"... As they wait their time, many of the millennial activists who briefly turned the Arab world upside down and provoked so many changes are putting their energies into nongovernmental organizations, thousands of which have flowered, barely noticed. Others continue to coordinate with labor unions to promote the welfare of the working classes.

In this way, they are learning valuable organizational skills that — count on it — will one day be applied to politics. Their dislike of nepotism, narrow cliques and ethnic or sectarian rule has already had a lasting effect on the politics of the Arab world. And two or three decades from now, the twentysomethings of Tahrir Square and the Casbah in Tunis and Martyrs' Square in Tripoli will, like the Havels of the Middle East, come to power as politicians.

We haven't heard the last of the Middle East's millennial generation."   JUAN COLE

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Why it's way too soon to give up on the Arab Spring 

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-cole-arab-spring-millenials-20140629-story.html

Ziad Asali : The Road to the Arab Civil State

Good Advice

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http://www.aawsat.net/2014/02/article55328732

"...This tumultuous period of transformation and change presents a historic opportunity for the Arab peoples, and their elites, to regain self-confidence and once again believe they have the ability to overcome their challenges and the power to determine their own futures. Explaining away uncomfortable realities by citing oft-repeated theories about “Zionist and international conspiracies” or “hidden hands” should not be allowed to seduce Arabs into any kind of withdrawal from the reality or the broader world around them.

Such conspiracy theories are repeated with abandon. They rob the Arab people of their ability to assert their rights and responsibilities as citizens, and to take the initiative proactively to determine their own futures for themselves. It is high time that Arab societies face up to their internal problems and external challenges, rather than blaming others. They should develop new social compacts and legal and political processes that will allow them to unite and shape their own futures, rather than passively waiting for events to unfold, and all the while learning from the experiences of other regions and countries.

There is a historic opportunity for a new, galvanized Arab intellectual life to inform and participate in empowering a new consciousness that embraces the inescapable reality of global competition and the urgent need for Arabs to raise the levels of efficiency and professionalism in their societies.

Let’s begin by correctly identifying what’s going on: these are civic transformations that must be the basis for the creation of fully formed, well functioning modern societies that are united within themselves and competitive globally. But for this to happen, intellectual, social, cultural and political discourse in the entire spectrum of the Arab world must begin to find ways of promoting pluralism, tolerance, freedom, accountability, rule of law and real equality for minorities and women.

This will not be easy. A recent UNESCO report that confirms that half the children in Arab states lack the fundamentals of a basic education demonstrates that all too clearly. The future of the Arab world relies on developing the necessary mechanisms for social and economic development and real international competitiveness.

These challenges are gigantic, but the crucial thing is to begin moving in the right direction. Once the process is underway, it is the responsibility of like-minded people to work together and develop the necessary compromises and consensus views that can begin to coalesce on the ground and online to develop a better and safer future for the region. The path will be long and difficult, but it is unavoidable and failure cannot be an option." Ziad Asali

***

 

Ziad J. Asali, M.D., is the President and founder of the American Task Force on Palestine

Dr. Asali was born in Jerusalem, where he completed his elementary and secondary education. He received an M.D. from the American University of Beirut (AUB) Medical School in 1967.  

The American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) is a 501©(3) non-profit, non-partisan organization based in Washington, DC.  Established in 2003, its mission is to articulate and educate about the United States national interest in helping to create a Palestinian state living alongside Israel in peace, security and dignity. 

ATFP is committed to strengthening Palestinian-American relations at every level. The Task Force supports Palestinian institution-building, good governance, anti-corruption measures, economic development, and improved living standards. ATFP holds that these same values are relevant to the broader Arab world, and that the question of Palestine is inextricably linked to regional realities and developments.

ATFP provides an independent voice for Palestinian-Americans and their supporters and advances human rights and peace. It categorically and unequivocally condemns all violence against civilians, no matter the cause and who the victims or perpetrators may be.

ATFP builds effective and durable working relationships with government departments and agencies, think tanks and NGOs, and the media. It has developed lines of communication with the US and other
relevant governments in order to pursue its policy advocacy goals.  AFTP’s Board of Directors is made up of noted Palestinian Americans who agree with these principles.

