“Moving
Around” is not such a simple activity for Palestinians. Whether
domestically or abroad, Palestinian movement is something to take
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Friday, April 13, 2012
"The traffic jam is a metaphor of our life stymied under Israeli occupation." ...This Week In Palestine
Attacks on Palestinians have increased by 50 percent from last year
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My letter to NPR RE 'One-State' Idea Gains Support Of Some Palestinians
 |
| Palestinian children play next to Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank town of Abu Dis in 2011. As peace talks between Israel and Palestine remain at a standstill, people are looking to other possible solutions. Photo by Bernat Armangue/AP |
http://www.npr.org/2012/04/12/150447864/one-state-idea-gains-support-of-some-palestinians
Dear NPR,
The "One State" solution advocacy has been around, it predates the Palestine Liberation Organization's formal recognition of Israel in 1993. It is very easy and quite tempting for the naive and well meaning (as well as the religiously motivated) to be drawn into believing the fantasy that one state will end the conflict, until one realizes that much of the conflict is actually generated by one state advocates and religious extremists on both sides who seriously seek to annihilate the other "side". That IS the conflict.... not the solution.
Sovereign as well as personal respect for international law and universal basic human rights needs to be the goal: A fully secular, fully civilized two state solution to once and for all end the Israel-Palestine conflict with all the angst, rage, bigotry, injustice, extremism, delusions, despair, violence and cruelty that conflict inspires really is the best way forward. One sovereign Israel and one sovereign Palestine and one sovereign just and lasting peace for all the people- regardless of supposed race or religion.
Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab
NOTES
"The "threat" posed by a potential Palestinian state is the most common Israeli objection to a two-state solution. But the occupation itself is the main source of insecurity and lack of peace. The mainstream Palestinian leadership in Ramallah has staked its future on a two-state agreement and an end to the occupation. Through the Arab Peace Initiative, the rest of the Arab world signaled unanimously that an Israeli-Palestinian final status agreement would also mean normalization between Israel and the Arab states. Plainly, most Palestinians, other Arabs and their governments would welcome an end to this destabilizing conflict." Hussein Ibish
"It is a sad fact that many of those with power have done everything possible to effectively block a just resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. To date, their efforts have succeeded, resulting in creating a deeply deformed situation in Israel, in Washington, and in the occupied Palestinian lands." James Zogby
"Since 1967, the consensus in the international community and among the majority of Israelis has been that there would be two political entities, with Israelis returning to their pre-1967 borders except for some small land swaps along the border. The Camp David Accords of 1978, accepted by Israel, called for the withdrawal of political and military forces from the occupied territories, and President George W. Bush specifically endorsed a Palestinian nation in this area. As late as May 2009, President Obama accepted this concept as the basis for peace." Jimmy Carter
"Where, after all, do universal human rights begin?
Palestinian Refugees (1948-NOW) refused their right to return... and their right to live in peace free from religious bigotry and injustice.
Help Build A Golden Rule Peace for the Holy Land
Palestinian Refugees (1948-NOW) refused their right to return... and their right to live in peace free from religious bigotry and injustice.
Help Build A Golden Rule Peace for the Holy Land
Safer Side by Side: Why Israel Needs Palestine by Hussein Ibish
The “threat” posed by a potential Palestinian state is the most common Israeli objection to a two-state solution. But the occupation itself is the main source of insecurity and lack of peace. The only guarantor of peace for Israel is the establishment of Palestine.
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Benny Begin, a member of Prime Minister Netanuyahu's
inner cabinet, recently dismissed the idea of the creation of a viable
Palestinian state, claiming it would be an unbearable security threat to
Israel.
He added that Netanuyahu's 2009 Bar-Ilan speech, which seemingly endorsed the two-state goal, was aimed exclusively at foreign audiences but that Palestinian statehood "was not brought up for discussion in the government, nor will it be discussed." "This is not the government's position," he stated bluntly. All the evidence suggests he's correct.
The "threat" posed by a potential Palestinian state is the most common Israeli objection to a two-state solution. But the occupation itself is the main source of insecurity and lack of peace.
The mainstream Palestinian leadership in Ramallah has staked its future on a two-state agreement and an end to the occupation. Through the Arab Peace Initiative, the rest of the Arab world signaled unanimously that an Israeli-Palestinian final status agreement would also mean normalization between Israel and the Arab states. Plainly, most Palestinians, other Arabs and their governments would welcome an end to this destabilizing conflict.
It is frequently alleged that a core barrier to peace is the Palestinian refusal to recognize Israel. But the Palestine Liberation Organization—the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people—did, in fact, formally recognize Israel in 1993. Israel, in return, only recognized the PLO as the representative of the Palestinian people. Israel has never recognized a Palestinian state, or, in any formal manner, the Palestinian right to statehood.
