The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Death 0f the Two-State Solution

2012-01-15T22:45:00.000+02:00

The Palestinians and Israelis have jump-started peace negotiations again for the umpteenth time, under the auspices of King Abdullah of Jordan. Dr.Saeb Erakat, the Palestinian negotiator admitted that these negotiations would lead nowhere.

Erakat is right. There will be no solution as the basic ingredients are absent.

One can assume, with reasonable certainty, that the two-state solution is undergoing a rather painful rigor mortis. When Israel's PM Netanyahu supports a two-state solution, he knows that it will never happen. Babbling about the two-state solution in ambiguous speeches does very little to solve anything. It just defers an impending disaster. We all know that procrastination is the thief of time and this is applicable here.

In order to achieve a two-state solution, the occupation must cease and the illegal settlers in the occupied territories must return to Israel within agreed defined borders when a final agreement between the two sides is signed.

The right wing Netanyahu Government coalition will never agree to this. So what is there to talk about - the price of cottage-cheese? The negotiations will consist of polemics, photo opportunities and in the end a total breakdown with an agreement between the two sides remaining illusive.

Prof. Hisham Awartani, Head of Economics, An-Najah University in Nablus, stated that there would never be a two-state solution. He stated that most of the Palestinian people are not interested anyway. Their priorities are economic - simply making ends meet and having jobs that can provide that goal. Other alternative solutions - if there are any - must be put on the table. Awartani claims that more and more people are considering a one-state solution and discussions on this issue are becoming more widespread. When a trend begins that moves away from a two-state solution we, in Israel, must adapt to the final consequences of that trend. Burying our heads in the sand is no solution. "Maintaining the status quo of the occupation" is suicidal. Violence and war between the two sides is not in anybody's interests and must be avoided by facing up to reality as it is, without populist clichés that solve nothing.

Failure of the two-state solution must be laid on the doorstep of both sides with Israel tipping the balance in its boosting of illegal settlements in the occupied territories.

Even the atmosphere within Israel is not conducive to a two-state solution. The Israeli electorate is moving further to the right with many extremist right wing groups going on the rampage in the territories, burning mosques and destroying Palestinian property not to mention the physical abuse of innocent Palestinian women and children. Graffiti by a group called Price Tag is scribbled on Palestinian property including mosques.

Is this a favorable atmosphere for negotiations? Even arrests of the perpetrators, if any, are rare.

It is also significant to note that PM Salaam Fayad of the Palestinian Authority has been emphasizing laying the groundwork for improving economic infrastructure for the Palestinians in order to create new jobs and strengthen Palestinian self-sufficiency. He does not talk about a two-state solution either. He is trying to prepare the groundwork for a change in the Palestinian economy so that they can be more self sufficient.

Both Israelis and Palestinians have to be receptive to new ideas towards a solution to the conflict. It is unproductive harping on the past.

Both sides are aware that we need a new vision towards a solution. The two-state solution is losing its practicality. This can be seen by the increasing establishment of new housing schemes for Israelis in the occupied territories allotted to the establishment of the Palestinian State.

This has made the situation so much more complicated. However, other possible solutions gaining ground are:

All these solutions are in reality one or another form of a one state solution. Perhaps an example of this is the USA which is composed of a number of states under a single president.

In any case, there are no signs in Israel of any desire to reach any solution whether a one-state or two-state solution.

When apartheid South Africa began to crumble, there were signs of goodwill amongst South Africans of all races to make a new beginning. The white minority government became more accommodating to change. Separate amenities for whites and blacks were abolished and Nelson Mandela was released from prison in 1990 after serving close on 27 years. Practical steps were taken to ease a potentially explosive situation into a situation of reconciliation amongst the various racial groups in South Africa. Naturally it was not easy but the transition to black majority rule was not violent as most white supremacists predicted.

In Israel the basic ingredients for peace and goodwill with the Palestinians are severely lacking. Any possible solution will be greeted with opposition by the majority of Israelis. The only way they can prevent any solution to this tragic conflict is by maintaining the occupation by dominating the Palestinians by encouraging illegal settlements making a two-state solution unattainable. It looks as if this has been achieved.

Other methods employed by the Israeli government are the introduction of draconic laws that are eroding

Israel

's democracy. I have discussed this in previous articles on my blog.

Israel

's supporters are quick to emphasize that Israel is not an apartheid state resembling apartheid South Africa. Unfortunately, the similarity is becoming more difficult to avoid.

On Wednesday, 11th January, 2012, the High Court of Justice made a ruling on the legality of the Citizenship Law that proves the erosion of this institution's role as Israel's guardian of civil rights. The justices of the court somehow were manipulated by the ruling government. Justified unification of Israeli citizens with their Palestinian spouses is rendered illegal in

Israel

. Compare this to the Immorality Act of apartheid South Africa, not to mention the notorious Group Areas Act which is another example.

The excuse - endangering Israel's security, is not always valid. Potential spouses can always be screened for security reasons rather than having heinous racist legislation passed using the security label as justification.

We even hear statements made by members of the right wing Netanyahu Government coalition emphasizing the importance of maintaining Israel's identity as a Jewish state being more important than a democracy.

Religious fanatic violence is on the rise and with it the intolerance towards those who are different are not conducive to a solution to the conflict. The ingredients for a solution to the conflict are being eroded and we are creating a prescription for a disaster.

Religious Extremism in Israel

2011-12-31T20:53:00.001+02:00

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

What next?

A direct line
Leads from
The anti-democratic legislation
In the Knesset,
Through the violent rampage
Of the settlers
In the West Bank,
To the fanatical hooliganism
In Beit Shemesh.

What next?

Published in “Haaretz” - Gush Shalom, December 30, 2011

The past few weeks we have all witnessed the specter of religious fanaticism in full force in Israel. We are all aware of the return to religion in Israel as the Israeli Electorate move further to the right.

The despicable discrimination against women based on religious grounds, justified in the guise of “modesty” based on Torah teachings on the one hand, as well as desecration of mosques and destruction of IDF property on the other.

In my previous article, I discussed the "Price Tag" violence by religious "hill top" youth - the offspring of the loutish settler movement which became an embarrassment to the Netanyahu Government coalition. The official reaction was that this is not "mainstream settler ideology just a small minority". The point was missed entirely. These religious right wing hooligans got their education from right wing rabbinical indoctrination in Yeshivot in the occupied territories. The teaching of fundamental Judaism and hate for the Arabs became part of their education curriculum in these Yeshivot.

The last few weeks we were witnesses to discrimination against women by Haredim (Ultra-Orthodox) in East Jerusalem and Bet Shemesh. It started getting ugly and violent.

The Mea Shearim Quarter in Jerusalem is the home of various Haredi groups such as Eda Haredit, Toldot Aharon and various other sects that refuse to recognize

Israel

These religious fanatics breed like flies and their numbers burst beyond the confines of the Mea Shearim Quarter. They found a new home in Bet Shemesh - a town that is pluralistic with modern Orthodox, moderate Ultra-Orthodox and secular people.

These religious fanatics decided to take over and coerce the citizens of Bet Shemesh into adapting their life-style. They started demanding discrimination against women on the sidewalks, buses and public places. They cursed women, who in their eyes, dressed immodestly. They even spat at women who did not abide by Haredi "rules of modesty". The situation in Bet Shemesh became unbearable and even little pre-teen schoolgirls were threatened by Haredi violence and abuse.

The handwriting was on the wall for many years. However, under the Netanyahu Government coalition, hell and brimstone broke loose. It is obvious that the phenomena of right wing "Price-Tag" violence against Palestinians and Haredi violence against women share much in common. It seems a coincidence that both groups created violence more or less at the same time.

Both groups believe that what they are doing has the blessing of the Almighty, they have been given a large leeway over the years for their brand of Judaism which is akin to hooliganism and intolerance intermingled with a despicable racism unknown in Jewish history.

The blame for these negative religious trends must be laid at the door of the Netanyahu Government with its extremist right wing coalition partners. These partners are Torah Judaism, Shas, Yisrael Beitenu, Ichud Leumi, and a host of other splinter parties that are illegal settler- oriented.

They have created a monster that has gone out of control. Even the police do not have the power to bring order to a situation that is becoming unmanageable.

I cannot help thinking of the Pledge of Allegiance Bill initiated by Israel Beitenu demanding an Oath of Loyalty be sworn by Israel's non-Jewish citizens that Israel must be recognized as a Jewish State in order to become citizens. The Haredi religious fanatics and the "hill top youth" are damaging

Israel

's world image. Why are they are exempt from the Oath and get away with this loutish behaviour? Hardly anyone has been arrested. The Eda Haredit does not even recognize

Israel

's right to exist! Their ally is President Ahmadinajad of Iran! The reaction of PM Netanyahu over these despicable incidents has been weak in order to maintain his coalition at all costs. It has almost been apologetic. Arrests have been rare in both cases.

This is hardly surprising bearing in mind the many bills being discussed in the Knesset that are threatening Israel's once healthy and vibrant democracy. Maintaining Israel's identity as a Jewish state takes priority over maintaining Israel's democracy.

Israel

's citizens are becoming more religious and right wing and this will erode democracy even further. If elections were held tomorrow the elected government with its religious partners will be more right wing and paranoid than the present one.

Israel

stands a chance of increased isolation in the world. The "hill top youth" and Haredi violence share a common denominator and that is their hooliganism and the impotence of the present government to come to terms with the religious monsters that they have created.

Lip service against these trends is not enough. Action speaks louder than words!

Israeli Illegal Settler Hooliganism

2011-12-18T00:06:00.000+02:00

THE GOLEM

Palestinian demonstrators
Are being shot.

In face of rampaging settlers,
The army did not make
Even a single arrest.

For 44 years, the IDF
Has pampered the settlers
And enabled them
To mistreat the Palestinians.

Now the golem
Turns on its creator.

Published in “Haaretz”, December 16, 2011 Gush Shalom

The "kippa, peyot and tzitzit" hooligans are at it again! They have attacked Palestinians and destroyed their olive trees without even a single arrest by the Israel police or Security Forces.

They began to destroy mosques and wrote graffiti against the Prophet Mohammed - still hardly a response from the Israeli Establishment.

However, when their vandalism destroyed and damaged IDF property as well as injuring two IDF officers, then words of condemnation and promises to arrest these louts were made by PM Netanyahu.

The religious, extremist louts, who damage mosques by committing arson are seldom arrested if ever. All this violence and hooliganism began when there were rumors of illegal settlements being dismantled by the Security Forces.

Right wing religious hooliganism swept out of control. Religious louts attacked an IDF base. They attacked the very institution that protects them in the occupied territories. Two army officers were injured by stones thrown at them during the attack.

The army hardly responded. It is still unclear as to whether the soldiers were in a state of shock from the attack or just never had the tools to deal with the Jewish louts.

As if this was not enough, these hooligans continued on their journey of hooliganism by burning and destroying mosques as well as stoning Palestinians. The reaction of the police was slow and cumbersome. What would have happened had it been Palestinians on the rampage doing the same thing but instead of mosques they had destroyed synagogues? The IDF would have been merciless in their reaction and it is reasonable to expect a massacre of the perpetrators.

The hill-top youth hooligans are a result and a creation of the illegal settler movement which has gained greater legitimacy by the right wing Netanyahu coalition with its racist ideology. They have encouraged hatred for Arabs, Palestinians and the left wing. They even pass laws threatening human freedom, freedom of the press, and the independence of Israel's Law Courts. The government wishes to interfere with the election of judges, giving preference to judges with right wing views.

The right wing religious louts who attacked the IDF base and destroyed mosques as well as spraying racist slogans on the burnt mosque walls inherited this loutish behaviour from somewhere. They received their idealism from racist rabbis who are heads of bigoted yeshivot in the occupied territories. The louts suck the hate from these racist rabbis like a newborn baby suckles from its mother's breast. The hatred is built in the twisted Halacha of these abominable rabbis. The Ministry of Education ignored this hate and by not doing anything must bear part of the responsibility for this racist violence that ran amuck.

There does not seem any end in sight. The settler movement is in denial by stating that it is a small minority of youth engaged in this racist hooliganism. This is not the case at all! This dangerous violence is on the increase because of the indifference of the government to Jewish violence against Palestinians. If one denies the existence of a reality then that reality boomerangs on the deniers. Nobody is immune to it.
“First they came for the communists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left to speak out for me”.
Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984)

The authorities have made some arrests but it is only the tip of the iceberg. These hooligans' faith is Judaism and not Islam and they will be released shortly. They are not Palestinians and for this reason these incidents will soon be forgotten until the next time.

Jewish terrorists are “kosher” but not Palestinian terror. The proof of this will be seen within the coming weeks.

This is not the first time that Jewish religious louts have destroyed mosques. It has happened many times in the past. It would have been another blip on the TV screen soon to be forgotten had they not attacked an IDF base.

There is even doubts expressed by spokesmen of this loutish Netanyahu coalition as to whether these hooligans should be defined as "Jewish terrorists" rather than wayward youth. Present at the scene of terror as usual is the patron of these youth - non other than the honorable Knesset member, Michael Ben Ari of the extremist National Union Party whose platform is close to the late Rabbi Meir Kahane.

These hooligans are a disgrace to the Israeli people and they are legitimizing terror that could cause a knee jerk reaction by Palestinian extremists. This could create a situation that will go out of control.

While the right wing louts of Yisrael Beitenu, Ichud Leumi and a host of other extremist racist parties and their racist rabbinical allies continue in their systematic destruction of democracy, it only adds fuel to the fire of hill top youth violence which has been going on for some years. Nobody until now has ever been arrested. Only when the IDF base was attacked did the authorities do something and made some arrests.

Israel

's electorate is becoming more apathetic and right wing. The Avigdor Lieberman and Vladimir Putin ideology is taking root and is becoming more active in delegitimizing Israel's non-Jewish minorities whom they regard as potential terrorists acting against Israel. Their warped ideology must also bear some of the blame.

The emaciated left wing has been conspicuous by its silence because it has been cowered into a corner by the government. The left wing as represented by the Labor Party is a sop to the right. Meretz barely exists. It is left to NGOS like B'tzelem, Gush Shalom and Shalom Ahshav to condemn this Jewish terror.

When this ugly cancer of the offspring of illegal settlers is not halted by existing laws but and not carried out by the appropriate authorities, we are doomed to further isolation and estrangement by the world of nations. This right wing hooliganism is more widespread than the government believes.

We Israelis must go out in the street to condemn this racist settler violence in the strongest possible terms. This violence is a result of the occupation and the deligitimization of the Palestinians and their rights to an independent state. It is an evil ramification of over 45 years of occupation since the June 1967 War.

Something is Rotten in the State of Israel

2011-12-10T21:57:00.003+02:00

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Something is rotten in the State of Israel! Are there raised eyebrows? Yes, maybe among Israel pundits in Israel and maybe in the Diaspora.

The rot is the threat to democracy as the Netanyahu ruling coalition with its undisciplined cartel of right wing extremists are coming out of the cupboard by introducing anti-democratic bills which are far from the spirit of Israel's historic Declaration of Independence.

The excuse for the introduction of these bills is to protect Israel from its enemies who are bent on delegitimizing

Israel

's right to exist. The definition of Israel’s enemies is becoming wider in its quasi-legal interpretation by right wing Knesset members.

NGOs (non governmental organizations) which are the watch dogs of human rights in many democracies are now under threat. There is talk of curtailing their overseas funding by limiting it to an unrealistic amount that will force them to close down.

There are a lot of new anti democratic bills in the pipeline that are threatening Israel's democracy. Discrimination against Israel's Arab population and non-Jewish citizens has already begun. The settlers in the occupied territories are gaining more and more protection by the government as the illegal settlements encroach increasingly on Palestinian lands. It has become more legitimate to make land grabs for illegal settlers. All is done in the name of maintaining the immoral occupation at all costs.

Essential organizations such as Adalah, B'tzelem, Peace Now, Mahsom Watch and many others involved in human rights activities, safeguarding minorities including Palestinians who have suffered great hardships and human rights abuses, are in danger of having their activities severely curtailed.

Over the years I have tried to avoid saying that Israel is an apartheid state with similarities to white South Africa of the past as the two situations are not the same. Today, however, it is becoming more difficult to avoid that comparison as the similarities are becoming less subtle.

