Saturday, October 1, 2011
The Cloud
"Since there are more ordinary people in the world than there are businesses, and since there’s nothing that ordinary people don’t want or need, or can’t be persuaded they want or need when it flashes up alluringly on their screens, the money to be made from them is virtually limitless." Daniel Soar http://www.lrb.co.uk/v33/n19/daniel-soar/it-knows
Friday, September 30, 2011
What Impact Will Anwar Al-Awlaki's Death Have In The West?
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/09/what_impact_will_anwar_al-awlakis_death_have_in_the_west.php
The death of Anwar al-Awlaki, an American-born cleric linked to al Qaeda's operations in Yemen, is likely to impact American Arabs and Muslims in positive fashion, according to Dr. Hussein Ibish, former communications director for the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Commitee.
The death of Anwar al-Awlaki, an American-born cleric linked to al Qaeda's operations in Yemen, is likely to impact American Arabs and Muslims in positive fashion, according to Dr. Hussein Ibish, former communications director for the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Commitee.
Al-Awlaki, who was killed in Yemen on Friday, was one of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula's influential English-speakers, and part of its propaganda machine. Al-Alwaki was also implicated in a number of attacks on American soil. Before September 11, he was a preacher in a mosque outside Washington D.C. -- and some of the hijackers are said to have attended that same mosque in the days before the attacks.
According to Dr. Hussein Ibish, who is now a senior research fellow at the American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP), because he was American and because of his influence, al-Awlaki created "fodder" for Islamophobes in the U.S... READ MOREWhere Do We Go from Here? Five things that Palestine could do to push forward the quest for statehood.
Hussein Ibish: "If they play their cards right, Palestinian leaders will have made the moral case for their statehood, demonstrated that they do have options outside the established peace process, and secured new diplomatic leverage and political capital at home. But if they mishandle diplomacy in the coming weeks and months, they could face a very dangerous crisis in relations with the West, and especially with the United States, which they can ill afford."
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/09/30/palestinian_statehood_un_where_do_we_go?page=full
In a perfunctory meeting on Wednesday morning, Sept. 28, as expected, and per its usual procedure for dealing with would-be new United Nations members since the late 1960s, the Security Council referred the Palestinian application to one of its standing committees. The committee -- which meets and votes in secret and requires unanimity to refer the matter back to the Security Council -- is scheduled to begin considering the application on Friday morning. The membership process usually takes weeks, but can take only days (as with the most recent U.N. member, South Sudan) or years (as in the case of Kuwait). Neither the committee nor the Security Council is under any specific obligation to act on the request in a limited time frame, so the process theoretically could drag on indefinitely....READ MOREMost in International Community Persuaded to ‘Actualize Endgame of Two-State Solution’, Now up to Security Council, Palestinian Rights Committee Told
Committee on the Inalienable Rights
of the Palestinian People
335th Meeting (AM)
Most in International Community Persuaded to ‘Actualize Endgame of Two-State Solution’, Now up to Security Council, Palestinian Rights Committee Told
Secretary-General’s Swift Transfer of Bid to Council Means It Was Impeccable, Says Palestine’s Observer, Proclaiming Palestinians Ready to Govern Themselves
Following the historic submission on 23 September of the application of Palestine for admission to membership in the United Nations, it was time for the natural, historic and legal right of the Palestinians to join the community of nations to be granted, Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer of Palestine to the United Nations, told the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People today.
“The application ushered in the beginning of the Palestinian Spring,” Mr. Mansour said, underlining that it was a peaceful but clear statement that the Palestinian people could no longer tolerate occupation. “Occupation has to end now. This is the time for our independence. This is the time for our membership.”
He said that the application was based on the widespread recognition that the Palestinians’ successful two-year State-building programme received from the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the United Nations and others, as well as the assessment by the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee in Brussels in June and in September in New York that “we are ready to govern ourselves”.
In an indication that the application was “impeccable,” he said United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, within an hour of receiving it, had passed it on to the President of the Security Council. The application, in turn, had been immediately distributed to Council members, and, in a unanimous action on 28 September, the Council had moved both to include the application on its agenda and to refer it to its Committee on the Admission of New Members. Furthermore, the Council was holding informal talks right now on Palestine’s membership application.
“We hope the Security Council will shoulder its responsibility and will not deny us,” Mr. Mansour said, arguing that by convincing 129 countries to “invest in peace” by recognizing Palestine — and with two additional countries set to announce their recognition in the coming days — the Palestinians had persuaded a majority of the international community “to actualize the endgame of the two-State solution”.
He said that, while one very powerful country in the Council had assured the Palestinians both in open and closed meetings that it would wield its veto to prevent Palestine’s full membership, everything must be done to expand the number of Council members favouring it. At this point, the Palestinians were not dwelling on any alternate path through the General Assembly and would only consider such a route if events dictated they must.
Turning to the statement issued on 23 September by theMiddle East Quartet ( United Nations, Russian Federation, United States and European Union), he said the Palestinian leadership’s response amounted neither to enthusiastic support nor enthusiastic rejection. Despite many vague statements that required clarification, the Quartet statement included elements that could be expanded on. However, the Palestinian Authority had made clear that, accepting the principle of land swaps, the 1967 borders were the basis for their negotiating terms, and a full settlement freeze was required for talks to take place. If paragraph 5 of the Quartet’s statement referred to those terms — and if the Israelis accepted that understanding — there was a possibility for negotiations.
Unfortunately, however, the Israeli Government responded to the statement, not in words, but in deeds, authorizing the construction of 1,100 houses. He stressed that this answer was a rejection of the Quartet statement, as well as of the Road Map, which also required a settlement freeze. “They are closing the doors and windows of negotiations before the possibility of taking the first step,” he said, underscoring that the Palestinian Authority would not relent on the issue and that the international community must find collective ways to force Israel to abide by international law.
Earlier, Committee Chairman Abdou Salam Diallo ( Senegal) outlined recent developments since the Committee’s last meeting on 27 July, noting that the Israeli Government had accelerated its settlement expansion into the West Bank and East Jerusalem. On 4 August, it approved the construction of 900 new homes in the “Har Homa” settlement, while on 11 August, final approval was given for 1,600 new homes in the “Ramat Shlomo” settlement. Further authorizations were also granted for 277 new homes in the “Ariel” settlement and for 110 new homes in the “Beit Aryeh” settlement. Most recently, on 27 September, 1,100 new homes were approved in the “Gilo” settlement.