Moreover, the Palestinian Authority has engaged in unprecedented security cooperation with occupation forces in recent years. Joint efforts to thwart attacks against Israelis, intelligence sharing and coordination in confronting militants have all persisted despite the breakdown of negotiations and at tremendous political cost to the PA.
Israeli security officials acknowledge that the Palestinian security cooperation and performance have been excellent. Attacks against Israelis in Palestinian-controlled areas in the West Bank have fallen to virtually zero.
But this security cooperation is frequently ignored and emphasis instead placed on the actions of militants in Gaza. The PA has not been able to contain the Gazan violence because Hamas runs Gaza. The PA lost control of Gaza for several reasons: its own miscalculations; Israel's refusal to allow the PA to develop elite counterterrorism forces; and insufficient support from half-hearted patrons like the United States (Hamas's patrons lavished enormous support on it). But most importantly, groups like Hamas need the absence of peace to thrive, even in Gaza.
The PA won't be able to achieve complete security control—a key responsibility of a sovereign government—without possessing the rights and prerogatives of sovereignty. Israelis point to the Altalena incident in which the fledgling Israeli state confronted the extremist Irgun group, forcing it to disarm. This confrontation took place after Israeli independence, not before the establishment of the state, when there was ample cooperation between mainstream Jewish organizations and terrorist groups like Irgun.
In the event of real Palestinian independence, Palestinian public opinion, the Palestinian security forces, and Arab governments would not allow any campaign of violence against Israelis to undermine or threaten the new state. Palestinian militants justify violence as resistance to the occupation, and ending it would remove such rationalizations. Islamist groups, just like far right-wing Israeli political parties, would be disarmed and pursue their aims through peaceful and democratic means.
In the limited areas under its control in the West Bank and without real sovereign authority, the PA has already proven its ability to do what Israel did after independence: reign in militants and enforce the rule of a single, disciplined security force. In the event of independence, this could and would be replicated in Gaza.
It should be added that “security” arguments typically focus on the predictably negative consequences of unilateral actions, but clearly unilateralism is a recipe for disaster. Building Palestinian independence does not require immediate Israeli withdrawal, and any agreement with the PA would not be unilateral but mutual. The correct security analogy is not Lebanon or Gaza, but the peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan, which have been maintained by all three countries. The Palestinian state would have an even greater incentive than the Egyptians and Jordanians to uphold such an agreement because not doing so would undermine or even threaten its own continued existence.
A mutual peace agreement will offset Israel's need to live on the permanent knife-edge of potential war and uprising as well as in the morally, socially and culturally corrupting position of occupier. It will allow the Palestinians to live in freedom and dignity, and remove any excuse for others to claim to be confronting Israel on behalf of the Palestinian cause. Peace may be a gamble, but endless wars are a sure loser.
He added that Netanuyahu's 2009 Bar-Ilan speech, which seemingly endorsed the two-state goal, was aimed exclusively at foreign audiences but that Palestinian statehood "was not brought up for discussion in the government, nor will it be discussed." "This is not the government's position," he stated bluntly. All the evidence suggests he's correct.
The "threat" posed by a potential Palestinian state is the most common Israeli objection to a two-state solution. But the occupation itself is the main source of insecurity and lack of peace.
The mainstream Palestinian leadership in Ramallah has staked its future on a two-state agreement and an end to the occupation. Through the Arab Peace Initiative, the rest of the Arab world signaled unanimously that an Israeli-Palestinian final status agreement would also mean normalization between Israel and the Arab states. Plainly, most Palestinians, other Arabs and their governments would welcome an end to this destabilizing conflict.
It is frequently alleged that a core barrier to peace is the Palestinian refusal to recognize Israel. But the Palestine Liberation Organization—the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people—did, in fact, formally recognize Israel in 1993. Israel, in return, only recognized the PLO as the representative of the Palestinian people. Israel has never recognized a Palestinian state, or, in any formal manner, the Palestinian right to statehood.
Moreover, the Palestinian Authority has engaged in unprecedented security cooperation with occupation forces in recent years. Joint efforts to thwart attacks against Israelis, intelligence sharing and coordination in confronting militants have all persisted despite the breakdown of negotiations and at tremendous political cost to the PA.
Israeli security officials acknowledge that the Palestinian security cooperation and performance have been excellent. Attacks against Israelis in Palestinian-controlled areas in the West Bank have fallen to virtually zero.
But this security cooperation is frequently ignored and emphasis instead placed on the actions of militants in Gaza. The PA has not been able to contain the Gazan violence because Hamas runs Gaza. The PA lost control of Gaza for several reasons: its own miscalculations; Israel's refusal to allow the PA to develop elite counterterrorism forces; and insufficient support from half-hearted patrons like the United States (Hamas's patrons lavished enormous support on it). But most importantly, groups like Hamas need the absence of peace to thrive, even in Gaza.
