I published this article so I could respond to it, since I disagree with much of it.  

I'm all for better, fair treatment for the Palestinians. But while we're at it, let's give the descendants of the native Americans Manhattan back, and the rest of the land taken from them. Let's take away the lands that were doled out by the British to the current leaders of multiple Arab nations after the breakup of the Ottoman Empire. Your comparison of the Israel Palestine situation with Apartheid Africa, in terms of suggesting a one-state solution is bogus. There are two separate states in the area and have been. 

The one nation solution is bogus-- a way to wipe out Israel. I'm tired of extremists who call for fairness, when in fact, they are calling for eradication. Look at how Hamas is treating Fatah. They are systematically murdering them. That's just a sample of the genocide that would occur if the one nation cure was implemented-- the implementation of the long delayed deal the mufti made with Hitler. 

Eileen, I stand with you in support your calls for massive changes in the way the Palestinians are treated. But you totally ignore the horrific events of the last few days. How can you call for what you do when such savage actions, clearly machinated by outside Arab interests, are going on. You constantly villify Israel, but what about the Iranians and others who fund the civil war going on (yes, I know Israel and the US contributed to the civil war)?  Your failure to acknowledge these factors makes your simplistic solutions seem unrealistic and totally impossible.

In the light of these recent events, Israel's right to protect itself is even more obvious.  The tragedy is that the civil war in Palestine is hurting the Palestinian people and their hopes for the future.  What kind of negotiations are at all possible when there are such circumstances?

 

by Rob Kall (952 articles, 4177 quicklinks, 374 diaries, 2087 comments [45 recommended, 3 rejected]) on Friday, Jun 15, 2007 at 8:07:55 AM

The following responses are excerpts from those who live in Israel Palestine:

 __
A SETBACK FOR THE BUSH DOCTRINE IN GAZA
By Ali Abunimah, The Electronic Intifada, 14 June 2007

http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article7030.shtml

...Ever since Hamas won the Palestinian legislative elections
in the occupied territories in January 2006, elements of
the leadership of the long-dominant Fatah movement,
including Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas and
his advisors have conspired with Israel, the United States
and the intelligence services of several Arab states to
overthrow and weaken Hamas. This support has included
funneling weapons and tens of millions of dollars to
unaccountable militias, particularly the "Preventive
Security Force" headed by Gaza warlord Mohammad Dahlan, a
close ally of Israel and the United States and the
Abbas-affiliated "Presidential Guard." US Deputy National
Security Advisor Elliott Abrams -- who helped divert money
to the Nicaraguan Contras in the 1980s and who was
convicted of lying to Congress in the Iran-Contra scandal
-- has spearheaded the effort to set up these Palestinian
Contras...Abrams is also notorious for helping to
cover up massacres and atrocities committed against
civilians in El Salvador by US-backed militias and death
squads.

...on 7 June, Ha'aretz reported that "senior
Fatah officials in the Gaza Strip have asked Israel to
allow them to receive large shipments of arms and
ammunition from Arab countries, including Egypt."
According to the Israeli newspaper, Fatah asked Israel for
"armored cars, hundreds of armor-piercing RPG rockets,
thousands of hand grenades and millions of rounds of
ammunition for small caliber weapons," all to be used
against Hamas.

From the moment of its election victory, Hamas acted
pragmatically and with the intent to integrate itself into
the existing political structure. It had observed for over
a year a unilateral ceasefire with Israel and had halted
the suicide attacks on Israeli civilians that had made it
notorious. In a leaked confidential memo written in May
and published by The Guardian this week senior UN envoy
Alvaro de Soto confirmed that it was under pressure from
the United States that Abbas refused Hamas' initial
invitation to form a "national unity government." De Soto
details that Abbas advisers actively aided and abetted the
Israeli-US-European Union aid cutoff and siege of the
Palestinians under occupation, which led to massively
increased poverty for millions of people. These advisors
engaged with the United States in a "plot" to "bring about
the untimely demise of the [Palestinian Authority]
government led by Hamas," de Soto wrote.

Despite a bloody attempted coup against Hamas by the
Dahlan-led forces in December and January, Hamas still
agreed to join a "National Unity Government" with Fatah
brokered by Saudi Arabia at the Mecca summit. Dahlan and
Abbas' advisers were determined to sabotage this,
continuing to amass weapons, and refusing to place their
militias under the control of a neutral interior minister
who eventually resigned in frustration.