Among other activities, he said Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs B. Lynn Pascoe briefed the Security Council on 25 August and 27 September. He noted that during the reporting period, Palestine had been recognized as a State by El Salvador, Honduras, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Belize.
In other developments, he drew attention to the controversy created over the report of the Panel of Inquiry on the 31 May 2010 flotilla incident. The report, which was submitted to the Secretary-General on 2 September, was criticized by a group of five independent United Nations human rights experts, among many others, in particular, for the conclusion that Israel’s naval blockade of the Gaza Strip was legal.
Introducing the Palestinian Rights Committee’s draft report to the General Assembly and outlining it chapter by chapter, Rapporteur Saviour F. Borg said Israeli settlement activities were “inimical” to the peace process and contravened international law, Security Council and General Assembly resolutions, and the Road Map. In the Committee’s view, further progress required the dismantlement of the Israeli occupation and its associated settlements, which had intensified. The Committee recommended that international meetings in 2012 focus on widening support for Palestine’s right to self-determination, strengthening support for permanent status negotiations and ending all illegal Israeli practices in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
He said the Committee would convene a meeting on the role of youth to resolve the question of Palestine, and would pay particular attention to the empowerment of women and their organizations to help end incitement on both sides. The Committee also strongly recommended continuation and enhancement of the annual training for Palestinian Authority staff by the Division for Palestinian Rights, and requested that continued attention be given to development of the “Question of Palestine” website and use of new technology and social media. Finally, the Committee requested continuation of the Department of Public Information’s special programme on the question of Palestine, which made an important contribution.
Before the Committee adopted the draft report, to be presented to the General Assembly in November, the representatives of South Africa and Cuba proposed that its recommendations should positively support Palestine’s recent request for United Nations membership. Cuba’s representative proposed that the report’s recommendations express the Committee’s desire for the Security Council to favourably consider that request. Following Mr. Mansour’s expression of support for those proposals, the Rapporteur invited South Africa and Cuba to submit a written formulation of those additional recommendations to the Bureau for examination and possible inclusion in the draft report.
In other business, the Chair said the annual training programme for Palestinian Authority staff had started on 12 September, welcoming Jumana El-Ghoul and Bassam Qawasmeh, First Secretaries in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah. He also recalled that the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People would be observed on 29 November, at which time the Assembly would consider the item on the question of Palestine.
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For information media • not an official record
Why Jeff Goldberg is Wrong about Mearsheimer--Again | Stephen M. Walt
Ever since John Mearsheimer and I began writing about the Israel lobby, some of our critics have leveled various personal charges against us. These attacks rarely addressed the substance of what we wrote -- a tacit concession that both facts and logic were on our side -- but instead accused us of being anti-Semites and conspiracy theorists. They used these false charges to try to discredit and/or marginalize us, and to distract people from the important issues of U.S. Middle East policy that we had raised...READ MORE
Committed art radiates hope
Work by Abdul Hay Musallam on display at the Jordanian Plastic Artists’ Association in Jabal Luweibdeh (Photo by Mohammed Abo-Afefa)http://www.jordantimes.com/index.php?news=12206
Committed art radiates hopeBy Sally Bland
Abdul Hay Musallam has become known for his depictions of Palestinian heritage and pre-1948 village life, and these elements are present in the exhibition of his works titled “Art and the Cause”, which opened November 12 at the Jordanian Plastic Artists’ Association in Jabal Luweibdeh. But the real focus is elsewhere, for the works on display all have a political thrust. They are the artist’s response to recent and historical events affecting the Palestinian cause.
Two opposing currents are apparent in Musallam’s reliefs now on display at the Jordanian Plastic Artists’ Association. One is the recurring Israeli drive to eliminate the Palestinian people. The other is the Palestinians’ persistent efforts to defend themselves and recover their lost rights and homeland.
The power and detail with which these opposing trends are depicted - often face-to-face in the same work - is impressive. There are several reliefs commemorating massacres, starting with the one inflicted on Musallam’s home village, Duwaymeh, in 1948. Yet, however severe the attack, Musallem adds a sign of resistance, a sprig of hope for the future. A striking example of this is the relief showing the massacre in Jenin, where a small group of militants remain standing on a mound of dead bodies still trying to defend their camp.
Of the 23 exhibited works, some will be familiar to those who know Musallam’s work, while others are entirely new. A few are in muted green, brown or reddish earth tones, but most are brightly painted in primary colours - a virtual celebration of Palestinian traditional culture which has become Musallam’s signature, forming the backdrop to the events portrayed. His works are unmistakable. Who else would paint every stitch of the embroidery pattern on a woman’s thob and sometimes even the tattoos on her chin or forehead?
The intricacy of the design defies that simplicity of the media, for all of the exhibited works follow Musallam’s special recipe for mixed media. Combining sawdust and glue into a paste, he moulds his figures onto a slab of wood, creating a relief, which he then paints, often in minute detail.
Many of the pieces honour martyrs. One of them, titled “A Dove from America in Rafah”, is dedicated to Rachel Corrie, who was crushed to death by an Israeli bulldozer while trying to prevent a house demolition. She appears as a dove cloaked in a Palestinian kofia and embroidered thob. In the background, a cactus stands as a symbol that the Palestinians will remain on their land, defying the odds, despite the costs.
In another relief, a tree sprouts from the blood of a martyr, its shape formed by inscribed poetry, in what is sometimes called a concrete poem. There are also reliefs honouring Mahmoud Darwish and Palestinian artist Mustafa Hallaj.
Bright green is a predominant colour in the exhibited works, the sign of new life, as in the piece titled “The Martyr”, showing a fallen Palestinian draped in green being carried in a funeral procession. In the process, his body has stretched horizontally to an extraordinary length and sprouted a row of young trees, flowers and cacti.
“The Martyr” is the centrepiece of three large reliefs, all new, that together cover one wall of the exhibit. To the left is a complex composition of struggle and martyrdom. To the right is a depiction of the Apartheid Wall, showing how it arbitrarily cuts through villages, shutting off neighbours from each other, yet at the same time uniting them in resistance.
Another large relief is boldly titled “Holocaust in Gaza ,” commemorating the many Palestinians killed by the Israeli army in February 2008. Here Musallam is keen to gage reactions to this crime. A row of cacti endowed with wide, shock-filled eyes stand as witnesses, while three male figures mimic the “See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil” paradigm, trying their best to ignore what is happening - a graphic depiction of Palestinian disappointment at the meager regional and international response to Israeli attacks on Palestinian civilians.