The PA won't be able to achieve complete security control—a key responsibility of a sovereign government—without possessing the rights and prerogatives of sovereignty. Israelis point to the Altalena incident in which the fledgling Israeli state confronted the extremist Irgun group, forcing it to disarm. This confrontation took place after Israeli independence, not before the establishment of the state, when there was ample cooperation between mainstream Jewish organizations and terrorist groups like Irgun.
In the event of real Palestinian independence, Palestinian public opinion, the Palestinian security forces, and Arab governments would not allow any campaign of violence against Israelis to undermine or threaten the new state. Palestinian militants justify violence as resistance to the occupation, and ending it would remove such rationalizations. Islamist groups, just like far right-wing Israeli political parties, would be disarmed and pursue their aims through peaceful and democratic means.
In the limited areas under its control in the West Bank and without real sovereign authority, the PA has already proven its ability to do what Israel did after independence: reign in militants and enforce the rule of a single, disciplined security force. In the event of independence, this could and would be replicated in Gaza.
It should be added that “security” arguments typically focus on the predictably negative consequences of unilateral actions, but clearly unilateralism is a recipe for disaster. Building Palestinian independence does not require immediate Israeli withdrawal, and any agreement with the PA would not be unilateral but mutual. The correct security analogy is not Lebanon or Gaza, but the peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan, which have been maintained by all three countries. The Palestinian state would have an even greater incentive than the Egyptians and Jordanians to uphold such an agreement because not doing so would undermine or even threaten its own continued existence.
A mutual peace agreement will offset Israel's need to live on the permanent knife-edge of potential war and uprising as well as in the morally, socially and culturally corrupting position of occupier. It will allow the Palestinians to live in freedom and dignity, and remove any excuse for others to claim to be confronting Israel on behalf of the Palestinian cause. Peace may be a gamble, but endless wars are a sure loser.
ATFP Praises Release of US Aid to the PA, Welcomes New Quartet Statement
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| Hillary Clinton |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 12, 2012
Washington DC, April 12 -- The American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) today welcomed the announcement by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton that the United States would be releasing a $147 million package in aid to the Palestinian people. The move overrides some remaining congressional holds on the US aid package to the Palestinians for fiscal year 2011 economic support.
An unnamed administration official told the National Journal that this aid is "critical support to the Palestinian people and those leaders seeking to combat extremism within their society and build a more stable future. Without funding, our programs risk cancellation. Such an occurrence would undermine the progress that has been made in recent years in building Palestinian institutions and improving stability, security, and economic prospects, which benefits Israelis and Palestinians alike.”
The administration move also comes in the context of a new statement by the Middle East Quartet -- the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States -- that calls on donors to fulfill aid pledges to the Palestinians and "underscored the need for continued international support for the Palestinian Authority’s important institution-building efforts." The statement calls on the parties "to examine possible mechanisms it can actively support going forward, individually and together, to advance peace efforts and strengthen the Palestinian Authority’s ability to meet the full range of civil and security needs of the Palestinian people both now and in a future state." Crucially, the statement calls for “[facilitating] the social and economic development of Area C, which is of critical importance for the viability of a future Palestinian state.”
ATFP Pres. Ziad J. Asali said, “We strongly welcome this move by Sec. Clinton to release these vital funds to support the PA institution-building program’s civil and security components. We also urge other donors to fulfill their pledges to the PA. This is in the interests of the United States, the international community, the Palestinian people and Israel, and should not be subject to partisan calculations. International support is vital for preserving and enhancing the gains achieved by the institution-building program led by Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and preserving the ability of Palestinian security services to ensure law and order and prevent violence. We are gratified that the Quartet has clearly recognized that Palestinian access to Area C is vital for the development of a viable Palestinian state and to help to lay the groundwork for a two-state solution."
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James Zogby: Against all odds, some still work for a just and sustainable solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
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The politics of Palestine
Against all odds, some still work for a just and sustainable solution to
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. One of the greatest obstacles they
face is the weakness of political leaders, writes James Zogby
It may still be possible to imagine a just political resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But, in the real world, politics is not the work of our imagination. Rather it is about power, those who have it and how they use it. Politics, at the end of the day, is not about what we hope for or what we believe is just. Instead, politics is about what we can get with the power we have and are willing and able to use.
It is a sad fact that many of those with power have done everything possible to effectively block a just resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. To date, their efforts have succeeded, resulting in creating a deeply deformed situation in Israel, in Washington, and in the occupied Palestinian lands.
