a vote....
When that effort failed, Israel focused on ensuring that even if a majority of nations voted in favor of the Palestinian bid, the major world powers and most European countries would not.
But....
Israelis and Palestinians agree on one thing: support for the Palestinian bid grew as a result of the recent fighting in the Gaza Strip between Israel and Hamas, the Islamic militant group that oversees Gaza, which elevated Hamas’s stature among Palestinians at the expense of that of Mahmoud Abbas, the moderate president of the Palestinian Authority, which controls the West Bank.
Cast Lead II backfired, and the Zionist tool Abass was already on the outs!
‘‘Before the military confrontation there were several European countries willing to oppose the resolution,’’ said Oded Eran, a former Israeli ambassador to the European Union. The new support, he said, is meant ‘‘to give Abbas a moral victory over Hamas in the contest between violence and diplomacy.’’
Did he just try to turn a loss into a win?
Husam Zumlot, a Palestinian official who has been active in lobbying in Europe, said more countries had decided ‘‘to support the diplomatic horizon and not the military-security approach that they see leads nowhere.’’
Israel has argued that the Palestinian move is a unilateral action that violates peace accords and that a vote for the resolution — which, according to the draft, ‘‘reaffirms the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and to independence in their state of Palestine on the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967’’ — will make it harder to negotiate a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
But looking at a resounding defeat in the General Assembly, Israeli representatives are increasingly describing the bid for enhanced status as meaningless.
‘‘Other than symbolic value for the Palestinians,’’ said Yigal Palmor, the spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry, ‘‘it may give them some procedural advantages, such as access within the United Nations system to some things, but that’s it.”
Yeah, they could pursue Israel for war crimes in the International Criminal Court.
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"Palestinian state makes inroads"by Ethan Bronner and Christine Hauser | New York Times, November 30, 2012
UNITED NATIONS — The General Assembly vote — 138 countries in favor, nine opposed, and 41 abstaining — showed impressive backing for the Palestinians at a difficult time. It was taken on the 65th anniversary of the vote to divide the former British mandate of Palestine into two states, one Jewish and one Arab, a vote Israel considers the international seal of approval for its birth....
Related: 65 Years (and Six Days) of Catastrophe
The Israelis say that the fact that President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority is not welcome in Gaza, the Palestinian coastal enclave run by Hamas, from which he was ejected five years ago, shows that there is no viable Palestinian leadership living up to its obligations now.
And who benefits with no one to talk to?
The vote won backing from a number of European countries and was a rebuff to intense US and Israeli diplomacy.
Translation: the WORLD is FED UP with USrael!
France, Spain, Italy, and Switzerland all voted yes. Britain and Germany abstained. Apart from Canada, no major country joined the United States and Israel in voting no.
Susan E. Rice, the US ambassador to the UN, was dismissive of the entire exercise. ‘‘Today’s grand pronouncements will soon fade,’’ she said. ‘‘And the Palestinian people will wake up tomorrow and find that little about their lives has changed.’’
I expected that last part anyway, but look at your new NSA adviser! Rice must be hanging out with Israelis too much because the arrogance rubbed off.
A major concern for the Americans is that Palestinians may use their new status to try to join the International Criminal Court. That prospect particularly worries the Israelis, who fear that the Palestinians may press for an investigation of their practices in the occupied territories widely viewed as violations of international law.
So it isn't exactly nothing despite the Israeli pooh-poohing.
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Related: US should seek a compromise with Abbas on UN resolution
Why would Abass want to compromise?
"Palestinian president returns triumphantly from UN" by Dalia Nammari | Associated Press, December 03, 2012
RAMALLAH, West Bank — The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, returned triumphantly to the West Bank on Sunday, receiving a boisterous welcome from thousands of cheering supporters at a rally celebrating his people’s new recognition by the United Nations.
An Israeli decision to cut off a cash transfer to the financially troubled Palestinian Authority, which followed an earlier decision to build thousands of new homes in Jewish settlements, failed to put a damper on the celebrations.
But Palestinian officials acknowledged they were undecided on what to do with their newfound status and were waiting for upcoming Israeli elections and new ideas from President Obama before deciding how to proceed.
See: Israeli Politics
Outside the headquarters of Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah, some 5,000 people thronged a square, hoisted Palestinian flags and cheered their leader’s return from New York. Large posters of the Palestinian leader, whose popularity had plummeted in recent months, adorned nearby buildings....