Abdulateef Al-Mulhim: "The real enemies of the Arab world are corruption, lack of good education, lack of good health care, lack of freedom, lack of respect for the human lives and finally, the Arab world had many dictators who used the Arab-Israeli conflict to suppress their own people"

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http://www.arabnews.com/arab-spring-and-israeli-enemy

Arab Spring and the Israeli enemy

Thirty-nine years ago, on Oct. 6, 1973, the third major war between the Arabs and Israel broke out. The war lasted only 20 days. The two sides were engaged in two other major wars, in 1948 and 1967.

The 1967 War lasted only six days. But, these three wars were not the only Arab-Israel confrontations. From the period of 1948 and to this day many confrontations have taken place. Some of them were small clashes and many of them were full-scale battles, but there were no major wars apart from the ones mentioned above. The Arab-Israeli conflict is the most complicated conflict the world ever experienced. On the anniversary of the 1973 War between the Arab and the Israelis, many people in the Arab world are beginning to ask many questions about the past, present and the future with regard to the Arab-Israeli conflict.

The questions now are: What was the real cost of these wars to the Arab world and its people. And the harder question that no Arab national wants to ask is: What was the real cost for not recognizing Israel in 1948 and why didn’t the Arab states spend their assets on education, health care and the infrastructures instead of wars? But, the hardest question that no Arab national wants to hear is whether Israel is the real enemy of the Arab world and the Arab people.

I decided to write this article after I saw photos and reports about a starving child in Yemen, a burned ancient Aleppo souk in Syria, the under developed Sinai in Egypt, car bombs in Iraq and the destroyed buildings in Libya. The photos and the reports were shown on the Al-Arabiya network, which is the most watched and respected news outlet in the Middle East.

The common thing among all what I saw is that the destruction and the atrocities are not done by an outside enemy. The starvation, the killings and the destruction in these Arab countries are done by the same hands that are supposed to protect and build the unity of these countries and safeguard the people of these countries. So, the question now is that who is the real enemy of the Arab world?

The Arab world wasted hundreds of billions of dollars and lost tens of thousands of innocent lives fighting Israel, which they considered is their sworn enemy, an enemy whose existence they never recognized. The Arab world has many enemies and Israel should have been at the bottom of the list. The real enemies of the Arab world are corruption, lack of good education, lack of good health care, lack of freedom, lack of respect for the human lives and finally, the Arab world had many dictators who used the Arab-Israeli conflict to suppress their own people.

These dictators’ atrocities against their own people are far worse than all the full-scale Arab-Israeli wars....READ MORE

Hard lessons in liberty for the Middle East

With pro-democracy struggles in trouble in Iran and in the Arab Spring, opposition figures now realize that unity against tyranny is easier than unity in favor of democracy. Many see the need for a change.

By the Monitor's Editorial Board / September 11, 2012 

UN Special Envoy Angelina Jolie meets Syrian refugees in Jordan Sept. 10. More than 23,000 people have died in an uprising that has lasted more than 17 months. Reuters

 For three years, the world has watched the people of the Middle East rise up against dictators. First came Iran in 2009 and then the Arab Spring in 2011. Almost all of the revolts – either active ones as in Syria or successful ones as in Egypt – have since ended, stalled, or hit rough spots.

Why?

One reason is that those who ignited the protests have since learned it is far easier to unite against tyranny than unite in favor of democratic values, such as respect for the opinions of others. Opposition leaders have too often split over egos, the role of Islam, the use of violence, or differing views of what democracy means.
 
Now, however, there are signs that many who first sought freedom have learned an expensive lesson from their own experience and from history in what can happen during a revolution. Even Americans in 1776 were more united against King George III than united for democracy.