In Israel, hard-liners have won the day. Decades of illegal settlement and "Jewish-only" road construction, the erection of an oppressive barrier wall/fence, land confiscation, demolition of Palestinian homes, and the free reign that has been given to a radical fringe allowing them to seize land to build and expand "outposts" deep in Palestinian areas -- all have combined to profoundly distort the map of the West Bank.
Just this month, the Israeli government flaunted its own legal system, refusing to close down an illegal "outpost" that had been built on Palestinian-owned land. And even when they did evacuate a home in Hebron that had been seized by extremist settlers in an act of provocation, the prime minister sought to inoculate himself from criticism by announcing that he would begin construction of hundreds of new housing units between Bethlehem and Jerusalem -- two cities that had once had a synergistic relationship, but have now been effectively severed one from another. Add to this the recent report that appeared in Haaretz revealing that Israel's Civil Administration has been "secretly setting aside" an additional 10 per cent of the West Bank for settlement expansion, and it becomes increasingly difficult to even imagine how and where one would establish a Palestinian state.
It is not just the current hard-line Israeli government that is at fault, since all of these policies have been at work without interruption for the past 45 years. And there is no hope for change in sight. Polls show that in any future election, Israeli voters would elect a government that would pursue policies that are much the same, if not worse.
While Arabs have long imagined that this sorry state of affairs could be arrested "if only America or the 'international community' would act to restrain Israel," reality has been sobering. Hope, for example, had been placed in President Obama's early commitment to find a solution to the conflict, but these hopes have been dashed. Seeing the US president "schooled" by the Israeli prime minister, and then watching the US Congress embrace Netanyahu, humiliating their own president, was a shocking eye-opener.
With the White House tamed and, at least for the foreseeable future, out of the game of peace- making, the politics of Washington has turned to other issues like the economy, Iran, and November elections. And in this mix, Palestinians and their rights don't rate even a blip on the nation's radar screen.
Equally disappointing have been Palestinian efforts to turn to the United Nations. Here the strong arm of the United States (prodded by Israel and its US supporters) has effectively blocked initiatives to have Palestinian rights recognised or to stop Israeli violations of these rights.
Over the past 45 years, this sorry state of affairs has taken a substantial toll on the Palestinians. With the Oslo process, two and one-half decades of a brutal occupation only gave way to an equally harsh reality. During the pre-Oslo occupation, the major sources of Palestinian wealth were poorly paid, humiliating day-labour jobs in Israel, and producing commodities for sale through Israeli middlemen. Now these are gone leaving the Palestinian economy largely dependent on foreign aid. Palestinians live in an Apartheid-like system, trapped in isolated cantons surrounded by barriers to commerce and travel, increasingly squeezed by ever- growing settlements and encroaching roads that now cut the West Bank into pieces. The Palestinian metropolis of Jerusalem, once their centre of cultural, social and economic life, has now been severed from the West Bank. And Gaza, always destitute (it is one of the most densely populated, poorest places on earth), has become strangled by a blockade, its people despairing.
All this has impacted Palestinian society, leaving their economy dependent on various external sources and their leadership divided, lacking in imagination. As is the frequently the case, one further consequence of long-term humiliating oppression has been inward turning violence and other forms of aberrant and sometimes self-destructive behaviours.
Efforts to correct this situation have so far been frustrated by some Palestinians who have not wanted to cede what little power they have, or outsiders who have used their financial or political hold to squash both moves towards Palestinian unity and efforts to mobilise a national non-violent resistance movement.
In the face of power so ruthlessly and irresponsibly exercised to squash hope for change, there are still those who not only continue to imagine a just peace, but also are organising to achieve it. They differ on tactics and even on goals. Some advocate boycotts, divestment and sanctions, others promote non-violent direct action in the occupied lands, or organising politically to change Washington. Some actively support two states; others are advocating a democratic one- state solution. But where they are united is in a refusal to accept the current state of affairs, be it the oppressive system that has been imposed on the occupied lands, the dysfunctional politics of Washington, or the interference and crippling paralysis that has stymied Palestinian action. They imagine a just solution, and know that it will only be achieved if they organise to secure the power that will be required to make change real. They need to make what they imagine real.
* The writer is president of the Arab American Institute.
My letter to the IHT RE Don't Give Up on Mideast Peace By Jimmy Carter
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| Anne Frank |
RE: Don't Give Up on Mideast Peace By Jimmy Carter
http://www.nytimes.com/pages/opinion/global/index.html
Dear Editor,
I am all for a two state solution to once and for all end the Israel-Palestine conflict, but I think it is a huge mistake to perpetuate the institutionalized bigotry, injustice and angst created by insisting that Israel has to be "Jewish".
A fully secular Israel and a fully secular Palestine as two sovereign powers and partners committed to respecting international law, basic human rights, and environmental concerns will build a just and lasting peace for all the people.
