22 apr 2014
The delegation received by Hamas and government officials in Gaza
A five-member delegation commissioned by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas have arrived in Gaza on Tuesday evening to discuss reconciliation with Hamas. The delegation entered Gaza through the Beit Hanoun crossing (Erez), headed by Azzam al-Ahmad, the Fateh movement leader in charge of reconciliation file.
The other members are Secretary-General of Palestinian National Initiative, Mostafa Barghouthi, Munib Masri, an independent businessman, Jamil Shehadeh, an Arab Palestinian Front leader Arab Palestinian and Bassam Salhi, the Secretary-General of the Palestinian People's Party.
The Abbas-delegated officials will be received by Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh at his home.
The aim of the visit is to hold meetings with Hamas officials to develop mechanisms to implement the reconciliation agreements previously signed with Fateh in Doha and Cairo.
Dr Ismail Haniyeh is expected to deliver a speech after his meeting with the delegation today at his home in the al-Shate' refugee camp west of Gaza City.
A five-member delegation commissioned by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas have arrived in Gaza on Tuesday evening to discuss reconciliation with Hamas. The delegation entered Gaza through the Beit Hanoun crossing (Erez), headed by Azzam al-Ahmad, the Fateh movement leader in charge of reconciliation file.
The other members are Secretary-General of Palestinian National Initiative, Mostafa Barghouthi, Munib Masri, an independent businessman, Jamil Shehadeh, an Arab Palestinian Front leader Arab Palestinian and Bassam Salhi, the Secretary-General of the Palestinian People's Party.
The Abbas-delegated officials will be received by Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh at his home.
The aim of the visit is to hold meetings with Hamas officials to develop mechanisms to implement the reconciliation agreements previously signed with Fateh in Doha and Cairo.
Dr Ismail Haniyeh is expected to deliver a speech after his meeting with the delegation today at his home in the al-Shate' refugee camp west of Gaza City.
A man holds up national flags supporting a new attempt to reconcile Hamas and the PLO on April 22, 2014 in Gaza City
Palestinian officials have relaunched efforts to reconcile their rival leaderships in the West Bank and Gaza Strip as US-brokered peace talks with Israel teeter on the edge of collapse.
A week before a nine-month target originally set for an Israeli-Palestinian deal, a PLO delegation was expected in Gaza City on Tuesday to try to revive long-stagnant unity efforts.
The team is being led by Azzam al-Ahmad, a senior figure in the Fatah movement.
Independent MP Mustafa Barghouti and figures from two leftist parties, the Palestinian People's Party and the Palestinian Arab Front, are also in the delegation.
They were to meet Ismail Haniyeh, prime minister of Hamas, and the number two in the movement, Mousa Abu Marzouq, who arrived from Cairo on Monday.
Fatah, the PLO's main component, and Hamas signed a reconciliation accord in Cairo in 2011 aimed at ending the political divide between Gaza and the PA.
But deadlines have come and gone without any progress in implementing provisions of the accord.
According to Barghouti, the two sides will discuss "forming a national consensus government and holding elections," among other issues.
At the same time, US peace envoy Martin Indyk held a new meeting in Jerusalem with Israeli and Palestinian negotiators in a fresh attempt to salvage the peace process.
As the meeting got underway Abbas told Israeli journalists he was willing to extend the negotiations beyond their April 29 if Israel releases a batch of prisoners as previously agreed, freezes its settlement building and agrees to discuss the borders of a future Palestinian state.
Palestinian officials have relaunched efforts to reconcile their rival leaderships in the West Bank and Gaza Strip as US-brokered peace talks with Israel teeter on the edge of collapse.
A week before a nine-month target originally set for an Israeli-Palestinian deal, a PLO delegation was expected in Gaza City on Tuesday to try to revive long-stagnant unity efforts.
The team is being led by Azzam al-Ahmad, a senior figure in the Fatah movement.
Independent MP Mustafa Barghouti and figures from two leftist parties, the Palestinian People's Party and the Palestinian Arab Front, are also in the delegation.
They were to meet Ismail Haniyeh, prime minister of Hamas, and the number two in the movement, Mousa Abu Marzouq, who arrived from Cairo on Monday.
Fatah, the PLO's main component, and Hamas signed a reconciliation accord in Cairo in 2011 aimed at ending the political divide between Gaza and the PA.
But deadlines have come and gone without any progress in implementing provisions of the accord.
According to Barghouti, the two sides will discuss "forming a national consensus government and holding elections," among other issues.
At the same time, US peace envoy Martin Indyk held a new meeting in Jerusalem with Israeli and Palestinian negotiators in a fresh attempt to salvage the peace process.
As the meeting got underway Abbas told Israeli journalists he was willing to extend the negotiations beyond their April 29 if Israel releases a batch of prisoners as previously agreed, freezes its settlement building and agrees to discuss the borders of a future Palestinian state.
Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said that an official reception would be held in the house of Palestinian premier Ismail Haneyya for the quintet reconciliation delegation slated to arrive in Gaza today. Spokesman Abu Zuhri told the Palestinian information center (PIC) that premier Haneyya would host an official reception for leaders of factions and national figures in his house on Tuesday evening.
Some members of the delegation are senior Fatah official Azzam Al-Ahmed, secretary-general of the Palestinian Initiative Mustafa Barghouthi, secretary-general of the Palestinian Arab Front Jamil Shehadeh, head of the people's party Bassam Salehi and noted Palestinian businessman Munib Al-Masri.
Some members of the delegation are senior Fatah official Azzam Al-Ahmed, secretary-general of the Palestinian Initiative Mustafa Barghouthi, secretary-general of the Palestinian Arab Front Jamil Shehadeh, head of the people's party Bassam Salehi and noted Palestinian businessman Munib Al-Masri.
The PLO on Tuesday played down a threat to dismantle the Palestinian Authority, which is Israel's interlocutor, if US-sponsored peace talks remain deadlocked.
"No Palestinian is speaking of an initiative to dismantle the Palestinian Authority," chief negotiator Saeb Erekat told AFP.
"But Israel's actions have annulled all the legal, political, security, economic and operational aspects of the prerogatives of the Palestinian Authority."
Palestinian negotiators had warned that they may hand responsibility for governing the occupied territories back to Israel if peace talks remain stalled, a senior Palestinian official said Sunday.
He said the Palestinians had told US peace envoy Martin Indyk that unless Israel releases Palestinian prisoners as agreed and freezes settlement building, they could dismantle the Authority, which was set up following the Oslo peace accords in the 1990s and was intended to pave the way towards the establishment of an independent state.
US State Department spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki criticized the threat as "extreme" and warned that any such move would affect American aid to the Palestinians.
Indyk is to take part in a fresh attempt to salvage the peace talks at a meeting in Jerusalem later on Tuesday with Israeli and Palestinian negotiators, according to a Palestinian source.