Ultimately, an affirmative identity for these movements based on democratic principles will be far more lasting for the Middle East than a negative identity, or what a group opposes. Positive ideals help form bonds across faiths, ethnicities, and classes...READ MORE 

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http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/the-monitors-view/2012/0911/Hard-lessons-in-liberty-for-the-Middle-East/%28page%29/2

"The Middle East peace process cannot become an orphan of the Arab Spring."... In West Bank, EU's Barroso urges new peace talks... "It is important that all Palestinian actors take advantage of the positive developments towards democratisation in the region to build a future of democracy, security and prosperity"

Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad (right) holds a joint press conference with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso in Ramallah on Sunday. Barroso urged a return to Israeli-Palestinian talks, warning the peace process must not become "an orphan of the Arab Spring." (AFP Photo/Abbas Momani)

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http://news.yahoo.com/west-bank-eus-barroso-urges-peace-talks-104702983.html

European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso called on Sunday for a return to Israeli-Palestinian talks, warning the peace process must not become "an orphan of the Arab Spring."

Barroso was speaking after talks with Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad on the first day of a trip which includes stops in the West Bank and Israel.

"The momentous change that we are witnessing throughout the Arab world should constitute an incitement and not a deterrent to the resumption of negotiations," he said, according to an advance copy of his remarks.

"The Middle East peace process cannot become an orphan of the Arab Spring."

Direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians have been on hold since late September 2010, and efforts by the peacemaking Quartet -- which groups the EU, United Nations, United States and Russia -- have had little success.

But Barroso said the European Union considered resolving the conflict a "strategic priority," and would continue to work to find a way to bring the two sides back to the table.

"Meanwhile it is important that the two parties do not act in a way that undermines the viability of a two-state solution," Barroso said.

"In this respect it is with concern that we see the continuous growth of settlements in the West Bank, including east Jerusalem."

Barroso, who will meet later Sunday in the West Bank city of Ramallah with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, offered support for the reconciliation process between Abbas's Fatah party and the rival Hamas movement which rules Gaza.

"This is a key factor contributing to the unity of a future Palestinian state and to reaching the two-state solution," he said.

And he said that new elections, which are called for under the reconciliation deal signed last year but have been delayed as the two sides bicker over implementation of the agreement, would constitute "a significant contribution to Palestinian state-building."

"It is important that all Palestinian actors take advantage of the positive developments towards democratisation in the region to build a future of democracy, security and prosperity," his prepared remarks said....READ MORE

Arab Voices

"...Hussein Ibish, named by Foreign Policy magazine this week to its Twitterati 100, recently wrote a column acknowledging his errors in predicting the course of the Egyptian revolution and the wider Arab Spring.

The senior research fellow for the American Task Force on Palestine said he had learned some valuable lessons.

“Resist trying to impose any grand narratives. Take every apparently emerging pattern as contingent and unstable. Be prepared for Arab states and publics alike to pleasantly surprise or disappoint without warning,” he wrote.

“Avoid predictions whenever possible. And acknowledge that we frequently don’t really ‘know’ what we think we ‘know,’ for political realities are always at least a dozen steps ahead of every analyst.”"

http://rendezvous.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/19/arab-voices-the-lessons-of-the-egyptian-spring-so-far/

NYTimes blogs... Arab Voices: The Lessons of the Egyptian Spring So Far

My letter to the New York Times RE Thomas L. Friedman's "Facebook Meets Brick-and-Mortar Politics "

RE:  Facebook Meets Brick-and-Mortar Politics
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/10/opinion/sunday/friedman-facebook-meets-brick-and-mortar-politics.html?_r=1&ref=global

Dear Editor,

Regarding Thomas L. Friedman's "Facebook Meets Brick-and-Mortar Politics "... It is not facebook but the internet in general with its echo chamber tendencies which has become "an addictive substitute for real action", as well as a source for manipulative misinformation and bad advice for many naive and gullible people.

And the effect is not limited to far away conflict zones and people living under authoritative regimes: One can be a graduate student of Public Policy at Harvard University and be every bit as out of touch and unable to influence any one beyond a small closed circle of  like minded  "activists".  Unhampered by reality checks and any sense of accountability internet bullies tend to be full of  "sound and fury, signifying nothing".

