Israel-Syria: Vows, Pledges, Calls for Peace....

On earlier Sunday, Syrian Minister of Information Mohsen Bilal told a seminar that Syria would "stand firm in the face of Israeli ambitions". President Bashar Assad declared that Damascus would stand by Lebanon's side against any Israeli "aggression."

Bilal, who dismissed Israel's 1981 annexation of the Golan Heights as "worthless", said: "We are working tirelessly towards true and lasting just peace, in which the occupation ends and the land is returned."

Israel-Syria: Will Their Tensions Lead to War in Lebanon?

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, at his weekly cabinet meeting, said:

Israel aspires to reach peace with all its neighbors. We did so with Egypt and Jordan and we aspire to do so with Syria and the Palestinians. We can achieve this with two conditions: The first is that we hold negotiations without preconditions. We will not accept the notion that Israel makes major concessions in advance. We will not enter negotiations for which everything is decided in advance.

The second condition is that any agreement will safeguard Israel's security interests... Solid security arrangements will help maintain a strong peace. I hope that we are now looking at the renewal of negotiations with the Palestinians, and we are open to new talks with the Syrians as well.

Palestine Document: Abbas Interview "I Will Not Back Down From Demands"

On Sunday, in an interview with Der Spiegel, the leader of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, expressed his disappointment with the Obama Administration, saying that Barack Obama has changed the route of the negotiations by dropping demands for a freeze on Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

Abbas said that there was hope for an agreement with Ehud Olmert, but the Israeli Prime Minister had to leave the office earlier due to corruption accusations. Another complication, implied by Abbas, was that Hamas had rejected a Palestinian reconciliation agreement with Abbas' party, Fatah, because of Iran.

Palestine Special: All Along Israel’s West Bank Watchtower

SPIEGEL: Mr. President, the whole world is waiting for you to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for talks. When is this finally going to happen?

ABBAS: That depends on Israel. We Palestinians have always said that we are willing to negotiate, but only if Israel stops settlement construction completely and recognizes the 1967 borders.



SPIEGEL: Why are you standing in the way of talks by setting these preconditions?

ABBAS: They aren't preconditions, but steps that are overdue after the first phase of the international roadmap for peace. Unlike Israel, we have met our obligations: We have recognized Israel's right to exist, and we are combating violent Palestinian groups. The Americans, the Europeans and even the Israelis have acknowledged this.

SPIEGEL: At least Netanyahu has ordered a 10-month freeze on settlements, something no other Israeli prime minister has done. Wouldn't it be your turn now to take a step in his direction?

ABBAS: It isn't a real moratorium, because a few thousand housing units are still being built in the West Bank, and Jerusalem is completely exempted from the settlement freeze.

SPIEGEL: You negotiated with Netanyahu's predecessor, Ehud Olmert, even though settlement construction was continuing without restrictions at the time. Aren't you applying a double standard here?

ABBAS: In a way, yes. But I have asked Olmert to freeze settlement construction every time we met. Besides, Barack Obama was elected president of the United States in the interim. In his speech to the Islamic world in Cairo, he called for a complete freeze on settlements. When the American president does this, I cannot accept anything less.

SPIEGEL: But now Obama is only talking about Israeli "restraint" in building settlements. At his request, you even agreed to a symbolic handshake with Netanyahu in New York.

ABBAS: I was initially very optimistic after Obama won the election. His Middle East envoy, George Mitchell, kept coming to us and promised to urge the Israelis to stop settlement construction completely. Mitchell said that the negotiations would only resume after a moratorium. The American government suddenly backed away from this position in September.

SPIEGEL: Are you saying that it's the Americans' fault that things aren't progressing?

ABBAS: Naturally, I'm not pleased with the Americans' change of course. But I will not back down.

SPIEGEL: What do you expect from Obama?

ABBAS: I still hope that he will revive the peace process. At least he has to convince the Israelis to announce a complete freeze on construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem for a few months.

SPIEGEL: Apparently the pressure Obama has exerted on Israel until now hasn't been very effective.

ABBAS: It isn't my job to tell the Americans how to deal with Israel. But they have options. They are, after all, the most powerful country in the world. Obama said that a Palestinian state constitutes a vital American interest. The president is under an obligation to apply all of his energy to achieving peace and the vision of a Palestinian state.

SPIEGEL: Could it be that the real reason for the current standstill is that you don't trust Netanyahu?

ABBAS: What he has said so far, at any rate, leads me to question whether he really wants a solution. He has not expressly accepted the two-state solution.

SPIEGEL: In a speech at Bar-Ilan University in June 2009, Netanyahu said: "If the Palestinians recognize Israel as the Jewish state, we are ready to agree to a real peace agreement, a demilitarized Palestinian state side by side with the Jewish state."