As Hussein Ibish quite wisely points out in his most recent Daily Beast column : "However hard it may now seem to achieve, ending the occupation by creating a Palestinian state still offers the only workable conflict-ending solution. Recognizing and supporting that is not Zionism, Palestinian nationalism, or American imperialism. It's not even buying into the deep logic of nationalism as a political or philosophical category. It's a simple recognition of unavoidable political reality. It should be embraced by anyone who cares more about peace, preserving human life, and building a better future than about ideologies, narratives and slogans."
Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab
NOTES:
"If you ask “what are the real threats to our security today,” said Brown, “at the top of the list would be climate change, population growth, water shortages, rising food prices and the number of failing states in the world. As that list grows, how many failed states before we have a failing global civilization, and everything begins to unravel?”" The Other Arab Spring By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
An Anne Frank Moment ... a poem by Anne Selden Annab
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| A bookcase opens to reveal the steps up to Anne Frank's secret annex |
Thursday, April 12, 2012
On Thursday's PBS NewsHour: Poet Naomi Shihab Nye ...Hello Palestine
Watch Naomi Shihab Nye Reads Two Poems on PBS. See more from PBS NewsHour.
Poet Naomi Shihab Nye has spent 38 years leading writing workshops for students of all ages around the world. We recently sat down with her to discuss her most recent work, "Transfer," which draws upon her Palestinian heritage, family deaths and the cultural diversity of her home in Texas to create poems about our shared humanity and its power to overcome sadness.
"I think the job of writing and literature is to encourage each one of us to believe that we're living in a story," she told us. "Everything around is interesting. We've already survived conflicts, we've found ways to talk to people who aren't exactly like us. How could we talk about that?"
We'll post Thursday's profile of Nye here later this evening. In the video above, she reads two poems: "Hello Palestine," an homage to her father who lost his home and arrived in the United States a refugee, and "Cinco de Mayo," which explores how people are present in our memories and lives even after they have died. Below, Nye talks about teaching poetry and about what poetry can mean in our world.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/art/blog/2012/04/tuesday-on-the-newshour-naomi-shihab-nye.html
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Watch Extended Interview: Naomi Shihab Nye on PBS. See more from PBS NewsHour.
An Anne Frank Moment ... a poem by Anne Selden Annab
"A boy was jailed for flying a kite"
She packaged up brief stories
told carefully- short significant
connections... character playing out
into life affirming scenarios
mostly American
with one line
one plea
hidden-
an Anne Frank moment
for modern times
A small poem
with significant ramifications
almost at the end:
DEAREST JEWS,
PLEASE CHOOSE
TO BE NICER
might I add
love, Palestine
poem copyright ©2012 Anne Selden Annab
Hanan Ashrawi: Palestinians need freedom in Jerusalem, not Israeli permits
A boy holds a Palestinian flag near a group of soldiers.
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It is Easter in Jerusalem. Newspaper pictures show scenes of Christians from all over the world celebrating and commemorating this holy occasion, with processions, special services and prayers.
While most come freely with passports and tourist visas, the indigenous Christian population, many of them coming from towns and villages within a few kilometers of the Old City, require special permits to visit their holy sites. The majority of these Christians do not receive the necessary permits and so are prevented from participating in the Easter celebrations of Jerusalem.
This year witnessed a particularly heated debate over the question of permits for Palestinian Christians wanting to worship in Jerusalem during Easter. Just days ago, Michael Oren, the Israeli ambassador to the US, made the grand claim that 20,000 permits had been issued this year and stated, “The army and security services have created a situation where virtually any Christian in the West Bank can visit the Holy Places in Jerusalem on Good Friday and Easter.” The situation as described by Palestinian Christians is quite different.
Israel will continue to vary the numbers of permits issued at every holy occasion at whim, and Palestinians will continue to say what they see: that the vast majority of our people have not been able to reach their holy places in Occupied East Jerusalem. The disagreement over numbers will undoubtedly continue.
But with its continuation, what is often overlooked is that this debate fundamentally misses the point. We should not be questioning how many permits Israel, the occupying power, does or does not issue to Christians or Muslims for their religious holidays: we should be questioning the very existence of such permits at all.
Since 1967, Israel has illegally occupied what is internationally known as the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Occupied East Jerusalem. This is not a matter of opinion but a matter of fact according to international law. Repeated UN Security Council Resolutions (including 242, 252 and 476) have called on Israel to withdraw its forces from territories occupied in 1967, and regard any actions taken to change the character and status of Jerusalem as invalid.
These actions include both the physical, and illegal, annexation of the city to the State of Israel and the maintenance of a significant Jewish majority, through such measures as the construction of the illegal Wall, the revocation of residency rights, demolition of houses and denial of building permits for Palestinians Jerusalemites, in flagrant disregard of international law.
