Palestine Video & Analysis: Reactions to the Election Bluff of Mahmoud Abbas

Israel-Palestine: UN General Assembly Endorses Goldstone Report on Gaza

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On Thursday, Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas said,"I have told our brethren in the Palestine Liberation Organization...that I have no desire to run in the forthcoming election" on 24 January.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGxXyzu2T5o[/youtube]

The head of the PLO Executive Committee, Yasser Abed Rabbo, quickly announced that the committee had rejected Abbas' announcement. Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri jumped in to allege Abbas was bluffing, urging his Western friends to put pressure on Israel. Zuhri suggested an alternative course, "We advise him to...face the Palestinian people and tell them frankly that the path of negotiations has failed. Halt negotiations with the occupation and take practical steps toward reconciliation."

Israel and the US are calling on Abbas to remain in the election. Israeli president Shimon Peres told Abbas in a phone call, "If you leave the Palestinians would lose their chance for an independent state. The situation in the region would deteriorate. Stay, for the Palestinian people's sake."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, "Of the existing alternatives, if we want an agreement with the Palestinians then Abbas is the best partner." Clinton subsequently asked Arab foreign ministers and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to press Abbas for a change of decision.

Iran-Israel "Silent War": Armed Ship Intercepted

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The silent war with Iran is continuing. On Wednesday, Israeli commandos seized the Antigua-flagged civilian ship "Francop" and unloaded the largest arms shipment Israel has ever commandeered.

According to Israeli officials, the ship was heading for Egypt, having departed from Iran with weapons destined for Lebanon's Hezbollah. They displayed what they claimed was an Iranian report.



Israel's Foreign Ministry issued an instruction to Israeli embassies and consulates around the world to use the findings on board and to turn the international community against Iran. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said:

Iran is shipping weapons to terror organizations in order to attack Israeli cities and kill its citizens. It is time that the international community applied real pressure on Iran to stop these criminal actions, and support Israel in its battle against terrorists and their patrons.

Following the conclusion of Israeli military intelligence that Hamas' armed strength has grown after the Gaza War, the "existential threat" of Iran is again on the top of Israeli agenda. With support from the US and 27-member EU support in their pocket, who can convince Israeli diplomats that Operation Cast Lead was a failure, whatever the assertions of "war crimes" in the Goldstone Report?

Israeli Intelligence: "Hamas is Stronger now!"

On Tuesday, Israeli Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin, director of Military Intelligence, announced that Hamas had launched a rocket some 60 kilometers into the sea- meaning it could hit Tel Aviv. He also told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that Hamas has accumulated an arsenal of rockets slightly larger than the arsenal it possessed before last winter's Operation Cast Lead.

Hamas offered two different responses. First, the allegation was not rejected publicly but Israel was blamed for manipulating the international community. In the beginning, a spokesman for the organization's military wing, Abu Obeida, said: "The occupation can say whatever it likes, and whatever it says is dubious." Later, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhum stated that the diplomatic crisis triggered by the report "has led the Zionist enemy to make up excuses in an attempt to instigate public opinion against Hamas."

So, was this really a tactical manoeuvre to mislead the international community and strengthen Israel's hand in the face of increasing criticisms, or a confession that the offensive in Gaza was a big failure?

U.S. House of Representatives Opposes the Goldstone Report

On Tuesday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a non-binding resolution with a 344-36 vote which condemns the Goldstone Report and urges President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to oppose unequivocally any endorsement of the report.

Following the resolution, U.S. Representative Howard Berman, chairman of the Foreign Relations committee, said: "This resolution defines the report as biased and unworthy of further consideration."

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said: "The report paints a distorted picture. It epitomizes the practice of singling Israel out from all other nations for condemnation."

Democratic Congresswoman Nita Lowey, Chair of the State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee, stated that the Goldstone Report could damage the Middle East peace process::

Israel, like all sovereign nations, has the responsibility to respect human rights and adhere to international law. However, its defense of its citizens against attacks by Hamas militants simply cannot be conflated with terrorist actions.

Facilitating a lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians is among our most important foreign policy priorities, and further consideration of the Goldstone report could hinder movement toward peace negotiations.