In many of the reliefs, it is children who signify the continuation of struggle and hope for a better future. Most often, it is a strong, mature woman entrusting the future to the new generation. In a particularly striking work titled “The Right of Return”, a woman holds out her thick braids to serve as bridges for marching children heading to recover their homeland.
This is committed art at its best, combining beauty with protest, revealing real events and challenging the viewer to take a stand. No art should be reduced to a single message, but if the exhibition can be summed up in one theme, it is that despite the immense difficulties of the present state of the Palestinian cause, the people will not be daunted, nor will they simply go away. On the contrary, the Palestinians will remain and persist by all means, striving to regain their rights and homeland.
The exhibition continues until November 26.
Celebrating Palestine through the Art of Abdul Hai Musallam
Celebrating Palestine through the Art of Abdul Hai MusallamBy George Al Ama and Nada Atrash
Palestine and its celebrations were the motivation behind the talent of Abdul Hai Musallam. At the age of five, Abdul Hai lost his father and continued to live peacefully among his five sisters and their mother in his little village of Al Dawaimeh, near Hebron. They were expelled from the village in 1948. That period of Abdul Hai’s life was the most influential on his art; he spent his childhood in his village home where all the women in the neighbourhood used to gather each morning. He represented this repetitive event in his work Abdul Hai’s Mother’s House, in which he recounted the daily routine of the village women who came together to embroider and chat while sipping their morning coffee. The little child Abdul Hai is observing the details while sitting in a tree and watching the scene.
In 1970 - a date that Abdul Hai refers to as his true date of birth - he began to use a carpenter’s technique of mixing sawdust with glue to produce a dough-like substance to fill the cracks of a piece of wood in order to form bas-relief figures and shapes. The ensemble is later painted to form masterpieces that reflect the memoirs of the artist’s early life in Palestine. It was a long journey for the self-taught Abdul Hai to discover the artist that lay inside him; his ultimate dream was to fight for Palestine. Unable to fulfil this dream, he was led by an urge to employ his art to serve the Palestinian cause.
In Tripoli, Libya, the first station of his mysterious journey with art, the Libyan Desert added to his feelings of pain and alienation. Later he moved to Beirut and then to Damascus before settling back in to the crowded neighbourhood of Al-Qusour in Amman. Throughout his journey Abdul Hai maintained his spontaneous nature and honesty, which were reflected clearly and freely in his representations of pre-1948 Palestine. He concentrated on the beauty and simplicity of the Palestinian village and its richness - daily life, celebration, feasts, and traditions - forgetting the painful reality of Palestine.
The late seventies and early eighties in Beirut were an important period in Abdul Hai’s art, during which he continued to work under the Israeli bombing. Sitting on a chair in his makeshift studio in the entrance of a building, Abdul Hai spent his days working vigorously on his art. At sunset he would arrange his equipment, pick up his rifle, and leave to begin his night duty as a guard. His art during that period reflected the Palestinian struggle; a bas-relief work of young women and men dancing with rifles in their hands represents pride and power, and the commitment to resist. His works of that period were exhibited in many places. One of the most significant exhibitions of that time - and one that was visited by the late Palestinian president Yasser Arafat - was held in Beirut in 1982, under the fire of the Israeli invasion.
Another approach to resistance is noticeable in the prominence of “the woman” in works that reflect Palestinian heritage and folklore. For Abdul Hai, woman is the reason for life; she is the mother, the daughter, and the lover. Sometimes she is there with her impulsive nature and at other times she is there simply wearing her traditional dress; she could be as lofty as an empress in a legend or as transparent as a mistress. For him she is a symbol of the earth, the revolution, or freedom; she is a representation of fertility and the land.
Born in 1933 and living in his home village until 1948, Abdul Hai now enters his Amman studio in the morning and leaves behind his reality to return to those fifteen early years, trying to assemble his memories and arrange them in artistic masterpieces together with the joys and delights of Palestinian cultural heritage. Abdul Hai creates folkloric portraits and documents traditional songs, sayings, and poems that relate to various occasions and situations. His works represent traditional dresses from various areas of Palestine; a collection of relatively small art pieces shows one to three figures modelling costumes from the various areas of Palestine. He often inscribes sayings on love, romance, affection, and sorrow on these works.
A detailed illustration of village weddings is a living witness to all the celebrations that accompany the occasion, starting with the visit of the groom’s family to the bride’s house, the bride’s henna, the bride’s arrival on a camel (al-zafeh), the arrival of the bride at the bridegroom’s house, and the dancing and dabkeh that accompany the celebration. His works display a spontaneous yet sophisticated illustration of embroidered traditional dresses, headdresses, veils, and jewellery, as well as rugs, carpets, and scenes of the village in the background.
Other special celebrations, feasts, and activities of the Palestinian village are documented in the works of Abdul Hai; the Festival of the Tree - Spring Festival, Sham Al Nasim documents a traditional festival that is no longer celebrated in Palestine. Fasting Ramadan is another work of art that represents the holy month of Ramadan: men are gathered around a low table holding their beads and waiting for the sunset prayer. In a distance, boys and girls are standing on the roofs, observing and waiting for al-mu’athen at the mosque to call for prayer, after which they would run to their houses to break their fast. The popular poet, the women’s return from the vineyards and fig groves, and the celebrations that accompany circumcision are also documented in his works.
Not only did Abdul Hai celebrate the Palestinian village and the Palestinian diaspora and struggle, he was also involved in, devoted to, and influenced by the turbulence that afflicted Palestine. After the assassination of his colleague and friend of eight years, the artist Naji Al-Ali, in London in 1987, Abdul Hai dedicated his time to produce a collection of works on the artist, leaving behind all his other works and insisting on keeping alive the memories of a great friend.
Gold Dust is a film produced in 1986 by Mohammad Mawas that tells the story of Abdul Hai Musallam. The title refers to the ability of the artist to transform cheap raw materials into pieces of art that tell the story of Palestine. Today, Abdul Hai Musallam still lives in Amman and continues to dream of gathering into a museum his 1,200 bas-relief works that document Palestine, its cultural heritage, its traditions, and its folklore.
George Al Ama and Nada Atrash are part of the Research and Training Unit at the Centre for Cultural Heritage Preservation (CCHP). George and Nada can be reached at info@cchp.ps.