The move to upgrade the Palestinians to a nonmember observer state does not change much on the ground, but it carries deep potential significance. The vote amounted to an international endorsement of the Palestinian position on future border arrangements with Israel and an overwhelming condemnation of Israeli settlements in the areas claimed by the Palestinians.
It was!
Israel, backed by the United States, campaigned strongly against the statehood measure, accusing the Palestinians of trying to bypass direct peace negotiations, which it said were the only viable path to a Palestinian state. The Israeli lobbying efforts failed miserably. Just eight other countries voted with Israel, and even its closest allies in Europe, including Germany, Italy, France, and Britain, either abstained or voted with the Palestinians.
Israel responded strongly and swiftly. The following day, it said it would start drawing up plans to build thousands of settlement homes, including the first-ever development on a crucial corridor east of Jerusalem.
See: Settling on This Post
Building in the area would sever the link between the West Bank and East Jerusalem, the sector of the holy city the Palestinians claim for a future capital, and cut off the northern part of the West Bank form its southern flank....
Israel also continues to restrict access to Gaza. Israel withdrew seven years ago from the coastal strip, and it is now ruled by Hamas militants who regularly fire rockets at Israel.
Well, not regularly, but you know whose message is being promoted by my paper.
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"Rift widens between Israel and European allies" by Isabel Kershner | New York Times, December 04, 2012
JERUSALEM — Britain, France, Spain, Sweden, and Denmark summoned the Israeli ambassadors to their countries Monday to protest Israel’s plans for increased settlement construction, an unusually sharp diplomatic step that reflected the growing frustration abroad with Israel’s policies on the Palestinian issue.
But nothing is ever done, no sanctions, no intervention, nothing.
After the General Assembly voted overwhelmingly last week to upgrade the status of the Palestinians at the United Nations, Israel announced plans for 3,000 more housing units in contested areas east of Jerusalem and around the West Bank.
Israel raised particular alarms with its decision to continue planning and zoning work for the development of a contentious area known as E1, a project vehemently opposed internationally because it would partly separate the northern and southern West Bank, harming the prospects of a contiguous Palestinian state in that territory.
The Obama administration also harshly criticized Israel, its most important Mideast ally, over the planned construction....
Related: Obama's Trip to Israel
Criticism must have gotten lost.
Yet, Israel remained resolute. Prime Minister Bejamin Netanyahu’s office issued a statement Monday, saying, ‘‘Israel will continue to stand for its essential interests, even in the face of international pressure, and there will be no change in the decision it has taken.’’
The settlement decision raised questions in Israel about whether the country’s leaders were putting domestic political interests ahead of its foreign relations, with Israeli elections scheduled for late January.
‘‘Bibi had to do something’’ in response to the UN vote, said professor Shmuel Sandler of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan University, referring to Netanyahu by his nickname, ‘‘first because he is Bibi and second because of the elections.’’
Sandler said that Netanyahu, a conservative, was making the mistake of competing against those further to his right, adding, ‘‘But I don’t think he expected such a reaction’’ internationally.
A press officer for UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement Sunday that construction in E1 ‘‘would represent an almost fatal blow to remaining chances of securing a two-state solution.’’
European countries long opposed to Israeli settlement construction went beyond their usual statements of condemnation.
The countries that called in the Israeli ambassadors ‘‘expressed their strong protests about the announced settlement plans,’’ said Yigal Palmor, the spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry.
Palmor said that the Israeli ambassadors told their hosts that Israel has been warning for months that the Palestinian bid at the United Nations would not go unanswered and would have implications....
France, Spain, Sweden, and Denmark voted for the Palestinian upgrade, while Britain abstained. Although Israel had expected the resolution to pass, officials here expressed disappointment over the lack of support from several friendly European nations. Israel was particularly surprised by Germany’s decision to abstain in the vote, having expected Germany to go with Israel.
Germany finally shedding the guilt trip?
Netanyahu is scheduled to visit Germany this week. Despite the so-called special relationship between Israel and Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel has not minced words about her opposition to Israeli settlement construction in the past....
Then she must be a Nazi!
The British Foreign Office said it deplored the Israeli settlement plans and that it had called on the Israeli government to reverse the decision.
But Israeli officials denied that the government’s policies were isolating Israel.