Israel has announced plans for thousands of illegal settler homes in the occupied West Bank and killed over 60 Palestinians since peace talks began in July.
Israeli officials have also refused to discuss withdrawing Israeli soldiers and settlers from the occupied Jordan Valley, which forms around a third of the West Bank.
"No Palestinian is speaking of an initiative to dismantle the Palestinian Authority," chief negotiator Saeb Erekat told AFP.
"But Israel's actions have annulled all the legal, political, security, economic and operational aspects of the prerogatives of the Palestinian Authority."
Palestinian negotiators had warned that they may hand responsibility for governing the occupied territories back to Israel if peace talks remain stalled, a senior Palestinian official said Sunday.
He said the Palestinians had told US peace envoy Martin Indyk that unless Israel releases Palestinian prisoners as agreed and freezes settlement building, they could dismantle the Authority, which was set up following the Oslo peace accords in the 1990s and was intended to pave the way towards the establishment of an independent state.
US State Department spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki criticized the threat as "extreme" and warned that any such move would affect American aid to the Palestinians.
Indyk is to take part in a fresh attempt to salvage the peace talks at a meeting in Jerusalem later on Tuesday with Israeli and Palestinian negotiators, according to a Palestinian source.
Israel has announced plans for thousands of illegal settler homes in the occupied West Bank and killed over 60 Palestinians since peace talks began in July.
Israeli officials have also refused to discuss withdrawing Israeli soldiers and settlers from the occupied Jordan Valley, which forms around a third of the West Bank.
The Prime minister of Israeli occupation Benjamin Netanyahu attacked The Palestinian authority (PA), Monday evening over Abbas threaten of dissolving the PA and reconciliation talks with Hamas. Netanyahu said during the celebrations of Jewish holidays in the settlement " Or Akiva "which built on Barrat Qisarya ,Palestinian town near occupied Haifa, " When they want peace, they should let us know.
Because we want a lasting peace. " he went on saying that their policy is clear regarding their enemies which is - respond with immediacy and intensity," claiming that they are subjected to rocket attacks on their holiday.
Netanyahu alleged that "The army will continue to hit Israel's enemies strongly in order to secure the people of "Israel".
Israeli military minister Moshe Yaalon warned Hamas and other factions in the Gaza Strip, saying that "they should maintain the truce unless they will see Israeli retaliation."
Economy Minister Naftali Bennett, who participated in Bayit Yehudi's Mimuna celebrations in Yavne, also lashed out the upcoming reconciliation talks between Fatah and Hamas. "We will not be extorted and we will not be threatened. Against the brotherhood of terrorism between Fatah and Hamas we have our own brotherhood, the nation of Israel."
The peace process in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict has taken shape over the years despite the ongoing violence which has prevailed since the beginning of the conflict. Since the 1970s there has been a parallel effort made to find terms upon which peace can be agreed to in the Palestinian–Israeli conflict.
Direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians began on July 29, 2013 following an attempt by United States Secretary of State John Kerry to restart the peace process.
Because we want a lasting peace. " he went on saying that their policy is clear regarding their enemies which is - respond with immediacy and intensity," claiming that they are subjected to rocket attacks on their holiday.
Netanyahu alleged that "The army will continue to hit Israel's enemies strongly in order to secure the people of "Israel".
Israeli military minister Moshe Yaalon warned Hamas and other factions in the Gaza Strip, saying that "they should maintain the truce unless they will see Israeli retaliation."
Economy Minister Naftali Bennett, who participated in Bayit Yehudi's Mimuna celebrations in Yavne, also lashed out the upcoming reconciliation talks between Fatah and Hamas. "We will not be extorted and we will not be threatened. Against the brotherhood of terrorism between Fatah and Hamas we have our own brotherhood, the nation of Israel."
The peace process in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict has taken shape over the years despite the ongoing violence which has prevailed since the beginning of the conflict. Since the 1970s there has been a parallel effort made to find terms upon which peace can be agreed to in the Palestinian–Israeli conflict.
Direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians began on July 29, 2013 following an attempt by United States Secretary of State John Kerry to restart the peace process.
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has renewed his proposal that Umm al-Faham city in 1948 occupied Palestine would be part of a future Palestinian state in any future agreement with the Palestinians. Lieberman said that he would do all in his power to ensure that the Arab town of Umm al-Faham would no longer be “part of Israel”.
“Umm al-Faham, currently the third biggest Arab town in Israel with a population of 50,000, would be part of a future Palestinian state”, he wrote on his Facebook page.
He also continued incitement against Arab figures, saying that Sheikh Raed Salah and MP Jamal Zahalka “have become a fifth column whose only aim is to destroy the state in which they live".
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu renewed his rejection to any reconciliation agreement between PA in Ramallah and Hamas movement.
Ofir Gendelman, Netanyahu's spokesman, quoted Netanyahu as saying that “Today we see the Palestinian Authority, which yesterday spoke about disbanding, talking with Hamas about unity. They should decide whether they want to disband or have unity, and when they want peace, they should let us know.”
“Umm al-Faham, currently the third biggest Arab town in Israel with a population of 50,000, would be part of a future Palestinian state”, he wrote on his Facebook page.
He also continued incitement against Arab figures, saying that Sheikh Raed Salah and MP Jamal Zahalka “have become a fifth column whose only aim is to destroy the state in which they live".
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu renewed his rejection to any reconciliation agreement between PA in Ramallah and Hamas movement.
Ofir Gendelman, Netanyahu's spokesman, quoted Netanyahu as saying that “Today we see the Palestinian Authority, which yesterday spoke about disbanding, talking with Hamas about unity. They should decide whether they want to disband or have unity, and when they want peace, they should let us know.”
A delegation representing the PLO is expected to arrive in Gaza on Tuesday evening for reconciliation meetings with Hamas, a Fatah spokesman said.
Fayiz Abu Eita said the delegation would be comprised of Fatah Central Committee member Azzam al-Ahmad, Secretary-General of the Palestinian People's Party Bassam al-Salhi, businessman Munib al-Masri, Secretary-General of the Palestinian National Initiative Mustafa Barghouti, and Secretary-General of the Palestinian Arab Front Jamil Shehadah.
After being denied a permit to enter Gaza through the Erez crossing Monday, Barghouti was granted one Tuesday, Eita said.
The delegation hopes to establish a national unity government with the Hamas-run Gaza Strip and to plan future elections and a restructuring of the PLO, he added.
The division between Fatah and Hamas began in 2006, when Hamas won Palestinian legislative elections.
In the following year, clashes erupted between Fatah and Hamas, leaving Hamas in control of the Strip and Fatah in control of parts of the occupied West Bank.
