The Latest from Israel-Gaza-Palestine (3 February)

6 p.m. Line up for the Inter-Arab Showdown. Nine foreign ministers from Arab states, meeting in Abu Dhabi, have put their support behind Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas. No support given that all nine --- Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia, Yemen and the Palestinian Authority --- have been on the anti-Hamas side of the fence during the Gaza conflict.

The question now is how Turkey, Syria, Iran and others who gave support to Hamas during the Israeli invasion react.

4 p.m. Repeating a pattern from Sunday, Israel has responded to the rocket fired from Gaza this morning with attacks on the tunnels around Rafah.

3 p.m. Nothing stunning in first reports on US envoy George Mitchell's press conference after his return from the Middle East: he plans to have a "regular and sustained presence in the region" and will return this month. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says she will work with Israelis and Palestinians for a "viable Palestinian state" but added the ritual three conditions, adopted by the US-EU-Russia-UN Quartet, for Hamas participation: "Hamas knows the conditions ... They must renounce violence, they must recognize Israel, they must agree to abide by prior agreements."



1 p.m. Hamas officials continue to hold out the prospect of a cease-fire proposal being put to Israel by Thursday. Gaza Deputy Foreign Minister Ahmed Youssef said last night that, while he had not heard from the Hamas delegation in Cairo, "We are heading toward a right direction, toward a cease-fire."

12:30 p.m. With little happening on the diplomatic front, the most significant development is in Abu Dhabi, where foreign ministers from nine Arab countries are meeting. No news, however, on any outcomes regarding Palestine.

Morning Update (7 a.m. GMT; 9 a.m. Israel/Palestine): Because of the effective division of the diplomatic process yesterday, with part of it going on in Cairo and part moved to Paris, we're in a curious next-to-silence this morning. No news on either discussion has made it into the press, which has contributed to amnesia by failing to recognise the significance of Mahmoud Abbas' diversion from Egypt to France (and his continued European walk-about this week).

Israel will now be occupied with the elections scheduled for 10 February. Hamas will be content to shore up its diplomatic position in the region and its support in Gaza. And (barring our scenario that the Paris talks were considering an "intermediary" to set up a channel between the US Government and Hamas) others in Washington, Europe, and the West Bank are scrambling for a new policy to limit the Hamas threat.

A Grad rocket fired from Gaza landed near Ashkelon in Israel this morning. It was the longest-range rocket launched since the ceasefire on 18 January.

Comments

[Mae]

Together with showing themselves capable of sticking to self-imposed moratoriums on suicide bombings and rocket fires, in 2006 several Hamas leaders actually stated their willingness to fulfil these conditions, but their peace initiative reported http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0531-23.htm/" rel="nofollow">here was ignored and rejected by Israel and the US. Instead Israel imposed a blockade on Gaza and intensified west Bank settlement activities culminating in this most recent Israeli offensive.

(The article also includes an interesting explanation of the concept of the long-term truce called "hudna".)

[Dave]

The link didn't work for me. I think a hudna is only meant to be a temporary peace. Read below:

From Wikipedia:

Hudna (هدنة) is an Arabic term meaning a temporary "truce" or "armistice" as well as "calm" or "quiet", coming from a verbal root meaning "calm". It is sometimes translated as "cease-fire". In the Lisan al-Arab (Ibn al-Manzur's definitive dictionary of classical Arabic, dating to the 14th century) it is defined as follows:

"hadana: he grew quiet. hadina: he quieted (transitive or intransitive). haadana: he made peace with. The noun from each of these is hudna."
A particularly famous early hudna was the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah between Muhammad and the Quraysh tribe.

According to Umdat as-Salik, a medieval summary of Shafi'i jurisprudence, hudnas with a non-Muslim enemy should be limited to 10 years: "if Muslims are weak, a truce may be made for ten years if necessary, for the Prophet made a truce with the Quraysh for that long, as is related by Abu Dawud" ('Umdat as-Salik, o9.16).

