Salam Fayyad: How To Fix the Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process

"21 years after Palestinians granted it recognition of its right to exist in peace and security, Israel should reciprocate symmetrically by recognizing the Palestinians' right to a sovereign state on the territory it occupied in 1967 in its entirety. Second, Israel should be prepared to accept an internationally mandated date for ending its occupation and a mutually agreed path for getting there. Third, in the interim, Palestinians should not continue to be hamstrung in their effort to achieve national unity by an insistence, on the part of the international community, on a rigid application of “the Quartet principles.” As they require any Palestinian government to fully accept the Letters of Mutual Recognition, those conditions obviously derive their validity from a framework whose premises no longer are valid. Fourth, Palestinians need to see a cessation of all practices that undermine their right to live with dignity on their land, as they proceed to attain full national unity and persevere in their effort to build their state and prepare for statehood..." READ MORE

http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/142134/salam-fayyad/oslo-is-dead

A protester places a Palestinian flag over a section of an Israeli barrier. (Courtesy Reuters)

"...Thus, it is incumbent on Palestinians, and as a matter of conscious decision-making, to build a state that is founded on the basis of the universally shared progressive values of equality, tolerance, nondiscrimination, openness, and full sensitivity to the unabridged rights and privileges of citizenship. In any event, that, to me, is the only kind of state that would be worthy of the aspirations and great many sacrifices of the Palestinian people." Salam Fayyad

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Hussein Ibish: Freedom and equality are at the core of the Palestinians’ struggle

Former Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad was solicited to contribute to the New York Times "Turning Points/The Big Debate" edition on the question, "Who are the moral leaders for these times?" Dr. Fayyad contributed this commentary on the power of justice, peace, Palestinian rights and the inspiration of Nelson Mandela.

http://www.americantaskforce.org/former_pm_fayyad_and_aftp_senior_fellow_ibish_moral_need_palestinian_state

Freedom and equality are at the core of the Palestinians’ struggle

Writing recently in the New York Times, former Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad cited Nelson Mandela as his personal inspiration and the embodiment of the essential attributes of the Palestinian cause. It was a perfect choice.

Mr Mandela, he wrote, has become a “universal symbol of the struggle for self-determination and human equality”. The essence of the Palestinian struggle is exactly that: a quest for establishing that Palestinians are equal human beings to all others. They are no better and no worse, but equal.

The only viable means for Palestinians to attain and assert this equality is through the establishment of a fully sovereign, independent Palestinian state. Through this state, Palestinians will be first-class citizens in a country of their own for the first time in their modern history. For the first time, they will be able to exercise self-determination. And, for the first time, they will be equal to Jewish Israelis, and all of their Arab neighbours, as citizens of equally sovereign, independent states that will have to coexist in peace and security.

Equality of the kind envisaged by Mr Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr, Mohandas K Gandhi, and invoked by Mr Fayyad, doesn’t involve a highly regimented, nihilistic vision of non-differentiation, such has been advocated by some radical Maoist and other extreme utopian groups. It understands that each individual is different, and that there will be many differences between societies as well. It doesn’t seek to smash everyone into a tiny cubbyhole of conformity and standardisation.

Instead, it seeks to free the creative and self-empowering energies of every individual and society. For a national collectivity like the Palestinians, this means freedom from occupation and for the equal right – along with all other peoples – to establish their own state and pursue their independence as they see fit.

It does not and it cannot in the real world mean perfect justice, which is, by definition, unattainable. But it does mean relieving an extreme form of injustice: the occupation that leaves over four million Palestinians stateless in their own land.

Mr Fayyad and other serious Palestinians understand that this means compromises with Israel. Israel, too, must rein in the overweening ambitions of its settler and annexationist movements and make serious compromises on politically difficult issues such as Jerusalem, which will have to be a shared city if the conflict is to end.

Mr Fayyad is absolutely right when he points to “the fundamental asymmetry in the balance of power between occupier and occupied” as the primary obstacle to Israeli-Palestinian peace. It is simply too easy for the Israeli public to ignore the problem of the occupation and pretend, in effect, as it did in its last election, that it simply doesn’t exist.

But the world has a stake in resolving the conflict by ending the occupation, and the two-state solution is the stated policy of virtually every government in the world, the preference of the majority of Israelis and Palestinians in every survey and the only outcome explicitly endorsed by international law. The global consensus is practically unanimous: Palestinians deserve a state alongside Israel, which is already a United Nations member state....