The groups have made failed attempts at national reconciliation for years, most recently in 2012, when they signed two agreements -- one in Cairo and a subsequent one in Doha -- which have as of yet been entirely unimplemented.
Fayiz Abu Eita said the delegation would be comprised of Fatah Central Committee member Azzam al-Ahmad, Secretary-General of the Palestinian People's Party Bassam al-Salhi, businessman Munib al-Masri, Secretary-General of the Palestinian National Initiative Mustafa Barghouti, and Secretary-General of the Palestinian Arab Front Jamil Shehadah.
After being denied a permit to enter Gaza through the Erez crossing Monday, Barghouti was granted one Tuesday, Eita said.
The delegation hopes to establish a national unity government with the Hamas-run Gaza Strip and to plan future elections and a restructuring of the PLO, he added.
The division between Fatah and Hamas began in 2006, when Hamas won Palestinian legislative elections.
In the following year, clashes erupted between Fatah and Hamas, leaving Hamas in control of the Strip and Fatah in control of parts of the occupied West Bank.
The groups have made failed attempts at national reconciliation for years, most recently in 2012, when they signed two agreements -- one in Cairo and a subsequent one in Doha -- which have as of yet been entirely unimplemented.
21 apr 2014
A picture taken on March 19, 2014, shows the central post office building in East Jerusalem
The US Supreme Court, today, decided to hear the case of an American born in Jerusalem, once again taking up the sensitive issue of the status of the contested city.
The justices will hear arguments within the case, in the fall, before deciding on the constitutionality of a 2002 law which directs the State Department to give Israel as the country of birth, in passports of Americans born in Jerusalem.
At the center of the struggle between the Congress and the presidency is Menachem Zivotofsky, who was born in Jerusalem in 2002 to two American parents.
His passport says "born in Jerusalem" but his parents want Israel added to the place of birth, putting them at odds with the State Department.
Israel claims Jerusalem as its capital, but neither the United States nor the international community recognizes the city -- holy to three faiths -- as such.
Then president George W. Bush signed the 2002 bill into law, but he added a signed statement condemning it as unacceptable interference in the president's powers to conduct foreign policy.
In March of 2012, the top court ruled that the Zivotofsky suit was legally admissible, without pronouncing on the underlying issue.
This time, it will decide whether the president alone has the authority to say who Jerusalem belongs to, in the eyes of the United States.
The Obama administration argued at a hearing, in November 2011, that to list Israel as the country of birth would be tantamount to recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of the country.
The PLO claims East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state, but Israeli negotiators want Jerusalem to be recognized as the "undivided" capital of Israel.
Israel occupied East Jerusalem in 1967, and later annexed it, in a move never recognized by the international community.
The US Supreme Court, today, decided to hear the case of an American born in Jerusalem, once again taking up the sensitive issue of the status of the contested city.
The justices will hear arguments within the case, in the fall, before deciding on the constitutionality of a 2002 law which directs the State Department to give Israel as the country of birth, in passports of Americans born in Jerusalem.
At the center of the struggle between the Congress and the presidency is Menachem Zivotofsky, who was born in Jerusalem in 2002 to two American parents.
His passport says "born in Jerusalem" but his parents want Israel added to the place of birth, putting them at odds with the State Department.
Israel claims Jerusalem as its capital, but neither the United States nor the international community recognizes the city -- holy to three faiths -- as such.
Then president George W. Bush signed the 2002 bill into law, but he added a signed statement condemning it as unacceptable interference in the president's powers to conduct foreign policy.
In March of 2012, the top court ruled that the Zivotofsky suit was legally admissible, without pronouncing on the underlying issue.
This time, it will decide whether the president alone has the authority to say who Jerusalem belongs to, in the eyes of the United States.
The Obama administration argued at a hearing, in November 2011, that to list Israel as the country of birth would be tantamount to recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of the country.
The PLO claims East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state, but Israeli negotiators want Jerusalem to be recognized as the "undivided" capital of Israel.
Israel occupied East Jerusalem in 1967, and later annexed it, in a move never recognized by the international community.
By Khalid Amayreh
The Palestinian Authority (PA) has warned that it may pass responsibility for the Occupied Palestinian territories back to occupying power Israel if peace talks remain stalled.
An unnamed PA official said the Palestinians told American envoy Martin Indyk on Friday that unless Israel releases Palestinian prisoners as agreed in American –mediated talks and freezes settlement building, they could dismantle the Western-backed Palestinian Authority (PA) of Chairman Mahmud Abbas.
"The Palestinians informed Indyk that if this Israeli intransigence continues, they have several options to resort to," the Palestinian official told a western news agency on condition of anonymity.
"First, handing the keys of the PA to the UN so it will become in charge of the Palestinian people and the state of Palestine, which is under occupation, or that the (Israeli) occupation assumes again full responsibility for everything."
It is unclear though if the PA is awakening to the fact that the so-called peace process with Israel has been a constant fraud from the very inception.
The PA, which lives on western aid, is reluctant to withdraw from the widely-discredited peace process, apparently fearing financial and political collapse.
None the less, there is no doubt that PA frustration with Israeli recalcitrance and prevarication is reaching the highest point ever. Even people who until recently argued for giving the peace process "another chance" are now demanding the PA to end this "game of make believe."
Likewise, the PA is losing whatever faith it may still harbors for US ability to exert any meaningful pressure on Israel to abandon its lebensraum policy in the West Bank, especially in East Jerusalem, the town the Palestinians insist must be the capital of their contemplated state.
Indeed, the ostensibly phenomenal American flaccidity in dealing with Israel, which is by no means a novel aspect of American foreign policy in the Middle East, is convincing even the most ardent erstwhile supporters of the peace process of the utter futility of relying on Washington to force an increasingly Talmudic Israel to allow for the establishment of a viable and territorially contiguous Palestinian state along the 1967-borders.
A few days, this writer met a high ranking Palestinian official in Amman Jordan. The official, who didn't want his name published, intimated that most if not all PA officials in Ramallah were reaching the conclusion that it was no longer possible to "go on on this pointless track."
"I think that even Abu Mazen is realizing that the Americans are not serious enough about the creation of a true and sovereign Palestinian state."
The official described the often threatened PA move to join international organizations as "more or less our last weapon before entirely giving up the two state solution strategies and formally opting for the one-state solution."
But Israel vehemently rejects the one-state concept since it would effectively make Israel a bi-national state and put an end to the Jewish identity of the Zionist state.
More to the point, it is widely believed that the demographic scale is already tipping in favor of the Arabs in the area between the River Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea.
The right-wing Israeli political-security establishment is well aware of this "troubling fact" and is refusing to communicate the truth to Israeli Jewish citizens lest this produce "undesirable effects" especially on negotiations with the Palestinians.