The fact of the matter is that Occupied East Jerusalem remains the socio-economic, cultural and spiritual heart of Palestine: there can be no viable, independent State of Palestine without it. It is an illegally occupied area and the capital of the Palestinian State. Therefore, the very idea that any Palestinian should need a permit to visit the city at any time of year, for any reason, is simply absurd.
If we entertain this absurdity, we might as well ask the State of Israel how many permits it issues to its Jewish citizens during the celebration of Passover. The answer? Not a single one. Jews from all over the world do not require permits to visit Jerusalem. And neither should Palestinians, regardless of their religious affiliation.
Nevertheless, the focus of the argument continues to be about numbers of permits. The reason is that as long as Israel persists in its illegal occupation of East Jerusalem and the rest of the Palestinian Territory occupied in 1967, the Palestinians have little choice but to accept the permit system. In the meantime, the international community firmly maintains that Israel must end its occupation and accept that it has no right to obstruct Palestinian access to any part of their occupied homeland.
Unfortunately, to date, no real international action has been taken to prevent this flagrant Israeli violation of Palestinian freedom of worship as well as the deliberate distortion of the cultural and demographic character of this Palestinian city. Israeli policies relating to Occupied East Jerusalem and the imposition of the permit regime are destroying the social fabric of Palestinian life in addition to its historical integrity and economic viability.
Israel attempts to defend its claims of granting freedom of worship in Jerusalem through pictures of foreign Christians, who are incidentally also significant contributors to the Israeli economy, touring the Old City, while Palestinian Christians are slowly being evicted from the core of their spiritual identity.
This weekend, for example, while Israeli security will be setting up barriers to prevent Palestinian Christians from Jerusalem and the rest of Palestine from reaching their prayers in the occupied Old City of Jerusalem, they will be providing facilities for all Jews to reach the Wailing Wall for Pesach prayers.
This reflects Israel’s policy of exclusion and control, a policy of turning Occupied East Jerusalem into part of the “eternal and undivided capital of the Jewish people.” In other words, the permit regime is just one aspect of Israel’s strategy to erase the Palestinian Christian and Muslim identity of Occupied East Jerusalem. And the international community, as called on by the 2012 EU Heads of Missions Report on Occupied East Jerusalem, should act, and act soon.
Until this happens, ordinary Christian and Muslim Palestinians who want to worship at their holy sites in Jerusalem will continue to apply for permits. They will continue to endure this denial of their basic human rights to worship freely, and more essentially, to move freely, within their own land. Crossing from Bethlehem or Ramallah to Occupied East Jerusalem is not crossing an international border but a humiliating checkpoint dividing Palestinians from Palestinians within the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
What Palestinians need is not a selective permits regime from the occupying power, that illegally besieges Jerusalem, but the freedom and independence to exercise their right to access East Jerusalem, their capital, throughout the year. In short, we need independence.
Hanan Ashrawi is a member of the PLO Executive Committee and head of the PLO Department of Culture and Information
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
... "What must be said'
"What must be said'
"What must be said' is being
tangled and twisted and tied
into convoluted knots
and nonsense... all
for Israel's sake
as the hate campaigns surge
with tsunami force
flinging boats
into buildings.
How many ways might
one poem, and one person
one Günter Grass
be belittled...
Palestinians already know
of the checkpoints and walls.
They know of the home demolitions
and character assassinations.
They know how peace
is pulverized by Israeli policy
and all the many Hasbara volunteers.
Is this then the future
of the internet (& all news)
with Israeli whisper campaigns
swiftly spinning out into opinion storms
and slanted Google searches
to ruin reputations
and destroy the careers
of those who dare
say what they see
feel what they feel
be what they are.
poem copyright ©2012 Anne Selden Annab
Bethlehem mayor to Israel: Allow our friends to visit... "It is our right to welcome visitors."
Palestinian youths perform the traditional Palestinian folk dance, the "dabkeh",
in the Nativity Square in Bethlehem. (MaanImages/Haytham Othman, File)
in the Nativity Square in Bethlehem. (MaanImages/Haytham Othman, File)
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BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- The mayor of Bethlehem on Tuesday urged Israel not
to humiliate hundreds of tourists invited to a week-long tour of
Palestine.
Some 25 Palestinian organizations have invited internationals to visit Palestine from April 15 - 21 and Mayor Victor Batarseh urged Israel to let them enter and not to humiliate them, at a news conference in Bethlehem.
"We demand our international friends have access to Bethlehem," the mayor said. "It is our right to welcome visitors."
Israel's public security minister, Yitzhak Aharonovitch, said Tuesday that guests of the Welcome to Palestine initiative would be detained and deported, the Israeli news site Ynet reported.