ABBAS: You see, he's the one who is setting preconditions. He declares Jerusalem as the "undivided and eternal capital of the State of Israel." He refuses to discuss the question of Palestinian refugees. And he insists that we accept Israel in advance as a Jewish state.

SPIEGEL: But the principle of the two-state solution must mean that the one state is for the Palestinians and the other is for the Jews. Why do you have a problem with recognizing Israel as a Jewish state?

ABBAS: We recognized the State of Israel within the 1967 borders. Whether it defines itself as a Jewish state, a Hebrew state or a Zionist state is its business. As far as I'm concerned, it can call itself what it pleases. But he cannot force me to agree with this definition.

SPIEGEL: Israel wouldn't be Israel without a Jewish majority.

ABBAS: It is a fact that the majority of the citizens of the State of Israel are Jews. But it isn't within my power to define Israel's character.

SPIEGEL: But with such remarks, you create the suspicion among Israelis that you actually hope to eventually overcome this Jewish majority, particularly when you continue to insist that all Palestinians expelled in 1948 have the right of return.

ABBAS: I understand these concerns. Today, there are 5 million Palestinian refugees. I'm not saying that they all have to return, but we need a fair solution. United Nations Resolution 194 ...

SPIEGEL: ... of Dec. 11, 1948 ...

ABBAS: ... states that those who relinquish their right of return must receive appropriate financial compensation for doing so. In other words, the solution has been on the table for 60 years, so what's the problem?

SPIEGEL: Netanyahu's predecessor Ehud Olmert made you the best offer: The establishment of a Palestinian state on far more than 90 percent of the West Bank, a division of Jerusalem and the return of a few thousand refugees to Israel. Why did you reject it?

ABBAS: I didn't reject it. Olmert resigned from office because of his personal problems.

SPIEGEL: You waited too long. If you had accepted, most Israelis would probably have been willing to ignore the corruption charges against Olmert. Former Israeli Foreign Minister Abba Eban once said that the Palestinians never miss an opportunity ...

ABBAS: ... to miss an opportunity. Yes, I'm familiar with the quote. But we did seize the opportunity when Olmert was in office. We negotiated very seriously with him. We exchanged maps showing the locations of the borders. Then he left office. His successor Tzipi Livni lost the subsequent election. So where is the opportunity that we missed?

SPIEGEL: If you had accepted Olmert's offer early enough, it would have strengthened those who support the peace process. Instead, you now have to make do with Messrs. Netanyahu and Lieberman.

ABBAS: That's right. We were in a race against time to reach a solution. But I wasn't the one who thwarted an agreement. Olmert resigned from office shortly before the finish line.

SPIEGEL: Mr. President, the Palestinian camp is deeply divided. Your Fatah movement was unable to prevent Hamas's violent takeover in the Gaza Strip in 2007. How do you intend to guarantee that the same thing won't happen in the West Bank?

ABBAS: We have complete control over the security apparatus in the West Bank. The situation is 100 percent stabile. We will not allow the same thing to happen in the West Bank that happened in Gaza.

SPIEGEL: As long as Hamas controls Gaza, Israel will never agree to the establishment of a Palestinian state.

ABBAS: We spent two-and-a-half years conducting a dialogue sponsored by Egypt to seek reconciliation. It culminated in a document that we, representing Fatah, signed on Oct. 15, 2009. To this day, Hamas refuses to sign this document.

SPIEGEL: How can reconciliation be possible between the secular outlook of your Fatah movement and the Islamist worldview of Hamas?

ABBAS: We are a people with different religious and political sentiments. Some are extremely religious, some are strictly secular and others are moderate. But we have been accustomed to living together for the past 60 years. All of these movements exist within the PLO.

SPIEGEL: Would Marwan Barghuti, the hero of the second Intifada, who is imprisoned in Israel, be someone who could bring about reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas?

ABBAS: Marwan Barghuti is part of the leadership of Fatah. He is a member of the central committee of our movement. If he were released, it would be very advantageous for us. But not even Barghuti will be able to bring about reconciliation on his own. There is an external reason why Hamas isn't signing the document.

SPIEGEL: You are referring to Iran.

ABBAS: That's what you said.

SPIEGEL: Mr. President, you have announced that you will not run again for the office of president of the Autonomous Authority. Is this an admission that you will no longer be able to make the Palestinian dream of a sovereign state a reality?

ABBAS: That's absolutely correct. The road to a political solution is blocked. For that reason, I see no purpose in remaining president of the Autonomous Authority. And I also have a warning for the world: Do not drive the Palestinians to the point of total hopelessness.