He didn't see the vote? Nothing like Jewish self-delusion.
‘‘It is well known that Europe and Israel have a different approach on settlements,’’ said one Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity. ‘‘There is nothing new here. If European countries would have behaved differently in their vote at the United Nations last week,’’ he continued, ‘‘we may have reacted differently.’’
Translation: the aid money continues to flow.
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"Palestinians say they may join war crimes court; Israel concerned it would be the target of charges" by Josef Federman and Mike Corder | Associated Press, December 05, 2012
JERUSALEM — Days after winning upgraded status at the United Nations, the Palestinians are threatening to join the world’s first permanent war crimes court and pursue charges against the Israelis.
Although the Palestinians say any decision is a long way off, the threat has unnerved Israel. But pressing a case might not be so simple and could potentially leave the Palestinians vulnerable to prosecution.
Yeah, war crimes charges are now a threat.
Since winning recognition as a nonmember observer state in the United Nations General Assembly last week, the Palestinians believe they now qualify for membership in the International Criminal Court.
In opposing the Palestinian bid at the UN, Israel repeatedly cited Palestinian threats to turn to the International Criminal Court to prosecute Israeli officials for a variety of alleged crimes, ranging from actions by the Israeli military to Israel’s construction of Jewish settlements on occupied land.
While Israel does not recognize the court’s jurisdiction and believes its own actions do not violate international law, officials are concerned that legal action could embarrass Israel, make it difficult for Israeli officials to travel overseas, or portray the country as a pariah state. A war crimes conviction can include fines and maximum penalties of life in prison.
Look at all this concern about image! Sorry, but the MASK CAME OFF LONG AGO!
With this in mind, a senior Palestinian official, Nabil Shaath, spoke of possible International Criminal Court action over Israel’s tough response to the UN bid. Israel immediately cut off $100 million in tax transfers to the Palestinians and announced plans to build thousands of new houses in West Bank settlements.
That is ALSO a CRIME because that is PALESTINIAN MONEY that Israel so generously collects on their behalf -- as if Palestinians are somehow incapable of collecting taxes for themselves.
‘‘By continuing these war crimes of settlement activities on our lands and stealing our money, Israel is pushing and forcing us to go to the ICC,’’ Shaath said late Monday.
On the surface, the Palestinians appear to have a strong case against Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The Palestinians claim the two areas, as well as the Gaza Strip, for their future state.
The UN resolution last week recognized a Palestinian state in all three territories, captured by Israel in the 1967 war. Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005 but continues to control access in and out of the area.
The UN resolution appeared to repudiate the Israeli position that the West Bank and East Jerusalem are disputed territories and effectively condemned Israeli settlements in the areas, which are now home to some 500,000 Israelis. Settlements are at the heart of the current four-year deadlock in peace efforts, with the Palestinians refusing to negotiate while Israel continues to build more settler housing.
The International Criminal Court’s founding charter describes ‘‘the transfer, directly or indirectly, by the Occupying Power of parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies’’ as a war crime.
The Palestinian position on settlements has widespread international support. The international community, even Israel’s closest ally, the United States, has broadly condemned the latest planned settlement construction.
But they are not isolated.
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PA looks like its in disarray:
"Palestinian prime minister quits
"Palestinians left in disarray by ouster; Prime minister leaves a vacuum at delicate time" by Isabel Kershner | New York Times, April 15, 2013
JERUSALEM — Salam Fayyad, the internationally respected Palestinian politician and economist, is widely credited for ending the chaos in the West Bank and putting things in order in his six years as prime minister.
But his resignation over the weekend, the result of internal power struggles, has left the Palestinian Authority suspended in political ambiguity and confusion.
Analysts said Sunday that by accepting Fayyad’s resignation, the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, has put himself in a political bind just as the Obama administration has been trying to restart long-stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
That, many Palestinians say, is because the vacuum created by Fayyad’s resignation presents an opportunity for renewed reconciliation efforts between Abbas’s Fatah party and its bitter rival, Hamas, the Islamic militant group that controls Gaza.
Oh, GOOD!
While healing the rift would be a popular course of action among Palestinians, it could complicate peace efforts and cause some Western donor nations to consider withholding much-needed funds, fearing that they could be used by Hamas.
Hamas is classified as a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States, and the European Union.
