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Entries in Palestine (20)

Thursday
May072009

EA Exclusive: Palestine's Hamas Sends Message to Obama Administration, Wants Talks

hamas-flagThe Lebanese broadcaster Al Manar is reporting that Hamas has passed a message to the Obama Administration through an European official.

The message sets out Hamas' position on issues that have hindered contacts with the US and the "West" but then proposes the opening up of channels of communication with Washington and European countries. The note makes clear that this is an agreed position of the Hamas leadership, drafted in Damascus in "intensive meetings" in recent weeks.

According to Al Manar, the note makes clear that Hamas does not want "confrontation with Israel". The priority is "stability in the Middle East".

Earlier this week, Hamas political director Khaled Meshaal gave an extensive interview to The New York Times, setting out the organisation's goals and declaring he was ready to reach truce agreements with Israel.

The original report is on the Al Manar website, with the (very rough) translation available via Google.
Tuesday
May052009

UPDATED Video: Benjamin Netanyahu to AIPAC Policy Conference --- The Threat is Iran

Related Post: An Israeli-Syrian Peace? Biden, US Give Conflicting Signals

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke by video yesterday to the annual Policy Conference of The American Israel Public Affairs Committee. The six-minute presentation was a far-from-subtle pitch to identify Tehran as Public Enemy Number One, linking it to both Fascism and Soviet Communism:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1A7SWQ5BAR4[/youtube]

For the first time in my lifetime --- I believe, for the first time in a century --- see Arabs and Jews see a common danger.

This wasn't always the case. In the '30s and '40s many Arabs supported another country, believing that there was their hope. In the '60s, '70s, '80s, they supported another country that was at odds with the Jewish state. But this is no longer the case.

So a common fight against Iran and its supposed attempt to develop nuclear weapons "presents great opportunities". At the same time, Netanyahu did not extend the greatest opportunity of "co-operation" with the Arab  world to a specific commitment to discussions for a two-state solution with Palestinian, limiting himself to the objective of "peace with the Palestinians". Instead, he restated his long-time line of a "political track, an economic track, a security track" with the precondition that "Palestinians must recognize a Jewish state".
Tuesday
May052009

Video: Vice President Biden at AIPAC Policy Conference

Related Post: An Israeli-Syrian Peace? Biden, US Give Conflicting Signals

biden2Vice President Joe Biden addressed the Policy Conference of The American Israel Political Action Committee this morning. His most challenging statement was a call on Israel to freeze settlement expansion and grant greater freedom of movement to Palestinians as a means of demonstrating Israel's commitment to Palestinian statehood: "Show me." Biden received polite, if far from rapturous, applause.

Biden also stood firm on the Obama Administration's pursuit of engagement with Iran but, as Josh Mull notes below, appeared to waver on an Israeli-Syrian settlement over the Golan Heights. We'll be watching closely whether that is a misstatement or an unexpected shift in US policy.

Here is the video.
Sunday
May032009

Land before Peace: Israel Threatens to Demolish Palestinian Homes in East Jerusalem

east-jerusalem1A United Nations report, released Friday, has found that up to 60,000 Palestinians are at risk of eviction in East Jerusalem.

The legal pretext for the demolition of up to 1/4 of the Palestinian homes is that they have been built without permits. Behind that claim, however, is the broader issue: up to 1250 new houses are needed each year to accommodate the population growth of Palestinians, but the number of permits issues has remained at about 100 to 150 per year.

Between 2000 and 2008, the Israelis have only razed 75 houses a year, but with the accession of the new Government of Benjamin Netanyahu, there are concerns that either the national or municipal governments might expand the demolitions. The official line of the city's mayor is that he is “committed to addressing the issue of affordable housing throughout the entirety of Jerusalem,” but this should be placed beside the cold numbers of land distribution: only 13 percent of East Jerusalem is zoned by the Israeli authorities for Palestinian construction, while a third has been reserved for Israeli properties (22 percent is zoned for green areas and public infrastructure and 30 percent remains “unplanned").

In March, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned the Israelis that threatened demolitions are “not in keeping with the obligations entered into under the ‘road map'" for an Israeli-Palestinian settlement.