Oh yes, numerous articles have been written refuting that claim. I myself had even written an article on that some years ago. However, I cannot say the same today. The articles always state that Israel's Arab citizens have their own representation of their choice in the Knesset, no segregated public amenities, equal opportunities, medical services, including hospitalization, and the list is almost endless. In white South Africa, racial segregation in public amenities and services was known as "petty apartheid". In reality, this is a misnomer because anything that is degrading racially cannot be viewed as "petty". In Israel, there is growing cancer of racism that is raising its ugly head. It has its origins in the nebulous neo-Kach factions in the Knesset of which Michael Ben Ari, Avigdor Lieberman of Yisrael Beitenu, Danny Danon (He attacks leftist politicians and is responsible for closing down the Radio Station All For Peace), Tzippi Hatovelly, Ofir Akunis of the Likud are representatives. Accompanying these "bastions of virtue", are a growing number of religious extremists who hate Arabs and a large number of right wing Israeli nationalists who spread venom against the left up to the point of death threats and "price tags".

When senior rabbis, who are respected leaders of their communities, make statements against renting apartments to Arab citizens and non-Jews in Tel Aviv, Safed, and other centres what more can we say? We have the ingredients that are the antithesis of Israel's claim to be "the only democracy in the Middle East". The problem is that there are no democracies in the Middle East. The Israel Government has the “chutspa” to criticize the Arab uprisings in their direction when they themselves are introducing anti-democratic and neo fascist legislation. There are even twinges of religious orthodox and ultra nationalist extremism that is a danger to democracy.

It is sad that Israel is slipping into the grips of fascism. It will not take long before anybody who criticizes Israel's treatment of the Palestinians and the exploitation of foreign workers will be accused of anti-Semitism and treason.

If an Arab Israeli family wishes to buy a home in a Jewish settlement within the green line, this is followed by an outcry by the majority of residents against the family and they have to appeal to the law courts to grant them the right to live in the same town with Jewish neighbors. Even one Likud Knesset member praised Senator Joe McCarthy who began a witch hunt for communists - imaginary and otherwise in the US.

Apartheid is alive and kicking in the occupied territories where Palestinians are second class citizens at best and treated as animals at worst by "Gods Chosen People" who believe that they are superior and are the parents of the loutish "hill top" youth who destroy Palestinian property and destroy their olive trees. They believe that they are carrying out God's will by settling the whole of the West Bank calling it “Judea and Samaria”. PM Netanyahu supports a two state solution in theory but he knows that it will never happen as that state is already “Judea and Samaria”.

After all, what is apartheid? It was the domination of a white minority over a black majority in South Africa of the late 1940s to the mid 1990s when Nelson Mandela was released from imprisonment.

All these undemocratic bills with their fascist overtones are isolating Israel and creating a national paranoia within Israel. The move to the right with its dangerous consequences of a growing Zionistic religious extremism will be Israel's deterioration into self righteous totalitarianism for the sake of self-preservation out of fear.

Democratic Erosion in Israel

2011-11-19T20:34:00.001+02:00

As the winter rains approach with the weatherman's forecast of snow on Mt Hermon, the winter cold has not cooled many right wing Knesset members who are doing their fair share to destroy Israel's already jaded democracy with a plethora of anti-democratic bills.

The Netanyahu right wing government coalition of many racist extremists are making their voices heard in their desire to change Israel's democratic face into a face more grotesque and intolerant towards those who are left wing in thought and deed as well as the non-Jewish minority who are citizens of Israel.

We are witnessing a steady downhill trend towards abysmal darkness as Israel's democracy is chipped away by the right wing. The left wing that is weak and ineffective which will weaken further as they wallow in the murky darkness of the extreme right.

The various racist laws and restriction of personal freedom when it comes to matters of religion are becoming more common place. The Israel Rabbinate has the monopoly on marriage ceremonies. The Rabbinate is run by an ultra-Orthodox hegemony of rabbinical bigots who make a lot of money marrying couples. Civil marriage is not available in

Israel

for people who are not recognized as Jews according to their intolerant interpretation of Halacha (Religious Jewish Law).

Israel

is contravening Article 16 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which states that "men and women of marriageable age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family."

Countries such as Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Iran do not have civil marriage either. This places Israel in league with these undemocratic regimes in Jewish religious marriages. The reason is the iron clad grip of the narrow ultra-Orthodox hegemony in the Rabbinate. Money also plays a great part. Imagine their loss in income from marriage services if Reform and Conservative Jews were allowed to marry in non-Orthodox marriage ceremonies as well as the availability of civil marriage services.

If one asks questions about the non-availability of civil marriage in Israel the answer is always the same:

Israel

is a Jewish country and there is only one Halacha - the Orthodox. Any movement away from that is a danger to the survival of the Jewish People in the Jewish State." The real reason is the desire of the Rabbinate to have the monopoly of a very lucrative marriage business.

Even in the Israeli Army, religious extremism is becoming more common place. Some extremist rabbis who are heads of the various hesder yeshivot (institutions of learning Judaism and doing compulsory military service) are telling their students that it is forbidden to listen to women singing. Presently we are surprised by a new and more intolerant interpretation of Halacha, which is becoming more common place. New rules of Halakhic modesty are rising from God knows where.

Now I am tempted to make some comparison with Halacha as interpreted by right wing Zionist rabbis and the apartheid policy of White South Africa.

In Israel, one's birth certificate states one's religion. If a child is born in a union between a Jewish father and a non-Jewish mother the child is stuck with the mark of Cain which is "without religious affiliation." In order to give the child a name, the father must undergo a DNA test to prove that he is the father of the child. This is done at the father's expense. Surely this is macabre! In apartheid

South Africa

this is reminiscent of the Immorality Act which forbade marriage between whites and blacks. DNA testing was practiced there to prove paternity and the punishment was a prison sentence.

A person officially labeled "without religious affiliation." cannot marry a Jew in Israel where he/she was born. They are not treated as equal citizens.

The Knesset passed a law in 2010 known as the Spousal Covenant for Persons Lacking Religious Affiliation as a solution. It solved nothing! This is a disgrace to any country claiming to be democratic. This law allows couples with no religious affiliation to marry but they must avoid marrying Jews. Here we can see latent racism in order to preserve "Jewish purity" thus avoiding assimilation. This attitude contributes to the mantra of

Israel

moving forward (or backward) depending on whether one is religious or not to an apartheid-style society.

Many new bills are being discussed in the Knesset that is a threat to human rights. Details of these bills can be found in the above link. It makes for very worrisome reading:

“With the conclusion of the summer 2011 Knesset session, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) believes it must warn against disturbing trends prevalent in the current Knesset and the promotion of legislation with severe repercussions for human rights. During this just-completed Knesset session, we have witnessed a slew of bills which, if passed, would infringe on the entire range of human rights and, with them, the very foundations of Israeli democracy.

These bills will harm (amongst other basic rights) freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of association, and freedom of dissent of Israeli citizens and residents, especially those whose opinions are currently viewed unfavorably by the political majority. Additionally, the current Knesset session saw numerous attempts to harm civil society organizations, primarily human rights groups, which are an integral layer in the social fabric of any democracy. See, for example: the Anti-Boycott Law, the proposed committees of inquiry to investigate certain NGOs, a variety of bills limiting donations to and the activity of these organizations, new anti-libel legislation, and so on.”

Thank goodness we still have ACRI (The Association for Civil Rights in Israel). The government has been going for NGO’s and trying to limit their activities. We have every right to feel concerned as to the anti-democratic trends that are in the fabric of Israel’s human rights record. Somehow whether one likes to admit it or not, the similarity to South African apartheid cannot be whitewashed anymore.

The greatest human rights violations are found in the occupied territories where the illegal settlers cause great damage to Palestinian property and are not even punished. The destruction of Palestinian olive trees and agricultural lands are notorious examples of damage of Palestinian property. While there is no solution to the conflict and the occupation continues, the loutish behaviour of the settlers in the occupied West Bank will be a great threat to democracy.

The Whisperers

2011-11-05T19:24:00.000+02:00

The well worn cliché: "Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East" is showing signs of erosion. More and more evidence of NGOs involved in human rights abuse investigations are becoming known.

What is Israel's response to these accusations? The predictable automatic response that "anti-Semitism and attempts made to delegitimize Israel’s right to exist which plays into the hands of

Israel

's enemies".

However, instead of investigating these accusations, a blanket excuse is always given - "security reasons" - and a swift denial. Some cases are even dismissed as "not in the public interest".

These cover-ups are not only confined to security issues or torture of Palestinians who are in captivity by the security services to extract information, but also in various government departments concerned with the running of the country's services for its citizens. The latter has nothing to do with "security reasons" but the formation of cartels protecting the interests of those in the various ministry hierarchies.

The insensitivity displayed towards the abuse and exploitation of foreign workers as well as contract laborers with no chance of salary increments above the minimum wage. A form of slavery is becoming common place in the hands of heartless contractors who are responsible for maintaining cleaning services in hospitals, public buildings, and shopping malls. This extends to the security guards who stand at entrances to public places looking after public security. The democracy Israel-style ignores the employees who are not even considered human beings but cogs in contract labour cartels. They have no decent terms of employment. The list in the contract labour cartels is endless. These workers have no employment benefits at all. In this democracy it is legal as these employees are numbers and are barely considered human with feelings and desires.

If there are complaints against the civil service hierarchy, depending on the senior position of civil servant, the availability of a body to redress complaints of inefficiency, defamation of character and slander accusations is very difficult if not impossible even though there is a law making provision for this. The demi-god in the position of responsibility in the hierarchy is never available - always at some meeting and the complainant is left high and dry. There is no address for slander accusations in the work place as the "impartial courts" only deal with this if important public figures are involved. In some cases the judge can even decide against the complainant for "wasting his time" even if there is a case morally, but legally, it is a different matter.

Many Israel pundits will say "that it is not only Israel, but all democracies have a problem with slander cases against the common citizen”. Appeal to a court of law is an expensive business - a gamble, depending on the moods of the legal clique of judges in the cartel where the disease of nepotism is dominant.

Sometimes there are whispers of truth that leaks out much to the shock of the establishment and if the stink is too great then promises of investigations are released to the press and that is where the matter remains unless a well known public figure with loads of money is involved. Money buys justice and excellent lawyers. Those unfortunate people who are not wealthy and are treated unjustly have very little recourse to justice. This is not only applicable to Palestinians but to Israelis as well. There are a few exceptions but these are rare and when they occur they are reported.

There are work places in Israel where it is forbidden to organize a workers committee in order to look after the interests of workers and where they can redress their complaints against their employers. In some institutions the clause against holding a strike is in the personal contract. In many cases the management ignores legitimate complaints about working conditions or an unreasonable superior who slanders his or her team of workers.

The conditions of foreign workers and contract laborers are almost akin to slavery. The cover-ups are alive and kicking in Israel. Exploitation is a common practice which is overlooked. It is not going to improve until the whisperers turn into screamers making their voices heard rather than adopting the attitude of "I'm all right Jack and I close my eyes to the rest".

The indifference of Israeli society to the occupation, the injustices to foreign workers and contracted laborers is a disease that needs to be cured.

In many cases pay is poor as we have witnessed in the doctors strike, where young doctors who are specializing, work long hours with hardly any break. There is still no progress to find a solution.

The establishment is becoming insensitive to its citizens as the obstacles before the average citizen in seeking justice is almost insurmountable. The cartels are prospering and the wealthy remain powerful.

You may ask - What has this to do with the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict? Plenty - if there is no desire to solve the conflict as Israel remains a colonial power, the exploitation of Israel's foreign workers and contract workers will never be solved. A colonialist power thrives on cartels and insensitivity to its citizens. This is the root of the problem.

A Catalyst for Peace?

2011-10-20T13:39:00.002+02:00

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

This past week has been an exciting week for both Israelis and Palestinians. Both sides were ecstatic. Both claimed a victory. This is a rare occurrence.

Crowds gathered in Gaza and Ramallah celebrating the release of Palestinian prisoners. The streets were decked with green Hamas flags, interspersed with Fatah flags. Cheering crowds gathered and Hamas leaders delivered speeches of victory. Many even vowed to create another Shalit until all Palestinian prisoners are freed from Israeli prisons.

In Israel, there was great jubilation. After more than five years in a Hamas prison, Gilad Shalit was freed and returned home to his parents in Mitzpe Hila in the northern Galilee. The crowds that gathered there were whooping for joy. For more than five years, many had volunteered to pressure the Israeli Government to reach this incredible day.

Both Israelis and Palestinians claimed a victory; both sides felt that something was incomplete.

Many Israelis, who lost loved ones through acts of Palestinian terrorism -suicide bombers on busses, shopping malls and in the main centres, felt that the price for Gilad's release was too high - 1028 Palestinian prisoners, who were given life sentences for their part in organizing terror attacks and murdering innocent people-Jewish and Arab Israelis-in cold blood were now released. All this was achieved for the exchange of one Israeli soldier - Gilad Shalit.

While the price was high for Israel and one can sympathize with those who lost family and friends in cruel terrorist attacks, the fact that a life languishing in an unknown Hamas prison in Gaza was saved.

As one Israeli (who had lost family through Hamas terror) said that keeping these Palestinian murderers in prison would not bring his loved ones back - releasing them would save the life of one Israeli soldier whose life was endangered. This says it all!

I speak as a father whose daughter escaped injury in a suicide bombing in a shopping mall in Netanya during the second intifada. I feel that the exchange deal was a bold move and the correct decision. Both sides are satisfied albeit with reservations, each for their own reasons.

We all wish Gilad Shalit a rapid recovery from his nightmarish ordeal and that his rehabilitation will be successful.

Is it justified that Gilad Shalit was cut off from his family for over 5 years? Is it just that the Red Cross was not all allowed to visit him during his time of captivity for so called "security reasons"?

The Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons, while not living in luxury, were granted visiting rights, visits by the Red Cross and were even given facilities to study if they wished. They were also not held in solitary confinement. Most of these prisoners were neither "freedom fighters" nor "fighters for democracy". They were heartless killers who carried out the cruel bidding of Hamas and even Hezbollah.

Had Hamas promised to deliver their people from Israeli occupation and concentrated on that cause without killing innocent people including Palestinians, the prisoners would have had sympathy even from Israel. This is clearly not the case! Even in war, the Geneva Convention in the treatment of prisoners-of-war must be observed by the warring sides. Hamas never adhered to that. They are a terrorist group who has done nothing for the Palestinian cause for freedom from Israeli occupation. Terrorist groups abide by their own rules and the Geneva Convention does not apply to them.

Hamas are cruel to their own people. They torture Palestinians who oppose their rule, even shooting them. Documentation of this is available on the net and not only from Israeli sources. It is a miracle that Gilad Shalit survived his nightmarish ordeal in Hamas captivity.

He survived because Hamas knew that Israel would eventually bargain for Gilad Shalit’s release. He was isolated in an unknown cell as a bargaining chip for the release of Palestinian prisoners many of whom had received life sentences for cruel terrorist acts resulting in deaths of many innocent Israelis - Jews, Muslims and Christians.

Many will say that these prisoners were "Freedom Fighters" carrying out a legitimate struggle against the occupation. As much as I despise the occupation and the illegal settler movements, including the despicable violence against Palestinians, their property and mosques, Hamas terror is not for the betterment of the Palestinian people but for the destruction of Israel. There will never be a “Palestinian Spring” under Hamas rule. Any belief in that is illusionary. Their record of human rights is dismal.

Some Palestinians say that Israel had murdered innocent people including children during Operation Cast Lead in Gaza. While the taking of innocent human life whether Israeli or Palestinian is to be condemned, one must remember that the use of human shields by Hamas, whose reverence for human lives is poor if non-existent, played a great part in the loss of innocent Palestinian lives. I have written about this at length in previous articles.

Hamas will never be the saviors of the Palestinians. Human rights, democracy and equality are not part of their lexicon. They are a cruel, autocratic group of despots who live by the mantra of Israel's total destruction. A separate Palestinian state alongside Israel is not their aim. They have stated that ad nauseam.

It is unlikely that the prisoner exchange for Gilad Shalit's lease will change the atmosphere. We must remember that this deal was signed between Hamas and Egypt and between Israel and Egypt. From this aspect we can see that direct negotiations between Israel and Hamas never occurred - certainly not on an official basis. There have been unofficial direct contacts between Israel and Hamas but this was played down.