Under previous accords with Hamas, Abbas had agreed to lead an interim government as prime minister in preparation for long-overdue elections in the West Bank and Gaza, and might do so now.
‘‘My preferred path of action is that the president will form an independent and technocratic government for 90 days, then we will go to elections,’’ said Saeb Erekat, a senior Fatah official and an aide to Abbas. In that case, Fayyad would remain a caretaker prime minister while the consultations took place, Erekat said, adding: ‘‘How long will it take? Nobody knows.’’
Munib al-Masri, a West Bank industrialist who has promoted Palestinian reconciliation, said: ‘‘We hope the president will form the government and will hold elections as quickly as possible. This is what everybody is expecting. Without ending the division, we do not have a country.’’
Israel opposes reconciliation between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas as long as the Islamist group refuses to recognize Israel’s right to exist and will not renounce violence.
Hamas will recognize Israel once a deal has been negotiated and Palestinians approve it in a referendum. It's called initial bargaining position.
‘‘We have always said that if the Palestinian Authority moves towards Hamas, it is moving away from peace and reconciliation with Israel,’’ an Israeli official said on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss internal Palestinian affairs publicly.
And cui bono?
Palestinian analysts said that in any case, real reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas seems a long way off and that Hamas is not likely to commit to a date for elections or to a common policy with Abbas.
And who benefits from the status quo? Who always seems to add a new wrinkle just before talks?
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"Hamas reelects longtime leader to another four years; Mashaal is key in attempt to break political isolation" by Sarah El Deeb | Associated Press, April 02, 2013
CAIRO — Hamas on Monday reelected longtime leader Khaled Mashaal, capping a year of secret internal elections, officials in the Islamic militant group said.
The Qatar-based Mashaal, 56, is a veteran politician with close ties to regional powers Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey. He has been key to Hamas’s attempts to break out of its political isolation after its violent takeover of Gaza in 2007.
It wasn't a takeover, they won elections, and the violence was repelling a coup attempt. Hope you see why I'm sick =of the Jewish perspective being passed off as news.
Mashaal’s reelection could revive stalled reconciliation efforts between Hamas and political rival Mahmoud Abbas, the Western-backed Palestinian president.
The Hamas takeover of Gaza left Abbas with only parts of the West Bank, and the rival camps have become increasingly entrenched in their respective territories since 2007.
Two Hamas officials said Mashaal ran unopposed and was reelected by a majority in the movement’s Shura Council, which is believed to have about 60 members. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the secret procedure.
Hamas began holding internal elections a year ago, a secretive process spread over several countries, shrouded in mystery, and beset by logistics problems.
Hamas has four components — activists in Gaza, in the West Bank, in exile, and those imprisoned by Israel. Each of the four groups chooses local leaders as well as delegates to the Shura Council. This council selects a decision-making political bureau and the head of that body — the stage that was wrapped up in Cairo on Monday.
The Hamas leaders in the Gaza Strip have made a series of moves aimed at enforcing an Islamic lifestyle there.
On Monday, they issued a new education law requiring a more rigid separation of sexes in Gaza schools.
The new rules call for the segregation of boys and girls from the age of 9, and prohibit male staff members from working at girls’ schools. They also prohibit exchange programs with Israelis.
Maybe it was the bombings. What was Hamas doing in an exchange program with Israelis in the first place if.... ??????
Mashaal, 56, is seen as a member of the more pragmatic wing of Hamas, in connection with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
He and others in Hamas insist the movement will not recognize Israel and renounce violence — Western conditions for dealing with Hamas.
He has suggested he could accept a Palestinian state alongside Israel, though he has not said if such a state would end the conflict, or only be an interim step to an Islamic state in all of historic Palestine, including what is now Israel.
Mashaal has also come out in support of so-called popular resistance against Israeli occupation, a term Palestinians used for marches and stone-throwing protests. In the past, Hamas gunmen and suicide bombers have killed hundreds of Israelis in attacks.
And how many Palestinians have been killed by Israeli weapons?
Mashaal pushed for reconciliation with Abbas in his previous term, but was blocked by Hamas hard-liners in Gaza who fear a unity deal will give Abbas a new foothold in Gaza and weaken Hamas’s grip on the territory.
Even thought they are GAINING in popularity?
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Related: Fatah’s rally hints at unity effort with Hamas
That was a long time ago, and nothing since.