[Mae]

Sorry, try this:

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0531-23.htm

[Mae]

Here is a much better exploration of the concept of "hudna" and the chance it offers both peoples:

"This treaty [of Hudaybiya] is the basis among Muslims for the concept of hudna. They consider that this treaty is the model for letting peaceful relations develop so that peace is possible without being imposed by war, in other words, so that both sides will adopt the pluralist perspective whereby each respects the dignity of the other as an equal. Only then can there ever be peace through justice in the recognition that permanent peace can come only through justice."

also interesting to note this cultural difference:

"One view of hudna was published on July 5th, 2006, in http://www.theamericanmuslim.org, as an article entitled “Recognize Israel! Take Down That Wall!” This is based on the standard view taught at all American law schools that recognition of a state does not imply moral approval or even recognition of its moral right to exist. Recognition means merely acceptance of the state as an entity with which one can do business. Hamas already does that. Law and morality in Western law are not synonymous and have never been either in theory or in practice. Muslims have difficulty in accepting this because in Islamic law they can or at least should not be separated."

http://www.shalomctr.org/node/1354

[Ran]

Thursday, January 29, 2009
An Open Letter to A citizen Of Gaza: I Am the Soldier Who Slept In Your Home

An Open Letter to A citizen Of Gaza:
I Am the Soldier Who Slept In Your Home:
By: Yishai G (reserve soldier)
[Originally published in Hebrew in Maariv]
Hello,
While the world watches the ruins in Gaza, you return to your home which
remains standing. However, I am sure that it is clear to you that someone
was in your home while you were away.
I am that someone.
I spent long hours imagining how you would react when you walked into your
home. How you would feel when you understood that IDF soldiers had slept on
your mattresses and used your blankets to keep warm.
I knew that it would make you angry and sad and that you would feel this
violation of the most intimate areas of your life by those defined as your
enemies, with stinging humiliation. I am convinced that you hate me with
unbridled hatred, and you do not have even the tiniest desire to hear what I
have to say. At the same time, it is important for me to say the following
in the hope that there is even the minutest chance that you will hear me.
I spent many days in your home. You and your family's presence was felt in
every corner. I saw your family portraits on the wall, and I thought of my
family. I saw
your wife's perfume bottles on the bureau, and I thought of my wife. I saw
your children's toys and their English language schoolbooks. I saw your
personal computer and how you set up the modem and wireless phone next to
the screen, just as I do.
I wanted you to know that despite the immense disorder you found in your
house that was created during a search for explosives and tunnels (which
were indeed found in other homes), we did our best to treat your possessions
with respect. When I moved the computer table, I disconnected the cables and
lay them down neatly on the floor, as I would do with my own computer. I
even covered the computer from dust with a piece of cloth. I tried to put
back the clothes that fell when we moved the closet although not the same as
you would have done, but at least in such a way that nothing would get lost.
I know that the devastation, the bullet holes in your walls and the
destruction of those homes near you place my descriptions in a ridiculous
light. Still, I need you to understand me, us, and hope that you will
channel your anger and criticism to the right places.
I decided to write you this letter specifically because I stayed in your
home.
I can surmise that you are intelligent and educated and there are those in
your household that are university students. Your children learn English,
and you are connected to the Internet. You are not ignorant; you know what
is going on around you.
Therefore, I am sure you know that Qassam rockets were launched from your
neighborhood into Israeli towns and cities.
How could you see these weekly launches and not think that one day we would
say "enough"?! Did you ever consider that it is perhaps wrong to launch
rockets at innocent civilians trying to lead a normal life, much like you?
How long did you think we would sit back without reacting?
I can hear you saying "it's not me, it's Hamas". My intuition tells me you
are not their most avid supporter. If you look closely at the sad reality in
which your people live, and you do not try to deceive yourself or make
excuses about "occupation", you must certainly reach the conclusion that the
Hamas is your real enemy.