A setback for United States and Israel

The core of US strategy in the Southwest and Central Asia,
particularly Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine, and Lebanon is
to establish puppet regimes that will fight America's
enemies on its behalf. This strategy seems to be failing
everywhere. The Taliban are resurgent in Afghanistan.
Despite its "surge" the US is no closer to putting down
the resistance in Iraq and cannot even trust the Iraqi
army it helped set up. The Lebanese army, which the US
hopes to bolster as a counterweight to Hizballah, has
performed poorly against a few hundred foreign fighters
holed up in Nahr al-Bared refugee camp (although it has
caused death and devastation to many innocent Palestinian
refugees). Now in Gaza, the latest blow.

Israel's policy is a local version of the US strategy --
and it has also been tried and failed. For over two
decades Israel relied on a proxy militia, the South
Lebanon Army, to help it enforce the occupation of
southern Lebanon. In 2000, as Israeli forces hastily
withdrew, this militia collapsed just as quickly as
Dahlan's forces and many of its members fled to Israel.
Hamas is now referring to the rout of Dahlan's forces as a
"second liberation of Gaza."

A consistent element of Israeli strategy has been to
attempt to circumvent Palestinian resistance by trying to
create quisling leaderships...

In the wake of the Fatah collapse in Gaza, Ha'aretz
reported that Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert will
advise President Bush that Gaza must be isolated from the
West Bank. This can be seen as an attempt to shore up
Abbas whose survival Israel sees as essential to
maintaining the fiction that it does not directly rule
millions of disenfranchised Palestinians. A total collapse
of the Palestinian Authority would expose Israel's legal
obligation, as the occupying power, to provide for the
welfare of the Palestinians it rules.

 

 

The fall of Gaza and the rise of Palestine

Gershon Baskin
June 15, 2007



The fall of Gaza to Hamas has thrown the Palestinian people into its worst crisis since 1967.  With every crisis there are usually new opportunities and those must be investigated and pursued, if possible. Gaza is lost, for the time being and there is little that the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah can do to immediately change the course of events.  The present focus must now be on the West Bank and on saving the Palestinian people from additional unnecessary disasters and nightmares. There is now an opportunity to contrast the horrors of Gaza with a new reality in the West Bank that could serve as an example and focal point for positive Palestinian energies.


...if the Palestinian leadership in the West Bank and East Jerusalem would issue the following ten-point plan, a new future of promise and hope could be turned into a reality that would be the best possible way to serve the interests of the Palestinian people. The following is the proposed ten point plan:



1.       The Palestinian leadership of the West Bank and East Jerusalem's should declare that it is their intention is to establish an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank and East Jerusalem that will live in peace with all of its neighbors.

2.       The Palestinian leadership in the West Bank and East Jerusalem recognizes Israel's right to exist, adheres to all of the agreements that have been signed between the PLO and the State of Israel and renounces all forms of violence.

3.       The Palestinian leadership in the West Bank and East Jerusalem calls for the Government of Israel to renew permanent status negotiations immediately that will convene with the assistance of the Quartet and will proceed without interruption until agreements are reached and ratified by both sides.

4.       The Palestinian leadership calls on the Government of Israel to immediately release all of the tax revenues which are being held by Israel and to transfer them to the Palestinian treasury account in Ramallah. The leadership calls on Israel to also release Palestinian prisoners to the West Bank, especially those who were arrested prior to the establishment of the Palestinian authority in 1994 and other prisoners who state their agreement to live under the new realities in the West Bank and East Jerusalem and are willing to live in peace with all of their neighbors.

5.       The Palestinian leadership calls on the governments of the world to renew their diplomatic relations and financial support for the Palestinian people in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

6.       The Palestinian leadership calls on the governments of the world to provide humanitarian support for the people of Gaza through various international aid agencies and calls on the Government of Israel to allow food and medical aid that will reach the people of Gaza directly to enter Gaza.

7.       The Palestinian leadership will make preparations for new elections in the West Bank and East Jerusalem that will be held within three months.  In those elections, only political parties that accept the recognition of Israel, adhere to previous international agreements and commitments, support democracy and renounce violence will be allow to participate in the elections.

8.       Recognizing the mistakes of the past, the Palestinian leadership is immediately implementing a plan to unite all Palestinian security forces into one singular force under the direct command of the political echelon. The number of troops will be greatly reduced so that the new government will focus its attention on development, building the new state, education, health and welfare. The law of holding unauthorized arms will be strictly enforced and the first task of the Palestinian security force will be to collect unauthorized arms.  The Palestinian government, with the assistance of foreign governments will engage in an aggressive public campaign to collect arms, through public media and education and through the enforcement of the law.

9.       In accordance with the peace directive of the Palestinian leadership in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, all forms of incitement against peace and against Israel will be prohibited. The government of Palestine will immediately advance programs of educational reform that will introduce education for peace with Israel at all grade levels and in all schools. This campaign will include the public owned media as well and will prove without any doubt that the people of Palestine are determined to make peace.