“The Visit of the Groom’s Family to the Bride’s House” 2007. Photo courtesy of Dar Al-Anda Gallery, Amman Jordan.
“The traditional Dance”. Photo courtesy of Dar Al-Anda Gallery, Amman Jordan.
“The Bridal Trousseau” 1991. George Al Ama collection.
“The Festival of the Tree” or “Sham el Nasim”. Photo courtesy of Dar Al-Anda Gallery, Amman.
In 1970 - a date that Abdul Hai refers to as his true date of birth - he began to use a carpenter’s technique of mixing sawdust with glue to produce a dough-like substance to fill the cracks of a piece of wood in order to form bas-relief figures and shapes. The ensemble is later painted to form masterpieces that reflect the memoirs of the artist’s early life in Palestine. It was a long journey for the self-taught Abdul Hai to discover the artist that lay inside him; his ultimate dream was to fight for Palestine. Unable to fulfil this dream, he was led by an urge to employ his art to serve the Palestinian cause.
In Tripoli, Libya, the first station of his mysterious journey with art, the Libyan Desert added to his feelings of pain and alienation. Later he moved to Beirut and then to Damascus before settling back in to the crowded neighbourhood of Al-Qusour in Amman. Throughout his journey Abdul Hai maintained his spontaneous nature and honesty, which were reflected clearly and freely in his representations of pre-1948 Palestine. He concentrated on the beauty and simplicity of the Palestinian village and its richness - daily life, celebration, feasts, and traditions - forgetting the painful reality of Palestine.
The late seventies and early eighties in Beirut were an important period in Abdul Hai’s art, during which he continued to work under the Israeli bombing. Sitting on a chair in his makeshift studio in the entrance of a building, Abdul Hai spent his days working vigorously on his art. At sunset he would arrange his equipment, pick up his rifle, and leave to begin his night duty as a guard. His art during that period reflected the Palestinian struggle; a bas-relief work of young women and men dancing with rifles in their hands represents pride and power, and the commitment to resist. His works of that period were exhibited in many places. One of the most significant exhibitions of that time - and one that was visited by the late Palestinian president Yasser Arafat - was held in Beirut in 1982, under the fire of the Israeli invasion.
Another approach to resistance is noticeable in the prominence of “the woman” in works that reflect Palestinian heritage and folklore. For Abdul Hai, woman is the reason for life; she is the mother, the daughter, and the lover. Sometimes she is there with her impulsive nature and at other times she is there simply wearing her traditional dress; she could be as lofty as an empress in a legend or as transparent as a mistress. For him she is a symbol of the earth, the revolution, or freedom; she is a representation of fertility and the land.
Born in 1933 and living in his home village until 1948, Abdul Hai now enters his Amman studio in the morning and leaves behind his reality to return to those fifteen early years, trying to assemble his memories and arrange them in artistic masterpieces together with the joys and delights of Palestinian cultural heritage. Abdul Hai creates folkloric portraits and documents traditional songs, sayings, and poems that relate to various occasions and situations. His works represent traditional dresses from various areas of Palestine; a collection of relatively small art pieces shows one to three figures modelling costumes from the various areas of Palestine. He often inscribes sayings on love, romance, affection, and sorrow on these works.
A detailed illustration of village weddings is a living witness to all the celebrations that accompany the occasion, starting with the visit of the groom’s family to the bride’s house, the bride’s henna, the bride’s arrival on a camel (al-zafeh), the arrival of the bride at the bridegroom’s house, and the dancing and dabkeh that accompany the celebration. His works display a spontaneous yet sophisticated illustration of embroidered traditional dresses, headdresses, veils, and jewellery, as well as rugs, carpets, and scenes of the village in the background.
Other special celebrations, feasts, and activities of the Palestinian village are documented in the works of Abdul Hai; the Festival of the Tree - Spring Festival, Sham Al Nasim documents a traditional festival that is no longer celebrated in Palestine. Fasting Ramadan is another work of art that represents the holy month of Ramadan: men are gathered around a low table holding their beads and waiting for the sunset prayer. In a distance, boys and girls are standing on the roofs, observing and waiting for al-mu’athen at the mosque to call for prayer, after which they would run to their houses to break their fast. The popular poet, the women’s return from the vineyards and fig groves, and the celebrations that accompany circumcision are also documented in his works.
Not only did Abdul Hai celebrate the Palestinian village and the Palestinian diaspora and struggle, he was also involved in, devoted to, and influenced by the turbulence that afflicted Palestine. After the assassination of his colleague and friend of eight years, the artist Naji Al-Ali, in London in 1987, Abdul Hai dedicated his time to produce a collection of works on the artist, leaving behind all his other works and insisting on keeping alive the memories of a great friend.
Gold Dust is a film produced in 1986 by Mohammad Mawas that tells the story of Abdul Hai Musallam. The title refers to the ability of the artist to transform cheap raw materials into pieces of art that tell the story of Palestine. Today, Abdul Hai Musallam still lives in Amman and continues to dream of gathering into a museum his 1,200 bas-relief works that document Palestine, its cultural heritage, its traditions, and its folklore.
George Al Ama and Nada Atrash are part of the Research and Training Unit at the Centre for Cultural Heritage Preservation (CCHP). George and Nada can be reached at info@cchp.ps.
“The Visit of the Groom’s Family to the Bride’s House” 2007. Photo courtesy of Dar Al-Anda Gallery, Amman Jordan.
“The traditional Dance”. Photo courtesy of Dar Al-Anda Gallery, Amman Jordan.
“The Bridal Trousseau” 1991. George Al Ama collection.
“The Festival of the Tree” or “Sham el Nasim”. Photo courtesy of Dar Al-Anda Gallery, Amman.Thursday, September 29, 2011
The World Council of Churches and member churches around the world sees opportunity for peace in Palestine's UN application
WCC sees opportunity for peace in Palestine's UN application
The WCC has urged strong positive action by the United Nations on behalf of Palestine. While the WCC has advocated justice for Palestinians and Israelis for decades, the United Nations Security Council’s consideration of full membership for Palestine was hailed by the WCC and regional churches as an opportunity for peace.The World Council of Churches and member churches around the world have pursued peace with justice for both the Palestinian and Israeli peoples for decades. Like much of the international community, we are now watching to see if peace and justice will be served in how the United Nations Security Council and General Assembly process the application of Palestine to become a full member state of the UN.