That is not to say the internet is useless or even counterproductive. Building civic muscle is a slow process, and a serious process best shaped by competent, intelligent, connected people who know there is much more to life, and to political power, than adolescent howls and echo chamber antics.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

NOTES
Hussein Ibish: Clarifying why Arab and Muslim Americans should be smart rather than stupid

Ziad Asali: Learning from the Nakba "The only way to honour our tragic histories is to create a future for our children free of man-made tragedy. This means making peace fully, completely and without reservation, between Israel and a State of Palestine.

... to be an authentic voice...

To Rise to the Challenge

To Build A State

A Tool Box

"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

UNRWA film competition for young Palestinian refugees... This year’s theme is: My Spring is Coming.

United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees announces third annual film competition

Searching for a relation between the Arab Spring and Palestinian refugees situation, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) announced theme for its 3rd annual short film competition "My Spring is Coming."

UNRWA accepts submissions from all young Palestinian refugees complying with the rules set by the competition organisers, which can be found here.

Submission deadline 18 May 2012

Ahram Online, Thursday 16 Feb 2012

17 February 2012

Are you a young Palestinian refugee? Do you have an idea for a short film? We are now accepting submissions for our 3rd annual film competition. This year’s theme is: My Spring is Coming.

One year on, where has the “Arab Spring” left Palestine refugees?

Requirements

• 2 - 5 minute film
• Film must reflect on this year’s theme in an original and creative way
• Filmmaker must be younger than 25 years
• Closing date for submissions is 18 May 2012

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Springs - Arab and otherwise

By Megan Ritchie

Feb. 10, 2012

http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/20120210_Springs_-_Arab_and_otherwise.html

"An old man sat on the sidewalk, placed a hat in front of his crossed legs, and a sign next to them that read: 'I am blind. Please help me,' " my student began.

An Egyptian psychologist, Professor Saleh, along with two other visiting professors, was taking English lessons funded by a grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development. The professors were to publish in an American journal during a nine-month stay in the United States, and I was to help them make sure their writing was appropriately polished.

This day's content focused on behavioral conditioning. Professor Saleh, eager to contribute his expertise to the lesson, leaned forward in his chair, easing into the more familiar role of professor.

"The old man continued like this for days," he went on. "He sat there collecting only pennies until one day, he noticed his hat was filled to the brim. He wondered what was different about today - not a national holiday, nor a religious celebration - and asked a person near him to read his sign out loud.

"This is what was read back to him: 'We are in spring. Enjoy its beauty.' "

According to the professor, a behavioral expert had changed the old man's sign that day, drawing on his knowledge that people respond better to optimism than they do to appeals for pity.... READ MORE

Thank the Arab Spring for those possibilities...

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

The Monitor's View

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

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

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

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Arab Spring a defining moment in Arab history

His Majesty King Abdullah is received by British Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace in London on Tuesday (AP photo by Lewis Whyld/Pool )

http://jordantimes.com/?news=43336
16 November 2011

Responding to a question on dealing with Israel, the King said there were no indications that the Israeli government is seriously interested in reviving the peace talks with the Palestinians.

“We have been in contact. I haven’t seen or spoken to the Prime Minister [Benjamin Netanyahu] in quite some time because I got to a point where I didn’t see anything to me that justified seriousness on behalf of the Israeli government.”

“Having said that, we are in contact with them. They’re beginning to realise how serious the problem is. Can we collectively put something together from now to the end of the year? We are frankly out of ideas,” he said.

“The continuation of a lack of a peace process limits Israel’s options,” he warned, adding: “The Arab Spring overshadowed the strong discussions that Israel was going to be addressed with by the international community.”

“One Western diplomat said to me recently, if Israel continues with its policy, they will find that the only allies that they have in the world is the US Congress. And that’s quite a fascinating statement. Because their options become less and less as time goes on.”

The Monarch reiterated that the Palestinian-Israeli conflict remains the region’s core issue.

“The train wreck that is waiting to happen is the Israeli-Palestinian problem. As we talk about the Arab Spring and Iran, we keep forgetting the core issue.”