Our Compass: Nelson Mandela by Salam Fayyad of Palestine

Rina Castelnuovo for The New York Times

Salam Fayyad- The former prime minister of the Palestinian Authority

"... We venerate Mandela for the transformative message he carried with boundless magnanimity — a message of unity and brotherhood in the face of division and bigotry; of peaceful transformation and justice in the presence of senseless violence and oppression. His message awakened the world to the fundamental principle espoused by Martin Luther King Jr. — that “true peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice.” 

The presence of justice requires that the fundamental asymmetry in the balance of power between occupier and occupied be redressed. Twenty years after it gained full Palestinian recognition of its right to exist in peace and security, Israel should reciprocate by recognizing our right to a fully sovereign state. It should be prepared to accept an internationally mandated date for ending its occupation, and a mutually agreed-upon path for getting there. In the interim, justice also requires cessation of all practices that undermine our right to live with dignity on our land, or impede our quest for freedom and justice, as we persevere in our effort to build our state and deepen our readiness for statehood." Salam Fayyad of Palestine

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/28/opinion/our-compass.html?_r=1&&pagewanted=all

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Turning Points | The Big Question

Our Compass

Published: November 27, 2013 

In each issue, the editors of Turning Points invite contributors to explore one of the big questions of the year. For 2013 we asked Elif Shafak, Salam Fayyad, Liao Yiwu, Rowan Williams, Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Mata Amritanandamayi Devi: Who are the moral leaders for these times? ...READ MORE

“Turning Points” is the theme of this year-end magazine as we [The New York Times] gaze with equal measures of anticipation and alarm into 2014.

This Week in Palestine: Palestinian Institutions A Story of Perseverance ... Salam Fayyad "This was not about roads, buildings, or infrastructure, despite their importance. This plan was about statehood, citizen participation, and enfranchisement. It was based on the vision of establishing a functional framework where government is accountable and citizens participate in the widest and most effective way possible in decision-making and governance."

Prime Minister Salam Fayyad inaugurating olive harvest season in Jayyous village, Qalqilia on 10 November 2012. Photo by photojournalist Mustafa Abu Dayya, Office of the Prime Minister.

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Palestinian Institutions A Story of Perseverance

 http://www.thisweekinpalestine.com/details.php?id=3981&ed=217&edid=217

By Salam Fayyad

In late August 2009, the Palestinian government introduced a state-building plan that set ambitious goals for Palestinian institutions and sought to arrive at a point of institutional readiness on a par with established states. This plan included the implementation of hundreds of projects, such as schools, healthcare facilities, and other infrastructure. The government also implemented far-reaching reforms in the financial, judicial, governance, and security sectors with efficacy.

In conjunction with the reforms and state-building effort, the government decreased its reliance on outside assistance by 60 percent in five years, in relation to the GDP, by improving tax collection and enacting serious fiscal reform, as well as creating the legal and institutional framework to encourage private-sector-led development. In addition, per capita income returned, in real terms, to its pre-2000 levels. In other words, the Palestinian economy recovered from the output losses sustained as a direct consequence of the tightening of Israeli restrictions during the years of the second Intifada.

But conceptually, the significance of this enterprise lay in the translation of the Palestinian political context and agenda into reality by building efficient, accountable, and responsible institutions of the state that can provide citizens with the best services possible, despite the limited means.

This was not about roads, buildings, or infrastructure, despite their importance. This plan was about statehood, citizen participation, and enfranchisement. It was based on the vision of establishing a functional framework where government is accountable and citizens participate in the widest and most effective way possible in decision-making and governance.

As political and diplomatic efforts were to advance the political agenda to end the occupation and establish a sovereign state on the land Israel occupied in 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital, the government was to create the needed institutional framework to carry out the responsibilities of a full-fledged sovereign state.

This vision, with all that it entailed by way of self-imposed benchmarks and priorities, was not adopted because its elements were prerequisites to Palestinian statehood. The right to live as free people, with dignity, in a country of our own, is an absolute, natural, and national right of the Palestinian people that enjoys unanimous recognition from the international community. We unilaterally set these goals in order to create institutions capable of performing to the satisfaction of our public and in a manner worthy of their sacrifices in our long struggle for freedom. The concept was to create enough positive momentum to push the world to take practical steps to help end the occupation, which would enable us to fulfil our potential and enjoy our right to live in our sovereign state.

The State of Palestine is now a regional leader in the areas of fiscal transparency, fighting corruption, and social assistance programmes. In the public sector, women have taken their rightful position in leadership and decision-making positions, including the police and judiciary. Women also head significant and world-acclaimed public institutions, such as the Central Bureau of Statistics and the Capital Market Authority, and for the first time, a woman became a Governor and six women assumed key cabinet positions, and in the process, made the Palestinian government, at least in this sense, the most progressive in the region.