This request must be considered in the light of numerous resolutions passed at the UN Security Council and General Assembly, supporting a two-state solution. They are the basis for a peace not yet established in a conflict which is also constantly influencing other conflicts in the world. It is now a unique opportunity for the UN to take important decisions to fulfil its role and mandate according to the UN Charter, to make peace with justice prevail between Israelis and Palestinians, and with their neighbours.
Yesterday’s announcement in Israel of plans to build 1,100 more housing units on occupied territory is a stark reminder of why sober deliberation, genuine courage and responsible action by the United Nations are necessary. The United Nations is the voice of the international community in this dispute, a voice that has been raised many times to lay out the basis for an equitable peace between two states.
Negotiations should not be seen as an alternative to the UN acceptance of the Palestinian application for membership. Different initiatives to build stability in the region should go hand in hand.
In the people’s movements across the Arab world peoples are standing up for their freedom and dignity in order to establish democratic states with the rule of law. Now it is appropriate that the United Nations actively supports the establishment of a democratic Palestinian State.
Together with the Heads of Churches in Jerusalem, we “feel the need to intensify the prayers and diplomatic efforts for peace between Palestinians and Israelis, and see that this is the most appropriate time for such an opportunity”.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
The Palestinian Statehood Bid - What Comes Next?
"It is evident that the status quo is untenable, the conflict has no military solution, and a negotiated agreement is the only alternative to continued conflict. The Israeli occupation must end and, in turn, Israel must become an accepted member of the community of nations in the Middle East. No Israeli, we hope, wants to occupy another people and no Palestinian, we believe, wants to be occupied. The few benefits the Israelis accrue from occupation (e.g., arable land, settlements, water resources) can be better secured through long-term arrangements with friendly neighboring countries, including a State of Palestine. Real "strategic depth" doesn't come from belligerent occupation. It comes from an end of conflict." Saliba Sarsar and Hussein Ibish, Ph.D.
The U.S. was the largest single donor to the Palestinian Authority last year...
... providing $740 million directly and through organizations including UN aid agencies, according to the State Department.
Bloomberg (Analysis)
UN Showdown Ushers in Critical Period for U.S. Middle East Peace Efforts
"It’s significant that the Quartet statement recognized “the achievements of the Palestinian Authority in preparing institutions for statehood” and promised an international donors’ conference to give them “full and sustained support,” said Hussein Ibish, a senior fellow at the American Task Force on Palestine, a Washington group that advocates a two-state solution"Who Recognizes Palestine?
The Palestinians, who have suffered decades of displacement, dispossessions, and the systematic denial of their national and human rights, have yet to realize their independent state.
A Bureaucratic Occupation By Julie Holm for MIFTAH
Traveling to Palestine through Israel for the first time can be quite the experience. Aware of this I was well-prepared, knew exactly what to say and do, what not to say and not to do, and remembered all the tips given to me by kind-hearted people before I left. Little did it help though, as it seemed the woman at the border control was having a bad day. Accordingly I only got an entry visa for a month. Since I was planning to stay for three or maybe even six months this meant that I had to go through a maze of Israeli bureaucracy even before I had reached my destination, Ramallah. Standing in line, early in the morning in front of the Ministry of Interior in Jerusalem I told myself that it was all part of the experience of traveling to and living in Palestine. After I had gone through security control just to stand in line twice again and finally being told that I could get an appointment three weeks later, it was hard not to get a little frustrated. I told myself, however, that it was nothing compared to what Palestinians go through every day. 
This first encounter with Israeli bureaucracy opened my eyes to the realities of living in an occupied area. That realization is backed up every day by all the stories I hear of Palestinians fighting their way through the bureaucratic maze just to live and move around in their own country. I hear of citizens of east Jerusalem who get their residency status cancelled because the boundaries between Israel and Palestine run through their homes where it is a question of millimeters. This show how Israel uses laws and regulations to push the Palestinians out of their city and take away their rights. The bureaucratic occupation of everyday life makes Israel able to maintain their vigilant control over the Palestinian population. Further, it serves the purpose of slowly removing Palestinians from their land, making way for settlers. Through these bureaucratic procedures Israel continues to violate international law.
Another aspect of this is how the Israelis limit the movement of people and goods through a complex system of access restrictions to and from Gaza and the West Bank. Checkpoints, roadblocks and the separation wall (or “security fence”, depending on from which side you see it) are physical examples of the limited mobility experienced by many Palestinians. In addition are the restrictions on movement of goods, materials, products, equipment and tools.
Media coverage of Palestine is most often concerned with violence, and diplomatic fighting on an international stage. While that may draw attention to the area and the occupation, it is distracting the world from seeing the smothering bureaucratic control of everyday life that is an important aspect of the Israeli occupation.
Almost every day we hear how weapons, bombs, teargas and violence are used to enforce the Israeli occupation. Residency permits, application forms and population registers can be just as hard hitting instruments of occupation. Bureaucracy is infused in all aspects of everyday life in Palestine. Activities taken for granted most other places are restricted here. Not everyone is able to live with their spouse and children, and visiting family and relatives can be a difficult and sometimes impossible undertaking. Something as trivial as driving a car or going to work in another city often demands a range of permits only to be acquired though a strenuous process of filling out applications and standing in line.
After standing in line once again, this time with forms all filled out, letters of intent, passport photos, and everything else the Israeli bureaucracy wanted from me, I got my visa extended. For me it was just another experience, but for the Palestinians, having to find their way through the bureaucratic maze every day, it is a way for the occupation to affect every aspect of their relations, their mobility and their lives.
Julie Holm is a Writer for the Media and Information Department at the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH). She can be contacted at mid@miftah.org.
My letter to the Washington Post RE Robert L. Bernstein's "Why do human rights groups ignore Palestinians’ war of words?"
RE: Why do human rights groups ignore Palestinians’ war of words?http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/why-do-human-rights-groups-ignore-palestinians-war-of-words/2011/09/26/gIQAWU5y2K_story.html
Dear Editor,
Ending the Israel/Palestine conflict with a fair and just negotiated settlement allowing a fully sovereign Palestinian state to emerge will go a long ways towards curbing the hate speech, bigotry, ignorance and religious extremism on both sides.
A fully secular two state solution really is the best hope for creating a just and lasting peace for the people of Israel and the people of Palestine, and all their neighbors.