Instead, Israel adopts a strategy whereby the Palestinians would be politically and economically squeezed so hard as to make them accept the best possible deal for Israel and Zionism. Such a deal would assume the form of an utterly deformed entity on parts of the West Bank, surrounded by Jewish settlements, and without any real sovereignty. In addition, the international borders of the would-be entity would be controlled by Israel for many decades to come. As to Jerusalem and the refugee cause, the Palestinians would have to exercise "pragmatism" and forget about both issues!
Israel, using America's political and diplomatic sword, would also bully Arab tyrants, including the blood-stained Sissi regime in Cairo, to "convince" the Ramallah leadership to be "pragmatic and not indulge in day-dreaming about the recovery of Jerusalem and the repatriation of Palestinian refugees."
Israel hopes that under a torrent of Arab pressure, especially if coupled with generous financial inducements, the Palestinian leadership, e.g. Abbas, would surrender to the "fait accompli" and tell his people that he can't be more Arab than the Arabs and more Muslim than the Muslims!
More to the point, Abbas and his supporters in the West Bank would probably launch a huge propaganda campaign, defending the capitulatory deal on the ground that the Palestinians face a fateful moment: Either to lose everything or to abide by the international will and accept the peace agreement despite its many blemishes!
(Just remember how Fatah leaders sought to defend the scandalous Oslo Agreement in the early 1990s when they argued that if Hamas had one objection about the accords, they had a hundred objections. However, unlike Hamas, they knew the agreement would lead to the creation of an independent state and a complete liberation from Israel."
I don't know for sure if the hard core Fatah movement would allow such an ignominious liquidation of the Palestinian cause to pass.
I know there are numerous people around Abbas who would follow the Palestinian saying about the Eid lamb, "feed me today and kill me tomorrow." These are the ultimate chorus around the man who said he wouldn't want to return to his native town, Safad.
However, I am confident and sure that the bulk of the Palestinian people, including numerous Fatah people, who would strongly and angrily reject the sell-out of Palestinian rights for a state unworthy of its name.
A few weeks ago, Abbas told Fatah's Revolutionary Council in Ramallah that he wouldn't end his life with a betrayal of the Palestinian cause.
We hope and pray that Abbas would stick to his words.
The Palestinian Authority (PA) has warned that it may pass responsibility for the Occupied Palestinian territories back to occupying power Israel if peace talks remain stalled.
An unnamed PA official said the Palestinians told American envoy Martin Indyk on Friday that unless Israel releases Palestinian prisoners as agreed in American –mediated talks and freezes settlement building, they could dismantle the Western-backed Palestinian Authority (PA) of Chairman Mahmud Abbas.
"The Palestinians informed Indyk that if this Israeli intransigence continues, they have several options to resort to," the Palestinian official told a western news agency on condition of anonymity.
"First, handing the keys of the PA to the UN so it will become in charge of the Palestinian people and the state of Palestine, which is under occupation, or that the (Israeli) occupation assumes again full responsibility for everything."
It is unclear though if the PA is awakening to the fact that the so-called peace process with Israel has been a constant fraud from the very inception.
The PA, which lives on western aid, is reluctant to withdraw from the widely-discredited peace process, apparently fearing financial and political collapse.
None the less, there is no doubt that PA frustration with Israeli recalcitrance and prevarication is reaching the highest point ever. Even people who until recently argued for giving the peace process "another chance" are now demanding the PA to end this "game of make believe."
Likewise, the PA is losing whatever faith it may still harbors for US ability to exert any meaningful pressure on Israel to abandon its lebensraum policy in the West Bank, especially in East Jerusalem, the town the Palestinians insist must be the capital of their contemplated state.
Indeed, the ostensibly phenomenal American flaccidity in dealing with Israel, which is by no means a novel aspect of American foreign policy in the Middle East, is convincing even the most ardent erstwhile supporters of the peace process of the utter futility of relying on Washington to force an increasingly Talmudic Israel to allow for the establishment of a viable and territorially contiguous Palestinian state along the 1967-borders.
A few days, this writer met a high ranking Palestinian official in Amman Jordan. The official, who didn't want his name published, intimated that most if not all PA officials in Ramallah were reaching the conclusion that it was no longer possible to "go on on this pointless track."
"I think that even Abu Mazen is realizing that the Americans are not serious enough about the creation of a true and sovereign Palestinian state."
The official described the often threatened PA move to join international organizations as "more or less our last weapon before entirely giving up the two state solution strategies and formally opting for the one-state solution."
But Israel vehemently rejects the one-state concept since it would effectively make Israel a bi-national state and put an end to the Jewish identity of the Zionist state.
More to the point, it is widely believed that the demographic scale is already tipping in favor of the Arabs in the area between the River Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea.
The right-wing Israeli political-security establishment is well aware of this "troubling fact" and is refusing to communicate the truth to Israeli Jewish citizens lest this produce "undesirable effects" especially on negotiations with the Palestinians.
Instead, Israel adopts a strategy whereby the Palestinians would be politically and economically squeezed so hard as to make them accept the best possible deal for Israel and Zionism. Such a deal would assume the form of an utterly deformed entity on parts of the West Bank, surrounded by Jewish settlements, and without any real sovereignty. In addition, the international borders of the would-be entity would be controlled by Israel for many decades to come. As to Jerusalem and the refugee cause, the Palestinians would have to exercise "pragmatism" and forget about both issues!
Israel, using America's political and diplomatic sword, would also bully Arab tyrants, including the blood-stained Sissi regime in Cairo, to "convince" the Ramallah leadership to be "pragmatic and not indulge in day-dreaming about the recovery of Jerusalem and the repatriation of Palestinian refugees."
Israel hopes that under a torrent of Arab pressure, especially if coupled with generous financial inducements, the Palestinian leadership, e.g. Abbas, would surrender to the "fait accompli" and tell his people that he can't be more Arab than the Arabs and more Muslim than the Muslims!
More to the point, Abbas and his supporters in the West Bank would probably launch a huge propaganda campaign, defending the capitulatory deal on the ground that the Palestinians face a fateful moment: Either to lose everything or to abide by the international will and accept the peace agreement despite its many blemishes!
(Just remember how Fatah leaders sought to defend the scandalous Oslo Agreement in the early 1990s when they argued that if Hamas had one objection about the accords, they had a hundred objections. However, unlike Hamas, they knew the agreement would lead to the creation of an independent state and a complete liberation from Israel."
I don't know for sure if the hard core Fatah movement would allow such an ignominious liquidation of the Palestinian cause to pass.
I know there are numerous people around Abbas who would follow the Palestinian saying about the Eid lamb, "feed me today and kill me tomorrow." These are the ultimate chorus around the man who said he wouldn't want to return to his native town, Safad.
However, I am confident and sure that the bulk of the Palestinian people, including numerous Fatah people, who would strongly and angrily reject the sell-out of Palestinian rights for a state unworthy of its name.