Israel-US: Ayalon vs. Livni on Future of the "Special Relationship"

Earlier this week Israel's Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon declared that Israel's relations with the United States have "never been better", adding that the ties between the allies go well beyond dealing with the Middle East conflict:

What makes the U.S. special is the fact that it has maintained its good relations with Israel over the years. Its support is not based on the financial pockets of the Arab states.

Everyone is waiting for the Palestinians to come to the negotiating table.

Palestine Special: All Along Israel’s West Bank Watchtower

Not so fast, replied opposition leader Tzipi Livni. She warned the Israeli leadership that the US support should not be taken as granted and then launched into criticism of the Netanyahu Government:

Israel is a state that is threatened in its very neighborhood. Every blow to our relationship with the U.S. can create wide-ranging strategic problems.

The Israeli leadership doesn't understand Israeli interests. We cannot expect the U.S. to defend our interests where this lack of understanding exists. Israel can't request help from the U.S. without giving it the proper tools to do this while facing the international community.

Palestine Special: All Along Israel's West Bank Watchtower

From The Flying Carpet Institute:

A member of the FCI got the chance to tour the Separation Wall last Sunday, seeing the "realities on the ground", as Israeli governments have a habit of saying.

The most expensive project in the history of the state, the Wall or Fence (it is actually both, with the Fence-version suspiciously resembling its US-Mexican counterpart) is responsible for one of the biggest land grabs against Palestinian territory in the recent years. Even more permanent-looking behind it are the settlements, fortresses of the Israeli extreme right amidst a shrinking Palestinian landscape.

Palestine: Abbas “Show Political Will and Roll Back the Occupation”

The Wall is responsible for the arbitrary division of Palestinian land, an elaborate system of permanent surveilance (we had a "friendly visit" by an Israel Defense Forces jeep during the tour), the isolation of Palestinians from their places of residence, and a variety of psychological disorders in the Palestinian population, especially amongst children. The Wall is complemented by so-called Workers Terminals, policed by private security firms and designed to ease the access of Israeli goods to enclaves controlled by the Palestinian Authority, as well as the flow of cheap Palestinian labour to Israel.

But is it really "Apartheid"?



How did this term become so popular among Palestinians and international activists? Probably the reason is the direct optical reality. Seeing the Wall separate the Palestinian enclaves from a modern Israel brings to mind images of a prosperous, European Johannesburg and a "Third World" Soweto township. The Workers Terminals certainly bring to mind the thousands of black South Africans commuting everyday from their townships to the factories and diamond mines of white South Africa.

However, to quote socialist Israeli dissident Moshé Machover, to call this Apartheid is misleading. The situation is worse than Apartheid. The South African Apartheid dug its own grave by ending up as a system of a white ruling class exploiting a black working-class majority. While the Worker Terminals are intended to bring Palestinian labour into Israel, the proportion of Palestinians that are vital for the functioning of the Israeli economy is very small. In fact, a significant amount of workers employed in the factories set up along the barrier, as in Tulkarem, employ not only Palestinians but also migrant workers from countries such as Romania and Thailand.

So the Wall is not an effective high-tech policing operation intended to exploit Palestinian labour. Instead, it is seeks to suffocate economic and cultural activity by the Palestinians to the point of forcing them to leave, while settlements expand from the hilltops to the valleys. (If any doubts arise about this statement, then I suggest reading Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's recent statement that Israel (West Bank) is here to stay.) There is no Palestinian workers' strike that is able to paralyze the Israeli economy and force a significant change in current Israeli policy. Judging by the high levels of unemployment and cases of extreme alcohol abuse, the Palestinian Authority enclaves resemble Native American reservations in the United States.

So calling this Apartheid is a self-defeating statement. Apartheid does a favour to the Palestinians by assigning them a better status than the one they enjoy now.

Israel-Lebanon: Why the Talk of War?

According to State Department official Jeff Feltman, as quoted by the London-based Al-Hayat daily newspaper, Washington is concerned that the continued flow of arms to Hezbollah could prompt a war between Israel and Lebanon. Feltman said "many reports" describing the quantity and types of weapons being smuggled to the organization are proof of the failure of United Nations Resolution 1701, which put an end to the conflict in 2006 and demanded a weapons-free south Lebanon.

On Tuesday, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said:

Hezbollah is in the Lebanese government and is developing a military force under the government.

These weapons are without doubt aimed at Israeli civilians. It is the responsibility of the Lebanese government to prevent attacks against Israel and its citizens.

Meanwhile, Iran's Press TV has declared that a secret meeting took between the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Leon Panetta, and Israeli officials on 28 January, in which Israeli cabinet minister Yossi Peled said that another confrontation with Lebanon’s Hezbollah was almost inevitable.