A fully secular two state solution in line with international law- and fully respecting basic human rights on all sides of every border is an excellent investment.... What a shame that Mr Robert L. Bernstein, the former president and chairman of Random House, chairman of the group Advancing Human Rights and founding chairman emeritus of Human Rights Watch choses instead to do what he can to exasperate tensions and the continuation of the Israel/Palestine conflict. You'd think with so many impressive titles he'd have some thing more impressive and helpful to say.
Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab
Notes
"Today a group of UN human rights experts called for an immediate end to the demolitions of Palestinian-owned houses and other structures in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and urged Israeli authorities to prevent attacks by settlers against Palestinians and their property.
“The impact and discriminatory nature of these demolitions and evictions is completely unacceptable. These actions by the Israeli authorities violate human rights and humanitarian law and must end immediately,” said the three independent experts who work on the rights to adequate housing, water and sanitation, and food.
Given the human cost of the ongoing conflict, Mr. Pascoe also said it is essential that all sides impress on their security forces and civilian population the need to act responsibly. “They must do their utmost to avoid escalation, and take early action to defuse possible tensions,” he said, adding that extremists on both sides must not be allowed to inflame the situation.
Turning to Gaza, he condemned the continued firing of rockets from the area into Israel, while also calling on Israel to show maximum restraint in their response. He also called for the further easing of Israeli closure measures on Gaza, particularly in regard to imports of construction materials, exports, and freedom of movement of people."
UN political chief urges Israelis and Palestinians to give diplomacy a chance
Help Build A Golden Rule Peace for the Holy Land
GROWING GARDENS FOR PALESTINE
The Arab Peace Initiative
GROWING GARDENS FOR PALESTINE
The Arab Peace Initiative
"Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home - so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. Yet they are the world of the individual person; the neighborhood he lives in; the school or college he attends; the factory, farm, or office where he works. Such are the places where every man, woman, and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerted citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world." Eleanor Roosevelt
Arabic CalligraphyCSM: One Gaza family celebrates Palestinian statehood bid despite Hamas ban
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2011/0925/One-Gaza-family-celebrates-Palestinian-statehood-bid-despite-Hamas-ban
One Gazan couple named their daughter after the month during which Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas presented his request for Palestinian statehood to the United Nations.
Though it was forbidden to celebrate President Mahmoud Abbas's request to the UN for recognition of a Palestinian state, the parents of Ayloul Abu Asser celebrated by naming their girl Ayloul, meaning September. Kristen Chick/The Christian Science Monitor
Gaza City, Gaza
When Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas went to the United Nations to ask for recognition of a Palestinian state Friday, Gaza residents weren’t allowed to celebrate in the streets like Palestinians in the West Bank.
Yet one Gazan family found its own way to celebrate. They named their newborn daughter after the occasion. Ayloul Abu Asser was born Sept. 21, as the UN General Assembly was preparing for Mr. Abbas’s request. It was also the same day that Gaza’s Hamas government, a political rival of Mr. Abbas’s Fatah faction, announced that public celebrations of the statehood bid were forbidden.
That didn’t stop Hamad Nasr Abu Asser and Reda Abu Asser from naming their daughter after the month during which Abbas presented his request. Ayloul is the Arabic name for September.
“Hamas prevented any action in the street, so we decided to celebrate in our own way,” says Hamad, Ayloul’s father. The couple supports Fatah, and are were hopeful that Abbas’s speech may bring their dream of statehood closer.
And their daughter’s unusual name is not just a celebration of the occasion, but also a reminder. They hope that Ayloul will be able to grow up in an independent Palestinian state. But if that doesn’t happen, she will keep the dream alive for the next generation.
“If we don’t establish a state, her generation will carry on the project,” says Reda, Ayloul’s mother. Her baby is wrapped in a Palestinian kuffeiyah, and wears a headband in the black, white, and green of the Palestinian flag.
“One day she will ask why her name is Ayloul,”...READ MOREHussein Ibish: The speech Yasser Arafat never gave
http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=315757
Palestinians in Ramallah hold pictures of PA President Mahmoud Abbas, after his historic UN speech requesting statehood. (AFP photo/Ahmad Gharabli)
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ moving speech before the United Nations General Assembly on Friday was certainly the high point of his career. His address will be forever remembered because Abbas was able to do what no Palestinian leader has ever done in the past: make the moral case for Palestinian independence in a clear, coherent, reasonable manner at the highest international forum. The speech Yasser Arafat never gave
Palestinians in Ramallah hold pictures of PA President Mahmoud Abbas, after his historic UN speech requesting statehood. (AFP photo/Ahmad Gharabli)Most importantly, Abbas’ message was internationally receivable. Only the most recalcitrant supporters of the Israeli occupation could fail to have been moved by his words. Many in the room, including some jaded individuals, were left in tears....READ MORE
Hussein Ibish is a senior research fellow at the American Task Force on Palestine and blogs at www.Ibishblog.com.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
VOANews: World Leaders Condemn New Israeli Settlement Building Plan
Posted Tuesday, September 27th, 2011 at 5:15 pm
U.S., European and Palestinian leaders have condemned Israel's plan to construct 1,100 new housing units in east Jerusalem, a move that could raise already heightened tensions after last week's Palestinian bid to seek United Nations membership.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Tuesday called Israel's decision “counter-productive” to reviving stalled Mideast peace talks. She said both sides should avoid provocative actions that undermine trust, particularly in Jerusalem.
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said Israel's decision to move ahead with new settlement construction in the city's contested Gilo neighborhood “threatens the viability” of a two-state solution and “should be reversed.”
British Foreign Secretary William Hague noted that settlement expansion is “illegal under international law, corrodes trust and undermines the basic principle of land for peace.”
Palestinians oppose Israeli building on land they want as part of a future state. Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said Israel's decision amounts to “1,100 no's to the resumption of peace talks.”
The Israeli Interior Ministry said construction could begin after a mandatory 60-day public comment period – a process it called a formality.
Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians broke down last year after an Israeli freeze on West Bank settlement construction expired.
The impasse in talks prompted Palestinians to seek U.N. statehood recognition last week. The U.N. Security Council is set to formally consider the Palestinians' request for statehood and full U.N. membership on Wednesday.
The Middle East Quartet, which includes the U.S., EU, U.N. and Russia, has proposed a resumption in negotiations between the two sides.
On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country would not renew a construction freeze in order to get Palestinians to agree to the Quartet's plan for new talks. He told the Jerusalem Post that Palestinian insistence on the settlement issue shows a lack of interest in negotiations.