A few weeks ago, Abbas told Fatah's Revolutionary Council in Ramallah that he wouldn't end his life with a betrayal of the Palestinian cause.
We hope and pray that Abbas would stick to his words.
Mostafa Barghouthi, General-Secretary of the Palestinian National Initiative
Israeli authorities refused to issue Mostafa Barghouthi, General-Secretary of the Palestinian National Initiative, a permit to enter the Gaza Strip with the reconciliation delegation. A five-member delegation of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) is scheduled to arrive in Gaza on Tuesday, including party leaders.
The delegation consists of Mostafa Barghouthi, Azzam al-Ahmad, the Fatah official in charge of reconciliation file, Munib Masri, an independent businessman, Jamil Shehadeh, an Arab Palestinian Front leader Arab Palestinian, Front leader and Bassam Salhi, the General Secretary of the Palestinian People's Party.
Barghouthi said in a statement to the Safa news agency that the so-called ‘Israeli Liaison Department’ informed the delegation that four of the delegation's members are to be allowed into Gaza, confirmed that he was rejected access.
“Israeli occupation issued a ban on entering Gaza in 2007,” Barghouthi said, citing the reason for their refusal.
Palestinian Liaison Department continues to contact the Israeli side to negotiate issuing Barghouthi a permit, he confirmed.
The delegation's visit is aimed to carry out the reconciliation agreement, concluded in previously in Cairo and Doha.
Dr Mostafa Barghouthi is a staunch supporter and a prominent participant of Palestinian non-violence in the occupied West Bank.
He participates regularly along with Palestinian youths and international activists in the protests held against Annexation Wall, as well as Israel's eviction campaigns.
Israeli authorities refused to issue Mostafa Barghouthi, General-Secretary of the Palestinian National Initiative, a permit to enter the Gaza Strip with the reconciliation delegation. A five-member delegation of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) is scheduled to arrive in Gaza on Tuesday, including party leaders.
The delegation consists of Mostafa Barghouthi, Azzam al-Ahmad, the Fatah official in charge of reconciliation file, Munib Masri, an independent businessman, Jamil Shehadeh, an Arab Palestinian Front leader Arab Palestinian, Front leader and Bassam Salhi, the General Secretary of the Palestinian People's Party.
Barghouthi said in a statement to the Safa news agency that the so-called ‘Israeli Liaison Department’ informed the delegation that four of the delegation's members are to be allowed into Gaza, confirmed that he was rejected access.
“Israeli occupation issued a ban on entering Gaza in 2007,” Barghouthi said, citing the reason for their refusal.
Palestinian Liaison Department continues to contact the Israeli side to negotiate issuing Barghouthi a permit, he confirmed.
The delegation's visit is aimed to carry out the reconciliation agreement, concluded in previously in Cairo and Doha.
Dr Mostafa Barghouthi is a staunch supporter and a prominent participant of Palestinian non-violence in the occupied West Bank.
He participates regularly along with Palestinian youths and international activists in the protests held against Annexation Wall, as well as Israel's eviction campaigns.
Member of Hamas' political bureau Mousa Abu Marzouk arrived in the Gaza Strip on Monday afternoon after the Egyptian authorities allowed him to travel through the Rafah border crossing to participate in inter-Palestinian reconciliation talks. Informed sources told the Palestinian information center (PIC) that Abu Marzouk would stay in Gaza for several days and would meet Palestinian premier Ismail Haneyya and other Hamas officials.
This is considered the first visit to Gaza by a Hamas official living in Egypt since the military coup against Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi in July last year.
Earlier, political advisor to the Palestinian premier Yousuf Rizqa told the PIC that the Egyptian authorities would let Abu Marzouk visit Gaza to attend reconciliation sessions with delegations from other Palestinian factions.
Rizqa hailed the Egyptian step as a positive position and noted that Abu Marzouk would return to Cairo after finishing his mission.
In a related context, senior Hamas official Salah Al-Bardawil said that his Movement is ready to form a national unity government in accordance with an agreement with the Palestinian factions, including Fatah.
Bardawil stated in press remarks to the PIC that the formation of this government would be a springboard for the launch of talks over the other reconciliation files, including the issues of the elections and the Palestinian liberation organization (PLO).
"The Hamas Movement is sincere in its intentions towards the reconciliation process and it is honest about accepting all its points and its five files. It has expressed its position in this regard repeatedly before, and reemphasize it this time through receiving the reconciliation delegation from the West Bank," Bardawil underlined.
This is considered the first visit to Gaza by a Hamas official living in Egypt since the military coup against Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi in July last year.
Earlier, political advisor to the Palestinian premier Yousuf Rizqa told the PIC that the Egyptian authorities would let Abu Marzouk visit Gaza to attend reconciliation sessions with delegations from other Palestinian factions.
Rizqa hailed the Egyptian step as a positive position and noted that Abu Marzouk would return to Cairo after finishing his mission.
In a related context, senior Hamas official Salah Al-Bardawil said that his Movement is ready to form a national unity government in accordance with an agreement with the Palestinian factions, including Fatah.
Bardawil stated in press remarks to the PIC that the formation of this government would be a springboard for the launch of talks over the other reconciliation files, including the issues of the elections and the Palestinian liberation organization (PLO).
"The Hamas Movement is sincere in its intentions towards the reconciliation process and it is honest about accepting all its points and its five files. It has expressed its position in this regard repeatedly before, and reemphasize it this time through receiving the reconciliation delegation from the West Bank," Bardawil underlined.
Aziz Dweik, the speaker of the Palestinian legislative council (PLC), called on the Palestinian rivals to necessarily hasten to achieve the national reconciliation in order to strengthen the internal front in the face of the Israeli occupation and its plots. "The years of the division have encouraged the occupation to be more intransigent and aggressive against the Palestinian people and their holy sites," Dweik stated in a press release on Sunday.
The speaker added that the Palestinian division and the passivity of the Arab and Muslim countries towards the Palestinian cause as well as the international silence emboldened Israel to escalate its violations against the Aqsa Mosque.
The lawmaker strongly denounced the repeated desecration of the Aqsa Mosque's courtyards by extremist Jewish settlers, soldiers and Knesset members, warning that such violations had prompted the Palestinian people to revolt against the occupation in 2000.
He urged the Arab and Islamic countries to move diplomatically to curb Israel's violations against the Aqsa Mosque.
The speaker added that the Palestinian division and the passivity of the Arab and Muslim countries towards the Palestinian cause as well as the international silence emboldened Israel to escalate its violations against the Aqsa Mosque.
The lawmaker strongly denounced the repeated desecration of the Aqsa Mosque's courtyards by extremist Jewish settlers, soldiers and Knesset members, warning that such violations had prompted the Palestinian people to revolt against the occupation in 2000.