If we see this prisoner exchange as a catalyst for peace negotiations and an improvement in the atmosphere between the two sides, the chances are very remote.

This exchange has raised the support for Hamas substantially at the expense of President Mahmoud Abbas. Even the latter’s declaration of a Palestinian state is on the back burner. While his popularity rose for a short period, it is not so today. Hamas has come out of the cupboard in Ramallah. This was never the case before as we saw from scenes of Hamas flags there.

The release of Gilad Shalit is a great morale booster for future IDF ballotees and their parents as well as the citizens of Israel. They will see that Israel will never abandon a single soldier in captivity. It is unfortunate that Gilad sat for such a long time in captivity until his release. Perhaps this could have been achieved earlier. Anyway, it is better late than never.

Unilateral Declaration of a Palestinian State

2011-09-24T20:09:00.001+03:00

Image via Wikipedia

The frustration of the Palestinians was enacted at the UN General Assembly on 23rd Sept 2011. Most countries of the world support the bid to declare a Palestinian state. The Israeli Government and the US are against it. The US has no power of veto in the General Assembly.

It will not be surprising if the unilateral declaration reaches the UN Security Council where the resolution will reach a dead end because of the US veto. This will dampen things for the Palestinians. At the same time it will isolate Israel even further and will harm US credibility in the Palestinian world. It remains to be seen whether Israel's strong public relations exercise at explaining their perspective will persuade some countries to support its stand, is questionable.

However the ramifications are important for the Palestinians for a number of reasons:

It is a great morale booster for them psychologically.
It can isolate Israel even further from the world of nations.
The world status of the US is weakening, because of its economic woes and its costly involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Israel sent PM Netanyahu to plea its case against the unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state. This may be viewed as a futile automatic reaction because of panic.
Netanyahu delivered his speech to the UN General Assembly bearing the illegal settler stench on his back which means no end to building of settlements in the West Bank and the continuation of the occupation.

Continuation of the occupation is incompatible with a two-state solution and it behooves Netanyahu to explain his support of a two-state solution without giving up the settlements in occupied Palestinian lands. Logically this seems impossible.

Israel

cannot be blamed for the changes in the Middle East because of various Arab uprisings. We can blame Israel for the lack of vision and apathy to ride the storm as if nothing has happened.

Both countries - Israel and Palestine have shown intransigence towards getting the peace process back on track. Israel has its right wing government and the Palestinian Authority signed a pact with Hamas in Gaza. The situation is very complex and the extremists in both cases are preventing negotiations for peace.

Perhaps the declaration of a Palestinian state will clear the air. Hamas will have to moderate its stance towards Israel. It is unlikely that this will occur because the General Assembly vote will be overwhelming in its support of a Palestinian state. This will serve the purpose of delegitimizing Israel even further. Much of the blame for this (not all) can be blamed on the Netanyahu Government with its settlement policy.

The visionless, unimaginative Netanyahu Government has done nothing to prevent Israel's deteriorating world image nor has it ever given a hint of the “painful concessions” that it is prepared to make for the sake of a true and lasting peace. Avigdor Lieberman, Israel's Foreign Minister has been making “Rambo-like” utterances against the Palestinians and the Arab World in the past. He is even on record as saying that Israel should blow up the Aswan Dam some years ago.

Lieberman's side-kick, Danny Ayalon,the Deputy Foreign Minister, behaved like a spoilt child with Turkey's ambassador at the beginning of last year. After that, the Mavi Marmara flotilla imbroglio and the false pride of not apologizing to clear the air have also received accolades from Israel's right wing.

It seems that the Israeli Government does not want to give up any settlements in the occupied Palestinian lands or make any movement towards peace. The illegal settlers are more important in the occupied Palestinian lands than peace.

23rd Sept 2011 arrived and ended. We must also bear in mind the incredible pro-Israel speech of Pres. Barrack Obama of the US in the UN General Assembly a on 21^st Sept 2011. Such a “Zionist” speech could be a record of support of Israel's stand. Perhaps we could view it as a prologue for Netanyahu's speech. Whether Obama made this speech in order to regain Jewish voter support and US citizen support, which has been sagging, is a possibility. Both PM Netanyahu and Pres. Mahmoud Abbas gave their much anticipated speeches at the UN General Assembly. Both stuck to their original mantras and said nothing new.

Both leaders appealed to their respective audiences and said what their audiences wanted to hear. There were no refreshing new ideas or signs of any vision for a new deal or a move towards negotiations for peace.

Abbas gave a speech that evoked great applause from those supporting the Palestinian side. The applause for Netanyahu's speech was from the Israel side and from the US. The applause for Netanyahu was conspicuous by its absence. Many members even walked out.

Netanyahu even made a show appeal to Abbas to start negotiations for peace without pre conditions. He knew that this would not happen.

Netanyahu's emphasis on the "truth" that he came to reiterate was a cover for right wing Greater Israel and his settlement policies rather than any true desire for a true peace. We are all aware that the problems of the schism between the Israeli and Palestinian narratives of Israel's establishment since 1948 remains as wide as ever and is allowed to cloud any form of rapprochement between the two peoples.

The Netanyahu Government maintains that the settlement issue is not the reason for the deadlock in negotiations but Israel's establishment as a Jewish state in 1948. There were no Israeli settlements in the West Bank prior to June 1967 nor was there ever any peace between Israel and the Palestinians either. This, in Netanyahu's view, proves his point that Israel's right to exist was always denied by the surrounding Arab states.

In my honest opinion (for what it is worth), Netanyahu has made a valid point and the events that have occurred does prove this. The various terror attacks in the 1990s after PM Rabin's assassination and suicide attacks on Israel's civilian population also added to the belief in the impossibility of peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

On the other hand, despite all the various nuances in Abbas's speech, there were no utterances of denial of Israel's right to exist or any desire to destroy Israel. If anything, there was a desire to renew negotiations for peace and recognition of a Palestinian state alongside Israel in peace. Does this mean support for Israel's deligitimization? This was not apparent in Abbas's speech at all. So we must put both speeches in the correct perspective despite the wide gaps in direction because of lack of trust and goodwill on both sides.

There is no doubt that the occupation does not add much to Israel's credibility in its desire for peace due to illegal settlement activity. As I have mentioned many times in previous posts, illegal settlement activity with its destruction of Palestinian agricultural land for illegal building activity was a great error and no matter what Netanyahu says will ever justify usurping Palestinian lands.

Israel

's security needs are important, understandable and justifiable. Israelis do not wish a Hamas and Hezbollah takeover of the West Bank, which could be disastrous for Israel. We experienced Hamas rockets being fired into Israel from Gaza since 2005 with great destruction to property and lives. If Israel returns the West Bank to Palestine rule and withdraws all the illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian lands, will there be peace and no threats from Hamas and Hezbollah? If missiles fall on Israel will be repeated as in the Gaza withdrawal, if a Palestinian state is established any reasonable person can understand Israel's fears.

Despite this, a Palestinian state alongside Israel should be the aim of peace negotiations without compromising the security of both sides and ensuring that the relationship between the two states be based on respect, coexistence, justice, human rights and democracy. Once there is trust between the two sides and a true desire to solve the complicated issues existing between the two sides, a Palestinian state could be a model for emulation. We need two Mandela-like leaders of vision that could achieve this. It is unfortunate that both Israel and Palestine do not have a Mandela.

What is clear from all the hype over Palestine's unilateral declaration of an independent state is that it is a non-starter without serious negotiations for peace with Israel to end the conflict. The continuation of the old mantras on both sides will not achieve this.

A Palestinian State and Israel's World Standing

2011-09-10T23:01:00.001+03:00

While PM Netanyahu is lobbying the world of nations not to support Palestinian intentions of declaring a Palestinian state unilaterally, the US will veto the declaration when it reaches the Security Council if it comes to the vote.

Despite the Israeli Government’s juggling and manipulations, Israel has reached a new low in its credibility in the eyes of the Palestinians and the world.

The debacle with Turkey does not help matters at all and only adds to the "dwang" that Israel finds itself.

The handling of the Mavi Marmara flotilla affair was pathetic. The findings of the 105 page UN Palmer Report on this affair were fair towards Israel and even stated that Israel acted legally in the blockade of Gaza.

Despite this, Israel could have apologized to Turkey for the loss of life. It would not be a sign of weakness on Israel's part but a sign of strength. It could have cleared the air and placed the ball in PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey’s court to clear the air and rebuild trust between Israel and

Turkey

. After all both sides have much to gain if relations between the two countries are restored to normal as soon as possible. Both countries are facing a common Iranian threat which cannot be overlooked as well as deep economic and military interests.

Erdogan may not be Israel-friendly and his actions are demagogic in tone, but this is the Turkish people's choice and we must respect that with all the dissension that comes with it. We must have the strength to see beyond that. Turkey was Israel's strategic ally for many years and it is a pity that Israel's relations with Turkey has reached a low that seems to be irreconcilable.

The credibility of the Netanyahu Government is almost non-existent. Netanyahu pays lip service to the two-state solution but in practice hopes that it will never happen. Building of new homes in occupied Palestinian lands has reached a new unprecedented record. Nibbling away at Palestinian land certainly illustrates Netanyahu's true intentions instead of the hogwash that he portrays to the world. It should not surprise anyone that it is Netanyahu's way of maintaining his right wing coalition by deceiving his closest ally - the US!

At the same time, these delaying tactics create great frustrations for the Palestinians, who see the Palestinian state reality disappearing. The logistics on the ground created by Israel's desire to maintain the occupation can be viewed by facts on the ground.

This is unjustifiable and it will eventually erode Israel's standing in the world even further. There will come a time when the US will not be able to use the veto to support Israel and not pay a heavy price for doing so.

During the hot summer month of August 2011, a ground roots protest movement camped on

Rothschild Ave

in Tel Aviv. Demonstrators pitched tents, protesting against the lack of affordable housing. The protests spread like wild fire all over Israel. It brought people of all ages out into the streets of all the main cities and towns in Israel.

The protests gained a lot of support across the political spectrum. That is its weakness rather than its strength! While the protest movement had a noble and justified cause, it was applicable to only part of the population. Conspicuous by its absence were the Palestinian citizens of Israel. Where were their voices? There were those Israelis who made comparisons with the Arab spring that is sweeping the Middle East. Nothing could be further from the truth. Here there were no serious calls for the Netanyahu Government to resign.

It was a non-violent polite protest movement requesting the government to change its priorities and to improve the housing situation for young people. In Israel, it does not work that way. The piggish capitalism in the hands of a few tycoons keeps the prices high of not only housing but also basic foodstuffs.

Another holy cow that was tactfully avoided was the heavy defense spending to maintain and increase settlement activity. Suddenly building in the occupied Palestinian lands accelerated as mentioned earlier. Is this the solution to solve the high prices of housing in cities within the "green line"?

In other words the massive protests over housing may have acted as a catalyst to a renewal of an increased building pace in the occupied West Bank. It did not weaken the Netanyahu Government but strengthened its resolve to accelerated settlement activity beyond the "green line". No wonder the protest movement is "non-political". All the masses that supported it were mainly right wing. It becomes "political" if the left sought a solution which included all Israel's citizens irrespective of race, colour and creed.

No doubt, a change of priorities apart from social and economic must also include support for the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel and an end to the immoral occupation. If this essential ingredient is lacking then security expenditure and illegal settlement activity will continue to exact a high price. This affects the price of housing and basic foodstuffs as well. It is an important point that was barely mentioned during the duration of the protests.

The Netanyahu Government is aware of this and do not intend to make any changes in their priorities apart from establishing a cosmetic Trajtenberg Committee to investigate the gripes and do a plaster job until the next elections. By this time all will be forgotten as it will be back to business as usual. There was definitely something artificial and shallow about the protests as those leaders who initiated it were not from the grassroots of Israeli society, but rather from the upper crust. The upper crust would never seek true change on a wider spectrum. True peace with a new vision to end the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict was most conspicuous by its absence. This is the crux of keeping prices in all spheres high. This is the reason why I could not identify with the protest movement as it was sectarian. No mention was even made of those who were evicted from their homes in East Jerusalem to make way for further Jewish settlement. House demolitions in the occupied Palestinian lands were unmentioned in these protests.

The unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state deserves our support. It is our best investment to ensure a true peace between Israel and Palestine. Bibi Netanyahu hype and panic is harmful for the achievement of true peace in our area.

Since writing this article, news of a hooligan attack on the Israeli Embassy in Egypt occurred. Only after a request was made by Israel to President Obama of the US, did the Egyptian Army send their commandos to quell the hooliganism. Fortunately the fiasco ended without loss of life. Hooliganism against the Israeli Embassy needs to be condemned by all people. This barbaric act is destructive, immoral and unjustified. Despite this, Israel deserves credit for acting with restraint bearing in mind that Egypt is in a state of turmoil and instability because of the revolutionary changes and is unable to cope with the lawlessness and hooliganism that is becoming rampant. We sincerely hope that this will not destroy diplomatic relations between Egypt and Israel for the benefit of all peoples in the Middle East.

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The Demonstrations in Israel – Is it an Exercise in Futility?

2011-08-13T21:38:00.001+03:00

The demonstrations in Tel Aviv 6th August 2010. Over 300 000
Israelis were present - a real record!

In my previous article, I wrote that the demonstrations sweeping Israel have brought the people out into the streets in increasing in numbers. Is this an exercise in futility? Time will tell but my gut feeling is “yes”.

The end of the school holidays is round the corner. This means that many demonstrating parents - many of whom are on vacation - will be involved in buying expensive school books and raking up money to pay for the "free education" of their children.

Apart from this, the Palestinians are indicating that they intend to declare the establishment of a Palestinian state unilaterally in the UN General Assembly. As we all know, this symbolic act does not carry much weight but as a diplomatic move it will cause severe problems for Israel resulting in its increasing isolation in the world. There are to date 130 states who have indicated support for this move.

The US will use its veto in the UN Security Council if the declaration reaches this Council for the vote. This could cause problems for the Palestinians. The US may decrease its financial support for the Palestinian cause. However, as the situation remains now, there is a question mark as to what tactics the Palestinians will adopt in their unilateral declaration of independence.

PM Netanyahu will exploit the Palestinian issue and re-hash the Iranian threat in order to unite the nation, thus sidetracking the Israeli people to unite against the "common threat". He will say that Israel's existence is under threat and this will rally all the demonstrators to support him and his government. The likelihood of this tactic succeeding is large, the demonstration and its achievements, if any, will be forgotten, and it will be business as usual. There is nothing like a call to the blood to unify the people in its support of the present Israeli Government. It reminds me of the apartheid white Government of South Africa in its attempt to unify the whites against the blacks by screaming "Swart Gevaar (black danger) from the left"!

Another reason that renders the nationwide demonstrations futile is that the core of the social and housing problems are severely overlooked. The core is based on two big problems that were hardly mentioned:

1. The occupation, including continuous building of subsidized houses in the territories. Apart from being morally unjustifiable to build on Palestinian land it requires an IDF presence to protect the settlers which is a drain on Israel's financial resources.

2. Housing for ultra-Orthodox religious Israelis, who spend their time studying Talmud and Torah and do not work. This community of parasites is given money by the government in coalition deals with the religious Shas and Torah Judaism Parties.

Most of the demonstrators are right wing supporters anyway. They are politely requesting the right wing government to change their priorities and solve their housing and cost of living problems.

This will never happen. The focus of the demonstrations should be to call for elections to rid the country of the insensitive right wing government and elect a new government that will change its priorities and move away from tycoonization and swinish capitalism.

All that we are witnessing now is a request for the leopard to change its spots rather than changing the government through the ballot box. This so called steering clear of hot potato political issues weakens the demonstration's cause and toadies to the government in the hope of improving the economic status of the middle class. This will not occur.

What has the Netanyahu coalition done? As expected, they have established a populist, impotent commission to alleviate the expensive housing problems. It will be headed by Prof Manuel Trajtenberg, an economist.

While the occupation and religious party extortion continues there will never be a solution to the housing crisis or the disproportionate expenses. Israelis will continue to pay for the high cost of food basics, education, and childcare.

The demonstrations should be for a change of government rather than a request that the same government should change its ways. Surely this is a non-starter for change if not futile.

If the demonstrators go out of their way to avoid political issues such as the occupation, discrimination of non-Jewish minorities, preferential treatment of the ultra-Orthodox communities and the illegal settlers in a bid to maintain the coalition of the most divisive and racist government in Israel's history, then the country-wide demonstrations are due to fail, as its message of social parity is really applicable to the Jewish majority only.

The demonstrations gave the impression of a carnival like atmosphere with the appearance of performers and singers pulling the crowds out into the streets. There were even visits by Likud Knesset members to the tent encampments expressing support. This is a paradox and weakens the cause. In any case, Netanyahu knows that his grassroots support remains intact. If elections are held now he will still win. He knows that the issues in the international arena will unite the country and reinforce the ghetto mentality of most Israelis to maintain the status quo.

In reality there is no Israeli summer. It is just a temporary success.

We must remember that the fight for social justice must be all embracing. Under the Netanyahu Government, it is sectarian and exclusive. It is hardly applicable to Palestinians with Israeli citizenship, not to mention Palestinians in occupied territories. This government must go so that social justice can be applicable to all. These are values worth supporting. It can never be achieved under the racist Netanyahu-Lieberman-Barak axis. THEY MUST GO VIA THE BALLOT BOX BEFORE THESE IDEALS ARE ACHIEVED! Peace will never be achieved while this axis remains.

An occupying power that has sectarian interests can never achieve social justice even for their own electorate. Not to mention the Israeli Arab Community.

The Israeli Summer

2011-08-06T23:53:00.007+03:00

July and August are the hottest months in Israel. The temperatures are in the mid thirties to forties with an uncomfortable humidity of close to 70%. Tempers are frayed and people are feeling the heat.

Many people are on holiday and public places are overcrowded. "Tent cities" within the main cities have sprung up like mushrooms - beginning in Ave Rothschild in Tel Aviv and spreading like wild fire to the periphery, Jerusalem, Haifa, Ashdod, Ashkelon and Kiryat Shmona as more and more people of every political viewpoint rally in unison to demonstrate.

It started as a protest against the outrageous rental prices making it almost impossible for young people to rent apartments. It then snowballed into including social and economic gripes of almost every sector in the country.

Israel

is in the midst of a doctors' strike, this issue has joined up with the protesters, whose salaries, and living expenses for basics is not commensurate with their earnings.

In the coming weeks, the protests will reach its zenith and the disruption of traffic will increase. Mothers wheeling their babies in prams of all sizes joining the fray, protesting over the high cost of disposable diapers, alternative milk formulae and crèches. The salaries are not keeping pace with the increasing cost of living.

The Histadrut (Trade Unions) have joined the demonstrations and this could herald the end of the protests. The protests are justified and are deserving of our support. The partnership of the Netanyahu coalition and wealthy tycoons has produced a heartless capitalism, insensitive to the struggling middle class which are being forced into eventual poverty. The wage earner who works in factories and contract laborers will have it even worse, especially foreign workers who have almost no representation at all.

It is absurd to say that the struggle is non-political. It is political as it is the result of deliberate neglect of the salaried employee by not only the Likud coalition but also the preceding Israeli governments. It is just that the situation deteriorated further as the distribution of wealth became more unequal thanks to the tycoonization of the Israeli economy and adoption of the maximum greed that capitalism has to offer.

Israel

has a monstrous dinosaur in its midst which retains all the land that can be released at the pace of a slow intravenous drip keeping the prices high at the will and whim of tycoons with their greedy profit motives. The awful burocratic institution that ensures high prices is the Israel Lands Authority. This cancer keeps the prices high - a boon to tycoons who can buy this land as it is released for high prices and reselling for massive profits for even higher prices. This is the one side of the coin. Here we have a perfect example of a lucrative partnership between the various Israel Governments and the tycoons. The victims are the citizens of Israel who find it almost impossible to purchase or rent an apartment at reasonable prices.

Another factor that keeps the prices high of almost every commodity is the occupation. The expense of maintaining the occupation is astronomical. The IDF has to be on the alert to maintain this illegal and immoral enterprise is astronomical. A government that screws the Palestinian people will eventually screw its own citizens. The price for denying the Palestinians the right for an independent state will be paid for by Israeli citizens in increased taxes, higher prices for essential goods and general cost of living expenses.

Despite these demonstrations, we must bear in mind the looming of September and the unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state in the UN General Assembly. Netanyahu will exploit this as a threat to Israel's existence, thus throwing the ball into the hands of the Histadrut. The Histadrut will then fall for Bibi Netanyahu's ruse and withdrew its support for the demonstrations. The protests will decrease in intensity, things will return to normal, and it will be business as usual with hardly a dent to support of the occupation mongering Netanyahu coalition.

The settlers who live in occupied Palestinian lands get subsidies from the government to build. The claim that all the protests are non-political is insipid. What is happening is very political indeed. All political parties are using the demonstrations for their own advantage. Yesterday we witnessed two right wing louts - MK Michael Ben Ari and Itamar Ben Gvir exploiting their own racist causes. They made a call for increasing settlement in the occupied territories as a solution for the high rentals and cost of living.

The “non-political” demonstrations are no threat to the present government will achieve very little if anything. The leadership of the demonstrations even stated that that they do not seek the downfall of the Netanyahu coalition. On Saturday evening 6^th August 2011 there were over 300 000 demonstrators in the streets of Tel Aviv including other cities and towns in Israel.

It is unlikely that this will change the political power in Israel apart from giving it a bit of a shaking.

The Boycott Laws

2011-07-16T21:24:00.003+03:00

A national paranoia has settled over Israel. It began with the formation of the right wing coalition composed of the Likud, right wing religious parties, ultra-Orthodox parties and a vacillating Labor Party under Ehud Barak's leadership.

This party that had a glorious past, now has an uncertain future, especially after Ehud Barak destroyed it and fell into the arms of Netanyahu's coalition hook, line and sinker, forming the Ha-atzmaut Party.

Barak left a rather fragmented Labor Party full of squabbling, potential leader hopefuls, bent on destroying what is left of the emaciated left wing in Israel. The chances of this self- destructive party taking the lead for change and upholding democratic principles is zero, unless a dynamic leadership, free of squabbles and political stains, emerges. The possibility of this occurring is remote.

These developments strengthened the Netanyahu coalition of right wingers and weakened the left even further. A process of delegitimizing the Israeli left had begun. Anti-democratic laws such as the Pledge of Allegiance, Naqba laws, right wing racist rabbis received increased support from religious fundamentalists whose hatred for non-Jews has become more prevalent. Refusal of renting apartments to Arab students in Safed and other areas is becoming more acceptable and legitimate amongst religious Zionist extremists. At the same time, many Israelis are becoming more right wing and apathetic.

A parallel situation occurred in South Africa prior to the demise of apartheid. More draconian laws limiting freedom of expression became common place in apartheid South Africa in the 1960s, 1970's and 1980's. After this, world boycotts against apartheid South Africa, played a vital role in the ending of race discrimination leading to majority black rule with Nelson Mandela elected as president in April 1994.

Is Israel also going down the path of fascism and McCarthyism by stifling opposition? Has the right wing laid claim to Israel together with the settlers in the occupied territories? Anybody who opposes the anti-democratic laws that the Netanyahu coalition has introduced is viewed as a traitor and stands a chance of being severely dealt with under this newly enacted law.

Superficially it seems to be the case. The so-called major opposition party - Kadima, initially supported the anti-boycott bill but withdrew their support when the bill was re-worded to appear less severe. This does not say much for the Kadima Party, which sits on the political fence. The official opposition party Kadima is an offshoot of the Likud whose platform in certain instances is even more right wing than the Likud.

The Boycott Law is a blot on democracy! This means that you cannot pay lip service or organize campaigns to boycott products produced in the occupied West Bank.

Are these all knee jerk reactions by the Netanyahu Government? It could very well be. The fear of Israel's deligitimization by the world and growing anti-Semitism may be a factor. The world is against the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and the settlers living on usurped Palestinian lands which is a severe obstacle for the establishment of a Palestinian state. The world wishes to see two states for two peoples. However, the Netanyahu coalition exploits the situation and instills fear of anti-Semitism and Israel's deligitimization by maintaining a static situation. It is a pandering to the right and extreme right as well as to the settlers rather than moving toward a two state solution.

If Israeli law professors, actors, writers and various academics oppose this law because it clamps down on one's personal freedom - does this mean that they are serving the interests of Israel's enemies and seek to delegitimize

Israel

There is an erosion of democratic values in Israel. Most Israelis are apathetic towards democratic values and this was reflected in voting patterns in the previous election. Slowly or maybe rapidly this anti-democratic trend under the powerful Yisrael Beteinu faction of Avigdor Lieberman is gaining more support. It is fear of freedom of choice which they view as a danger to Israel's existence.

The illegal settlers in the occupied West Bank have never had it so good. The boycott law has been enacted to protect their interests by force by suppressing opposition to purchasing products of industries on the West Bank. This is just the beginning of a downward slope towards a right wing settler-oriented, right wing religious fanaticism supported by the government.

The idea of BDS (boycott, divestment, sanctions) is illegal and anybody who engages in promoting this will be dealt with severely according to the law.

This law must be opposed by all who value democracy and freedom of speech.

Personally I oppose boycotts of Israeli products as well as divestment and sanctions. However I do support BDS when it involves illegal settler entrepreneurs and academics involved in Ariel University which is hard core right wing and settler oriented. We ought to have the right to be against this university and to boycott it.

The next step will be enacting laws against those who oppose the occupation. Once there is a trend to enact laws that are anti-democratic, there is no end to suppressing the opposition.

Israel

claims that it is the only democracy in the Middle East. Now with The Arab uprisings, (the outcome of which is still uncertain) this claim may soon change.

People will not take to the streets to oppose these laws apart from a few dedicated democrats as this is not cottage cheese. We must ask ourselves whether we are serious about achieving peace with our Palestinian neighbours and the Arab world.

All weird and unnecessary laws that border on racism and right wing hegemony as if

Israel

is the property of the right wing and its allied rabbinical fundamentalists will not lead to peace and coexistence with our neighbours. If anything it will lead to an uncanny resemblance to Islamic self righteous fundamentalism. This can only deepen the conflict.

The loutish behaviour of the "kippa-cladded, tzitzit dangling, payot swaying" hill top youth will gain more legitimacy as they plunder and destroy Palestinian property.

Is it necessary to recognize

Israel

as a Jewish State? Is it necessary to restate and emphasize the obvious which is stated in Israel's Declaration of Independence? Israeli and Arab citizens of Israel have never disputed this. It is a Netanyahu delaying tactic to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state.

The Palestinian leadership in their frustration has lost their patience with

Israel

. Salam Fayyad has achieved much in improving and creating economic viability in the West Bank. He has also beefed up security and created confidence in the economy of Palestine. Violence and terror against Israel has dropped by 96%. Israel has not given him the credit he deserves for this almost impossible feat. The frustration of the Palestinian leadership has made them determined to unilaterally declare an independent Palestinian state in September 2011 based on the pre-June 1967 borders. It remains to be seen as to how much world support they will get in the UN General Assembly.

The Flotilla - Provocation or Humanitarian?

2011-07-02T22:44:00.003+03:00

There is a large amount of hype in the Israeli Press concerning the flotilla scheduled to set sail for Gaza. Delays were caused by damage to the propellers of two ships. Israel denies responsibility for this.

The flotilla will eventually set sail for its destination. The aim and justification for the flotilla is questionable.

The idea of "freeing Gaza" from the Israeli blockade is only part of the story. The well meaning peace activists who believe in an end to the occupation, justice and equality for the Palestinians are misinformed and naïve.

I do not intend to attack the peace activists of the flotilla. I am sure that the majority of these peace activists are noble and believers in human rights. Their ideology is sound.

The framework under which they have been recruited is far from sound and just. The aim is partial and hypocritical. It is also a well orchestrated political provocation.

The Israeli occupation is unjust and colonialist. Israel's settlement policies in the occupied Palestinian Lands are proof of this. In Gaza, this is not the case. Gaza is ruled by Hamas that is oppressive, anti-democratic and inhuman, even towards the Palestinians of Gaza. Their human rights record is poor. The treatment meted out to opponents of Hamas rule is cruel, not to mention their treatment of women.

Gaza is not free nor will it be free even if the flotilla would succeed in pressuring Israel to remove the blockade. Will this make Hamas change its attitude towards Israel or become democratic in the spirit of the Arab uprisings in the Middle East? The answer is a definite "no!"

If the peace activists had decided that their "Free Gaza" slogan means an end to Hamas tyranny, the Israeli blockade and the establishment of a democratic Palestinian State including the West Bank living side by side with Israel and at peace then I would support the peace activists on the flotilla. This is not the case here. The aim of the peace activists is ending the blockade and no mention is made of ridding Gaza of Hamas tyranny.

This political provocation is working to Hamas's advantage. We are aware that Hamas is an ally of the cruel, tyrannical Ahmadinajad regime of Iran and its Hezbollah proxy - the allies of Bashar al Assad of Syria. These evil regimes are being strengthened and given legitimacy by the short sightedness of these naïve "peace activists". The idea of bringing essential goods into Gaza will achieve nothing. Hamas will ensure that these supplies will not arrive in the hands of those Gazans who are destitute and poverty stricken. Hamas at best will distribute these supplies to their own croneys. Hamas can only survive on Palestinian poverty and unrest. It has no programme for rehabilitating the Palestinians of Gaza.

Those who stand to gain from the peace activists are Hamas and their allies whose record on peace, democracy and human rights is more than appalling. The naïve "peace activists" are being used and supported by Hamas and their anti-democratic Palestinian extremists. If Hamas were to go - so would the blockade! Let us cease being hypocritical and see the wood for the trees. In any case, the border between Egypt and Gaza is now open. The blockade was a Mubarak-Israel affair. There was weapon smuggling from Iran that has been arriving into Gaza via the sea, hence the blockade.

Why are there no flotillas sailing to Syria to protest against the despotic Assad regime that has massacred close to 2000 demonstrators in Syria? Why are they not going to Ahmadinajad's Iran or off the coast of Libya against the evil Qaddafi regime? Their voices are silent!

It seems as if the peace activists of the flotillas are not concerned with human rights or the spirit of the Arab uprisings. They have a very narrow agenda supported by Hamas. What about Gilad Shalit the Israeli soldier held captive by Hamas for five years? He has been refused family visits during this period as well as Red Cross visits. The Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons have more rights including family visits than Gilad Shalit. The blockade, as bad and inhuman as it appears, is not the only issue. It is more than that.

Every person who is concerned with human rights should condemn the flotillas destined for Gaza as a hypocritic action by ill-informed, Hamas manipulated peace activists being used for strengthening support for the anti-democratic forces of evil as personified by Hamas, Hezbollah, Assad's Syria and Ahmadinajad's Iran.

Cheese and Peace

2011-06-25T22:04:00.003+03:00

As the hot summer months approach, Israel enters the school vacation period with lethargy, boredom and increased apathy. The biggest worry for parents of young school-going children is what to do with them during the hot, unpleasant, summer months which somehow bakes our brains and dulls the senses.

The Arab uprisings are continuing and the cruel massacres of Syrians opposing the Bashar Assad tyranny goes on unabated creating a horrendous refugee problem as Syrian families flee into Turkey. Over 1500 Syrians have lost their lives. The Syrian opposition opposes Iran and Hezbollah, who are Assad's cruel allies. They want them out of Syria. This is not the case in Gaza. Iran and Hezbollah are arming Hamas, not for the achievement of human rights and democracy in Gaza, but for their own cruel agenda of oppression and colonization of future Palestine under their fanatic influence.

Another hotspot in the uprising is Libya where NATO Forces seem to be embroiled in a situation that is approaching a stalemate as Qaddafi clings to power stubbornly. He continues to abuse his people and suppress them with a cruelty that is beyond description. This is barely mentioned in the Israeli Press.

The main coverage in Israel is the price of local cottage cheese and the corruption in the national soccer clubs of fixing matches and timetables.

What does cottage cheese have to do with peace? At first glance - nothing! However, the cheese prices resulted in a determination amongst the Israeli public to fight the price rise by rallying to the boycott of cottage cheese until the price falls. Naturally, a Face book page was created to increase support for this boycott.

When something of this nature hits the pockets of Israelis they know how to protest and force the government to take action despite the oppressive summer heat.

When it comes to peace negotiations with the Palestinians in order to solve the conflict there is total apathy. Most Israelis are dulled by a sense of apathy. They avoid mention of the subject. There seems to be unawareness in Israel of the Arab uprising in the neighbouring countries. As far as they are concerned, the status quo is wonderful - business as usual - and no sign of any end to the building of Jewish settlements in occupied Palestinian lands. Both Israelis and Palestinians do not view each other as partners for peace - each side for its own reasons.

Israel

's economy is strong, the wealthy are getting wealthier, and the poor are getting poorer. This is all part of "Bibinomics" and lack of concern for Israel's people. This also creeps into decision making as far as peace is concerned. The pandering to the right wing settler movements to maintain coalition support is self-destructive.

If only Israel's citizens would demonstrate their opposition to the right wing government's policy of occupation and expansion with the determination they showed in their opposition to the rising prices of cottage cheese then we would find a partner for peace negotiations with the Palestinians. It is time that both sides lay down their mantras and be serious about achieving a just and lasting peace. This would involve painful concessions on both sides. For

Israel

it would mean withdrawal to the 1967 pre-June borders with agreed land swaps based on the Obama plan. The Palestinians will have to give up on the right of return of 1948 refugees and be satisfied with financial compensation. Jews who escaped from Arab lands in 1948 must also be compensated for the loss in their property and valuables by the Arab states concerned. Jerusalem must be recognized as the capital of both Israel and Palestine even if it is divided according to demography as agreed upon by both sides. This could be done by division into municipalities responsible for the welfare of both peoples.

It seems unlikely that the Palestinians and Hamas agreements will last. They are already showing signs of disagreement as to having Salam Fayyad as prime minister in an interim government until new elections are held. Hamas is opposed which is hardly surprising. Hamas has no interest in rehabilitating their people. Their strength lies in poverty and ignorance. Progress and democracy as well as Palestinian human rights will sign the death knell of that notorious, merciless group of brigands. They are a branch of Ahmadinajad's hateful regime in Iran.

This now brings me to the "peace flotilla" scheduled to make its way to Gaza. While opposing the Israeli blockade on Gaza for humanitarian reasons, the flotilla strengthens and aids Hamas in Gaza. We must oppose the flotilla for this reason. Hamas is not democratic nor is it concerned with human rights. It is of the same mould of extremism and hate as the evil Iranian regime. Opposition against Hamas is treated cruelly and without mercy! If the "peace flotilla" would oppose Hamas as well as the Israeli blockade on Gaza then it is deserving of support. However, this is not the case. It is also doubtful whether humanitarian aid that it carries will reach those Palestinians in need rather than fall into the hands of Hamas rulers and their ilk. Surely this is a good enough reason to oppose the flotilla! Anyway, it has also fallen out of favour, even with Turkey!

Surely the energies of peacemakers would be better spent in gaining ground root support for ending the occupation and Hamas terror. We need to adopt this two pronged approach in a peaceful fashion. An independent, democratic Palestine with a strong and prosperous economy alongside Israel is in the interests of all peoples of the Middle East and the world community.

It is five years since Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier, was captured by Hamas. The way the various Israeli Governments since 2006 has handled this issue is disgraceful. The suffering of the parents and family of Gilad does not seem to make any impression on the Israeli Government. Meanwhile the price for his release increases all the time. His conditions are intolerable and the Geneva Convention does not seem to be applicable in this case. Nobody knows whether he is alive. He has had no contact with his family for years and seems to have been abandoned by Israel. The excuse - the price is too high for his release! I wonder if Bibi Netanyahu's son or any other member of Israel's high ranking cartels’ sons were in Gilad's situation, he would say the price is too high to release Palestinian prisoners "with blood on their hands" as an exchange. The hypocrisy is shocking. No price is too high for Gilad's release!

Would the people of

Israel

forgive the Israeli Government if Gilad's life were sacrificed? After all, he was captured in the line of duty for his country and now his country abandons him. All the lip service for Gilad's release coming from Netanyahu's lackeys is meaningless and cynical. Netanyahu can thank his lucky stars that his son is not in Gilad's shoes!

The Naqsa and Syria

2011-06-11T23:04:00.003+03:00

Image via Wikipedia

The Naqsa, also known as "the setback", is commemorated by Palestinians since Israel's victory after the Six Day War in June 1967. There are descendents of Palestinian refugees who fled from Israel during the 1948 War of Independence and settled in squalor in refugee camps in Lebanon, Syria, and of course, the Gaza Strip and West Bank.

Nothing was done to rehabilitate these refugees and they lived in dire poverty for at least three generations. They were fed on anti-Israel propaganda and were brainwashed in hating

Israel

. All this had created a very embittered society. The successive autocratic, despotic rulers kept the flames of hate burning, destroying the dignity of the Arab people, and the Palestinians, the latter became stateless refugees. All their failures were blamed on Israel's existence and, after June 1967, the Palestinian status was exacerbated. This mantra of hate served the interests of despotic Arab tyrants whose failures and abuses fed the hate for Israel forming a semblance of unity and a common motive to destroy Israel.

The uprisings in the Arab countries by pro-democratic youthful demonstrators initiated the movement to overthrow the despotic tyrants. New opportunities for all the peoples of the Middle East were created to move towards a new order - hopefully a democratic system, but there is no guarantee.

The despotic rulers oppressed their people. Now with the uprisings in the Arab world, some autocratic states are clinging to power with a resilience that is bloody and relentless. The despots of Tunisia and Egypt fell because of the peoples' determination to fight corruption and despotic dictatorships. They fell with relative ease. However, the human spirit for change in Libya, Syria and Yemen is meeting with a cruelty by the despotic rulers with an unprecedented tenacity.

The battle for overthrowing Muammar Qaddafi of Libya and Bashar el Assad of Syria is far more complicated. While

Syria

's army remains strong and supportive of Assad, the chances of success of the Syrian uprising are slim. There are signs of desertion of Syrian Army officers joining the demonstrators, but at this stage, it is not in large numbers. Maybe it will increase when the situation of Bashar Assad gets more complicated.

Many Syrians are fleeing for Turkey whose borders are porous. The cruelty of the Assad repression and the brutal killings has created a very tragic situation in

Syria

While the world stands by and voices are being heard in the UN Security Council condemning the Bashar Assad regime, the latter decided to use the usual Palestinian mantra to divert world pressure on his regime. The Syrian Palestinians were encouraged to demonstrate and infiltrate Israel's northern border at great risk to their lives. The death toll was 22 Palestinians on that day. Assad knew that Palestinians would be killed by the IDF which would divert the world's attention away from Syria and condemn Israel for killing Palestinian infiltrators. More than 300 Syrian demonstrators were massacred by the Syrian Army at the time.

He could then continue slaughtering his opponents while the UN condemns Israel. The number of Syrian opponents to the cruel Assad regime is now running into the thousands and the rate of killings is increasing.

Many Palestinians born in Syria fell for this ruse of the Assad regime. As expected, Palestinian lives were lost for maintaining the diversion and decreasing world pressure on Assad's crimes against his own people. A new Syrian refugee problem has been created seeking refuge in Turkey.

The Arab uprising is continuing. Nobody can predict how it will end and whether a democratic change will occur in the Arab countries. If there is no serious attempt to write a constitution that guarantees human rights, free democratic elections, and serious reconstruction of state infrastructure, then all these attempts will be futile.

These countries have no democratic traditions and the future governments will have to do much hard work to ensure the success of the Arab uprising. The danger of military dictatorship in Egypt cannot be denied. This could happen. The balance of power is in the hands of the Muslim Brotherhood.

The situation in Syria is unpredictable. Here a brutal and tenacious leadership stops at nothing. There is a wholesale massacre unknown anywhere else in the area.

The Palestinians here are a diversion serving Assad's desire to cling to power by using the anti-Israel mantras that is part of his regime.

The Arab uprising has filtered down to the Palestinian people as well. The Arab countries are very busy in their revolutions and the Palestinian issue is very much on the back burner. It remains to be seen what will happen on September 2011 when a Palestinian state is declared unilaterally.

Israel

's occupation of the Palestinians is now entering its 45th year. The IDF chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz, put it concisely when he addressed the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Tuesday 31st May, 2011. He said: "We have a new central player in the region, the street".

The circumstances in all the Arab states undergoing transition are different where regime change is occurring. The bloodiest changes are occurring in Syria.

The Palestinians are in a different situation entirely no matter where they reside. They have two problems in their quest for democracy:

They have to achieve an end to the Israeli occupation in order to reach a stage of self-determination.
They have to challenge the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza so that they can demonstrate support of the Arab uprisings in the neighbouring Arab countries.

Israel

cannot afford to be indifferent to the changes in the Arab world. The Israeli Government can show support for the Arab uprisings and condemn the massacres of pro-democracy demonstrators in Syria and everywhere else. Israel arrogantly claims that it is "the only democracy in the Middle East" now is her chance to turn words into deeds.

The importance of changing attitudes to well worn mantras on both sides is more than overdue. Time is moving against Israel and the Israeli Government is sending its diplomats to many countries in the world to prevent them from supporting a unilateral declaration of independence of a Palestinian state. Whatever happens, the US will use its veto to prevent this eventuality.

The failure of Israel to engage in serious negotiations towards the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel could result in a severe blood bath and Israel's increased isolation. Violence could develop which will be a catastrophe for both Israelis and Palestinians. The IDF is capable of putting down violent unrest but the loss of Palestinian lives could be horrific. This is a real cause of concern. Even a high ranking officer in the IDF stated that "the Palestinians now have the initiative. If they decide to go down that path, there is little we can do to stop them."

The Israel Government must show willingness to negotiate with the Palestinians despite the presence of Hamas in the Fatah - Hamas agreement. Israel cannot dictate to the Palestinians with whom they are prepared to negotiate. The same applies to the Palestinians. In the Israeli Government, there is the arch racist, Avigdor Lieberman, the foreign minister and croneys. I am sure that the Palestinians are not happy to have him in the negotiation team either and with every good reason. Nevertheless for the good of both sides, pre-negotiation comprises must be made and accepted so that the peace negotiations can begin in earnest.

Israel

could on the other hand grant asylum to an agreed number of Syrian refugees fleeing the Assad regime. Oh yes, I sense a severe opposition in the Israeli side at this suggestion! That is tantamount to heresy! However, it would also go a long way to improve Israel's status in the world and would not be a danger to Israel’s existence which is used as an excuse for every opportunity to prevent any negotiations from being initiated. Also more goodwill measures must be made to end the occupation and move towards a solution. The Netanyahu Government does not have it in them to move towards a solution. Further settlement plans to appease the extreme right wing parties in his coalition is more of a priority.

Another move on

Israel

's part that would go a long way in improving the atmosphere for peace negotiations with the Palestinians is the acceptance of President Obama's suggestion as mentioned in his speech last month. Two states for two peoples based on the pre-June 1967 borders with mutually agreed land swaps.

However, it is not certain whether Hamas will accept the Obama plan. If this is the case, the agreement between Hamas and Fatah will collapse. This will also affect the Palestinian declaration of an independent state in September 2011.

Hypocrisy - "Bibiocricy" - Double Talk

2011-06-01T21:46:00.004+03:00

Sami and Yuli Ofer

There is a tendency amongst many Israelis to say that one cannot trust the Palestinians. Those who subscribe to this mantra maintain that the Palestinian leadership engages in double talk. They talk about peace with Israel. In Arabic, they speak about not recognizing Israel's right to exist and that jihad against Israel's right to exist must continue.

Is the Israel right wing coalition of parties under the Likud umbrella any different? Are they any less guilty of double-talk than the Palestinian leadership? Even the 10 month settlement freeze was not observed in its entirety. The excuse for settlement expansion that was prevalent at the time - "natural population growth”.

When P.M. Benjamin Netanyahu was in the US recently, he made a speech in the US Congress and received 30 standing ovations. There is no doubt that Netanyahu is a master of oratory and his excellent English, tainted with an American Philadelphian accent, is an expert at whitewashing and omitting. He won the hearts of many congressmen, whose knowledge of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict is poor. However, if one reads between the lines as to what was said, it is clear that Netanyahu is not prepared to return to the pre-June 1967 borders as a basis for negotiations, including "agreed land swaps" as President Obama had stated in his speech. The excuse is that the 1967 borders are "indefensible". Netanyahu then rambled on about Iran and the danger it poses to world peace as well as the desire of Iran to destroy Israel. He spoke about increasing sanctions on Iran. This is all very nice! Suddenly a bombshell occurred. The Ofer brothers' (Sami and Yuli Offer) group were blacklisted by US intelligence for trading with

Iran

It is rather difficult to believe that the multi-millionaire Ofer brothers' business dealings were unknown to the Israeli Tax Authority. The Israeli Government also denied any knowledge of the Ofer brothers’ clandestine deals with Iran involving millions of dollars. It is very difficult to believe this knowing how draconian and efficient the Israeli Tax Authority is at catching tax evaders using invasive methods into one's privacy for tax evasion involving far smaller amounts of money.

Is it possible that the Israeli Government and Tax Authority are unaware of the Ofer brothers’ dealings with

Iran

? It took the US to discover this. This all occurred while Netanyahu was talking about the dangers of Iran's nuclear programme. You can fool some of the people some of the time but not all of the people all of the time.

Well, it is all about money and astronomical amounts of it. We have just witnessed an excellent example of double-talk by Israel's Prime Minister that makes Palestinian double-talk child's play in comparison. Of course, the Ofer brothers will go to great lengths to deny this (does one really expect them to admit this?). The donations of the Ofer brothers to various Israeli causes are tremendous, even to governmental institutions.

Netanyahu's speech in the US Congress is another example of "Bibiocricy" at its best. However, while he returned to Israel on a bubble of success, the Ofer brothers' blacklisting by the US for their business dealings with Iran, using shadowy indirect go betweens to sell an oil tanker to Iran will hasten the bursting of Bibi's bubble of temporary success and popularity.

The Palestinian leadership, which is now also bolstered by Hamas, has strong competitors for the double-talk diploma. The Netanyahu government with its "status quo" policies of occupation and not yielding and the Ofer brother companies dealing with Iran will be a further headache for Israel in its relations with President Obama and the US.

While money comes into Israel and the sources of the business deals are kept secret, all is kosher. Once the bubble bursts then a string of denials becomes the Israeli Authorities’ best line of defense.

We are paying a heavy price for the antics of this fat cat, right wing government of political hacks. The retirement age is pushed up, taxes - indirect and direct, are increasing. Young couples are finding it more difficult to purchase homes. There is something very rotten in Israel's self righteous right wing government. It is also responsible for the lack of progress in solving the important problems of negotiations with the Palestinians. The problems existed even before Hamas and Fatah signed an agreement. The use of this agreement as an excuse for not negotiating with the Palestinians is hollow. If Israel's Ofer brothers did business with the evil Iranian regime and it took US intelligence to discover this while Israel's government pleads ignorance, the conclusions are obvious. Big money whitewashes everything but does not hide the hypocrisy (and Bibiocracy) of Israel's rulers.

September 2011 is coming and with it, the unilateral declaration of independence of a Palestinian state. This will result in Israel's further isolation and further reliance on the goodwill of the US to weather the storm. Maybe Israel will need to take a loan from the Ofer brothers to help them through BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) from their Iranian business dealings.

We have had our fair share of crooked politicians whose behaviour is more suited to rulers of banana republics. Is Israel on that road as well? What we are witnessing today is “Iran gate Israel style”! They plead ignorance in not practicing what they preach. What a dent on what is left of Israel's credibility! Ignorance of what is happening on the turf of the richest family in Israel, if not the world, in their business and profit motives in dealing with the evil Iranian Regime does not exonerate Israel's government's responsibility in this case.

When one confronts the average Israeli government supporter about these activities, the answer one gets is an unapologetic, justification answer: "Israel does what every other country does, so why pick on Israel?"

Obama's Speech and other Matters

2011-05-21T22:43:00.003+03:00

Image via Wikipedia

The much anticipated speech of Obama has come and gone. It was delivered on Thursday 19th May 2011. A day after his speech was delivered, Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in the US and had a meeting with Obama which was rather cold and emphasized their differences in approach to solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

After having read Obama's speech in the press, it is obvious that nothing new was said. Obama attempted at saying the right things to both sides to prevent controversy. The reaction to returning to the pre-1967 borders was predictable in Netanyahu's reaction. He stated that that the pre-1967 borders are indefensible. However, Netanyahu did hint that he was prepared to make wide ranging concessions for peace. What this means in practice is anybody's guess.

The speech was delightfully vague and diplomatically correct and did not offer any solutions

While Obama is aware of Israel's security needs and emphasized US commitment to Israel, he is also aware that Hamas's agreement with Fatah adds an additional problem to the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians. Hamas refuses to recognize Israel's right to exist and has been responsible for numerous acts of terror against Israel's citizens over the years. One can understand Israel not being willing to negotiate with Hamas being in the picture while its attitude against Israel's existence remains uncompromising.

On the other hand Israel's occupation policy, which is basically colonization of Palestinian lands by the continuation of building new homes in occupied Palestinian lands is also a great obstacle to peace and this has been going on for many years even before Hamas signed an agreement with the Fatah ruled Palestinian Authority. Israel's colonization policies on the ground are proof that

Israel

does not intend to ever relinquish territory to the Palestinians in any peace agreement irrespective of Hamas being with Fatah or not. It is just an added excuse on Israel's part to maintain the situation as it is by not showing any willingness to freeze settlements in the West Bank. Nothing that Netanyahu says will convince any reasonable person of the contrary. The proof is in the pudding. The more settlements built in the occupied territories, the less viable will the future Palestinian state be. It is not about Israel's security being compromised; it is more about

Israel

's colonization policy of keeping the Palestinians without a state for as long as possible.

If Israel ceased building on occupied Palestinian lands and encouraging Israeli settlement there then we could say that Israel has no Palestinian partner for peace. Is Israel a partner for peace while it carries on its settler policies in the occupied West Bank?

The inclusion of Hamas in the negotiating picture must be viewed as an added obstacle, but

Israel

's indecisiveness and expansionist policies must also bear part of the blame. Obama's speech to AIPAC on Sunday 22nd May 2011, somehow did clear some misunderstandings. This speech was clear and proved the US commitment to Israel's security. Obama also made it clear that there is not much time and that withdrawal to the pre-1967 lines must be made with adjustments and land swaps agreeable to all sides. This was one of the most pro Israel speeches ever made by Obama.

As mentioned in a previous article, Hamas was seeking a new godfather as they could not rely on the Assad regime of Syria and the Ahmadinajad regime of Iran to support them anymore owing to the uprisings in the Arab world. Both regimes are involved in suppressing opposition groups in their countries and Hamas realized that their support base was weakening in these countries.

Israel

is losing another opportunity because of its expansionist policies and lack of foresight. The old orders are falling making way for a new order which is steered largely by the Arab youth against their traditional oppressive rulers. The direction it will take is still unclear. One thing is clear - zero tolerance for dictatorships. It means that Israel must accommodate itself to a new situation and show its support for the Arab uprising and its willingness to end the occupation of the Palestinians. Failure to do this will result in further isolation and condemnation.

Obama stated in his speech that the US would not support a unilateral declaration of a Palestinian State in September 2011. This can be viewed as a temporary respite for Israel. However it is just that and no more. The fact that Hamas has signed an agreement with Fatah is not as negative as it seems. Hamas will take a low key in the peace negotiations which will be left to the PA. This means that Gaza will also be included. If negotiations begin and show signs of progress, the siege on Gaza will also end.

Israel's 63rd Independence Day

2011-05-14T19:27:00.002+03:00

Image via Wikipedia

This may be the last Independence Day celebrations within Israel's indefinable borders.

It is not as scary as it sounds. The Arab Spring has new popular mantras. The fight for democracy, human rights, equality and freedom are threatening the old tyrants that have been ruling the Arab countries for many years. Hate for Israel and the desire for its destruction are not slogans of the Arab spring. The Arab nations are seeking drastic changes to the autocratic tyranny that oppressed them for many generations.

The evil anti-democratic autocrats of Tunisia and Egypt have been overthrown.

Libya

's evil dictatorship, under Muammar Qaddafi, is in the throes of civil war which will be protracted and bloody.

Syria

's President Bashar Assad, the evil tyrant, is also facing great opposition to his regime and is murdering hundreds of demonstrators in cold blood. Unrest is spreading to Yemen, Bahrain and no autocratic tyrant in the Middle East can rest without impunity. The Arab spring will reach them too sooner rather than later.

Bearing all these remarkable changes in mind,

Israel

cannot afford to be complacent. The future outcome of these incredible changes is not clear apart from the fact that the old despotic regimes are on the way out.

Independence Day celebrations have come and gone with its usual speeches by various Israeli Government leaders patting themselves on the back reiterating the same mantras of Israel's achievements and that it is a Jewish democratic state as if they were telling us something new.

Israel

's leadership has failed to unite all Israeli citizens, irrespective of race, colour or creed. The reason is an historical one and the pain of the past cannot be erased simply by avoiding it or passing legislation making it illegal for Israeli Palestinians to commemorate their version of what happened in 1948. This version is Al Naqba or "catastrophe" which is part of the Palestinian narrative of tragic events that created a severe refugee problem compounded with hate for Israel.

How wonderful it would be if all Israeli citizens unite with patriotism and pride for the country that is their common native land. Those who are perceptive notice that Israel's Jewish and Arab population is just as divided as before. While Jewish Israelis are filling and littering the national parks with barbecues and celebrating with plastic hammers and canisters of foam spray, the Arab villages have no Israeli flags and they keep a very low profile. Surely something is not normal here.

Instead of uniting Israel's citizens the Israeli government is dividing them. Pledges of Allegiance to Israel are incumbent on non-Jewish Israelis. Laws are passed making the commemoration of Al Naqba illegal creates divisions between Jewish and Palestinian Israelis.

Why can Israel not afford to allow their Palestinian minority to commemorate their pain in the way we commemorate our pain? Palestinian Israelis have their history which is no less tragic than our own. All it does is make further dents in Israel's already threatened democracy. The Netanyahu-Barak-Lieberman triumvirate ruling Israel is doing its share to fragment Israel's citizens even further.

Israel

is well established and is in no danger of ceasing to exist. It does not need draconian laws to ensure its survival or to create animosity between the Jewish majority and Arab minority.

Instead what we are getting are ugly trends of racism such us the refusal to rent apartments to Arab students studying in Israeli colleges or universities. It even has the "Kosher" stamp of approval of rabbis in high positions in Israel's religious establishment. Our ancestors were persecuted by the Nazis. Almost all Israelis have lost a member of his/her family through Nazi terror. Are our collective memories only revived on Holocaust Day? Israel’s treatment of foreign workers through the “revolving door” policy is inhuman. Will they "contaminate" the Jewish majority if they are given the right to remain in Israel? The religious "paragon of virtue" Eli Yishai - the Interior Minister, is doing all in his power to deport these foreigners and their children born in Israel and speak no other language other than Hebrew.

The list of unjust discrimination goes on and on and this is a threat to Israel's democracy.

A country that does not have a common patriotism with which all its citizens can identify has failed in unifying its people.

From the occupation beginning in 1967 to the day after the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1994,

Israel

used a covert procedure to banish Palestinians by stripping them of their residency rights. This was revealed in an official document drawn up by the Israel Defense Forces’ West Bank headquarters. Surely here we have a sophisticated form of "ethnic cleansing" a term much maligned in Israel but in practice is part of the "final solution" to the Palestinian problem.

Israel

's right wing policies and lack of foresight to move towards the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel is also a catalyst that prompted the so-called signing of an agreement between Hamas and Fatah. There are other reasons as well which I mentioned in a previous article. There is nothing more dangerous than no decision in regards to ending the occupation.

There is no doubt that the enlarging of existing settlements in the West Bank serves to maintain the status quo and the occupation. The actions on the ground, despite Bibi Netanyahu’s lip service to the contrary in his famous Bar Ilan speech, in practise indicate business as usual.

At no time is it more important than it is today to unite Israel's citizens. Failing this, Israel risks isolation in the world as it becomes identifiable with apartheid South Africa's abominable race policies.

A start could be made by recognizing the Palestinian narrative of Al Naqba rather than banning or suppressing it. Al Naqba should be the starting point of dialogue alongside the Israeli narrative. Palestinian identity and symbols should be part of the Israeli experience and be included in Israel's national symbols. Emphasis in education on both narratives should begin in integrated Arab/Jewish schools and teachers should be trained to deal with this subject when the pupils are still in their junior levels. Neither side need to compromise on their culture or identity but take pride in what they are.

Secular subjects should be taught to mixed Arab and Jewish classes. Perhaps separation could be for the purpose of religious instruction.

Naturally the right tools are required to initiate a change in the educational approach. This can only be achieved once there is peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

Perhaps the air has been cleared for negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians since Hamas and Fatah signed an agreement. Despite the great rift between Hamas and Fatah, the former had no alternative. Syria is in turmoil and

Iran

is showing signs of revolution. Hamas is seeking a new sponsor as the old sponsors are weakening.

In September 2011, a Palestinian state will be declared by the UN General Assembly. Israel will have no alternative but to accept this. Hamas will modify its attitude towards Israel in order to get world support. Instead of wasting time and refusing to negotiate with the Palestinians, Netanyahu should not condemn the Hamas-Fatah agreement. He is wasting precious time and wasting another opportunity. Hamas will find a way to negotiate even if it takes a back seat position in order to save face. In practice, it has agreed to the moderate Fatah leadership to carry on negotiations with Israel.

Israel

should also reach out to the Arab demonstrators in the Arab world who are searching for values that are close to ours. We need to support them in their fight for freedom and at the same time we must end our old mantras of support for territorial aggrandizement and end the occupation.

September 2011 – Unilateral Declaration of a Palestinian State?

2011-04-30T23:01:00.000+03:00

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The Israeli Government is now going into a kind of phobia. The Palestinian Authority threatens a unilateral declaration of independence on September 2011. The P.A. will apply to the UN for admission as a fully independent state.

It is very unfortunate that there have been no negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority for quite a while. P.M. Salaam Fayad has been very busy trying to establish an infrastructure within the West Bank in preparation for the time when Palestine gains its independence. He is a pragmatist and is not a member of Fatah. The problem is whether he has the power to achieve this aim. So far, he has had some success in winning over the PA to his way of thinking. The Palestinian security police have improved and there is cooperation between

Israel

and the Palestinians in this area.

Nevertheless, much work has to be done and this can only be achieved when

Israel

decides to withdraw from the occupied territories and at the same time negotiations over security issues, future economic and cultural cooperation that is beneficial for both peoples must be negotiated.

Another big problem is the final borders issues between Israel and Palestine that has not been solved. Another issue is the problem of Gaza under Hamas rule. Hamas and Fatah are at loggerheads and the chances of them settling their differences are slim. World opinion is gaining ground at a rapid pace in support of a unilateral declaration of independence for Palestine and

Israel

cannot ignore this as much as it would like.

Israel

is also complicating the issue by building new Israeli settlements in occupied territories since the settlement freeze period had expired. The idea of this is to make it more difficult for the Palestinians to achieve independence. If negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians do begin, many outstanding issues need solving including the settlers on the West Bank should if they decide to remain there. What will be their status? Will they agree to become Palestinian citizens? The chances of this are zero.

Time is not on Israel’s side and if the UN General Assembly agrees to adopt a resolution to recognize a Palestinian state alongside Israel, the US would probably veto the resolution and this would mean that the occupation would continue for an unlimited time. The spirit of the recent uprisings in the Arab states will also have an effect on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. It is hoped that it would pressure the Palestinians of Gaza to demonstrate and revolt against the brutal Hamas regime. Hamas is racist, anti-democratic and tolerates no opposition to its rule. The murders that Hamas has committed against the Palestinian people of Gaza have been overlooked by many freedom activists in the world. The flotillas that move towards Gaza’s seas are ample proof of this. They fight for the removal of Israel’s blockades but not for the removal of the cruel Hamas regime who is responsible for Israel’s initiating these blockades. These so-called freedom-fighters are strengthening Hamas and in so doing are increasing the suffering of the Palestinians of Gaza.

On Wednesday 27th April 2011, Mahmoud Abbas the Fatah President of the Palestinian Authority and Hamas' Khaled Mashal signed an accord that may bring the two sides closer to some kind of rapprochement. This took place in Cairo to the surprise of everybody. Both sides agreed on two points:

1. Palestinian General Elections will be held in a year's time.

2. Rehabilitation of Gaza's infrastructure must be undertaken.

According to President Abbas, this will not effect the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority on an eventual peace agreement.

Naturally, PM Netanyahu's reaction was a knee jerk panic reaction when he should have sealed his lips and those of his coalition. Instead he said the usual expected statements that there will be no negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians if Hamas and the PA unify unless Hamas recognizes Israel's right to exist. He said the obvious which should have been unsaid only two hours after the Hamas-Fatah agreement was signed. He sent an ultimatum to the PA – they agree either to negotiate with

Israel

or to form a coalition with Hamas. The latter is unacceptable to Israel.

It is hard to believe that this mini-accord will be more than just that. The differences between Hamas and Fatah are so great that it is hard to believe that the gaps will be bridged.

After all, Hamas is on the verge of losing their proxies - Hezbollah (militants from Iran and Syria). This could result in Hamas moderating its stand towards Israel. The usual mantras in the Middle East are changing due to the Arab uprisings and

Syria

's President Bashar Assad's security forces brutally shooting Syrian demonstrators in cold blood. Assad is using the same cruel tactics as Ahmadinajad of Iran in suppressing opposition to their cruel despotic regimes. There are reports that Iran is aiding Assad in suppressing the uprising. Ahmadinajad knows that his regime will be on the firing line from the Iranian opposition. The Palestinian people of Gaza have had enough! They want to rebuild their lives and Israel is not their priority for destruction. It probably never was in the first place. Hamas, which is losing its proxies, are seeking other avenues to justify their existence. As the winds of change envelope the Middle East, Hamas - the despotic terrorist regime is not immune to the changes.

The turmoil and instability in the Middle East has resulted in Hamas putting out feelers to seek a new proxy. It is conceivable that the Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt has played a part in bringing Hamas and Fatah to some kind of agreement. This is especially significant since Hosni Mubarak’s fall from power. One must remember that Hamas is an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt and this mini accord with Fatah may be the beginning of a new direction in the unification of Gaza and the West Bank after the upcoming Palestinian elections.

It would be interesting, in view of the changing circumstances resulting in an agreement between Hamas and Fatah, whether the support for a unilateral declared Palestinian state will lose its momentum. After all, the E.U, U.S. and

Russia

regard Hamas as a terrorist organization.

The Netanyahu Government must also share the blame for the Hamas-Fatah mini-accord. An action always causes a reaction in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. A lack of any action is worse. It results in a stalemate and new alliances result aggravating a situation that does not improve. Every time there is an individual act of Palestinian terror it serves the Netanyahu Government’s aims – the building of more illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank and thus making a Palestinian state more difficult to achieve.

The Hamas-Fatah mini-accord could result in Hamas moderating its attitude towards Israel as its despotic proxies have been weakened. Israel, on the other hand, must make a move towards getting the peace process started once more. Freezing settlements and confidence building measures must be undertaken. By doing this, Hamas will be weakened considerably as the wind will be taken out of its sails. Hamas appealed to Fatah for negotiations. They are showing signs that they are seeking another partner to replace Iran and

Syria

whose present regimes are weakening.

The scenario is not as terrible as the right wing in

Israel

imagine. It can be dangerous if the Netanyahu Government does not accept the changes occurring in the Arab world and carries on business as usual as if nothing has changed. There are many risks to Israel if they continue in the same “no movement” mode and are oblivious to world opinion. September 2011 is not so far away and they have to come to terms with a Palestinian state even if there are no negotiations. There has been enough time wasted. Time is not on

Israel

’s side. The chances of it being viewed as an apartheid state old white South African style may become a reality. Boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel could be the next step.

The Goldstone Turn About

2011-04-16T18:44:00.000+03:00

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There is no reason to rub one's hands with glee at Judge Richard Goldstone's turn about on his report for the anti-Israel UN Human Rights Commission (UNHRC). We must remember that Israel is also at fault for the conclusions of the biased commission. This was mentioned when the report's conclusions first came out.

I am no legal expert nor do I claim to be a lawyer. Despite this, it is obvious that a legal report, judgment or conclusion can only be based on evidence that is available and has nothing to do with what is right or wrong morally but based on revelations by witnesses. The facts may be true or false. It was important for Israel to allow the UNHRC to interview the Israelis who had suffered from Qassam missile fire into Sderot and other areas in the south of Israel. Their evidence or witness reports would have been documented and proof of Hamas crimes against Israeli victims would have been more difficult to deny. One must also bear in mind the Hamas mantra of the desire to demoralize Israel and fantasize on its destruction. Hamas refusal to enter any form of negotiation with Israel because of its failure to recognize Israel’s right to exist must never be forgotten or pushed into the background. As far as Hamas and its lackeys are concerned

Israel

’s 1948 borders (or pre-June 1967 borders for that matter) are still occupied territory. It has nothing to do with Israel’s withdrawal to the pre-June 1967 borders. They will never cease (unfortunately they have not given any indication to the contrary so far) their violence against Israel until a Palestinian state is established in the place of Israel, hence their provocations.

By not allowing the Goldstone Commission to obtain evidence from the Israeli victims of the Qassam missile attacks, Israel had played into the willing hands of Hamas resulting in Goldstone being manipulated by Hamas witnesses and the UNHRC in receiving evidence which was false or at best half true.

If one reads the Washington Post op-ed, written by Judge Goldstone, the lack of evidence from Israel gave rise to the inaccurate conclusions of the Goldstone Report which was biased against

Israel

. Israel had therefore shot itself in the foot.

Judge Goldstone, by his own admittance, stated in his op-ed that had Israel given the information that he knows now, the report would have been different.

The fact that Judge Goldstone is Jewish or that he is a Zionist and therefore pro-Israel is irrelevant when it comes to making legal decisions or drawing conclusions. The one has nothing to do with the other when it comes to evidence which may be unpleasant to both sides. Anybody who has been involved in a court case is very aware of the way lawyers and judges function. One may be convinced of the correctness of one's case only to have it overturned by a technical legality based on new evidence that has become known and the judge's interpretation of the evidence and the legality of its acceptance before legal judgment is made.

Perhaps it would have been prudent for Judge Goldstone not to agree to lead the UNHRC which by his own admittance is biased towards

Israel

I do remember Judge Goldstone saying in an interview just after the report came out, that the UNHRC gave him the freedom to draw up the protocol for the commission and he could not refuse to be the head of a commission for which he wrote the protocol of the enquiry of Operation Cast Lead of 2008-2009 in Gaza. Perhaps this could give us an indication that he was manipulated by the UNHRC. The personal price that he paid for this was immense. He was condemned by Israel and the Jewish Community for his findings. There is no doubt that he was also manipulated by Hamas as well. The credibility of Hamas and their lackeys are questionable at all times and

Israel

must be apportioned the blame for omission of evidence to the contrary.

Perhaps something positive did come out of this report. It resulted in Israel investigating IDF excesses of force against innocent Palestinian civilians and those soldiers who were held responsible were brought to justice. This may not have occurred had there been no Goldstein Report. Hamas never undertook organizing a commission of inquiry into human crimes that they had committed against their own people and Israel as the Goldstone Report had requested.

During the IDF operations against the Hamas terrorists ("militants" as Hamas sympathizers call them) had used innocent Palestinian people as human shields and hid behind them in order to increase Palestinian casualties and fatalities. They did this in order to prove to the world that

Israel

, whom they refuse to recognize, had killed Palestinians on purpose. Judge Richard Goldstone had refuted this in contrast to what was claimed by the Goldstone Report.

In retrospect, had Judge Goldstone refused to head this commission on the grounds that it would not be prudent because of his sympathies for Israel as he claims, the one sided findings would not have backfired on him personally especially as evidence of Israeli victims harmed by Qassam missiles prior to Operation Cast Lead was withheld from the Goldstone Report.

Even to this day there is sporadic firing of Grad missiles into southern Israel by Hamas and Israel is retaliating. Indications are that Iran is taking advantage of the unstable situation in the Middle East because of the Arab uprisings and the availability of the tunnels in the Gaza strip which are unguarded.

The provocations of the extremist Islamic groups in Gaza goading Israel to retaliate

is a foolhardy action of brinkmanship, which will increase Palestinian casualties and suffering.

The Murder of Juliano Mer-Khamis

2011-04-08T16:47:00.002+03:00

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Actor and director, Juliano Mer-Khamis-the son of a Jewish mother and a Christian Arab father was murdered by Palestinian terrorists on Monday April 4th 2011. He was shot 5 times at point blank range in his car in Jenin on the West Bank.

Juliano was a very talented actor and producer. His future in acting and directing was assured. However, he felt that his place was in Jenin in the West Bank working with young Palestinian children and youth. He established the Freedom Theater and continued his mother, Arna Mer-Khamis's legacy, in teaching Palestinians to act as well as the culture of acting in order to help them come to terms with the Israeli occupation.

Jule, as the Palestinians called him, was very devoted to the Palestinian cause. His mother was Jewish and his father was a Christian Arab from Nazareth. He viewed himself as 100% Jewish and 100% Palestinian.

Jule was a rare mix and a man of peace. He hated the occupation because of what it has done to both Israelis and Palestinians. He believed that the occupation is immoral.

He had no sympathy for the settlers nor did he have anything in common with extremist Palestinian ideology. Perhaps this is the reason why he was assassinated. He was different!

He taught acting skills to the Palestinian youth. He seemed to be admired and loved by all. Apparently this is not entirely correct. He was a freethinking progressive humanist believing in coexistence between Palestinians and Israelis.

Today the Arab people in the Middle East are fighting for democracy and human rights in their society as well as equality before the law. As mentioned in my previous articles, the Arab uprising is not about Israel which has always been a uniting factor in the Arab world. The Arab dictators had always kept the fire of hate for Israel as a mantra to maintain their own stability and to oppress their own people.

The Arab uprisings against their own ruthless dictatorships are part of the process for democracy and human freedom.

If this is the case, their message has not reached Palestine in its entirety. There are still Islamic extremists in Palestinian society that are using the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict as a mantra to maintain a semblance of unity. This unity serves the extremists in Palestinian society – the hate for Israel which had been common place since its establishment in 1948 and which is manipulated by Hamas and its terrorist allies. As far as they are concerned Israel is occupied territory.

Jule was part of the spirit of equality, human rights and democracy. He was the embodiment of freedom, progress as well as equality of the sexes.

Despite all positive qualities that he had and the Freedom Theater that he had established, there are still hard core conservatives in Palestinian society that wished his death. Hamas, Islamic Jihad and their extremist Islamic allies are groups that are against Palestinian progress. They still hold much power especially in Gaza and it is difficult to assess their power in the West Bank. Jule was a thorn in their flesh. He had been subjected to death threats and even his Freedom Theater was vandalized. Jule's progressive ideology was too much for them. He paid the ultimate price by being murdered in cold blood. He had imbued his students with freedom and equality. This was in keeping with the spirit of the Arab arising but not in keeping with Hamas and their extremist ideologues.

He was loved by all peace people - Palestinians and Israelis. Maybe his mixed identity was not what the racist Islamic groups in Palestinian society wanted. They viewed him as a threat to their potential hegemony and murdered him.

This tragedy is a loss to both Palestinians and Israelis who believe in peace, coexistence, democracy and human rights.

Apart from sporadic condemnation for his tragic assassination, the left in Israel has remained relatively silent. If he had been murdered by Jewish extremists, the left would have been stronger in their condemnation. It seems as if Palestinian extremists have poetic license to kill even a true democrat on their side. It will take a long time, if ever, before the spirit of the Arab uprising reaches the hardcore religious extremists in Palestine with their vitriol towards those who are different. The Israeli occupation is blamed for almost everything even if it is the fault of the Hamas regime itself. The murder of Jule emphasizes this fact and it rings true today.

Here was a man of mixed Palestinian-Israeli blood that tried his best to build bridges of peace between the two peoples. Instead Palestinian racist extremists felt it their duty to spill his blood because of their bloodlust directed at those who are different.

It seems that all peacemakers, irrespective of whether they are Palestinians or Israelis, are under threat from Hamas and their extremist factions.

We must not allow their evil ideology of racism and hate to move us from the sacred cause of democracy, tolerance, peace and coexistence between Palestinians and Israelis. We must also support the fight for democracy and freedom in the Middle East. This would be the best way that we could honour this incredible man.

Return of Terror or Moving Forward?

2011-03-26T22:43:00.001+02:00

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The past week has been a week of terrorist scenarios in Israel. The old extremist Islamist groups perpetuate terror whenever they get a chance. It began with the tragic murder of the Fogel family in Itamar on the West Bank, followed by the launching of Grad and Qassam missiles by Hamas-affiliated splinter terror groups resulting in severe damage and injuries against an innocent population in Israel. Naturally, Israel's Defense Forces retaliate and the cycle of bloodshed begins with the loss of Palestinian lives and more tragedy for both sides. What does Hamas hope to gain by this? Israel will not disappear. In fact, according to reports, Hamas does not wish to heat up the situation. It is possible that Hamas is losing control in Gaza to more extremist groups. The provocations in Gaza seems to be coming from Iran. These missiles reached as far afield as Beersheba, Ashdod and Rishon l'tsiyon. The terrible bomb in a suitcase placed near a phone booth and kiosk in Jerusalem was part of an obvious terror campaign against Israel. The bomb exploded, killing an innocent British tourist and injuring numerous Israelis.

The missile terror coming from Gaza and the increase of Islamist terrorist violence must be condemned in the strongest possible terms. Those responsible must be brought to justice, and if not, at least, pinpoint attacks against the leadership responsible are a matter of urgency. Every country has a right to protect itself against this threat on its citizens and this includes Israel.

Who hopes to gain by the escalation of this cruel violence against innocent Israelis? The Palestinian Authority has come out straight against the violence. There are a number of factors responsible for heating up the situation. It could be an attempt by Iran to take the heat off human rights and democracy issues in the Middle East and concentrate on uniting the Islamic world against Israel if it retaliates.

The Arab world is embroiled in uprisings against their autocratic, despotic rulers. These uprisings are spreading across the Middle East with a speed that boggles the imagination. The courage of the youth at the forefront is remarkable and they deserve the support of liberal democrats all over the world, including Israel. We must make a distinction between those fighters for human freedom in the Arab world and the Islamist terrorist groups whose purpose is to kill and maim innocent people. The latter is part of the old order, whose patron is the evil Iranian regime of Mahmoud Ahmadinajad and the ruling Ayatollahs.

Syria

is now showing signs of unrest and the people are taking to the streets in Damascus and demonstrating against the Alawi sect under Bashar Assad who has ruled his people with an iron hand. The disturbances began in Dara'a in a poverty stricken region that had faced discrimination for many years. Four demonstrators were killed there in a mosque. This started the unrest in Syria which is now spreading. It looks as though President Bashar Assad is losing control. The opposition is in the hands of Sunnis, Druze and Alouites. A question remains whether Syrian youth will be able to influence the revolution as their counterparts in Egypt and Tunisia. The Syrian Authorities have reacted aggressively and killed many Syrian demonstrators.

The Syrian people do not want

Iran

's proxy - the evil Hezbollah influencing their country. They have made this perfectly clear. Iran seems to be heating up the situation in Gaza by supporting Hamas and various terrorist groups as a digression to unite Islamist extremists against Israel. They do this through Hezbollah by smuggling weapons and missiles into Gaza for the purpose of manipulating the Palestinians and taking the heat off the traditional despots. It is their plan to colonize the Arab world under a bizarre form of Iranian Shiite rule. Iran's record of human rights and democracy is dismal. They wish to fill the vacuum caused by the threatened despots whose power is falling and their way of doing this is to strengthen Hamas in order to increase their influence in the Palestinian world by exploiting Palestinian suffering under Israeli occupation in order to dominate Palestine.

Hamas is affiliated to Iran through Hezbollah. The latter also influences Lebanon and it is certain that the Lebanese people do not want to be proxies of Iran or Iranian backed Syria under the Alawi Assad regime any more than the Syrians did. The evil, shrewd secretary-general of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, who hides in his bunker underground and spews out hatred for his opponents with aggressive rhetoric, is losing support. Not only will he remain in his bunker because of his fear and hate for Israel, he will rot there for his love of the despotic Iranian regime which has killed many Iranians fighting for human rights.

We in

Israel

are not blameless either for the increase in terrorism against Israelis. There is nothing more dangerous than apathy and no movement towards a settlement with the Palestinians. It is essential that negotiations with the Palestinian Authority begin in earnest to end the occupation and that serious steps be taken for the establishment of a viable Palestinian state alongside Israel in secure, well defined and agreed borders. Freezing of settlements prior to negotiations could go a long way to building confidence and trust between the two sides.

The situation is more complicated now because of the uprisings in the Arab world. The direction it will take is still unclear. In

Libya

, the terrible torture of Kaddafi’s opponents is becoming known. The coalition of Britain, France and the US against the Kaddafi slaughter of his people still goes on and, for the moment, they seem to be getting support from the Libyan people as well as saving many Libyan lives.

It is hoped that the Palestinian people will be influenced by the uprisings and they will revolt against the brutal Hamas regime and their terrorist allies. The Palestinians deserve better in Gaza than the evil Hamas regime which ruthlessly destroys the Palestinian's right for a true democratic state upholding human rights and dignity, justice and decent living conditions. The mantra of the Israeli occupation in the Hamas mind is not an excuse to oppress Palestinians and deny them basic human rights.

Arise! Palestinian brothers, rise up against Hamas! Join your brethren in the Middle East in their just fight for freedom, democracy and human dignity. The occupation serves Hamas interests no less than that of Israel's right wing regime.

It is unfortunate that the right wing Israeli government has been involved in passing anti democratic laws against Palestinian citizens of Israel.

These laws - the Naqba Bill and the Acceptance Committees Bill were voted into law recently. During the last six months from Sukkoth to Pesach about a dozen bills were introduced that are distinguished by how they sanction violations of fundamental human rights and civil liberties. It is obvious that the targets of some of these bills are Israel's Arab citizens. The bills also have wider ramifications or goals - deligitimization, weakening and silencing those who do not conform to the majority's expectations. The lack of sensitivity towards the Palestinian narrative only serves to widen differences between Israelis and Palestinians rather than using it as a starting point to understand each side better through positive dialogue to reach an understanding and empathy for both sides' historical narrative. History can never be changed, but both sides can learn the lessons of the past to build a better future of understanding and cooperation.

At the helm of these racist laws are Avigdor Lieberman and his ilk of the Israel Beitenu Party. There is no doubt that the present Israeli Government is the most racist government in Israel's history. The Middle East is changing, despots are falling and Israel must adapt to the new situation. Hopefully there will be new democracies arising from the desire of the Arab people. Can we afford to retrogress in our inability to take up the challenges positively?

Israelis and Palestinians need peace. The leadership on both sides is not up to the challenge but we, the people, with our common desire for peace can do it. We are the means that can facilitate our leaders in that direction we all need so desperately.

Arab Youth Sweeping Changes

2011-03-19T16:06:00.003+02:00

The Arab youth of the Middle East proves that they want change. Even their elders who have lived all their lives under autocratic regimes are joining the bandwagon for change.

Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Bahrain, Libya and to a lesser extent, Jordan, Morocco, Saudi Arabia and even Syria are showing signs of unrest like the tsunami in Japan, its effect will result in change from which there is no return.

The relatively peaceful changes that took place in Tunisia and

Egypt

are not happening in the rest of the Arab world. The demonstrations in Yemen and Bahrain are becoming increasingly violent. The latter has even called in Saudi troops to put down the demonstrations which are becoming more sectarian. Here the population is mostly Shiite while the monarchy is Sunni. It may not be surprising if Iran becomes involved by backing the Shiite rebels and further complicating the situation in Bahrain.