In line with these institutional achievements, the level of international awareness and engagement rose. Countries and regional blocs, such as the European Union, adopted progressive positions regarding occupied East Jerusalem and Palestinian statehood. 

Of equal significance, the international donor community adopted the Palestinian government’s development priorities, affirming its commitment to investing in areas classified as C, which make up more than 60 percent of the West Bank, and supporting Palestinian development and perseverance in East Jerusalem. This supports our standing position: that such development efforts are essential to contributing to rolling back the occupation and realising Palestinian sovereignty.

These international positions and actions, among others, are steps in the right direction because they align policy with practice and bring both into harmony with international law and the standing legal and moral obligations that states have towards enabling us to establish our own state.
 
Two years ago, the international community recognised our efforts and stated unanimously that Palestine boasts the institutions of a functional, established state. In addition to this recognition, the international community and specialised agencies also recognised what we have affirmed all along: in order for us to protect what we have achieved thus far and develop further, as is our right, the Israeli occupation must end.

The punishing, unnatural condition of living under an oppressive occupation denies us our inalienable right to live in a free country of our own, empowered to develop our lives and economy to their full potential. That has been our message all along and for the past two years, it has been the world’s standing position.

Ironically, around the time we succeeded in getting world recognition of our institutional readiness for statehood in early 2011, the Palestinian economy was beginning to suffer the ill effects of financial difficulties, which subsequently turned into a deep financial crisis. This was due to a shortfall in foreign aid and it was further vastly complicated by Israel’s withholding of our tax revenues.

Sadly and wrongly, some claimed that the ensuing failure on the part of the government to meet its financial obligations on time reflected a lack of readiness for statehood. I say “wrongly” because this claim disregards the fact that sovereign and developed states that have been around for centuries could face, and in fact have faced, serious economic and financial crises. But in no way and at no point did such financial crises form a basis for asserting that any one of these countries no longer qualified for statehood.

In our case, we said all along that a distinction needs to be made between lack of functionality due to financial difficulties, on the one hand, and lack of institutional capacity causing dysfunction, on the other. I maintain that the financial difficulties we have faced and continue to face in no way detract from our institutional readiness, which has been acknowledged universally, including in the landmark resolution adopted by the United Nations General Assembly last November.

For despite the deep financial crisis and the government’s inability to meet its financial obligations towards its employees and partners on time, Palestinian institutions exhibited resilience and determination. Our institutions continued to provide vital services to the public, despite disruptions and unrest, including a devastating storm, the likes of which Palestine had not seen in six decades.

This crisis risked striking at the Palestinian spirit, which insists on building and moving forward towards freedom. It risked implanting despair and frustration as well as paralysing the functional and accountable institutions that Palestinians have built. That must not be allowed to happen. We are determined to protect our right to establish a sovereign state whose institutions are ready and capable to tap into the potential we have been unjustly denied as a people.

Palestinians have a long and prosperous history of entrepreneurship and success that often seems to be achieved against all odds. As far back as the mid-1800s, Palestinian educators, artists, journalists, philanthropists, and entrepreneurs made an indelible imprint on their fields in the region and worldwide. Since the Nakba 65 years ago, our resilience and innate optimism have been key to our people’s survival and perseverance. And while the reality of occupation and the absence of a political horizon inevitably cause frustration and may even produce despair, they cannot in our case lead to a sense of surrender to circumstance or defeat.

The State of Palestine will materialise. This is an historic inevitability whose achievement we, as a people, have helped accelerate by staying steadfast and deeply rooted in our homeland, building where the occupation demolishes and planting where it uproots.

Institution building in Palestine was and will continue to be about reflecting our people’s unassailable spirit and determination to realise and enjoy freedom and provide them with nothing less than what they rightly deserve: excellence. That is why it is a continuing effort, one that can and will withstand adversity. This is an endeavour motivated by the most powerful and universal of all ideas: freedom and our natural right to enjoy it.

His Excellency Salam Fayyad is Prime Minister of the State of Palestine.

My letter to the NYTimes RE The Success That Failed By Roger Cohen

Valentine's Day photo from Dr. Salam Fayyad's facebook page 2-14-2013

RE: The Success That Failed By Roger Cohen
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/15/opinion/global/roger-cohen-The-Story-of-Palestinian-Prime-Minister-Salam-Fayyad-.html?ref=global

Dear Editor,

Don't give up yet- Fayyad's economic and diplomatic efforts for Palestine have helped shift many people towards understanding the vital importance of supporting and empowering a two state solution to once and for all end the Israel-Palestine conflict... for everyone's sake. 

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

NOTES
The American Task Force on Palestine today warmly welcomed reports that following a year of holds and delays, Congress appears to be preparing to release all outstanding US aid, totaling more than $500 million, to the Palestinian Authority.

"I have no memory of a time without struggle" Emad Burnat is a Palestinian farmer and director of the Oscar-nominated documentary "5 Broken Cameras"...  "As the world listens, Gibreel, I want to say to you: I am from Palestine. I have lived my whole life under military occupation, and I have no memory of a time without struggle. But you, son, you will know better times. Someday, you will make new, happy memories.... And that will be the true award."

Global hotspots top agenda as UN chief meets with new US Secretary of State: "We all need to make special efforts to forge a two-State solution "

Anger That a Herod Show Uses West Bank Objects

Museum exhibit becomes front in Israeli-Palestinian struggle
 
Rising From Ruins: Even as Israel neglects a major archaeological site in the West Bank, it is preventing the Palestinian Authority from tending to it.

'Herod the Great' show causes row over artifacts


Kerry seeks to unblock $700 million in aid for Palestinians

"Herod the Great" show in Israel angers Palestinians

Israel unveils Herod's archaeological treasures: Herod's mausoleum headlines Israel's most ambitious archaeological show but Palestinians say treasures should stay where they were found

Pope Benedict tells Abbas that hope for Mideast solution is "a fair and lasting solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which may be reached only by resuming negotiations between the parties, in good faith and according due respect to the rights of both"

ATFP News [& Commentary] Roundup, February 11, 2013: Pres. Obama's upcoming Middle East trip stirs hopes for peace.

Amidst a brutal war, Syria’s Palestinian community finds itself seeking refuge yet again—this time, in Lebanon’s famous Sabra and Shatila camps.

Number of Palestinian refugee deaths in Syria increasing, UN agency warns

Palestinian family home demolished by Israeli forces in Jerusalem

Letter sent to my elected leaders: Peace and Palestine need to be taken seriously by American leadership now more than ever.

Palestine's Amb. Maen Rashid Areikat: Bias against Palestinians on display at congressional hearing

ATFP Hosts Washington Briefing on Israeli and Palestinian Schoolbooks

Palestine developing school curriculums that teach coexistence, tolerance, justice, and human dignity

Palestinian leadership on Wednesday welcomed US President Barack Obama’s announced plans to visit the region in March.

RAJA SHEHADEH: More Than a Land Grab ...Settlers increasingly impinging on Palestinian lives: Jewish settlers aren't just taking empty space, they're destroying Palestinian property and threatening their lives.

Israel demolishes yet anouther Palestinian home in East Jerusalem

Foriegn Policy: An interview with Palestinian negotiator-in-chief Saeb Erekat 

PBS: Mariam Said on the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra

*******

The Balfour Declaration of 1917

".... it being clearly understood that nothing
          shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious
          rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine..."

"Legislature should "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..." Thomas Jefferson

The Office of International Religious Freedom ( http://www.state.gov/j/drl/irf/)   Given the U.S. commitment to religious freedom, and to the international covenants that guarantee it as the inalienable right of every human being, the United States seeks to:

Promote freedom of religion and conscience throughout the world as a fundamental human right and as a source of stability for all countries

Palestinian Refugees(1948-NOW) refused their right to return... and their right to live in peace free from religious bigotry and injustice.

The Golden Rule... Do unto others as you would have them do unto you

"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

Empowering Peace & Palestine

"The only way to honor 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 Palestine."

The Arab Peace Initiative

What is an Israeli settlement

Refugees and the Right of Return

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.

UN Resolution 194 from 1948  : The refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return and for loss of or damage to property which, under principles of international law or in equity, should be made good by the Governments or authorities responsible.

Palestine developing school curriculums that teach coexistence, tolerance, justice, and human dignity

Fayyad Welcomes the International Report on School Books, Calls on Israel to Cease Attempts to Detract from the Report's Professionalism

Prime Minister Salam Fayyad expresses his satisfaction with a main finding of a study initiated by the Council of Religious Institutions of the Holy Land in 2009, that confirms that Palestinian textbooks do not contain any form of blatant incitement, which is based on contempt towards the ‘other’.

Dr. Fayyad stated; "This study, which was recently completed by a group of expert researchers and analysts from different nationalities, proves what we have repeatedly affirmed in response to allegations that have now been invalidated". He added, "From the onset, we took all measures to extend the highest degree of cooperation with the researchers, especially from the Ministry of Education. This cooperation stemmed from our firm conviction of the significance of the issue and the need to discuss it on objective and professional bases, rather than pre-conceived notions and stereotypes".

Dr. Fayyad also affirms that he issued his instructions to the Ministry of Education to study the report thoroughly and to use its conclusions as a guide in the ongoing efforts to develop school curriculums aimed at keeping up to date with developments and achieving total harmony with our people’s deeply rooted principles of coexistence, tolerance, justice, and human dignity, which constitute a principal component of the system of moral values on which the independent state of Palestine will be established.

Finally, Fayyad calls on the government of Israel to deal with the study in the same spirit and to abandon its stated position in this regard. He also calls on the Israeli government to desist from attempts to detract from the objectivity and professionalism of the study because its conclusions are not in line with its standing preconceived positions.

ATFP to Co-Host Briefing on Israeli and Palestinian Schoolbooks  

DO ISRAELI OR PALESTINIAN SCHOOLBOOKS TEACH VIOLENCE?

The study was initiated by the Council of Religious Institutions of the Holy Land comprised of the Chief Rabbis of Israel, the Minister of Religious Affairs of the Palestinian Authority, the Greek, Armenian and Latin Patriarchs of Jerusalem and the Anglican and Lutheran Bishops of the Holy Land. The study was fully funded by the U.S. State Department.

The full study report and the translated quotes from the schoolbooks will be available for download as of Feb. 4, at 2:30 a.m. ET at www.IsraeliPalestinianSchoolbooks.blogspot.com

AP Interview: Palestinian PM blasts Arab donors... In an interview Sunday Fayyad said that the cash crunch is pushing an additional 25 percent of the Palestinian population, or 1 million people, into poverty.

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad gestures during an interview with The Associated Press in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Sunday, Jan. 6, 2013. Fayyad is blaming Arab countries that haven’t delivered promised financial aid for an escalating financial crisis in the Palestinian territories. In an interview Sunday Fayyad said that the cash crunch is pushing an additional 25 percent of the Palestinian population, or 1 million people, into poverty. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

http://news.yahoo.com/ap-interview-palestinian-pm-blasts-arab-donors-154050442.html
by KARIN LAUB and MOHAMMED DARAGHMEH | Associated Press

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — The Palestinian self-rule government is in "extreme jeopardy" because of an unprecedented financial crisis, largely because Arab countries have failed to send hundreds of millions of dollars in promised aid, the Palestinian prime minister said Sunday.

The cash crunch has gradually worsened in recent years, and the Palestinian Authority now has reached the point of not being able to pay the salaries of about 150,000 government employees, Salam Fayyad told The Associated Press. The number of Palestinian poor is bound to quickly double to 50 percent of the population of roughly 4 million if the crisis continues, he said.

"The status quo is not sustainable," Fayyad said in an interview at his West Bank office.

The Palestinian Authority, set up two decades ago as part of interim peace deals with Israel, is on the "verge of being completely incapacitated," Fayyad warned. Only a year ago, he said he expected to make great strides in weaning his people off foreign aid.

The self-rule government was meant to be temporary and replaced by a state of Palestine, which was to be established through negotiations with Israel. However, those talks repeatedly broke down, and for the past four years the two sides have been unable to agree on the terms of renewing the negotiations....READ MORE

1) If Palestinians don't work to create their state, they will never have one

2) Peace depends on reasonable people on both sides compromising in order to reach an agreement based on the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel. 

 http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/12/31/a-serious-look-at-fayyad.html

A Serious Look at Fayyad by Hussein Ibish

ATFP's Ziad Asali & Ghaith Al-Omari: Salam Fayyad's bold effort to build Palestinian institutions could soon collapse -- unless Israel and the United States spring to action.

The current trends are ominous: Hamas is growing stronger in both Gaza and the West Bank, while the financially strapped PA is struggling to present a viable alternative. If this continues, the world will witness what Fayyad recently termed a "doctrinal defeat" of those who work for progress through nonviolent strategies. The message being conveyed to the Palestinians is that a policy of partnership with Israel, the United States, and the international community is fraught with more risk than open confrontation.

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/01/03/the_palestinian_implosion

The Palestinian Implosion

Salam Fayyad's bold effort to build Palestinian institutions could soon collapse -- unless Israel and the United States spring to action.

BY ZIAD ASALI, GHAITH AL-OMARI | JANUARY 3, 2013

Three years ago, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad launched an ambitious plan to build effective, responsive, and clean government institutions. The results were impressive, and Fayyad was hailed as a figure who was making true progress toward a two-state solution even as formal negotiations faltered. 

These days, however, the entire project is under dire threat. The political and social worldview that informs Fayyad's vision has been undermined by Hamas's apparent ability to leverage armed conflict to its political advantage. To reverse this disturbing trend, the international community and Israel need to recognize that Palestinian institution building is a strategic priority -- not merely an economic or technical one. Urgent steps on all sides are required to save this project, or its vision for Palestinian independence and peace with Israel may give way to more confrontational approaches, to the detriment of all.

There is no denying the progress that has been made. Under Fayyad, the Palestinian Authority (PA) eliminated structural corruption in ministries and other public agencies under its control. Palestinian security forces have been providing both Palestinians and Israelis with unprecedented security. In 2011, the United Nations, World Bank and the International Monetary Fund all issued reports certifying that the PA fully met the criteria for independence. The PA "is well positioned for the establishment of a state at any point in the near future," read a 2011 World Bank report. In April 2011, international donors noted, "Palestinian institutions compare favorably with those in established states."...READ MORE

 American Task Force on Palestine

ATFP is dedicated to advocating that it is in the American national interest to promote an end to the conflict in the Middle East through a negotiated agreement that provides for two states - Israel and Palestine - living side by side in peace and security... ATFP is strictly opposed to all acts of violence against civilians no matter the cause and no matter who the victims or perpetrators may be.  The Task Force advocates the development of a Palestinian state that is democratic, pluralistic, non-militarized and neutral in armed conflicts.

 

A Serious Look at Fayyad.... (& Palestine)

by Hussein Ibish Dec 31, 2012

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/12/31/a-serious-look-at-fayyad.html

Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad (R) tastes olive-based products during the annual Olive Harvest Festival in the Palestinian West Bank town of Bethlehem on November 3, 2012. (Musa Al-Shaer / AFP / Getty Images)

I like and respect Geoffrey Aronson, and his bimonthly Report on Israeli Settlement in the Occupied Territories, published by the Foundation for Middle East Peace, has long been a must-read for those tracking the settlement project. I was all the more taken aback, therefore, by his recent critique of Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. Aronson’s criticisms are riddled with inaccuracies, loaded with emotive and hostile phraseology, and, most importantly, offer no alternatives.

Aronson’s basic argument is self-refuting. He tries to paint Fayyad as a non-threatening lapdog of the occupation whose project has only served Israeli and American interests. He simultaneously suggests, though, that many pro-occupation Israelis have come to view his institution-building program as a threat, causing them to label Fayyad "an obstacle to peace."

But from the outset, Fayyad's policies have been the greatest possible threat to all those, on both sides, who do not want a two-state solution based on a compromise. This is because his program actually worked successfully to start to create the infrastructure of an independent Palestinian state. Greater Israel advocates have therefore always looked at him with deep suspicion, as have Hamas and one-state advocates. Hostility towards Fayyad by extremists is nothing new.

Aronson claims "Fayyad has evidently despaired of his failed state-building strategy." There is no evidence of that at all. Fayyad has been the first to label recent events, which have tended to undermine moderates and boost extremists, particularly Hamas, as, in his words, "doctrinal defeats.” But what has halted Fayyad's project in its tracks is the double whammy, following Palestinian diplomatic initiatives at the United Nations, of the withholding of Palestinian tax revenue by Israel and the steep reduction in aid from the West.

Fayyad, in fact, is not despairing but, as usual, looking for solutions: bank loans and other temporary financial solutions; ways of restoring aid from the West or increasing that from the Arab world; and trying to build a reliable and regular system for the transfer of Palestinian revenues by Israel under the terms of the Paris Protocol. Aronson, meanwhile, mistakenly accepts Israel's claims that many outstanding Palestinian debts to Israel are governmental, when in fact they are owed by privately-held companies.

Aronson makes the bizarre claim that Fayyad was "catapulted" into senior Palestinian leadership ranks by George W. Bush, personally. And he backs this up with the ridiculous assertion that, because Fayyad studied at the University of Texas, “When Bush looked him in the eye he saw a Texan.” This is a baseless argument desperately looking for nonexistent evidence. It's a barometer of how seriously the whole article should be taken. In fact Fayyad was appointed Finance Minister personally by President Yasser Arafat in 2002, following his service as the IMF representative to the PA from 1996 to 2001. What's more, Fayyad also served as Finance Minister in the Palestinian unity government, that included Hamas, from March to June 2007.

Yet Aronson claims that in 2002, Bush set then-Prime Minister (now-President) Mahmoud Abbas and Fayyad up as “America’s Palestine tag team” in order to marginalize Yasser Arafat's power. This is entirely fictional, and borders on calumny. In fact Fayyad worked well with Arafat, while Abbas ended up resigning as Prime Minister and only returned to power after Arafat's death. Aronson’s account of this whole period—and Fayyad's roles within Palestinian politics and his relationship with the United States—is conspiratorial, misinformed, misleading and flat-out wrong....READ MORE

Jordan, Palestine sign free trade agreement: Fayez Tarawneh, the prime minister said the Kingdom will continue to support the Palestinians politically and help them confront Israel’s attempts to Judaise Jerusalem.

Reproduction of the en:Madaba Map discovered in Saint George Church in Madaba, Jordan

Madaba Map Detail: Place of John the Baptist's baptism at the mouth of the Jordan and (near-obliterated) lion hunting a gazelle

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http://jordantimes.com/jordan-palestine-sign-free-trade-agreement

Jordan, Palestine sign free trade agreement

by JT | Oct 04, 2012 | 23:12 Updated: Oct 04, 2012 | 23:12

AMMAN — Jordanian and Palestinian officials held talks on Thursday, during which a number of agreements were signed.

The most prominent of these was a free trade agreement, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra.

Prime Minister Fayez Tarawneh and his Palestinian counterpart Salam Fayyad announced the agreements at a joint press conference in Ramallah.

Tarawneh was in Ramallah on a short visit to take part in the third session of the Joint Jordanian-Palestinian Higher Committee.

Formed in the 1990s, the panel held its second session in 1998 when Tarawneh’s first government was in office.

The prime minister also met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on the sidelines of the committee meeting.

Talks covered the “deep-rooted ties” between Jordan and Palestine, in addition to Jordan’s keenness on building on the current relations to benefit both sides.

At the press conference, Tarawneh reiterated Jordan’s support for the Palestinian Authority and people, and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on its own land, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

But the premier said the trade volume between Jordan and Palestine remains “below aspirations”, standing at around JD75 million in 2011 and called for resolving the “technical difficulties” to increase trade levels.

He also called for ending the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands and for a two-state solution that is entrenched within a regional context that would achieve peace and stability in the region.

The prime minister said the Kingdom will continue to support the Palestinians politically and help them confront Israel’s attempts to Judaise Jerusalem.

He emphasised Jordan’s role in preserving Islamic and Christian sites in Jerusalem.

Tarawneh also conveyed His Majesty King Abdullah’s greetings to the Palestinian president, government and people.

Also at the press conference, Fayyad said emphasis should be placed on the difficult financial situation of the Palestinian Authority under the Israeli occupation.

He reiterated that Palestinians will not be swayed from their cause of establishing their own independent state within the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Dr. Salam Fayyad, Palestinian Prime Minister: Inscribing Bethlehem on the World Heritage List... This Week in Palestine

Nativity Church, Bethlehem. Photo from Palestine Image Bank.

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http://www.thisweekinpalestine.com/details.php?id=3766&ed=209&edid=209

Inscribing Bethlehem on the World Heritage List
By Dr. Salam Fayyad, Prime Minister

The thirty-sixth session of the World Heritage Convention, which was held in Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation, represented an important milestone in building the State of Palestine. On Friday,  June 29, 2012, Bethlehem, Birthplace of Jesus: Church of the Nativity and the Pilgrimage Route was the first site to be inscribed on the World Heritage List under Palestine.* It is a significant moment in our struggle to achieve freedom and independence; it represents a momentous step towards our right of self-determination.

The inscription of Bethlehem not only reflects the outstanding universal value of the place where Jesus Christ was born, the church that was built by Empress Helena in 339, and the Pilgrimage Route, but it also gives hope and confidence to our people for the inevitable victory of our just cause. It represents the growing international realisation of the urgency to retain our national cultural rights on our land.

The decision to include Bethlehem as an endangered site by UNESCO is the first outcome of the recognition of Palestine as a full member-state by UNESCO last October and our endorsement of the 1972 Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage. It is also the first step towards inscribing on the list other natural and cultural sites of outstanding universal value in Palestine. The recognition of Bethlehem as a world heritage site is the most remarkable event on the path of Palestinian state building since the establishment of the Palestinian Authority, and it is the most important since the inception of the Palestinian Authority.

Thirteen out of twenty-one members of the World Heritage Committee voted in favour of the decision to recognise the endangered status of Bethlehem during their meeting in Saint Petersburg; six members voted against and two abstained. It is time for UN agencies to uphold their political, legal, cultural, and ethical responsibilities, put an end to what the Palestinian people are suffering, and safeguard Palestine’s cultural and natural heritage from the aggression of Israeli occupation.

Throughout the millennia, Palestine has been a cradle for civilisations and a cultural bridge between East and West; it has played an important role in the evolution of human history. Bethlehem, Jerusalem, and all Palestinian lands are symbols of coexistence and tolerance. This is a call for the international community to fulfil its responsibility to help us end the Israeli Occupation of our land that was taken in 1967, and allow us to determine our future, live freely and in dignity in an independent state, retain our cultural status, and contribute to stability and international peace.