He urged the Arab and Islamic countries to move diplomatically to curb Israel's violations against the Aqsa Mosque.
Senior Fatah official Azzam al-Ahmad said Monday he is optimistic that political tensions between Fatah and Hamas will come to an end following upcoming reconciliation talks in Gaza.
Al-Ahmad, who is currently in Egypt, told Ma'an that a PLO delegation of five members will travel to Gaza from the West Bank within 48 hours to meet top Hamas leaders Ismail Haniyeh and Mousa Abu Marzouq.
"We are going to Gaza not to propose new suggestions, but rather to carry out a clear mission which is to end the state of disagreement and address three decisive issues," al-Ahmad said.
"We are going to address the formation of a national consensus government, elections and restructuring the PLO in order to maintain Palestinian unity so we can dedicate our efforts to confronting Israeli occupation."
The meeting will likely set a deadline for forming a unity government which will begin implementing the Cairo agreement.
Egyptian security forces will allow Hamas official Mousa Abu Marzouq to cross into Gaza via the Rafah crossing on Monday, officials said.
The division between Fatah and Hamas began in 2006, when Hamas won the Palestinian legislative elections.
In the following year, clashes erupted between the two factions, leaving Hamas in control of Gaza and Fatah in control of parts of the occupied West Bank.
The factions have made failed attempts at national reconciliation for years, most recently in 2012, when they signed two agreements -- one in Cairo and a subsequent one in Doha -- which have as of yet been entirely unimplemented.
Al-Ahmad, who is currently in Egypt, told Ma'an that a PLO delegation of five members will travel to Gaza from the West Bank within 48 hours to meet top Hamas leaders Ismail Haniyeh and Mousa Abu Marzouq.
"We are going to Gaza not to propose new suggestions, but rather to carry out a clear mission which is to end the state of disagreement and address three decisive issues," al-Ahmad said.
"We are going to address the formation of a national consensus government, elections and restructuring the PLO in order to maintain Palestinian unity so we can dedicate our efforts to confronting Israeli occupation."
The meeting will likely set a deadline for forming a unity government which will begin implementing the Cairo agreement.
Egyptian security forces will allow Hamas official Mousa Abu Marzouq to cross into Gaza via the Rafah crossing on Monday, officials said.
The division between Fatah and Hamas began in 2006, when Hamas won the Palestinian legislative elections.
In the following year, clashes erupted between the two factions, leaving Hamas in control of Gaza and Fatah in control of parts of the occupied West Bank.
The factions have made failed attempts at national reconciliation for years, most recently in 2012, when they signed two agreements -- one in Cairo and a subsequent one in Doha -- which have as of yet been entirely unimplemented.
20 apr 2014
The Palestinian Football Association (PFA) is seeking a FIFA ban on their Israeli counterparts after years of seeing football flounder under occupation.
But would such a move solve anything?
Israel currently illegally occupies the West Bank, East Jerusalem and exerts a blockade on the Gaza Strip. It makes working at the PFA quite difficult. Restrictions on players moving in, out and between the Palestinian territories are among the many problems it faces while trying to develop the sport under occupation. This is in addition to the reported shooting of young footballers by Israeli security forces.
FIFA recognises the problem and set up a task force last year with the aim of signing an agreement by both and getting the issue resolved ahead of this June’s FIFA Congress in Sao Paolo. But if the deal does not meet expectations, the PFA plans to launch an audacious bid to get Israel expelled from FIFA.
“If the Israeli occupation is unwilling to budge from its racist policies and if all the good efforts of FIFA, UEFA, and the AFC fail, we will find ourselves compelled to put the matter to the congress,” PFA Chairman Jibril Rajoub told Al Jazeera.
Despite the threat, the Israelis believe things are moving forward. An Israel Football Association (IFA) spokesperson confirmed to Al Jazeera that ‘the IFA deals in full cooperation with FIFA on the topic and in the last few months, there has been an improvement in the work relations’.
The solution?
For the PFA, Israel’s expulsion is not their aim, just a last resort. But the fact that there are talks of that happening suggests how far from reaching an agreements both sides are. But would getting Israel expelled fix any of PFA’s problems?
Since this is a security matter, negotiation with the football association will not work. Only threats and pressure will force the Israeli government to take action.
Uzi Dann, Haaretz's international sports editor
In addition to the restrictions of player movements, coaches and officials face the same problems, according to the PFA, with Israel’s security forces accusing the Palestinians of using football to hide the movement of weapons and militants.
There is also the issue of player safety - earlier this year, two young Palestinian players were reportedly shot in the feet by Israeli security forces. Their football career ended there.
The PFA also alleges that Israel constantly interferes in bids to set up international friendlies.
While an expulsion may not improve these conditions, it might be the only way to bring a change, according to Uzi Dann, the international sports editor of Haaretz, an Israel newspaper, who told Al Jazeera that the move will not ‘benefit Palestine in the short term’.
“It won’t solve the movement problem right away,” Dann said. “From my experience, only threats and pressure can solve this problem. Since this is a security matter, negotiation with the football association will not work. Only threats and pressure will force the Israeli government to take action.
"They don’t take the matter seriously right now but they will once the expulsion is on the horizon.”
At the core of this dispute is the issue surrounding the right to play the game. Occupation heavily impedes this. But if the Palestinians get Israel expelled, it will be the Israel players who suffer.
Dann believes that although that would be unfair, it is perhaps necessary.
“It won’t be fair on the players and it would make mass outrage in Israel. But sometimes, the way to get something done is to punish people.”
Room to flourish
There is also the view that the only way for Palestinian football to flourish is through political liberation and a FIFA expulsion is big a step towards that.
That’s the position of Omar Barghouti, a Palestinian human rights activist and co-founder of the BDS movement, which pushes for boycotts, divestment and sanctions against Israel.
He told Al Jazeera that ‘expelling Israel from FIFA, as well as from international academic, cultural and economic associations, effectively shatters their criminal impunity and contributes to the Palestinian struggle for freedom, justice and equality’.
Barghouti likens the situation to an Apartheid South Africa, which was banned from FIFA in 1961, and that ‘international isolation, especially in sports, was a key factor in ending Apartheid’ and having the country reinstated.
It is unclear what will happen between now and the FIFA congress - which opens on June 10. FIFA President Sepp Blatter is due in the Middle East to meet major political figures on both sides to conjure up a deal. The Palestinians are unlikely to be holding their breath and a push for the expulsion seems likely.
The only way to know whether it will achieve anything or not might be to try it.
What is for sure, however, is that no country would enjoy the humiliation of being red carded from the beautiful game.
Source: Al Jazeera
But would such a move solve anything?
Israel currently illegally occupies the West Bank, East Jerusalem and exerts a blockade on the Gaza Strip. It makes working at the PFA quite difficult. Restrictions on players moving in, out and between the Palestinian territories are among the many problems it faces while trying to develop the sport under occupation. This is in addition to the reported shooting of young footballers by Israeli security forces.
