My letter to CSMonitor RE "Talk to Hamas? Talk to Taliban? Thank the Arab Spring for those possibilities."

RE: Talk to Hamas? Talk to Taliban? Thank the Arab Spring for those possibilities.
http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/the-monitors-view/2012/0208/Talk-to-Hamas-Talk-to-Taliban-Thank-the-Arab-Spring-for-those-possibilities

Dear Editor,

I very much appreciated your editorial today "Talk to Hamas? Talk to Taliban? Thank the Arab Spring for those possibilities." Kudos to the Arab Spring and to all the many heroic and forward thinking Arabs who seek self-governance and dignity through peaceful means. I totally agree that empowering non-violence is crucial , as is valuing moderate, reasonable, intelligent, and compassionate people.

Hussein Ibish, Senior Research Fellow at The American Task Force on Palestine , a firm advocate of a fair and just negotiated settlement to once and for all end the Israel/Palestine conflict understands Islamists better than most, and he wisely points out the importance of "introducing inviolable constitutional principles protecting the rights of individuals, women and minorities."

However, even with that sage advice I am a quite wary about pushing the all-inclusive message too hard as I have noticed that extremists and hate mongers (in addition to radical Islamists) all like to piggy back on real struggles for real freedom, happily usurping momentum for a just cause in order to gain positive publicity, popularity and funds for their own self absorbed projects and careers. Even moderate Islamists might be a very risky investment because the potential for religious tyranny is always a very real danger, no matter which religion: Both Israel and Palestine's best chance is to let religion be a private matter, not a state funded project.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

NOTES
"Religious conservatism invariably focuses on social and sexual control. Women are the most immediate targets and primary focus of the authoritarianism of the religious right, wherever they may be. As Islamists seem to be finally getting their chance at gaining a share of power in the Arab world, the greatest and most immediate danger they pose is to women’s rights. That is why it is up to everyone else, including both secularists and religious moderates, to insist on the introduction of inviolable constitutional principles protecting the rights of individuals, women and minorities...Socially conservative Arab parties have a right to participate in government, but not to reduce women to second-class citizenship." Hussein Ibish

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Thank the Arab Spring for those possibilities...

"President Obama was smart not to follow the example of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who warned against the Hamas-Fatah reconciliation deal. If the United States is willing to talk to the Taliban – even to the point of dropping its preconditions – then Israel should leave a door open to the possibility that Hamas is slowly accepting Israel’s right to exist under a two-state solution. Hamas has already worked to curb attacks on Israel from Gaza..." CSMONITOR EDITORIAL BOARD

The Monitor's View

Talk to Hamas? Talk to Taliban? Thank the Arab Spring for those possibilities.

The Arab Spring's message of freedom through nonviolence has isolated Iran and Syria, helped elevate moderate Islamists, and pushed radical groups to weigh alternatives.

The Arab Spring’s main message – that young people seek self-governance and dignity through peaceful means – continues to bestow surprising gifts in the region. One is that radical Islamists are being forced to radically rethink their approach....READ MORE

[AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine]

"Our government should conduct its Middle East policy based on what's right, not what's in the best interest of Israel." ...LATimes letter writer

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http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/letters/

Letters to the editor

Re "Walled off and without recourse," Column One, Feb. 7

Two sides of Israel's fence

And this is the "only democracy in the Middle East"? Israel has many ways to rid itself of Palestinians; the separation barrier is only one of them.

I'm appalled. To think we've sent billions of dollars to Israel over the years, given it hoards of military armament and supported it unconditionally at the United Nations — not to mention the clear possibility of having to fight a war with Iran.

Our government should conduct its Middle East policy based on what's right, not what's in the best interest of Israel.

Lou Del Pozzo

Pacific Palisades

Reconciliation Between Fatah and Hamas

[AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ & view good cartoons: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine]
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/09/opinion/chappatte-cartoon-reconciliation-between-fatah-and-hamas.html?_r=1&ref=global

Patrick Chappatte is an editorial cartoonist for the International Herald Tribune. View more of his work, visit his Web site or follow him on Twitter.

"Surely the right to a fair trial and not to be mistreated in jail should not depend on what it is that someone is accused of..."