10.   The actions of the Palestinian leadership in the West Bank and East Jerusalem will seek to create a new reality in the West Bank and East Jerusalem that will serve as the primary inspiration to the Palestinian people of Gaza to overthrow the Hamas government in Gaza and to once again unite the Palestinian people and lands so that eventually the Palestinian state to be established in the West Bank and East Jerusalem will include Gaza as well.



With such a platform placed on the table by the Palestinian leadership in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, Israel should immediately respond in accordance with the Palestinian requests:  release tax revenues, release prisoners, reopen full diplomatic relations including permanent status negotiaitons, assist in the creation of a new security reality by removing checkpoints and road closures throughout the West Bank and even declare that Israel will freeze the further construction of the security barrier pending future assessment. Israel should make all efforts to assist in the creation of new promise and hopes for the people of Palestine and for the people of Israel.



...The alternative to the above proposal is only more disasters and suffering for all Palestinians and for all Israelis... Leadership is about making tough decisions. Crises provide opportunities for real change and this is the time for change.-Gershon Baskin is the Israeli Co-CEO of IPCRI - the Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information. www.ipcri.org <http://www.ipcri.org/>

 

 

Throughout history time and time again, things that seemed impossible and hopeless all of a sudden just changed.

All things are possible and the fresh breathe of change is always blowing in the wind; may it blow out the violence that the voices of wisdom and nonviolence will be heard, for the sake of the children.

IF ONLY adults would wake up and see what their insane cycle of violence is doing to the children who have been robbed of their childhoods because of the OCCUPATION which breeds despair, which leads to hoplessness and reaps militants!





* Gershon Baskin is the Israeli Co-CEO of IPCRI - the Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information. www.ipcri.org <http://www.ipcri.org/>

by Eileen Fleming (172 articles, 101 quicklinks, 274 diaries, 650 comments [16 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Friday, Jun 15, 2007 at 8:30:10 AM

One State Solution

 I too resisted this vision until this past weekend while in DC and spoke with Palestinians who agree that the bantusatans of today can in NO way lead to a VIABLE Palestinian state.

 

If Israel is a democracy, why not allow ALL citizens of the land ONE VOTE per ONE CITIZEN and let the people decide one state or two.

 

Israel was established with HOPE that the Jewish people would have a safe and peaceful dwelling place.

Military Occupation can never bring security or peace, for it is unjust to control any other human being and deny them the inalienable rights laid out in the UN UNiversal Declaration of Human Rights which Israel agreed to uphold and was contingent upon their statehood.

 "On the day of the termination of the British mandate and on the strength of the United Nations General Assembly declare The State of Israel will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel: it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion it will guarantee freedom of religion [and] conscience and will be faithful to the Charter of the United Nations."-May, 14, 1946. The Declaration of the Establishment of Israel 

IMAGINE when Israel LISTENS to her prophets:

"What does God require? He has already told you o'man! BE JUST! BE MERCIFUL! And walk humbly with your Lord."--Micah 6:8

"You must give birth to your images. They are the future waiting to be born. FEAR NOT the strangeness you feel. The future must enter you long before it happens."-Rilke

by Eileen Fleming (172 articles, 101 quicklinks, 274 diaries, 650 comments [16 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Friday, Jun 15, 2007 at 8:47:17 AM

The Evangelical Lutheran Church

in Jordan and the Holy Land   (ELCJHL)

Statement by Bishop Dr. Munib Younan          

June 15, 2007

 

We have been warning for some time now that the situation here in the Occupied Palestinian territories – especially Gaza - is untenable and explosive.  I fear that unless we take drastic action, we will sink into all-out, protracted civil war that will dramatically fuel the fires of extremism, violence and chaos in the Middle East .

 

 

 

This could further radicalize the whole Middle East and perhaps tip us over a turning point toward religious fanaticism that would be hard to change. So I speak today to urge leaders, combatants, ordinary people and the international community:  for God's sake and the sake of all those suffering here from violence and oppression, stop the internal violence, end the international aid boycott and implement a serious plan to end the illegal, 40-year occupation of the Palestinian people.

 

 

 

The heads of local churches in Jerusalem issued a statement Wednesday, June 13, 2007, calling on all Palestinian brothers to put down their arms against one another and stop the violence immediately.  There is no justification for this violence, and it only damages the legitimate cause of the Palestinian people for self-determination, our own state and an end to occupation.   

 

Sisters and brothers of Palestine, accept your responsibility to end all violence and return to the higher ground and aim of non-violent struggle to this illegal occupation.  People of the Arab League, please step in and help us regain our balance. 