FIFA recognises the problem and set up a task force last year with the aim of signing an agreement by both and getting the issue resolved ahead of this June’s FIFA Congress in Sao Paolo. But if the deal does not meet expectations, the PFA plans to launch an audacious bid to get Israel expelled from FIFA.
“If the Israeli occupation is unwilling to budge from its racist policies and if all the good efforts of FIFA, UEFA, and the AFC fail, we will find ourselves compelled to put the matter to the congress,” PFA Chairman Jibril Rajoub told Al Jazeera.
Despite the threat, the Israelis believe things are moving forward. An Israel Football Association (IFA) spokesperson confirmed to Al Jazeera that ‘the IFA deals in full cooperation with FIFA on the topic and in the last few months, there has been an improvement in the work relations’.
The solution?
For the PFA, Israel’s expulsion is not their aim, just a last resort. But the fact that there are talks of that happening suggests how far from reaching an agreements both sides are. But would getting Israel expelled fix any of PFA’s problems?
Since this is a security matter, negotiation with the football association will not work. Only threats and pressure will force the Israeli government to take action.
Uzi Dann, Haaretz's international sports editor
In addition to the restrictions of player movements, coaches and officials face the same problems, according to the PFA, with Israel’s security forces accusing the Palestinians of using football to hide the movement of weapons and militants.
There is also the issue of player safety - earlier this year, two young Palestinian players were reportedly shot in the feet by Israeli security forces. Their football career ended there.
The PFA also alleges that Israel constantly interferes in bids to set up international friendlies.
While an expulsion may not improve these conditions, it might be the only way to bring a change, according to Uzi Dann, the international sports editor of Haaretz, an Israel newspaper, who told Al Jazeera that the move will not ‘benefit Palestine in the short term’.
“It won’t solve the movement problem right away,” Dann said. “From my experience, only threats and pressure can solve this problem. Since this is a security matter, negotiation with the football association will not work. Only threats and pressure will force the Israeli government to take action.
"They don’t take the matter seriously right now but they will once the expulsion is on the horizon.”
At the core of this dispute is the issue surrounding the right to play the game. Occupation heavily impedes this. But if the Palestinians get Israel expelled, it will be the Israel players who suffer.
Dann believes that although that would be unfair, it is perhaps necessary.
“It won’t be fair on the players and it would make mass outrage in Israel. But sometimes, the way to get something done is to punish people.”
Room to flourish
There is also the view that the only way for Palestinian football to flourish is through political liberation and a FIFA expulsion is big a step towards that.
That’s the position of Omar Barghouti, a Palestinian human rights activist and co-founder of the BDS movement, which pushes for boycotts, divestment and sanctions against Israel.
He told Al Jazeera that ‘expelling Israel from FIFA, as well as from international academic, cultural and economic associations, effectively shatters their criminal impunity and contributes to the Palestinian struggle for freedom, justice and equality’.
Barghouti likens the situation to an Apartheid South Africa, which was banned from FIFA in 1961, and that ‘international isolation, especially in sports, was a key factor in ending Apartheid’ and having the country reinstated.
It is unclear what will happen between now and the FIFA congress - which opens on June 10. FIFA President Sepp Blatter is due in the Middle East to meet major political figures on both sides to conjure up a deal. The Palestinians are unlikely to be holding their breath and a push for the expulsion seems likely.
The only way to know whether it will achieve anything or not might be to try it.
What is for sure, however, is that no country would enjoy the humiliation of being red carded from the beautiful game.
Source: Al Jazeera
A delegation from the PLO will visit the Gaza Strip within the next two days for meetings to discuss reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas, a member of the delegation said.
Bassam al-Salhi told Ma'an that the visit to Gaza is part of an effort to implement reconciliation agreements reached with Hamas in 2012.
Achieving reconciliation with Hamas will lead to an improvement in Gaza-Egypt relations, al-Salhi said.
The division between Fatah and Hamas began in 2006, when Hamas won Palestinian legislative elections.
In the following year, clashes erupted between Fatah and Hamas, leaving Hamas in control of the Strip and Fatah in control of parts of the occupied West Bank.
The groups have made failed attempts at national reconciliation for years, most recently in 2012, when they signed two agreements -- one in Cairo and a subsequent one in Doha -- which have as of yet been entirely unimplemented.
Bassam al-Salhi told Ma'an that the visit to Gaza is part of an effort to implement reconciliation agreements reached with Hamas in 2012.
Achieving reconciliation with Hamas will lead to an improvement in Gaza-Egypt relations, al-Salhi said.
The division between Fatah and Hamas began in 2006, when Hamas won Palestinian legislative elections.
In the following year, clashes erupted between Fatah and Hamas, leaving Hamas in control of the Strip and Fatah in control of parts of the occupied West Bank.
The groups have made failed attempts at national reconciliation for years, most recently in 2012, when they signed two agreements -- one in Cairo and a subsequent one in Doha -- which have as of yet been entirely unimplemented.
Professor Mohammed Dajani at Auschwitz
One of the participants of a recent Palestinian delegation to Auschwitz spoke out on Sunday about the ensuing controversy, denouncing "extremists" on both sides for "politicizing" the group's "academic" visit.
Salim Sweidan, a student at al-Quds University and a journalist, wrote in an opinion piece on Ma'an News' Arabic site that he was disappointed with the reactions of some of the Arabic-language media, who he accused of falsely giving the trip "political and ideological dimensions" and "describing the trip as normalization with Israel."
The comments come amid a recent storm in Arabic media regarding the trip of 27 students, which was led by al-Quds professor Mohammed Dajani.
The trip provoked a strong backlash in Palestinian media, as some said it was part of an effort to "brainwash Palestinian students to prepare them to cede Palestinian rights."
Because Israel often cites the Holocaust as a major reason underlying the need for a "Jewish state" in historic Palestine, many Palestinians are sensitive to potential suggestions that the genocide of Jews in Nazi Germany mandates or justifies their own dispossession by Israel.
Sweidan, however, highlighted that the trip worked both ways, stressing that a visit of 30 Jewish students from Israel's Ben Gurion University to Bethlehem's Duheisha refugee camp was organized parallel to their trip, but was hardly reported on in Arabic-language media.
"Is this considered 'normalization' as well?" Sweidan asked, referring to the accusation that the trip constituted engagement with Israel as a "normal state" and not an occupying power, a practice frowned upon by Palestinians living under Israeli occupation as well as many surrounding Arab states.
He highlighted that the Israeli trip to Duheisha was intended to teach the Jewish students about the Palestinian narrative of loss during the 1948 Nakba, which involved the forced displacement of 750,000 Palestinians from their homes.