The reality is so simple, even a seven year old can understand: Israel
withdrew from the Gaza strip, removing military bases and its citizens from
Gush Katif. Nonetheless, we continued to provide you with electricity,
water, and goods (and this I know very well as during my reserve duty I
guarded the border crossings more than once, and witnessed hundreds of
trucks full of goods entering a blockade-free Gaza every day).
Despite all this, for reasons that cannot be understood and with a lack of
any rational logic, Hamas launched missiles on Israeli towns. For three
years we clenched our teeth and restrained ourselves. In the end, we could
not take it anymore and entered the Gaza strip, into your neighborhood, in
order to remove those who want to kill us. A reality that is painful but
very easy to explain.
As soon as you agree with me that Hamas is your enemy and because of them,
your people are miserable, you will also understand that the change must
come from within. I am acutely aware of the fact that what I say is easier
to write than to do, but I do not see any other way. You, who are connected
to the world and concerned about your children's education, must lead,
together with your friends, a civil uprising against Hamas.
I swear to you, that if the citizens of Gaza were busy paving roads,
building schools, opening factories and cultural institutions instead of
dwelling in self pity, arms smuggling and nurturing a hatred to your Israeli
neighbors, your homes would not be in ruins right now. If your leaders were
not corrupt and motivated by hatred, your home would not have been harmed.
If someone would have stood up and shouted that there is no point in
launching missiles on innocent civilians, I would not have to stand in your
kitchen as a soldier.
You don't have money, you tell me? You have more than you can imagine.
Even before Hamas took control of Gaza, during the time of Yasser Arafat,
millions if not billions of dollars donated by the world community to the
Palestinians was used for purchasing arms or taken directly to your leaders
bank accounts. Gulf States, the emirates - your brothers, your flesh and
blood, are some of the richest nations in the world. If there was even a
small feeling of solidarity between Arab nations, if these nations had but
the smallest interest in reconstructing the Palestinian people - your
situation would be very different.
You must be familiar with Singapore. The land mass there is not much larger
than the Gaza strip and it is considered to be the second most populated
country in the world. Yet, Singapore is a successful, prospering, and well
managed country. Why not the same for you?
My friend, I would like to call you by name, but I will not do so publicly.
I want you to know that I am 100% at peace with what my country did, what my
army did, and what I did. However, I feel your pain. I am sorry for the
destruction you are finding in your neighborhood at this moment. On a
personal level, I did what I could to minimize the damage to your home as
much as possible.
In my opinion, we have a lot more in common than you might imagine. I am a
civilian, not a soldier, and in my private life I have nothing to do with
the military. However, I have an obligation to leave my home, put on a
uniform, and protect my family every time we are attacked. I have no desire
to be in your home wearing a uniform again and I would be more than happy to
sit with you as a guest on your beautiful balcony, drinking sweet tea
seasoned with the sage growing in your garden.
The only person who could make that dream a reality is you. Take
responsibility for yourself, your family, your people, and start to take
control of your destiny. How? I do not know. Maybe there is something to be
learned from the Jewish people who rose up from the most destructive human
tragedy of the 20th century, and instead of sinking into self-pity, built a
flourishing and prospering country. It is possible, and it is in your hands.
I am ready to be there to provide a shoulder of support and help to you.
But only you can move the wheels of history."
Regards,
Yishai, (Reserve Soldier)

[E.T.Cook]

"We are working to overcome this difficult time in the Arab world and ensure that unwelcomed, non-Arab parties do not get involved in our affairs in an un-constructive manner."

I don't think the sentiment is anti-Hamas, necessarily - but rather, anti-Persian influence in Arab affairs. Their explicitly supported Abbas as the SOLE leader of the Palestinian people. I really don't know how much more anti-Hamas you could get without explicitly stating it.

On the other matter - Hamas never accepted Israel's existence preconditioned by a the Madrid Quartet. Even if they did accept Israel fully, with no qualification regarding the location of borders, that would be only one prong out of three. Not to mention your article understates the internal division in Hamas on that particular issue.