"If they arrive in Israel they will be identified, removed from the plane, their entry into Israel will be prevented and they will be moved to a detention facility until they are flown out of Israel," Aharonovitch said.
Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told Ma'an on Wednesday that police were preparing for the visitors' arrival and implementing measures inside and outside the airport. He did not elaborate.
Palestinian organizations have arranged a week-long program, starting Sunday, which includes helping to build a school in Bethlehem and day trips to Hebron, the Jordan Valley, Ramallah and Jerusalem.
All visitors to the West Bank must first pass Israeli border control and many arriving in Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport do not tell Israeli security if they will be visiting Palestinian areas as this leads to interrogation and often deportation.
But the "Welcome to Palestine" campaign has asked its guests to be open about their plans to visit the West Bank.
Coordinator Abdul-Fatah Abu Srour told reporters in Bethlehem the participants are "not hiding and not lying."
Organizer Mazim Qumsiyeh added: "We cannot understand why Israel wants people to lie about why they are coming."
Qumsiyeh emphasized that the visitors were "normal average Europeans willing to visit people under occupation."
"These are peaceful people that want to visit us here in Bethlehem and the Holy Land," he added.
At least 1,500 people from over 15 countries have booked tickets to participate in the program, organizers say, adding that up to 2,000 could arrive. Most are flying in from Europe but visitors are also coming from Australia, New Zealand, the US and Canada.
The Welcome to Palestine campaign organized a similar program in July 2011 but Israel sent lists of participants to foreign airports who refused to let blacklisted passengers board. Over 120 participants who arrived in Ben Gurion airport were detained and deported by Israel.
Minister Aharonovitch told Israel's Channel 1 on Wednesday that Israel would send blacklists to foreign airports again this week.
But Qumsiyeh said airlines had agreed not to cooperate with Israel's blacklists after facing legal challenges over their refusal to let passengers board last year.
Another Welcome to Palestine organizer told reporters the initiative sent a message to European governments that Israel was "dismissing" their citizens' freedoms.
Israel violates bilateral agreements by deporting Europeans, she said, noting that European countries allowed Israelis to enter freely.
"We reject all attempts to isolate us," Abu Srour added.
Some 25 Palestinian organizations have invited internationals to visit Palestine from April 15 - 21 and Mayor Victor Batarseh urged Israel to let them enter and not to humiliate them, at a news conference in Bethlehem.
"We demand our international friends have access to Bethlehem," the mayor said. "It is our right to welcome visitors."
Israel's public security minister, Yitzhak Aharonovitch, said Tuesday that guests of the Welcome to Palestine initiative would be detained and deported, the Israeli news site Ynet reported.
"If they arrive in Israel they will be identified, removed from the plane, their entry into Israel will be prevented and they will be moved to a detention facility until they are flown out of Israel," Aharonovitch said.
Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told Ma'an on Wednesday that police were preparing for the visitors' arrival and implementing measures inside and outside the airport. He did not elaborate.
Palestinian organizations have arranged a week-long program, starting Sunday, which includes helping to build a school in Bethlehem and day trips to Hebron, the Jordan Valley, Ramallah and Jerusalem.
All visitors to the West Bank must first pass Israeli border control and many arriving in Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport do not tell Israeli security if they will be visiting Palestinian areas as this leads to interrogation and often deportation.
But the "Welcome to Palestine" campaign has asked its guests to be open about their plans to visit the West Bank.
Coordinator Abdul-Fatah Abu Srour told reporters in Bethlehem the participants are "not hiding and not lying."
Organizer Mazim Qumsiyeh added: "We cannot understand why Israel wants people to lie about why they are coming."
Qumsiyeh emphasized that the visitors were "normal average Europeans willing to visit people under occupation."
"These are peaceful people that want to visit us here in Bethlehem and the Holy Land," he added.
At least 1,500 people from over 15 countries have booked tickets to participate in the program, organizers say, adding that up to 2,000 could arrive. Most are flying in from Europe but visitors are also coming from Australia, New Zealand, the US and Canada.
The Welcome to Palestine campaign organized a similar program in July 2011 but Israel sent lists of participants to foreign airports who refused to let blacklisted passengers board. Over 120 participants who arrived in Ben Gurion airport were detained and deported by Israel.
Minister Aharonovitch told Israel's Channel 1 on Wednesday that Israel would send blacklists to foreign airports again this week.
But Qumsiyeh said airlines had agreed not to cooperate with Israel's blacklists after facing legal challenges over their refusal to let passengers board last year.
Another Welcome to Palestine organizer told reporters the initiative sent a message to European governments that Israel was "dismissing" their citizens' freedoms.
Israel violates bilateral agreements by deporting Europeans, she said, noting that European countries allowed Israelis to enter freely.
"We reject all attempts to isolate us," Abu Srour added.