Dialogues in Democracy.... Karen AbuZayd will speak about the plight and promise of refugees

Refugees in the Middle East

http://libertyville.patch.com/articles/stevenson-center-on-democracy-hosts-program-on-arab-spring

United Nations Expert to Discuss Middle East Refugees

Stevenson Center on Democracy hosts program at 2 p.m. Nov. 13 as part of its Dialogues in Democracy series in Libertyville.

The Stevenson Center on Democracy will host a program on the plight and promise of refugees caught in the "Arab Spring" on Nov. 13.

As part of the Dialogues in Democracy series, the center has invited Karen Koning AbuZayd, expert on the Middle East refugee situation, to share her insights at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Stevenson Center on Democracy, 25200 N. St. Mary’s Road, Libertyville.

AbuZayd, recently retired commissioner general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, helped to oversee the education, health, social services and micro-enterprise programs for 4.6 million Palestine refugees from her base in Gaza beginning in 2005.

Before joining UNRWA, AbuZayd worked for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees for 19 years. She began her humanitarian career in Sudan in 1981, dealing with Ugandan, Chadian and Ethiopian refugees fleeing from war and famine in their own countries.

From Sudan, she moved to Namibia in 1989 to help coordinate the return of apartheid-era refugees, a repatriation operation which led to elections and independence. A year later, the Liberian civil war erupted and AbuZayd moved to Sierra Leone to head the UNHCR office in Freetown, initiating a new emergency response that settled 100,000 Liberians in 600 villages along the Liberian/Sierra Leone border.

From 1991 to 1993 in UNHCR’s Geneva headquarters, AbuZayd directed the South African repatriation operation and the Kenya-Somali cross-border operation. She left Geneva to go to Sarajevo as chief of mission for two years during the Bosnian war. Four million displaced and war-affected people were kept alive by UNHCR’s airlift and convoy activities, while thousands more were protected from ethnic cleansing by the UNHCR presence.

AbuZayd was awarded the Spanish/Catalonia Peace Prize for her work highlighting the achievements of UNRWA’s education programs.

Information provided by Stevenson Center on Democracy.

Arab Spring sparks renewed interest in Arab-American literature

http://www.jordantimes.com/?news=42730

Arab Spring sparks renewed interest in Arab-American literature
By Rand Dalgamouni

AMMAN - The Arab Spring has generated more interest in Arab-American writers and their reflections on the changes taking place in the region, an author said on Tuesday.

“The media in the [United] States has been reaching out to Arab-American writers,” Susan Muaddi Darraj told reporters.

“Whether we like it or not, we are viewed as spokespeople for Arabs in America,” the Arab-American writer said. “My identity as an Arab American is a political identity.”

Muaddi Darraj was in Jordan to launch the Arabic version of her short story collection “The Inheritance of Exile: Stories from South Philly”, which was translated through the US embassy’s Arabic Book Programme.

During her visit to the Kingdom, the author also met with Jordanian writers and students at several universities.

At a media roundtable yesterday, she said the aftermath of 9/11 has led to a greater interest in Arab-American writing.

Some authors took advantage of that interest by writing “damaging” books that were not based on actual facts, she charged, citing Norma Khouri’s 2003 book “Forbidden Love” on so-called honour crimes in Jordan.

“The book caused a lot of damage… it hurt the depiction of Arab women and men in the Middle East,” Muaddi Darraj elaborated, adding that “there’s a lot that we [Arab-American authors] have to do to fix the damage”.

Khouri had claimed that her book was based on a true story, but 75 factual errors were unveiled in 2004 by journalist Malcolm Knox of Australia’s Sydney Morning Herald, with help from Jordanian activists Amal Sabbagh and Rana Husseini.

Their findings exposed the story as a “work of fiction” and revealed that the book contains over 40 erroneous statements regarding Muslims and Arabs.

Muaddi Darraj, who is also an associate professor of English at Harford Community College, told reporters she feels she has “a responsibility towards my readers to explain our culture”.

Due to the stereotypical depiction of Arabs in the media, she said most Americans think that Arab women are either “belly dancers” or oppressed, while Arab men are billionaires or terrorists.