The most violent rebellion is in Libya. After initial successes by the rebel forces, Kaddafi’s troops are regaining the upper hand and are poised to enter and take over the rebel held second largest town in Libya, Benghazi.

The UN has passed a resolution with the backing of the Arab League, Britain, France, Lebanon, and the US for an immediate cease-fire. This measure was taken to halt the slaughter of innocent people in Libya by the Kaddafi forces. If Kaddafi does not comply, the military option will be applied.

NATO forces are preparing for this eventuality. President Obama and PM David Cameron of

Britain

have made it clear to Kaddafi that he must cease slaughtering his people or else he will bear the consequences. The next couple of days will be crucial.

In the dramatic scenarios occurring in the Arab world there will be no turning back. The desire for democracy and human rights are strong. The youth who grew up under the various autocratic and corrupt dictatorships are determined as ever to fight for democracy. Their elders are even supporting them.

As far as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is concerned, all these dramatic changes in the Arab world have not affected this conflict at this stage. There have been no widespread anti-Israel sentiments expressed by the rebels. The anti-Israel mantra that has been a symbol of despotic Arab regimes is not a united calling cry for change.

It is quite possible with the use of Face book and Twitter, the Arab youth are making contact with their counterparts in the democratic free world, including

Israel

. They are aware of the freedom that others have and what has been denied them. None of the uprisings is religious in nature. The despotic rulers have adopted an anti-Israel stance since Israel was established and have brainwashed their citizens for generations. This is not working anymore.

The uprisings in the Arab world will affect Israel and the Palestinians eventually. Hamas in Gaza rules with an iron fist against all opposition and is trying to introduce sharia (Muslim Law). This is going against the spirit of the Arab uprisings. There is even talk of creating an understanding between Hamas and the Fatah led Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.

Israelis are viewing the volatile situation in the Arab world with mixed feelings. The gut feeling here in Israel is cautious support for the changes towards democracy in the Arab world. It is still too early to predict how these dramatic changes will move towards stable democratic rule and how it will affect the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The old mantra - the enemy of my enemy is my friend - could be applicable here. The Kaddafis of the Middle East could result in the rebels becoming better disposed towards

Israel

. Time will tell whether this is wishful thinking or not.

Now with the UN resolution to prevent a massacre of the Libyan people, and NATO military forces getting ready to enforce the no-fly zone over

Libya

, it is a matter of time before the Kaddafi regime falls. It is not the purpose of the UN resolution to overthrow Kaddafi but that possibility cannot be ruled out.

The Arab world is changing and is presenting Israel with new opportunities which are not without risks.

The problem is also Iran which could take advantage of the instability in Bahrain and try to support the majority Shiite population there against Sunni rule. They are notorious competitors for moving into the vacuum caused by the uprising in Bahrain. This could be a threat to the Saudi regime as well which to date has remained relatively calm.

How should Israel act? They should start with goodwill gestures towards the Palestinian Authority on the West Bank by freezing settlements. Unfortunately the Netanyahu government seems to have its priority in keeping the right wing coalition together by backing the illegal settler enterprise and engaging in double talk. Continuous building in Palestinian lands and paying lip service to a two state solution seems to be contradictory.

Luck is on Israel's side for the time being. There is so much upheaval in the Arab World and the terrible damage to Japan’s infrastructure as well as the heavy loss of lives from the massive earthquake and tsunami, including the radiation danger from its nuclear power reactors. This could be an opportunity for Israel to support the changes going on in the Arab world. After all if the Arab countries do become democratic it could end the old mantras of official hate for Israel which has been a unifying factor in the despotic leaderships of the Arab world.

The Massacre at Itamar

2011-03-14T20:49:00.000+02:00

Two terrorists broke into the home of the Fogel family in Itamar in the occupied West Bank early Saturday morning 12 th March 2011 and stabbed five family members to death. This occurred at 1 a.m.

The terrorists murdered Udi Fogel, his wife, Ruth, and their 3 children, Yoav 11 years, Elad 4 years, and Hadas, 3 months.

This is a terrible massacre in cold blood. It is a gruesome tragedy beyond words. The terrorists, who committed this ghastly act, are inhuman. We are all in a state of shock over this appalling tragedy.

Three siblings who were not home at the time and survived are: Tamar 12 years, Roi 8 years and Yishai 2 years. They are staying with their grandparents.

Those terrorists who were responsible for these cruel murders must be found and brought to justice as soon as possible.

Murder of innocent people must be condemned in the strongest possible terms irrespective of whether they are Israelis or Palestinians. There can never be justification for this under any circumstances. Looking for excuses to condone this massacre is morally unacceptable. Killing an innocent family while they are sleeping is despicable.

Having said this, there is no reason to vent one's anger on the Palestinian population. Most Palestinians are against the massacres that occurred and realize that it does not serve their cause.

The cabinet ministers of the Israeli government, who attended the funeral of the victims, stated that they would now support the acceleration of building 400 housing units in the West Bank to increase the Jewish population there.

The funeral of the Fogel family victims was attended by 20000 people. Statements were made of a political nature which could be viewed as a rallying cry of the right to continue building settlements in the occupied territories.

We all know that the peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians have come to a halt and while much emotion was exhibited at the funeral, there is no place to use rhetoric supporting the building of new homes in the territories. It is childish and vengeful! Even Motti, the brother of the late Udi Fogel, said that he did not want the funeral to be tainted by political messages. Naturally the right wing MKs did not lose an opportunity to make some political capital in support of the occupation.

On the other hand, people who settle in the West Bank, which is occupied territory, are placing themselves at risk. Itamar has been in the news quite often because of the behavior of "hilltop youth" who foment violence and destruction of Palestinian property in the vicinity. There have also been cases of violence being committed against Palestinians even resulting in death.

It is an unfortunate fact that the present Israeli Government as well as their predecessors has done much to encourage illegal settlement in the occupied territories. This is unacceptable and irresponsible.

The encouragement of illegal settlements in the occupied territories amongst a hostile Palestinian population is unfair not only to the Palestinians, but also to the Israelis who wish to build their homes there. Settlers who seek religious justification for living there are putting their lives as well as the lives of their children in harms way. There is no victory in death when terrorists break into homes and murder innocent people who wish to maintain a Jewish religious lifestyle. What advantage is to be gained by putting the lives of innocent people and their children in mortal danger?

The only way to prevent tragedies of this nature is to end the occupation and allow the settlers to return within the pre 1967 borders. This would prevent tragedies of this nature from reoccurring.

At the same time it is essential that movement must be made to restart peace talks with the Palestinian Authority with the intention of creating an independent Palestinian state living side by side with Israel in peace.

The occupation is bad for Israel and while it lasts there will never be peace between Israel and the Palestinians. At this stage, there does not seem to be any signs of revolt by the Palestinian people against their leadership as is occurring in the surrounding Arab countries.

The Palestinians and Changes in the Middle East

2011-03-05T21:48:00.003+02:00

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The last few months we have all witnessed sweeping changes in much of the Arab world. It started in Tunisia with the overthrow of corrupt President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, snowballing into Egypt with Mubarak's downfall.

Yemen has chronic civil hiccups with its leader, Ali Abdullah Saleh, and the demonstrations there are lower key. Oman is also showing signs of unrest, but that seems under control for the time being. Bahrain is in the game as well with demonstrations followed by an uneasy calm.

The bloodiest and most serious uprising is in Libya where deaths are now running into the thousands with total chaos continuing unabated. Qaddafi is still clinging on to power tenaciously. The Libyan situation has degenerated into civil war. Qaddafi's power base is weakening but the fight will be tedious and long.

It is impossible to predict which Arab country will be next in line for revolution. Even

Iran

- a non-Arab country - has had some unrest but Ahmadinajad's security forces have succeeded to suppress unrest wherever it has occurred. The Iranian dictatorship is strong and the Basij of Ahmadinajad is cruel and relentless.

How will all these changes in the Arab world affect the Palestinian people? At this stage it is difficult to say. We are all aware that since the uprisings against the oppressive despotic regimes in the Middle East, the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict has been put on the back-burner.

No doubt, the effects of the uprisings will also influence Palestinian thinking and attitudes towards the autocratic dictatorships that are leading them whether it is Hamas-controlled Gaza or the Fatah-controlled West Bank.

The uprisings in the various autocratic states of the Middle East despite their ethnic and environmental differences have the same goals - goals of individual freedom, democracy, improved economic conditions, which have been denied the majority of Arab people in their respective countries and this includes lack of jobs and opportunities for newly qualified professionals. These problems exist in the West Bank and Gaza as well. The leaders of both Palestinian areas are as anti-democratic as their despotic counterparts in the Arab world. Added to these problems are the problems created by the Israeli occupation and the continuing of building illegal settlements in areas designated to be the future Palestinian state.

If there are no peace negotiations between

Israel

and the Palestinian people then it is hard to imagine how the impasse between Israelis and Palestinians will ever be solved.

A possible scenario that could occur is that if peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians do begin, there could be an insurrection as is occurring in the Arab world resulting in the fall of the non-democratic governments in the West Bank and Gaza. If this happens, there could be chaos and there would be no representatives to negotiate with Israel. On the other hand, an insurrection against Hamas and Fatah could have a positive effect on the peace process as a new order could be more amenable to democracy and steer away from Islamic extremism. The situation is so unpredictable that anything unexpected can occur.

The Palestinian people have had enough suffering and hardships. They all want peace and are tired of the conflict. They want independence from the Israeli occupation as well as achieving democracy like their Arab counterparts in the uprisings against their ruling autocrats. The stalemate between Israel and the Palestinians could be ended when the old despotic Fatah and Hamas regimes are overthrown as in

Tahrir Square

in Cairo.

Israel

must also change its attitude and be prepared to end the occupation. Settlements on Palestinian occupied territory must be frozen and the illegal settlers must be resettled within the green line. Any government that takes over after a possible uprising in the Palestinian occupied lands will oppose the oppressive occupation. Israel must be prepared to end the occupation without compromising the security of its citizens. Riding out "the winds of change" in the Middle East is no option. Dialogue must begin now! President Mahmoud Abbas could be viewed as the "Mubarak" of the Palestinians by the Palestinians themselves. If this occurs, the road to peace will be even more complicated if Israel does not change its attitude towards the occupation and take concrete steps to end it. Israel had relied on Mubarak, the dictator, as a broker to maintain peace. Israel like the rest of the world never expected his fall from power.

Now, more than ever before, are opportunities to end the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict. Failure to do so could be disastrous and another of many opportunities would be lost to the detriment of all parties involved.

Islamic extremism is now not the issue in the Arab world. The Arab people realize that Islamic extremism is against democracy and human rights. Hamas is no less on the firing line than any other despotic regimes in the Arab world. The young people of Palestine also know that like their Arab counterparts, they are being exploited by autocratic religious leaders.

It is hoped that Israel heeds the wake up call and ceases to play into the hands of its right wing, racist extremists, who are part of its macabre visionless, unimaginative coalition.

Why should it be dangerous for Israel if it is joined by new democracies in the Middle East? What is occurring now in the Middle East proves that nothing is impossible.

Now it is Libya's Turn

2011-02-26T20:19:00.004+02:00

Image via Wikipedia

Now the unrest has reached Libya. Muammer Gaddafi, Libya's unpredictable maverick tyrant, whose sanity is questionable, is in deep trouble. His cruelty and autocracy, unchallenged for over 40 years, is now on the firing line.

Gaddafi, the maverick and unchallenged dictator, had maintained a "divide and rule" policy during the years of his rule in order to ensure his rule until his last breath. He had never honed a successor. His country became prosperous (or rather Gaddafi and his family) while the oil wealth never reached the Libyan people, who like in most oil-rich Arab countries, remained in abject poverty.

While sweeping changes are occurring all over the Arab world, starting with Tunisia as a result of a poor vegetable vendor and spread like wild fire over the Arab world. Libya was not expected to be on the list as the country is composed of many tribes who are not united as many reports claim. An interesting observation is that Libya has a high literacy rate (For the total population of

Libya

the literacy rate is about 82.6%. For those that are male the literacy of Libya is about 92.4%, and for female, it is 72% according to the 2003 estimate. Libya has the highest literacy rate in northern Africa) contrary to what one may expect. Education is readily available but the Libyan people have no political or human rights.

Gaddafi's power is under threat and from what we see now his power base is weakening. Many parts of

Libya

have fallen to the opposition and the price paid by the Libyan people in blood has been high and continues to be so.

Gaddafi's cruelty knows no bounds. His army and police force have defected to the rebels. Libyan diplomats all over the world are resigning. They refuse to represent the Gaddafi regime. Most have changed allegiance to the opposition. Gaddafi has taken on mercenaries to kill his people. The sight of bound bodies in the streets, shot at point blank range are gruesome.

The UN and the US are slow to react. Even the UN Human Rights Commission is making belated sterile clucking noises about the cruelty perpetrated by Gaddafi. The call for sanctions and no fly zones will take a while to institute. Meanwhile the killings go on unabated. The US is dithering again as it did in Egypt. They are not keen on taking military action as they know that they screw up everything wherever they become involved. Iraq, Afghanistan and even further back in time - Vietnam remains etched in their collective memory. If they botch up again, the Arab world will turn against the US as they have done in the past and Obama seems very sensitive to that possibility. President Obama seems satisfied to utter words of condemnation of Gaddafi and the violence towards the Libyan people and paying lip service to severe sanctions and severing diplomatic relations.

Meanwhile, Gaddafi is still holding on to Tripoli while Benghazi and Tobruk have fallen to opposition groups.

Despite the "divide and rule" policy of the Gaddafi regime, the large number of tribes in Libya seems very united in ridding their country of this insane tyrant. The opposition groups are motivated to achieve the removal of Gaddafi from power by force. We all hope that they succeed in their common goal. This common cause of their fight for human rights and equality is the glue that is uniting the Libyan people. It is hoped that this unity will last in the post Gaddafi period which is on their doorstep. The unity of the Libyan people must overcome all tribal differences which may or may not be exaggerated by the press.

The speeches that Gaddafi made were incoherent, lacking in logic and cast great doubts on his sanity. There is nothing worse for any country than having a tyrant who is insane and massacres his people. Gaddafi is a desperate, tyrannical lunatic. He knows that the end of his rule is near. It would be no surprise if he commits suicide when he loses his grip on power.

The situation in Libya is very unstable and many foreign nationals are lining up in their thousands to board the nearest ship or plane for evacuation.

Every Arab state that has been swept up by the uprisings, despite their differences, has much in common. It is the desire for change from the old order of corrupt autocrats. They are fighting for the same goals of freedom, democracy, human rights and employment. The mantra that the West was led to believe by the autocratic dictatorships, that democracy is not suited to Islam and the Arab world is falling apart. All the Arab world uprisings have their sources of information from the youth using Face book and Twitter. (I wonder what Mark Zukerburg, the inventor of Face book, is feeling now. His software programme has changed the Arab world by sparking off revolutions.)

As an Israeli, I think we have a wonderful opportunity to make peace with our Arab neighbours. The opportunity may or may not be fraught with dangers of the unknown. There is room for cautious optimism. The youth are discarding the mantras of their aging autocratic dictatorships. Surely the time has come for us to do the same towards a changing Arab world. Even in

Libya

, there have been no anti-Israel slogans as was Gaddafi's habit in the past and present.

Perhaps it is to Israel's advantage that apart from with Egypt and Jordan, Israel had no diplomatic relations with the old Arab world and its autocratic corrupt leadership. When the Arab world moves towards democracy, Israel has an opportunity to make peace with the Arab people and not corrupt tyrannical regimes as in Egypt and maybe even

Jordan

However, Israel's right wing government with its total lack of vision for change will not take the plunge and they will continue with their old mantras of occupation and discrimination against its non-Jewish citizens.

As I mentioned in my previous article, there are steps that Israel must take to end her increasing isolation in the Arab world. Israel must decide to negotiate with the Palestinians to freeze settlements in the occupied territories and to end the occupation. Only after doing this will Israel regain her stature in the world. The racial bills that the right wing government of Israel under the patronage of Avigdor Lieberman, are trying to pass into law, must be abolished.

When the Israeli electorate realizes that it is in Israel's interest to rid their country of this right wing, visionless, racist government at the ballot box, can we take our rightful place amongst the world of nations with pride rather than being a polecat as we are at present.

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