He added that both trips were funded by the German university Friedrich Schiller in Jana, and not by Israeli or Jewish sources, as had been reported in some places.
Sweidan said that the reactions by the Arabic-language media empowered hardliners in Israel "to deny the humanistic and cultural nature of the Palestinian people" and to suggest that they would "be happy with a new Holocaust," using this erroneous assumption as a justification for denying the Palestinians' current political rights.
In response, Sweidan called for a "re-evaluation of the war against normalization" and the issue of cooperation with Israeli universities, stressing that by working with Israeli universities it was possible for Palestinians to influence their thinking and to "provoke a sense of guilt as a result of their failure to give Palestinians their rights."
"What about the weekly solidarity of dozens of Israelis in Nilin, Bilin, Nabi Saleh and in other sites of peaceful struggle against the occupation? Or those who refuse to serve in the Israeli army?" he asked in the article, referring to villages where Palestinians lead protests against the Israeli occupation and the separation wall.
"Will they ask Palestinians to boycott them, or to encourage more Israelis to support the Palestinian position?"
One of the participants of a recent Palestinian delegation to Auschwitz spoke out on Sunday about the ensuing controversy, denouncing "extremists" on both sides for "politicizing" the group's "academic" visit.
Salim Sweidan, a student at al-Quds University and a journalist, wrote in an opinion piece on Ma'an News' Arabic site that he was disappointed with the reactions of some of the Arabic-language media, who he accused of falsely giving the trip "political and ideological dimensions" and "describing the trip as normalization with Israel."
The comments come amid a recent storm in Arabic media regarding the trip of 27 students, which was led by al-Quds professor Mohammed Dajani.
The trip provoked a strong backlash in Palestinian media, as some said it was part of an effort to "brainwash Palestinian students to prepare them to cede Palestinian rights."
Because Israel often cites the Holocaust as a major reason underlying the need for a "Jewish state" in historic Palestine, many Palestinians are sensitive to potential suggestions that the genocide of Jews in Nazi Germany mandates or justifies their own dispossession by Israel.
Sweidan, however, highlighted that the trip worked both ways, stressing that a visit of 30 Jewish students from Israel's Ben Gurion University to Bethlehem's Duheisha refugee camp was organized parallel to their trip, but was hardly reported on in Arabic-language media.
"Is this considered 'normalization' as well?" Sweidan asked, referring to the accusation that the trip constituted engagement with Israel as a "normal state" and not an occupying power, a practice frowned upon by Palestinians living under Israeli occupation as well as many surrounding Arab states.
He highlighted that the Israeli trip to Duheisha was intended to teach the Jewish students about the Palestinian narrative of loss during the 1948 Nakba, which involved the forced displacement of 750,000 Palestinians from their homes.
He added that both trips were funded by the German university Friedrich Schiller in Jana, and not by Israeli or Jewish sources, as had been reported in some places.
Sweidan said that the reactions by the Arabic-language media empowered hardliners in Israel "to deny the humanistic and cultural nature of the Palestinian people" and to suggest that they would "be happy with a new Holocaust," using this erroneous assumption as a justification for denying the Palestinians' current political rights.
In response, Sweidan called for a "re-evaluation of the war against normalization" and the issue of cooperation with Israeli universities, stressing that by working with Israeli universities it was possible for Palestinians to influence their thinking and to "provoke a sense of guilt as a result of their failure to give Palestinians their rights."
"What about the weekly solidarity of dozens of Israelis in Nilin, Bilin, Nabi Saleh and in other sites of peaceful struggle against the occupation? Or those who refuse to serve in the Israeli army?" he asked in the article, referring to villages where Palestinians lead protests against the Israeli occupation and the separation wall.
"Will they ask Palestinians to boycott them, or to encourage more Israelis to support the Palestinian position?"
Ramallah PA Religious Affairs Minister Mahmoud El Habash
Palestinians in the West Bank are demanding the dismissal of a PA minister who publicly condemned last week’s (terrorist) attack, which claimed the life of a police officer near Hebron, Israel Radio reported on Saturday.
Endowments Minister in Ramallah Mahmoud El Habash told Israeli reporters in Ramallah earlier last week that he was “pained” by the murder of 47-year-old Baruch Mizrahi, who was killed as he was driving with his family to a Seder in the West Bank settlement of Kiryat Arba.
“We condemn the killing of all people irrespective of their background,” El Habash was quoted as saying by Army Radio. “The idea of killing and violence is completely illegitimate.”
El Habash also said, “Palestinian blood, just like Israeli blood, is dear and humane” and “the color of Palestinian blood is the same as Israeli blood.”
According to Israel Radio, these remarks prompted Palestinians in the territories to demand El Habash be removed from his ministerial post and be put on trial.
Leaflets are being circulated in Gaza with El Habash’s picture branding him “the wayward son,” while Palestinians on Facebook have threatened to kill the minister. In doctored images that have been placed on posters, El Habash has been dressed in ultra-Orthodox garb.
Israeli lawmakers who met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas last week said the Palestinian leader also condemned the shooting of Mizrahi, and that Ramallah was eager to investigate the matter and bring those responsible to justice.
The government has criticized the PA for permitting anti-Israel and anti-Jewish incitement, which it says legitimizes acts of terrorism
Immediately following the attack on Monday night, Israeli MKs demanded the PA condemn the shooting.
Source: JP
Palestinians in the West Bank are demanding the dismissal of a PA minister who publicly condemned last week’s (terrorist) attack, which claimed the life of a police officer near Hebron, Israel Radio reported on Saturday.
Endowments Minister in Ramallah Mahmoud El Habash told Israeli reporters in Ramallah earlier last week that he was “pained” by the murder of 47-year-old Baruch Mizrahi, who was killed as he was driving with his family to a Seder in the West Bank settlement of Kiryat Arba.
“We condemn the killing of all people irrespective of their background,” El Habash was quoted as saying by Army Radio. “The idea of killing and violence is completely illegitimate.”
El Habash also said, “Palestinian blood, just like Israeli blood, is dear and humane” and “the color of Palestinian blood is the same as Israeli blood.”
According to Israel Radio, these remarks prompted Palestinians in the territories to demand El Habash be removed from his ministerial post and be put on trial.
Leaflets are being circulated in Gaza with El Habash’s picture branding him “the wayward son,” while Palestinians on Facebook have threatened to kill the minister. In doctored images that have been placed on posters, El Habash has been dressed in ultra-Orthodox garb.
Israeli lawmakers who met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas last week said the Palestinian leader also condemned the shooting of Mizrahi, and that Ramallah was eager to investigate the matter and bring those responsible to justice.
The government has criticized the PA for permitting anti-Israel and anti-Jewish incitement, which it says legitimizes acts of terrorism
Immediately following the attack on Monday night, Israeli MKs demanded the PA condemn the shooting.
Source: JP