“I want to show them that Arab women are mothers, doctors, teachers,” the author explained, stressing that she seeks to create “real, authentic” characters in her writings so that readers see them as a “challenge to what they view as Arabs”.

She noted that the experience of Arab Americans as an immigrant community is not foreign to the American reader.

“Our country is a country of emigrants… if [readers] can make the connection on a human level, they can make it on a political level.”

Muaddi Darraj, who has written several works of non-fiction, highlighted the power of fiction in breaking stereotypes by forming a connection with the reader.

“In fiction, you get to fuse truth with politics and fuse different experiences… and the reader brings his or her imagination to it, which creates further sparks.”

“The Inheritance of Exile: Stories from South Philly” follows the lives of four Palestinian-American friends: Nadia, Aliyah, Hanan and Reema, whose families emigrated to the US and settled in South Philadelphia.

The 2007 book was a finalist for the Association for Writers and Writing Programmes award series in short fiction.

*************

"This sweet, sorrowful book is rich with insight. The Inheritance of Exile tells an authentic story of Arab-American life--these characters are true, expressive, and moving. A fully engaging, satisfying collection indeed." --Diana Abu-Jaber, author of Origin, Crescent, and The Language of Baklava

Hussein Ibish: "Snap judgments don't explicate much about where we are, and illuminate even less about where we're going..."

"There is an intellectually and politically indefensible rush to recast the leading Arab Islamist parties as more moderate or pluralistic than they actually are. Almost all of them remain Muslim Brotherhood or Salafist groupings, not Arab equivalents of European Christian Democratic parties or even the Turkish AKP. If constitutional restraints on government powers are strong, as they must be in any democracy, eventually some Arab Islamist groups will probably move in that direction, but they have not yet.

While there's no reason to think Islamists are in the process of consolidating absolute power anywhere, it's simply foolish not to recognize that they remain in every meaningful sense radical and retain their totalitarian impulses. That they would like to broadly and severely restrict the rights of individuals, women and minorities in the name of religion is obvious. It's hard to see them developing such unrestrained power, but there is also no use in kidding oneself about their evident intentions." Hussein Ibish- Jumping to conclusions on the Arab Spring

Protecting rights of minorities, women

"Evidence of the need for minority protection in the Middle East is already coming thick and fast: This month – eight months after the Arab Spring – 27 Coptic Christians were killed when Egyptian tanks rolled into a crowd of protesters. Yet there is little accountability in Cairo for the massacre of peaceful protesters, part of which was caught on YouTube.

Politically, there is agreement in Tunis and Cairo and elsewhere on "democracy." Yet this is mainly about voting and elections; conceptual rifts are deepening. Will states adopt a simple democratic "majority rule" system, or one that builds in rights that protect minorities ahead of time, a "national consensus" model?

Basic questions are unanswered: Will women be allowed positions of leadership? Will full participation by non-Muslims in politics, public office, and courts be assured? In states like Syria, with a plethora of minority groups and intra-Muslim divides, if change comes, will all Islamic family members receive full rights?"

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2011/1028/Does-the-Arab-spring-need-a-bill-of-rights

Does the Arab spring need a bill of rights?

The hefty victory of an Islamist party in Tunisia's election kicks off a year of constitution writing. Urgently needed now is a bill of rights to guarantee freedom for all, regardless of creed or politics.

By Robert Marquand, Staff writer / October 28, 2011

David Hale: Hamas could be swept out of power if the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority is able to show "tangible" results from peace negotiations

"You supported the Arab spring which was seeking democracy and freedom. Now the Palestinian spring has arrived, asking for freedom and an end to the (Israeli) occupation. We deserve your support." Abbas

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=433323
President Mahmoud Abbas meets with US Mideast peace envoy David Hale in the
West Bank city of Ramallah on Sept. 7, 2011. (Reuters/Mohamad Torokman)

US envoy: Palestine not immune to Arab Spring

CHICAGO (AFP) -- The revolutions rocking the Arab world could upturn Palestinian politics if a real peace process got off the ground, a top US diplomat has suggested.