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Letters

Rights and protest in the Middle East

The press attache for the embassy of Israel claims Israel does not mistreat Palestinian child prisoners (Comment, 2 February). But he cannot refute reports of the mistreatment of teenage Palestinian prisoners (Special report, 23 January) or evidence presented by the international child rights organisation, Defence for Children International. Israeli and international human rights organisations, not only Palestinian ones, confirm that most child prisoners are detained for throwing stones. Others are accused of much more serious crimes, as the press attache says. But surely the right to a fair trial and not to be mistreated in jail should not depend on what it is that someone is accused of.

As for his reference to a "special juvenile court ... established to guarantee professional care for minors in detention", I have seen the reality first hand. An army court with children handcuffed together and kept in leg irons. I have raised what I have seen with the Israeli embassy. It says the shackling of Palestinian minors is in line with procedure. This mistreatment must stop.
Richard Burden MP
Lab, Birmingham Northfield

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/feb/07/rights-protest-middle-east
[AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine]

What could reconciliation mean for Hamas?

[AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine]

What could reconciliation mean for Hamas?

One of the primary motives for Fatah and Hamas's reconciliation is to strengthen the Palestinians' bid for statehood. As the Monitor reported in November, the UN Security Council committee that reviewed the Palestinian application for statehood specifically mentioned the Gaza-West Bank split as a problem.

But the Israeli-Palestinian peace process could be further hobbled if Hamas and Fatah succeed in their current efforts to reconcile and form a unity government. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu argues that until Hamas foreswears violence and recognizes Israel, there can be no talks with a government of which they are part. The US, which lists Hamas as a terrorist organization, is similarly opposed to negotiations with the group.

Hamas also sees reconciliation as an opportunity to take advantage of change being promulgated in the Arab Spring. Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesperson in the Gaza Strip, told the Monitor that "We believe that this result of the democratic process might mean full support for Palestinian rights and interest, now that [Arab governments’] hearts are with the people."

But some warn that Hamas is misreading the direction the change is going. "It is an Islamic Spring, but it's not an Islamic Spring Hamas thinks about," says Mohammed Dejani, a political science professor at Al Quds University. "There has been a religious revival, but in a sense of moderation and not in a sense of religious fundamentalism."

Who is Hamas? 5 questions about the Palestinian militant group.

The Palestinian militant group Hamas has agreed to form a unity government led by Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority and head of rival Palestinian faction Fatah. But who is Hamas? What is their relationship with Fatah, and what might Hamas gain from reconciling with them?

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2012/0207/Who-is-Hamas-5-questions-about-the-Palestinian-militant-group/What-could-reconciliation-mean-for-Hamas

[Palestinian] Neighborhood pays price of being on wrong side of Israel's wall

"No hospital in the developed world would be expected to operate without telephone service," [Al-Quds Maternity Hospital hospital administrator Helmi Barak] Barak said. "Is this Africa? We pay taxes and are regulated by Israel's Ministry of Health. Shouldn't we get the same basic services? I don't understand how they can provide electricity to army outposts all over the West Bank but not telephone service to Jerusalem."

"This isn't about security," said Ziad Hammouri, director of the Jerusalem Center for Social and Economic Rights. "It's about demographics and the Judaization of East Jerusalem."
Israel’s separation barrier has left residents of neighborhoods such as Kafr Aqab cut off from most public services, even though they live within Jerusalem’s city limits, hold residency cards and pay city taxes. (Kevin Frayer / Associated Press / February 8, 2004)

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-jerusalem-barrier-20120207,0,4118563.story

Kafr Aqab, in the northern corner of East Jerusalem, is one of the largest, most isolated neighborhoods, with an estimated 20,000 residents. Once seen as an upscale Palestinian area, Kafr Aqab today is one of the worst slums in Jerusalem.

There are no police officers, nor is there mail service. The only hospital is a maternity clinic. Trash is piled up along narrow roads with deep potholes. There's only one traffic light at the busy main intersection, but it broke years ago, residents say, and was never repaired.

Unauthorized midrise construction is exploding because city inspectors almost never visit. Falling bricks from one building project recently forced a neighboring elementary school to seal off part of its playground so students wouldn't be hit by debris.

Many families with enough money to move have relocated to other parts of East Jerusalem not cut off by the wall. They've left behind a neighborhood increasingly beset by poverty and crime.

In the security vacuum, residents try to maintain order themselves, relying on local elders and powerful families to resolve disputes.... READ MORE

[AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine]