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.

 

My letter to the Washington Post RE Overheated rhetoric on Israeli settlements

Israel Defies Allies in Move to Bolster Settlements: Settlements are illegal under international law and detrimental to any international efforts to restart peace negotiations and secure a two-state solution

RE: The Post’s View Overheated rhetoric on Israeli settlements
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/israeli-settlement-proposals-prompt-rash-rhetoric/2013/01/01/2d6aea54-504f-11e2-8b49-64675006147f_story.html

Dear Editor,

Palestine's bid for statehood can not be compared to Israel's settlement projects. One is in line with international law- the other is not.  One seeks the rule of fair and just laws, real freedom, democracy, economic empowerment and respect for all people, regardless of supposed race or religion- the other does not.  One seeks to actually end the Israel-Palestine conflict with a two state solution, the other does not.

Israel's ongoing violations of international law and basic human rights really do make negotiations more difficult, and Israel's intransigence sparks extremist rhetoric as well as religious extremism on both sides.  If the Washington Post Editorial board members are really interested in progress toward Palestinian statehood, they will press Israel (and religious extremists on all sides) to stop sabotaging Palestine.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

NOTES
A precarious existence in the Jordan Valley

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

CSM letter by James Martin: US Mideast policy should honor rights

This Week in Palestine... INVESTMENT

Thousands enjoy merry Christmas in Bethlehem... and prayers for peace for both Israel and Palestine

Joining our voices in seeking and offering hope for a better future...

Jerri Bird (Jerine Bettybea Newhouse b 1926): "A viable, independent Palestinian state would be a step in the direction of two peoples in the same land living harmoniously"

Palestinian cause redefined as Hamas spins Pyrrhic victories: "Either the Palestinian national movement will continue to seek an independent state through negotiations and by building the national institutions on the ground. Or it will be defined by an open-ended "armed struggle" against Israel under an Islamist banner.... This is not simply a Palestinian choice. Israel, above all, but also the United States, the European Union, and other international actors, will have a major role to play in influencing which of these two visions predominates in the Palestinian national movement in the years to come. Regional and international incentives will be a major, if not a decisive factor, in the outcome." Hussein Ibish

Empowering Peace & Palestine

The Arab Peace Initiative

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

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

"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

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

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..."

A precarious existence in the Jordan Valley

File photo of a Palestinian village in the Jordan Valley after an Israeli
demolition in March 2012. (MaanImages/Eleonora Vio)

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=552669
Published yesterday (updated) 01/01/2013

AL-JIFTLIK (IRIN) -- For those who recently watched images of the Israeli bombardment in Gaza, the wide open hills of the Jordan Valley in the West Bank appear as a stark contrast.

Flocks of sheep accompanied by their herders cross the hillsides, home to some of the most fertile land in all of the occupied Palestinian territory and unrivaled even in Israel.

And yet despite the abundant land and resources, Palestinians living in the Valley are some of the poorest in the Palestinian territory, lacking even the most basic infrastructure.

The Jordan Valley is marked by a patchwork of zones in which Palestinians are allowed to live, which leave little room for manoeuvre.

"These restrictions have removed their ability to be self-sustaining. They are in an artificial humanitarian crisis; they have the capacity, the training, the education, but because of man-made restrictions, they are made vulnerable," Ramesh Rajasingham, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in oPt, told IRIN.

For a start, much of the Valley is officially out of bounds to Palestinians - 44 percent is marked as closed military zones (including so-called firing zones) and nature reserves. An additional 50 percent is controlled by Israeli settlements, regarded as illegal by many in the international community. That leaves only 6 percent for Palestinians, according to figures from Save the Children...READ MORE

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

CSM letter by James Martin: US Mideast policy should honor rights

http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Letters-to-the-Editor/2012/1231/Readers-Write-Obamacare-should-keep-religious-exemption-narrow.-What-has-Obama-done-for-Palestinians

US Mideast policy should honor rights

I would like to respond to the quote from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas featured on the Dec. 10 Overheard page and the article "Israel 'mows the lawn.' " United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice, after the UN made Palestine a nonmember observer state, foretold that when the day's pronouncements fade, the Palestinians will find that their lives haven't changed, and their prospects for peace are diminished. But what have Ms. Rice and President Obama done to really help change Palestinians' lives and their prospects of a durable peace?

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently declared that Israel would expand its West Bank settlements, which are illegal according to international law. Will Mr. Obama continue to provide support for Israel's West Bank takeover, and will Rice justify Israel's works in the UN? America ought to begin a national discussion about bringing our foreign policy in line with the principles in the Declaration of Independence and the Preamble to the Constitution, rather than the rule "might makes right."

James Martin
Vancouver, Wash.

Preamble to the Constitution

My online comment RE AP photo essay: Ex-Soviet immigrants change Israel

In this Nov. 9, 2012 photo, gymnasts from Russian-speaking immigrant families warm up at a gymnastics competition organized for Israel's immigrant community, in the southern resort city of Eilat. Most of Israel's Olympic gymnasts are immigrants from the former Soviet Union. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

RE: AP photo essay: Ex-Soviet immigrants change Israel
http://news.yahoo.com/ap-photo-essay-ex-soviet-immigrants-change-israel-143918455.html#ugccmt-container

I think it is tragic and cruel that Israel happily welcomes outsiders (and generously subsidizes housing and perks and positive PR for Jewish people) but Israel refuses to respect the native non-Jewish Palestinian refugees' natural and legal right to return to original homes and lands.

Israel, aided by Islamists and extremists and naysayers and cynics on both sides, is also actively sabotaging negotiations for a fair and just two state solution to once and for all end the Israel-Palestine conflict with a two state solution.

Full respect for international law and basic human rights would go a long way towards preparing the people here and there for a just and lasting peace and a win-win-win situation for all our children.

Sincerely
Anne Selden Annab

This Week in Palestine... INVESTMENT

Message from the Editor

Come the New Year, we start with “Investment,” a matter that requires sound, comprehensive research. For a place like Palestine, sort of country, sort of occupied, sort of independent, sort of heavily reliant, the topic can be tricky. Indeed, the situation in Palestine is complex. Nonetheless, we have taken a more traditional approach to investment and examined it from an economic and business point of view, while highlighting various social, cultural, and political dimensions.

Covering investment in Palestinian goods, Arda Mardirossian Shamshoum enlightens us with her article, “Taking the Liberty.” Tom Speechly, partner in The Abraaj Group, writes about, “Private Equity in Palestine.” An article from Elisabeth Koek, a legal researcher at Al-Haq, describes water conditions in Palestine and their effect on the Palestinian economy and agriculture. Hashim Shawa, our personality of the month, explores the “Start-up Generation,” while Laila Kaiksow discusses the importance of investing in public spaces for our children. 

Other articles include a contribution from Sabri Saidam about information technology, Ali Qleibo on “Investing in Palestinian Culture,” and Nora Lester Murad takes the theme from a community perspective. A special piece by Ayat Wael Kanaan titled, “Ultimate Endurance,” will surely touch your hearts, in addition to input from other writers who have enriched the issue. Finally, I would like to wish you all an enjoyable read and a prosperous 2013, as a result of wise investment choices!

In peace,
 Manar Harb
Content Editor

• Start-up Generation
  By Hashim Shawa

 
• Private Equity in Palestine
  By Tom Speechley

 
• Five Guaranteed Ways to Profit from Investment in the Palestinian Community
  By Nora Lester Murad

 
• Investing in Palestine … Palestine of Opportunities
  Courtesy of Palestine Exchange (PEX)

 
• Investing in Palestinian Culture Heritage, Agriculture, and Ecotourism
  By Dr. Ali Qleibo

 
• Investing in Palestinian Water
  By Elisabeth Koek

 
• HappyPalestine.com A Journey in the Making!
  By Sabri Saidam

• Artist of the Month
  Bashir Makhoul

 
• Book of the Month
  Occupation Diaries

 
• Exhibition of the Month
  Points of Departure

 
• Exhibition of the Month
  Jericho – Beyond the Celestial and Terrestrial

 
• Personality of the Month
  Hashim Shawa

 
• Picturesque Palestine
  Picturesque Palestine

Doura Al Qare

 

Thousands enjoy merry Christmas in Bethlehem... and prayers for peace for both Israel and Palestine

Musicians perform on stage in Manger Square, outside the Church of the Nativity, the site revered as the birthplace of Jesus, on Christmas eve in the West Bank town of Bethlehem December 24, 2012. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (WEST BANK - Tags: RELIGION)

Orthodox Christian priests (R) wait for the arrival of the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Fouad Twal at the entrance of the Church of the Nativity, the site revered as the birthplace of Jesus, in the West Bank city of Bethlehem December 24, 2012. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (WEST BANK - Tags: RELIGION)

People walk through the Church of Nativity, the site revered by Christians as Jesus' birthplace, ahead of Christmas in the West Bank town of Bethlehem December 23, 2012. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (WEST BANK - Tags: RELIGION)

A visitor lights a candle inside the Church of Nativity, the site revered by Christians as Jesus' birthplace, in the West Bank town of Bethlehem December 23, 2012. REUTERS/Darren Whiteside (WEST BANK - Tags: RELIGION)

A member of the clergy holds a cross as he waits for the arrival of the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Fouad Twal outside the Church of the Nativity, the site revered as the birthplace of Jesus, in the West Bank city of Bethlehem December 24, 2012. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (WEST BANK - Tags: RELIGION)

Christian boys from Nigeria walk outside the Church of Nativity, traditionally believed by Christians to be the birthplace of Jesus Christ, in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, Monday, Dec. 24, 2012. Thousands of Christian worshippers and tourists arrived in Bethlehem on Monday to mark Christmas at the site many believe Jesus Christ was born. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)

"From this holy place, I invite politicians and men of good will to work with determination for peace and reconciliation that encompasses Palestine and Israel in the midst of all the suffering in the Middle East," said the top Roman Catholic cleric in the Holy Land, Latin Patriarch Fouad Twal in his annual address. "Please continue to fight for a just cause to achieve peace and security for the people of the Holy Land."

Thousands enjoy merry Christmas in Bethlehem

Merry Christmas in spite of it all By Joharah Baker for MIFTAH

[Please Note: From FY2008 to the present, annual U.S. bilateral assistance to the West Bank and Gaza Strip has averaged over $600 million, including annual averages of over $200 million in direct budgetary assistance and over $100 million in non-lethal security assistance for the PA in the West Bank. Additionally, the United States is the largest single-state donor to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)]

http://www.miftah.org/Display.cfm?DocId=25626&CategoryId=3

Merry Christmas in spite of it all

Date posted: December 24, 2012
By Joharah Baker for MIFTAH

Everyone loves the Christmas season with its decorated trees, lights, family get-togethers and overall cheer. The Palestinians are no different, both Christians and Muslims alike. This year in Palestine, Christmas will be celebrated with a mixture of hope for the future and frustration over the present. Palestinian Christians who work for government institutions will unfortunately have to make do with half their salaries this month as the PA continues to try and hold its head above water. With the financial crisis eating away at the Palestinian economy and tens of thousands of pocketbooks, some Christians will have to cut down on the festivities this year for lack of funds.

This crisis is crushing from every aspect. While employees cannot be blamed for wanting their salaries and therefore taking protest measures to demand them, neither can the PA be fully blamed for not being able to deliver. Israel is withholding money that is rightfully ours and the Arabs have yet to make good on their promise of providing a financial safety net to the PA. While many may say the government has not managed the crisis very well, if anyone or anything is to blame, it is the system created by the Oslo Accords that allows such crises to happen in the first place. The fact that the Palestinians are almost completely dependent on Arab and foreign aid coupled with the uneasy fact that Israel can freeze the transfer of our tax revenues whenever it wants, means this is a faulty system from the get-go. The Palestinians can never have a stable and viable economy as long as this lopsided and discriminatory system is in place.

This brings us to the element of hope this Christmas. The Palestinian leadership, very aware of this faulty system, have started to turn things around. The recent status upgrade for Palestine at the UN to a non-member state is a quantum leap for the Palestinians. While the road is understandably still long and full of obstacles, the wheel has been put into motion. Palestine is now a state under occupation, a status recognized by the overwhelming majority of world countries. Israel is violating international law by its presence in this occupied state in the form of settlements and the Palestinians have now been empowered by the tool of international criminal courts to fight this. Things are changing, even if slowly.

So even though pockets may be almost empty this Christmas, Palestinians still count their blessings. Christians celebrate the birth of Christ, our own Palestinian-born prophet and his tremendous sacrifice for humanity. We know a thing or two about sacrifice and therefore never ever lose hope.

Merry Christmas to all from the occupied State of Palestine.

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.

Laylat Al-Milad, the night of Christmas. Arabic Carol

Christmas in Bethlehem: Image and Reality, 2012

Philip Farah

Co-founder, Washington Interfaith Alliance for Middle East Peace

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/philip-farah/christmas-in-bethlehem-im_b_2339384.html

If you have a miniature manger in your home today, or if you've heard a piece of music in the mall with "Bethlehem" in it, I -- as a Palestinian Christian in whose life Bethlehem has played a big role -- have a favor to ask you: Please go to your computer and do a search using these words: "Bethlehem Christmas wall." Check out some of the articles and the images. If your curiosity is piqued, go a bit further and check out the images for "al Masara village," or "al Walaja village," two tiny villages near Bethlehem. I think this is an important exercise for anyone who has formed a mental image of the Little Town of Bethlehem during this holiday season.

Today, Bethlehem and the surrounding areas still have some of the holiest churches of Christianity, and they still vibrate with the prayers and celebrations of Palestinian Christians. But the Palestinians of Bethlehem, Christians and Muslims alike, are a people besieged. For Bethlehem today is surrounded by a host of physical barriers, including several miles of a concrete wall that is over 20 feet high, built by the Israeli occupation authorities.

This wall -- deemed illegal by the International Court of Justice in 2004 -- separates the Palestinians of the Bethlehem area from huge swaths of their land. Much of that land has been taken from them to build Jewish-only settlements...READ MORE