Hamas could be swept out of power if the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority is able to show "tangible" results from peace negotiations with Israel, US envoy for Middle East Peace David Hale told the Chicago Council on Global Affairs on Thursday.

The envoy said that the PA had yet to show the benefits of talks, but warned that pursuing statehood at UN bodies could undo the peace process.

PLO officials say they are taking the membership application to the UN because 20 years of negotiations have brought them no closer to independence and with nothing to show for their efforts but more Israeli settlement on Palestinian land.

Hale said while the security and economic reforms that have been achieved by the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank are "valued" they "aren't enough."

When the Palestinian people "see that the leadership that is committed to peace has something to offer, then I think then you will see a very different dynamic underway," he added.

"The Palestinians are no more immune to the currents of change and demand for democratization, reform and freedom than any of the other people in the region," Hale said.

"I think you will see those same forces affect Hamas because clearly their leadership is not characterized by any of those words."

Hamas -- which is blacklisted by the US -- won democratic national elections in 2006, before seizing the Gaza Strip after fighting with long-term rivals Fatah erupted into near civil war, and split Palestinians into separate administrations in the West Bank and Gaza.

Hale said that while Hamas is vulnerable, it will only lose power when the Palestinian people are given a real choice between peace and violence.

"That choice can only be put to the Palestinian people in the context of negotiations in which there is actually something tangible to be judged," Hale said.

"It has to move beyond rhetoric which is unfortunately all we have right now to show for our efforts."

Hale cautioned that Palestinian attempts to seek statehood at the United Nations -- including Monday's vote to grant Palestine full member status at the UN cultural agency UNESCO -- could instead complicate, delay or even "derail" the peace process.

"Peace will not come through statements or actions or votes in the United Nations," he said, adding that such action will simply raise expectations "that we fear will be frustrated because it will do nothing to change the situation on the ground the day after the vote."

In early October, Abbas urged members of the Council of Europe parliamentary assembly to support the Palestinian UN bid as they had the Arab Spring in a Strasbourg speech.

"Today we are at the heart of the Arab spring: we say that the hour of the Palestinian spring has struck," he told European parliamentarians.

"You supported the Arab spring which was seeking democracy and freedom. Now the Palestinian spring has arrived, asking for freedom and an end to the (Israeli) occupation. We deserve your support."

Ma'an staff contributed to this report

Washington Post interview with Jordan's King Abdullah on Egypt, Syria and Israel

"The Arab Spring didn’t start because of politics; it started because of economics — poverty and unemployment. . . . What keeps me up at night is not political reform because I am clear on where we are going. What keeps me up at night is the economic situation because if people are going to get back on the streets, it is because of economic challenges, not political." King Abdullah

Jordan’s King Abdullah on Egypt, Syria and Israel

During the World Economic Forum he hosted at the Dead Sea over the weekend, Jordan’s King Abdullah II spoke with The Post’s Lally Weymouth. ...READ MORE

Jordan's king urges restart of Mideast peace talks

King Abdullah II of Jordan speaks at the opening of the World Economic Forum at the Dead Sea, 34 Miles, (55 Kilometers) southeast of Amman, Jordan, Saturday Oct. 22, 2011. Jordan's king has urged Israel and the Palestinians to look to the Arab Spring uprisings for inspiration and to restart their peace talks. (AP Photo/Mohammad Hannon)

http://news.yahoo.com/jordans-king-urges-restart-mideast-peace-talks-093055791.html
By JAMAL HALABY - Associated Press

SOUTHERN SHUNEH, Jordan (AP) — Jordan's King Abdullah on Saturday urged Israel and the Palestinians to look to the Arab Spring uprisings for inspiration and to restart their stalled peace talks.

"The future for the Middle East and beyond is with the normalcy of peace," Abdullah told the opening of a two-day special meeting of the Davos-based World Economic Forum, held on the shores of the Dead Sea, the lowest point on earth.