We extend our appreciation to the World Heritage Committee for its decision. In addition, the inscription of Bethlehem would not have been possible without the continuous efforts, follow-up, and support of all the ministries and institutions that worked tirelessly on this file, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Permanent Mission of Palestine to UNESCO, the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, the Ministry of Culture, the Negotiations Affairs Department of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, the Bethlehem Municipality, and the Centre for Cultural Heritage Preservation in Bethlehem; and also to the experts, volunteers, and friends who helped make this a success. To all of you, we extend our gratitude.

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*    The Old City of Jerusalem and Its Walls was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1980 (and on the List of Sites in Danger in 1981), through a request submitted by the Kingdom of Jordan; and the site is inscribed under the Old City of Jerusalem.

See PDF www.thisweekinpalestine.com/i172/pdfs/article/inscribingbethlehem.pdf

 Diyar Dancing Theater Group celebrating Bethlehem’s inscription on the list of World Heritage Sites. Photos by Elias Halabi.

Do you support as a solution to this conflict the emergence of a fully sovereign state of Palestine on the territory occupied in 1967, including East Jerusalem? Yes or no?

“What the EU, indeed the whole world should do…. is to ask the government of Israel - any government of Israel a straightforward question: ‘Do you support as a solution to this conflict the emergence of a fully sovereign state of Palestine on the territory occupied in 1967, including East Jerusalem? Yes or no?’”“If they answer yes it is going to be very hard for them to explain how they continue to accept settlement expansion, settler extremism, violence that in certain instances cannot be described other than as outright terrorism.”

 Salam Fayyad: 'We have never been more marginalised'

Donald MacIntyre
The Independent (Opinion)
July 26, 2012 - 12:00am
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/salam-fayyad-we-have-never-bee...

The cause of the Palestinians has never been more "marginalised" than it is today, according to a warning by their internationally respected Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.

Citing the international focus on the Arab spring, the eurozone crisis and the US electoral cycle, Mr Fayyad yesterday said that Palestinian leaders were facing a “path of growing untenability” while the world largely focused its attention elsewhere.

In an interview with The Independent, the Palestinian Prime Minister was strongly critical of the West’s failure to tackle Israel more “seriously” over its violations of international law and its obligations under the nine year old Road Map.

He declared that this “marginalisation” was now the “biggest obstacle” to progress towards a Palestinian state. “Our cause has never been this marginalized,” he said. “Ever. This is our greatest challenge.”

And he warned that the Palestinian Authority itself was being undermined because of factors ranging from its acute financial crisis to a potential loss of faith by Palestinians that it would able to end to an occupation that is “entrenching itself by the day.”...READ MORE

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Violent attacks by settlers on Palestinians and their property, mosques and farmland had increased by 150% over the past year.

"... All settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem are illegal under international law. US state department spokesman, Patrick Ventrell, said recently: "We do not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlement activity and we oppose any effort to legalise settlement outposts."

The Palestinian prime minister, Salam Fayyad, said on Thursday that violent attacks by settlers on Palestinians and their property, mosques and farmland had increased by 150% over the past year." 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jul/26/jewish-population-west-bank-up

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Mideast peace slips to second billing for US

A drought affected corn crop is seen near Paris, Missouri July 13, 2012. REUTERS/Adrees Latif

http://news.yahoo.com/mideast-peace-slips-second-billing-us-213711208.html

JERUSALEM (AP) — Mideast peace, America's defining issue for decades of dealings with Israel and its Arab neighbors, was just a postscript Monday as Hillary Rodham Clinton made perhaps her final visit to the region as secretary of state.

Three years after President Barack Obama declared the plight of the Palestinians "intolerable," his administration no longer sees the failing Arab-Israeli peace efforts with the same immediacy. U.S. interests are focused now on Iran and Syria, though the deep differences between Israel and the Palestinians are not ignored.

"Peace among Israel, the Palestinian people and all of Israel's Arab neighbors is crucial for Israel's long-term progress and prosperity," Clinton said following discussions with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the country's president, foreign minister and defense minister.

Clinton also met Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, but she couldn't report any progress toward an accord that might secure an independent Palestine and an Israel at peace with its neighbors.

In a departure from the usual pattern for top U.S. diplomats, she did not travel to the Palestinian Authority's West Bank seat of government in Ramallah.

The Palestinians said a visit was unnecessary because Clinton had met with the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, just a few days earlier in Paris.

Israel has defied Obama's call to halt settlement construction in occupied lands, and the Palestinian leadership in the West Bank has refused to resume negotiations, leaving peace hopes in a tense status quo with no breakthrough in sight....READ MORE