On Sunday, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas told supporters in Ramallah that he would resume peace talks only if Israel stopped building settlements in occupied territory.
The Quartet's plan calls for a preliminary meeting between Israel and the Palestinians within a month. The meeting would be followed by a return to regular talks, and progress on security and borders within 90 days. It envisions the completion of a peace deal no later than the end of 2012.
UN political chief urges Israelis and Palestinians to give diplomacy a chance
"Today a group of UN human rights experts called for an immediate end to the demolitions of Palestinian-owned houses and other structures in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and urged Israeli authorities to prevent attacks by settlers against Palestinians and their property.“The impact and discriminatory nature of these demolitions and evictions is completely unacceptable. These actions by the Israeli authorities violate human rights and humanitarian law and must end immediately,” said the three independent experts who work on the rights to adequate housing, water and sanitation, and food.
Given the human cost of the ongoing conflict, Mr. Pascoe also said it is essential that all sides impress on their security forces and civilian population the need to act responsibly. “They must do their utmost to avoid escalation, and take early action to defuse possible tensions,” he said, adding that extremists on both sides must not be allowed to inflame the situation.
Turning to Gaza, he condemned the continued firing of rockets from the area into Israel, while also calling on Israel to show maximum restraint in their response. He also called for the further easing of Israeli closure measures on Gaza, particularly in regard to imports of construction materials, exports, and freedom of movement of people."
UN political chief urges Israelis and Palestinians to give diplomacy a chance
My letter to Obama (etc): Diplomatic efforts regarding ending the Israel/Palestine conflict once and for all, with a just and lasting peace.
http://www.congress.org/congressorg/bio/userletter/?id=3181&letter_id=7379907141&content_dir=congressorgSubject: Diplomatic efforts regarding ending the Israel/Palestine conflict once and for all, with a just and lasting peace.
Dear President Obama,
Please tell Hilary Clinton (and any one else you know who weighs in on the Israel/Palestine conflict) that Jerusalem is not yet the official capital of Israel: The international community does not recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital and the city hosts no foreign embassies.
Zionists and their supporters like to say "Jerusalem" as short hand for Israel's diplomatic efforts, while referring to Palestine's diplomatic efforts as "Ramallah". What is good for the goose really should be good for the gander. Either also say Jerusalem (or perhaps East Jerusalem) for Palestine's diplomatic efforts, acknowledging both Israel and Palestine's claims, or use the more diplomatic "Tel-Aviv & Ramallah" as short hand for the two sides.
Furthermore, please do all you can to try to help end the Israel/Palestine conflict by supporting the emergence of a fully sovereign Palestinian state. Not a prison camp for the native non-Jewish population of the Holy Land but a real nation state where people are free and respected citizens.
Yes, I know direct negotiations between the two parties are the only way to actually end the Israel/Palestine conflict, but we can all do our part to help calm things down by better understanding the actual conflict, and taking care not to exasperate existing tensions with what we say and do.
The proposed American veto of Palestine's UN Bid is already being used to fuel angry anti-American rhetoric and many distracting commentaries and conjectures. All the world is watching- and the very real plight of the persecuted, impoverished and displaced Palestinians continues to grow more and more dire.
Did you listen carefully to Abbas' UN Bid speech.... Hussein Ibish of the American Task Force on Palestine did and he sums it up quite well in a recent article by pointing out that: "Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ moving speech before the United Nations General Assembly on Friday was certainly the high point of his career. His address will be forever remembered because Abbas was able to do what no Palestinian leader has ever done in the past: make the moral case for Palestinian independence in a clear, coherent, reasonable manner at the highest international forum." http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=315757
Ibish wisely keeps his eye on the ball and concludes "Now is the time to move beyond the theatrics at the UN and return to what is achievable. This means continuing to build the basis of a Palestinian state through international support and providing funding for institution-building. It also means serious work by all parties to lay the groundwork for successful negotiations, so that domestic political dynamics in the key societies involved can be aligned with their stated policies of seeking a genuine two-state solution."
A fully secular two state solution to once and for all end the Israel/Palestine conflict really is a worthy goal and an excellent investment- for everyone's sake.
Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab
American homemaker & poet
NOTES
Help Build A Golden Rule Peace for the Holy Land
GROWING GARDENS FOR PALESTINE
The Arab Peace Initiative
"Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home - so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. Yet they are the world of the individual person; the neighborhood he lives in; the school or college he attends; the factory, farm, or office where he works. Such are the places where every man, woman, and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerted citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world." Eleanor Roosevelt
"Palestinian refugees must be given the option to exercise their right of return (as well as receive compensation for their losses arising from their dispossession and displacement) though refugees may prefer other options such as: (i) resettlement in third countries, (ii) resettlement in a newly independent Palestine (even though they originate from that part of Palestine which became Israel) or (iii) normalization of their legal status in the host country where they currently reside. What is important is that individual refugees decide for themselves which option they prefer – a decision must not be imposed upon them." http://plodelegation.us/palestine/core-issues/
GROWING GARDENS FOR PALESTINE
The Arab Peace Initiative
"Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home - so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. Yet they are the world of the individual person; the neighborhood he lives in; the school or college he attends; the factory, farm, or office where he works. Such are the places where every man, woman, and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerted citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world." Eleanor Roosevelt
"Palestinian refugees must be given the option to exercise their right of return (as well as receive compensation for their losses arising from their dispossession and displacement) though refugees may prefer other options such as: (i) resettlement in third countries, (ii) resettlement in a newly independent Palestine (even though they originate from that part of Palestine which became Israel) or (iii) normalization of their legal status in the host country where they currently reside. What is important is that individual refugees decide for themselves which option they prefer – a decision must not be imposed upon them." http://plodelegation.us/palestine/core-issues/Monday, September 26, 2011
“Abbas succeeded in strengthening his standing among Palestinians...
...and his ideology of achieving statehood diplomatically against the challenge from the Islamist right represented by Hamas,” said Hussein Ibish, senior research fellow with the American Task Force on Palestine, a nonpartisan Washington-based group that advocates a peaceful two-state solution."
One Step Closer to Palestine By Joharah Baker for MIFTAH
The high felt by Palestinians everywhere as President Mahmoud Abbas held up his application for full membership at the UN last week is long overdue. The elation was well deserved for more than one reason. For one, Palestinians saw before them a man – usually deemed as weak – defy the world’s strongest nation and paint a portrait of Israel’s occupation that was by any standards, the closest picture to reality than we’ve heard for a long time.