He said "shortsighted leaders may think they can shut" the door to peace — a rebuke believed directed at Israel's right-wing government. He added that a Palestinian-Israeli deal must consider Israel's "security and acceptance" and allow for the creation of an independent Palestinian state.

Around 1,000 participants from 50 countries, including the United States, are attending the meeting which will discuss ways for economic development and creating jobs in the Arab world following the revolts that unseated three longtime Arab leaders.

Abdullah said one of the main factors to be considered is creating 85,000 jobs across the region soon to help alleviate poverty and improve living conditions for the youth who are leading the effort for change.

"Our region stands today at the gates to the future," Abdullah said, referring to the Arab uprisings. One of those gates, he said, leads "to peace and justice, opening the way out of regional crisis, especially (for the issue) at the heart of the region, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict."...READ MORE

Keeping the "Arab Spring" from becoming a winter of discontent.

"To protect the rights of minorities, women and individuals from the excesses of a potential Islamist-dominated or -brokered Egyptian parliament with broad powers on domestic issues, the other two centers of power – the military and the presidency – will also have to play the role of watchdog, drawing red lines around a parliamentary majority that begins to exhibit extremist tendencies. It is therefore essential that the emerging Egyptian constitution and system allow for the full participation of such religious parties, but not their use of possible legislative powers to abuse or oppress vulnerable groups.

The broader Arab world could not have higher stakes in Egypt’s ability to develop a functional power-sharing system that includes the division of authority, the participation of all peaceful parties including reactionary religious ones, and the protection of the rights of individuals, minorities and women. Egypt’s influence on the political direction of much of the rest of the Arab world will be enormous, if not decisive. If the Egyptian experiment disintegrates into chaos, direct or indirect protracted military rule, or the emergence of a tyrannous Islamist parliamentary majority, the “Arab Spring” will have well and truly become a winter of discontent." Hussein Ibish

An outline of the coming Egyptian power-sharing arrangement

Time Magazine: Palestinian Border Protests "...those closer to events found in the day the makings of a new narrative"

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2071673,00.html?xid=rss-fullworld-yahoo

Palestinian Border Protests: The Arab Spring Model for Confronting Israel

Demonstrators use a mkaeshift stretcher to carry the body of man killed as protesters from Syria tried to approach the village of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights between Syria and Israel, May 15, 2011 Yaron Kaminsky / AP

.... The headlines Sunday were all about the violence of the day: at least four people were shot dead by Israeli forces on the Syrian fence line, and as many as 10 were killed either by Israeli or Lebanese army gunfire at a similar demonstration on the nearby frontier with southern Lebanon. The death toll, along with the accounts of stone-throwing and tear gas, comport with the familiar narrative of the conflict, one constructed over years of Israel describing efforts to defend itself. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu encouraged that narrative on Sunday, arguing that the protesters were undermining the very existence of the State of Israel.

But those closer to events found in the day the makings of a new narrative. The Palestinians in Syria, Lebanon and the occupied Palestinian enclaves of Gaza and the West Bank approached Israeli gun positions on Sunday without arms of their own. If some teenagers threw rocks, a protest leader said they had apparently failed to attend the workshops on nonviolence the organizers arranged in what they call a new paradigm for the conflict. The aim, which appears to be building support, aims to re-cast the Palestinian-Israel conflict on the same terms that brought down dictatorships in Egypt and Tunisia.

Massive non-violent protests are aimed at winning international sympathy for the Palestinian perspective, and as a result, forcing Israel to pull out of territories its army has occupied since 1967. As the dust settled Sunday, senior Israeli officers acknowledged their vulnerability to the approach, which dovetails with the strategy of Palestinian leaders to ask the UN General Assembly to recognize a Palestininian state in September. (See "A New Palestinian Movement: Young, Networked, Nonviolent.")

"What we saw today was the promo for what we might see in September on the day the United Nations declares a state: Thousands of Palestinians marching toward Israeli checkpoints, Israeli settlements and the fence along the West Bank and Gaza Palestinians coming with their bare hands to demonstrate," a senior Israeli officer tells TIME. "This is a huge problem. Well have to study what happened today to do better." ...READ MORE