My letter to the LATIMES RE Israel's poetry critics, Barring German author Gunter Grass for expressing his political views is the kind of reaction expected from Iran's mullahs.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/opinionla/la-ed-grass-gunter-poem-israel-20120410,0,7035322.story
Dear Editor,
Jews preferred Israel is an open democracy that has been actively persecuting, impoverishing and displacing the native non-Jewish Palestinians for the past sixty years. Demonizing its critics is par for the course.
Cherishing free speech and "the rule of law" in order to harass, disenfranchise and destroy people who refuse to idolize and empower Israeli bigotry in one way or another, is what Israel is today.... and Americans are stuck reading Haaretz in order to find out that the medal recently given to Helen Thomas by Palestine's President Mahmoud Abbas is being used by pro-Israel propagandists to coerce our Congress into bashing Palestine.
Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Palestinians accuse Israel of destroying prospects for two-state solution with new settlements
Palestinian U.N. observer Riyad Mansour sent a protest letter to the U.N. secretary-general, Security Council and General Assembly two days before the Quartet of Mideast mediators — the U.S., U.N., European Union and Russia — meets in Washington to discuss the long-stalled peace process.
Mansour said Israel’s “illegal and destructive plans” to build new settlements underscore “the dubious nature” of its claims of readiness to negotiate a peace deal.
Israeli-Palestinian talks remain frozen over Palestinian demands that Israel stop building on lands they claim, and agree to negotiate borders based on lines Israel held before capturing the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem in 1967.
Israel rejects those conditions and has defied international pressure to freeze settlement construction...READ MORE
Pants, Poems and Israel’s Problem With The Truth By Joharah Baker for MIFTAH
[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]
Date posted: April 09, 2012 Thanks to my multi-zippered slacks, I had the ‘pleasure’ of being ordered into the small inspection room at the Qalandiya checkpoint. My nine-year old daughter was with me as I took off earrings, wristwatch and even shoes trying to make it through the metal detector without ‘buzzing’. She stood by patiently as I tried to convey though the bullet-proof (and apparently sound proof) glass, to the irate Israeli soldiers that there was nothing left I could possibly take off. “Go back,” they said, with a stern point of the finger and a look of contempt on each of their faces.
Finally, after at least five or six times of this, I started to lose my patience. “There’s nothing left on me!’ I yelled through the glass, showing them the wayward zippers that had clearly got me in this bind. Finally, a female soldier ordered me into the little room to inspect me and make sure I wasn’t carrying a bomb, a gun or a knife under my clothes. Just as I was about to give her a “piece of my mind” I looked over at my daughter who said very calmly in Arabic. “Mom, just don’t say anything so we can go.”
That obviously shut me up and we were eventually released after the soldiers were convinced that the zippers were the culprit. Later, I thought about her statement. It was not so much out of fear that she said it, but out of a knowledge way beyond her young years that with Israelis, if you say something they don’t like, you could be in pretty hot water.
She is right of course. And Gunter Grass is perfect evidence. The 84-year old Nobel Literature Laureate has been declared persona non grata in Israel and has been depicted by Israeli politicians and journalists as the devil incarnate. He just needs a pitchfork and horns to complete the picture. And why? One would think that this [regretful] former Nazi officer was still espousing Hitler’s philosophy, ranting against Jews and calling for their extermination. That is not the case though – the man already said he joined the SS at 17 “without having a say” and obviously is uncomfortable with what he calls a “painful lesson.” Actually, it is a poem which has made Grass one of the most hated men in Israel.
The poem, which is pretty famous by now because of all the negative press it has gotten in Israel basically does one thing: tells the truth. In “What Must be Said” Grass dubs Israel as a threat to world peace because of its secret nuclear program. Of course he says other things, but the fact that he called Israel out, charging that one strike on Iran could annihilate an entire nation, was more than enough for Israel. Of course now, Grass is anti-Semitic, he is a Nazi and he is an enemy of the Jewish state. And he is banned from entering the country.
My daughter was right. You cannot criticize Israel. Noam Chomsky, Richard Falk and Norman Finkelstein to name a few all know this well. They too have been denied entry. They are no former Nazis; in fact, they are Jewish. But Israel is not interested in which religion or to which nationality you belong. If you criticize Israel, not only will you be denied entry into the country, you will be branded anti-Semitic, you will be vilified and you will be shunned. That, obviously, is what Israeli ‘democracy’ is all about.
Lucky for me, I am Palestinian, so by default I am already “blacklisted”. That gives me some margin of freedom to criticize as I like and as Grass put it: “I will not remain silent.” But when it comes to crossing Qalandiya, I have learned two things: to keep my mouth shut, so I can actually get home; and never, ever wear those blasted pants again.
Joharah Baker 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.