Another reason was that Palestinians were basking in the fact that for the first time in years, their leadership was taking proactive measures instead of waiting for someone else to call the shots. The UN bid, whether it reaps any tangible results or not – was our bid, our decision and our move. That is something we can be proud of.
Alas, as sobriety sets in the “morning after”, there is much more to consider besides the satisfying performance of the president before the UN General Assembly. The prospect of membership in the United Nations is an appealing one, no doubt – first and foremost because it puts Palestine on the same level as the world’s nations – but also because it will give us the opportunity to hold Israel accountable for at least some of the ills it has caused us for so many years. Palestine – our state among states – will also be recognized as an occupied country, which believe it or not is a feat in itself. If a vote goes through, there will (hopefully) be no talk of “disputed lands” but of an occupied Palestine on which illegal settlements are built.
That is still a far off destination, but if the leadership does what it says, it is a one-way street from here. The first step has been taken, so to say, which is standing up to the United States, Israel and a considerable number of other countries that have been trying to talk Abbas out of the bid for months.
Nonetheless, we should not get ahead of ourselves, something we Palestinians tend to do in times like these. While Abbas did tell the adoring crowds that “The journey is long and there are many obstacles,” this did not put a damper on the thousands who would hail him as a hero.
All Palestinians, regardless of where they live, dream and hope for freedom and an independent state in their rightful homeland. We are all in consensus that peace and Israel’s occupation cannot coexist and peace will never come without justice for the Palestinians. President Abbas’ words rung poignantly true for many of us when he said during his General Assembly address that “in the absence of absolute justice, we decided to adopt the path of relative justice - justice that is possible and could correct part of the grave historical injustice committed against our people.” He was, of course, referencing the Palestinian decision to accept a two-state solution on 22 percent of historical Palestine after the majority of the homeland was lost during the Nakba of 1948.
We did make a major concession by accepting a two-state solution and this is something Abbas has made clear in no uncertain terms. But the Palestinians know that even this is a distant reality at this point, what with Israel’s settlement projects, the separation wall and the hundreds of checkpoints that dissect the State of Palestine in every direction possible. But the leadership still adheres to it, whether or not it believes it can be achieved on the ground.
All in all, the PLO’s move was a good one. It put Palestine – not the PLO, not the PA, not the “Palestinian Territories” – back in the game of international diplomacy with the Palestinians themselves making the first moves. It has been a long time since this has happened and it is a relief for the people that their faith in the leadership’s strength has been restored at least for now.
President Abbas is no hero. But on Friday, September 23, he assumed the title we Palestinians have often been wary of bestowing upon him. He became a leader.
Joharah Baker is Director of the Media and Information Department at the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH). She can be contacted at mid@miftah.org.
Sunday, September 25, 2011
EXCELLENT ABC Christiane Amanpour Interview with Palestine's Hanan Ashrawi
A top Palestinian negotiator on prospects for Mideast peace talks.
Paris-based Palestinian composes anthem for homeland: Ahmad Dari... مستني دولة بأيلول. أحمد داري
"Mestani Dawla be Aylol" -- "I Am Waiting for a State in September"
Paris-based Palestinian composes anthem for homeland
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=422029
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=422029
PARIS (Reuters) -- A Palestinian living in France has come up with what has become an unwitting anthem for his homeland's bid for nationhood at the United Nations meeting later this week.
Ahmed Dari, who until recently worked for the United Nations' Educational, Social and Cultural Organisation, is the author of "Mestani Dawla be Aylol" -- "I Am Waiting for a State in September" -- a hit song that is played from Ramallah to Rafah.
The song, written and performed in a light-hearted, almost tongue-in-cheek manner, has had tens of thousands of views on social networking sites. Dari says it aims to give hope to Palestinians in the run-up to President Mahmoud Abbas' bid to have Palestinian nationhood recognized by the UN's Security Council -- a move that America has vowed to veto.
"There are several major points in this song. I evoke the question of the Palestinian refugees, a crucial question. I talk about the probable American veto at the UN on the recognition of Palestine. I'm also interested in the view of Palestinians, who are split between optimism and pessimism about the future," he told Reuters Television in his small house perched on the outskirts of Paris.
Dari, who has recently become an advisor to the Palestinian Authority, is bemused by the success of the song. Created with his friend, two computers and a handful of instruments, it uses a tortoise to symbolize a slow progress towards statehood.
To create the clip, Ahmed Dari used images from the internet. There is also a woman, a symbol of life.
Dari says the song is much more effective than a political message.
''I felt that my clip reached a very broad Palestinian audience, particularly the young and even the old. The song works better than a political message. The song and the clip are very simple. The words are simple, the music is simple, there are lots of colors in the clip and that works."
His friend and fellow musician Youssef Zayed hopes the Palestinian bid for United Nations recognition will succeed.
''I am optimistic, though I know that there are obstacles. I do not know how long it will take, it will perhaps not be our generation that will see it. That doesn't matter, Palestine will live, we will wait, if God wills it."
Meanwhile, Dari is pursuing his career as a diplomat and singer. He is also an accomplished Arabic calligrapher. He will travel to New York this week and has already composed a new song. Its theme will be the difficult relationship between Palestinians and Israelis.
Dr. Aref Assaf: Whether Palestine... "We have a dream too: a place to call a homeland"
"A banner at a recent pro Palestine demonstration at the UN summed it up: "We have a dream too: a place to call a homeland".
Related: The official Palestinian position on the UN vote bid is contained in a 35-page booklet that was given to every United Nations delegation. Titled "Recognizing Palestine: An Investment in Peace" it lists four reasons the Palestinians have taken this course: acts by Israel that undermine peace, international responsibility toward the Palestinians, the growth of Jewish settlements and intensifying Israeli designs on East Jerusalem. Click here for the link. (It may take a while to download)
Full transcript of President Abbas speech at UN General Assembly http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/full-transcript-of-abbas-speech-at-un-general-assembly-1.386385 According to a recent survey more than 80% of Palestinians support the push for Statehood recognition. http://www.pcpsr.org/survey/polls/2011/p41ejoint.html A plurality of Americans (42%) than oppose (26%) the United States recognizing Palestine as an independent nation, while nearly a third (32%) express no opinion. http://people-press.org/2011/09/20/palestinian-statehood-mixed-views-low-visibility/ "