 

Although a resolution to this conflict seems so unreachable, we already know the solutions:  follow international law, UN resolutions and basic human rights law.  Implement the two-state solution, based on the 1948 armistice line (the Green Line), which would lead to two equal, viable, sovereign states, each with Jerusalem as its capital, just resolution to the refugee problem, shared resources and ending the policy of settlements. 

 

So as I sit in Jerusalem trying to analyze what is happening and why, I can't help but wonder.  Why, instead of implementing the many relevant UN resolutions supporting these concepts (66 in all), has the international community ignored them all these years and continued to allow the confiscation of Palestinian land and building up almost 500,000 illegal settlers in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Why, if the West wants to foster democracy, did they reject the outcome of democratic elections held under occupation with little violence and boycott the new government? Why has the international community sat by and watched the longest occupation in history – 40 years – and then placed an unprecedented boycott on them, which amounts to sanctions against a captive people.  How is this possible? 

Maybe it is time for deep self-evaluation for Palestinians, Israelis and the international community.

 

 

 

 

For this reason, from Jerusalem I call on international leaders of the world to wake up and see that some of their policies have had devastating negative effects on this conflict and, in fact, the whole Middle East. 

 Realistically, what can one expect in Gaza when you lock 1.5 million people into a tiny patch of land 20 miles long by 5-10 miles wide, virtually seal the borders except for a small fraction of trade and then completely stop the already meager salaries? 

A recent OxFam study of families in Gaza showed that the average family in Gaza has an average debt of $1750, in a land where a school principle only earns about $6000 per year. 

And in the West Bank , what can we expect when you herd people into tiny enclaves, take away freedom of movement and allow continued violations of human rights to go on behind walls of concrete and barbed wire fences?

 

 

 

 

Leaders of the world, your complicity in allowing and supporting the illegal occupation and your unprecedented action in boycotting this occupied people have created a humanitarian, political and economic crisis that now threatens not only the people of Palestine , but also Israel and the whole region. 

The Arab and Muslim world see this conflict as the litmus test for how the West treats them, and until some justice and improvement on the ground occurs for Palestinians, it will continue to fuel the fires of fanaticism in the whole Middle East . 

 

If you want to bring an end to the horrific violence in the Middle East and if you are concerned as I am by the rampant growth of religious extremism: please, I urge your from Jerusalem, get serious about implementing the two-state solution, begin immediate serious talks about these issues with all sides and end the illegal and immoral boycott and occupation. 

 

If we truly want to end this deadly stalemate and build a modern, democratic civil society in Palestine living side by side in a just peace with Israel , let us use our resources to educate our children and not to buy weapons to oppress them. 

We in the ELCJHL continue to be committed to a just solution based on international law and to see education as the key in preparing the future leaders who can lead us from occupation to freedom, from fear to mutual trust and from violence to peace/salaam/shalom. 

by Eileen Fleming (172 articles, 101 quicklinks, 274 diaries, 650 comments [16 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Friday, Jun 15, 2007 at 10:05:27 AM

Rob,

You cannot reason with Ms Fleeming. She is bent on the destruction of Israel either by force or by vote. She will not recognize that Israel is there to stay forever. The Arabs have only been there since the time of Mohammed, the Jews were there since 1400 BCE. If you can go back sixty years, you can go back to 70 BCE.

Have her go to Wikipedia to bring up the "United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine" (United Nations General Assembly Resolution 181). When she finds the article, she can see that the UN plan was to create geographical entities according to demographics of Jewish and Arab population. There is a map showing the area for Jews and the area for Arabs according to population in 1947; however, the very moment Israel declared statehood she was invaded by eight countries and the boundaries were temporarily set according to battle lines.

This remained basically unchanged until the 1967 Yom Kippur War. Israel was not obligated to give any of the territory back but she gave the Sinai back to Egypt, all territory back to Syria but the Golan Heights and allowed the Muslims to keep control of the Temple Mount. I promise you that if the Arabs had won that war, they would have destroyed Israel, murdered Jews by the hundreds of thousands and gave back nothing. Ask Ms. Fleming why Jordan never gave back to the Palestinians all the territory Jordan seized in the 1948 invasion.

She makes a big deal of a few Orthodox Jews who oppose Israel on spiritual grounds. She is trying the old Muslim propaganda that thousands of Jews are on the side of Hamas against Israel.  She is a Muslim propagandist and nothing short of it. Have her to write one article attacking Hezbollah and Hamas. I promise she will refuse your invitation.   

 

by pratliff94 (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 972 comments) on Friday, Jun 15, 2007 at 11:48:27 PM