Further information on the status of Palestinians in East Jerusalem can be found at the B'Tselem website.
Friday
May012009

Aid and Warning: Clinton Backs Abbas, Gives Zardari Space, Puts Karzai on Notice

Video and Transcript: Robert Gates Remarks to Senate Appropriations Committee (30 April)
Video and Transcript: Hillary Clinton Remarks to Senate Appropriations Committee (30 April)

karzai7Quick question: which of these three --- President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari, President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai (pictured), or former President of the West Bank Mahmoud Abbas --- should be feeling most secure this morning about support from Washington?

If you went for one of the two who are legally in office at the moment, you need to do some homework, maybe watching the entire 140 minutes of the Senate Appropriations Committee hearing with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. On the other hand, if you voted for Abbas (something will not be occurring in Palestinian elections in the near-future), take a bow and join the Clinton/Gates team.

The clear backing of Abbas and the Palestinian Authority, unnoticed by the media this morning, came in Clinton's opening statement:
At Sharm el-Sheikh last month, on behalf of the President, I announced a pledge of $900 million for humanitarian, economic, and security assistance for the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian people.

Notice, not to Gaza, which suffered the damage from the recent war --- as we have pointed out repeatedly, 2/3 of this aid is earmarked for the West Bank. And most definitely no assistance which benefits or has any connection with the Gaza Government of Hamas: "[There are] stringent requirements to prevent aid from being diverted into the wrong hands."

Put bluntly, this aid is not primarily, as Clinton claimed, for "humanitarian" purposes; the objective is political and the primary beneficiary is Mahmoud Abbas.

As we wrote yesterday, President Zardari in Pakistan might want to watch his back, but he did get off lightly yesterday. Clinton and Gates played nice with him in their statements. Their primary purpose was to get Congressional support for the initial tranche of $500 million in military and economic assistance, so they did not raise doubts that America's partner in Islamabad might not be reliable. Instead, they stuck with general references for "diplomacy and development, to work with the Pakistani Government, Pakistani civil society, to try to provide more economic stability and diminish the conditions that feed extremism".

The recent Pakistani military operations to push back Taliban operations in Buner province seems to have given Zardari a bit of breathing space, even if he's not the prime mover behind that offensive. Clinton said:
The Government of Pakistan, both civilian and military leadership, is demonstrating much greater concern about the Taliban encroachment. We're getting a much more thoughtful response and actions. It was heartening to see  the military sent into Buner province this weekend.

Afghanistan President Karzai was not so lucky. Consider this from Clinton's opening statement:
Bringing stability to [Afghanistan] is not only a military mission; it requires more than a military response. So we have requested $980 million in assistance to focus on rebuilding the agricultural sector, having more political progress, helping the local and provincial leadership deliver services for their people.

Hmmm, which level of government is not mentioned in that passage? I'm thinking "national".

And, if you believe that was just an oversight, Clinton made her distrust of Karzai more than clear in response to a question from Senator Barbara Mikulski about "cronyism and corruption", narcotics, and "the status and security of women" 50 minutes into the hearing. Clinton responded:
With respect to the Government, its capacity, its problems providing services, its perception of being less than transparent, straightforward, honest: it's a problem, I'm not going to tell you it's not.

Clinton immediately mentioned "significant pockets of progress we want to build on", such as the building up of the Afghan Army, but then returned to putting Karzai on notice: "We have made it very clear that we expect changes. We expect accountability, and we're going to demand it."

This, however, was not the stinger in Clinton's response. That came instead in this phrase, "Several members of the Cabinet are doing an excellent job.". It's notable and far-from-subtle that Karzai, facing re-election in August, was not named amongst those members.

Of course Clinton was shrewd enough not to name any of the "excellent" members. Open American endorsement of any Cabinet Minister who challenges Karzai would be the kiss of electoral death, and Clinton made clear, "We are not taking a position in this Presidential election. We are neither for nor against

However, when Mikulsi asked if Karzai would co-operate with the US in its effects against the Taliban and narcotics, Clinton was not so cautious: "That is what we are demanding of him."

So, in Ramallah in the West Bank, an ex-President can breathe easily this morning. A current President in Kabul, however, best be sleeping with one eye open tonight
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