Conflicts in the Middle East: Joint List

Showing posts with label Joint List. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 9

Israeli Arab Leaders Defending Hezbollah

"The policies that the Israeli political establishment is pursuing [are] leading us all into a dead end," says Odeh [Ayman Odeh's campaign]

It does not seem logical let alone very destructive for the Arab leaders of the Joint List in the Knesset to proclaim that Hezbollah is not a terrorist organization. The Balad and Hadash factions in this list are pressurizing the Joint Arab List to support Hezbollah and legitimize it. What is the purpose of doing this? Hezbollah has a history of firing rockets into Israel and injuring Arab citizens of Israel as well. Rockets fired into Israel kill and destroy and make no distinction between Jews and Arabs. In this respect it is not apartheid-friendly.

The Joint List is the third largest party in the Knesset. It is in the unique position of representing the Arab Israeli minority’s interests and fighting for equality with its Jewish counterparts in Israel. There is much that can be done in that sphere. Combating social and work discrimination as well as improving socio-economic conditions for the Arab community they represent is a formidable task. It should work in improving relations between Arab and Jewish citizens of Israel and acting as a bridge between the two communities. Ayman Oudeh, the Joint List leader prior to his election to the Knesset, appeared to move along the path of coexistence, promoting dialogue between the communities and certainly deserved support for taking the line of tolerance in outreach.

What has happened to Oudeh? Why is he not showing the leadership qualities for which he was elected? He is being led into a direction which is creating distrust between his party and Jewish Israelis. He is not forthcoming in representing his electorate’s interests of coexistence and socio-economic improvement as well as integration into being Israel Citizens with equal human rights and dignity that the Arab Citizens of Israel are entitled. The Balad factions of his party are pandering to the peers of Palestinian terrorists, who come into Israel on lone stabbing sprees. Instead he and his party are antagonizing Jewish Israelis as well as many Arab Israelis by wasting unnecessary energy on standing to attention and sympathizing with parents of Palestinian terrorists whose sons and daughters were killed while committing terrorist acts. This is no way to gain the trust of Jewish and Arab Israelis.

Added to the behavior of the Joint List, which seems to represent Palestinian interests in the Knesset rather than Israeli Arab interests by the rhetoric in support of viewing Hezbollah as a movement devoid of terrorism creates an unnecessary schism between Arabs and Jews in Israel.

If he wishes to regain the trust of Jewish Israelis as well as many Arab Israelis, who have also suffered at the hand of Palestinian terror, he should retract the statement declaring Hezbollah as not being a terrorist movement and be more forthcoming in condemning Palestinian terror against innocent citizens by not getting involved in returning terrorist Palestinian corpses to their families. There are channels in Israel whereby this is being done without Joint List sympathy and activity.

Saturday, February 6

Recognizing Israel's Right to Exist

nakba woman jug 1948 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The last few articles written on this blog were devoted to the feasibility of ending the occupation as well as a possible scenario that could occur if Israel would end the occupation and withdraw from territories occupied in the Six Day June 1967 War. It is really a vicious circle and we always seem to return to the same problem. The problem of the inability of the Arab States to recognize Israel's right to exist is an engraved mantra going back over 100 years. It is NOT the occupation since the Six Day June War of 1967. As mentioned in previous articles, wars were fought prior to the Six Day War. History has illustrated this. The occupation is a result of a Israel's strike against Egypt as Egypt had closed the Tiran Straits to Israel's shipping after ordering the UN to remove its UNICEF from there. Jordan and Syria joined Egypt in an attempt to destroy Israel. Israel could not afford to lose this war. Had Israel lost, it would cease to exist.

If we go back before the establishment of Israel in 1948, we notice that the Arabs were consistent in a rejectionist attitude towards the establishment of a Jewish state in their midst. When Israel was established on 14 May 1948, the Arabs referred to it as Al Naqba - the Catastrophe, and since then wars were fought against Israel in an attempt to destroy the Jewish State.

The history of the Arab-Israeli conflict reveals 24 major junctures when compromise was offered since the 1920s, dating from pre-state, League of Nations Mandate to the present time. Plan after plan, including patently pro-Arab proposals, were put on the table. Since the 1993 Oslo Accords, 15 agreements and memorandums have been signed.

If we examine the history of this conflict, it is not difficult to realize that the conflict did not begin with the occupation of 1967 but many years before Israel's establishment. The emphasis on the occupation being the cause of the conflict is simply because of political interests and the desire to delegitimize Israel. This does not mean that the "occupation" is justified if it allows Jewish settlements. After all, it is disputed territory. Establishing settlements simply weakens Israel's case in that it turns Israel into an occupying and colonizing power on the ground, ruling a people that are hostile.

Today with the uncompromising attitude of Hamas, the duplicity of the PA, and the radical changes in the Arab environment around Israel, including Daesh (ISIS) and various other Islamist terror groups, creates great instability. This is not conducive to solving the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. Peace negotiations between the two sides are moribund.

It is obvious, despite the very bleak situation that a solution to this conflict lies in negotiations between the warring parties. Hamas has closed the doors to that and the PA has no authority to jump start negotiations without Hamas support, which will just not happen under the present environment.

Maybe there is another way of facilitating the initiation of negotiations. A hint of this could perhaps come from the Joint List in the Knesset. They are in an ideal position to be mediators or facilitators. These Knesset members speak Arabic and Hebrew fluently. They support the Two-State Solution, interact with Israelis and understand the Palestinian position. They also do have Palestinian support in the West Bank. This mediation position that they could take stands a greater chance of success towards solving the conflict than if a third country, ignorant of the Palestinian and Israeli psyche, would ever have. Giving the Joint List more responsibility in peace negotiations has never been tried and perhaps there is a possibility that they can really play a positive role.

The Joint List is composed of an alliance of Balad, Hadash, Ta'al and the United Arab List (the southern branch of the Islamic Movement). Balad is the most radical partner in this list. Three MK's from this list, Hanin Zoabi, Jamal Zahalka and Basel Ghattas, visited the parents of the terrorists, who stabbed and killed innocent Israelis, to sympathies with them and stood in silence as a mark of respect for these "shuhada (martyrs)". The excuse was to negotiate the return of their corpses for burial in the territories. When interviewed over TV Arutz 2, Jamal Zahalka, said that he viewed the stabbings and killings of innocent people whether Jewish or Palestinian as "Victims of the Occupation". (This interview is in Hebrew) He did express his disapproval of murdering innocent people for what it is worth. One may argue as to what the occupation is - whether it is the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 as appears in the Hamas Charter or the territories occupied in June 1967 War. The Joint List does support the Two-State Solution, so it does recognize Israel's right to exist.

The avoidance by the Palestinian Leadership of critical issues over many years of dead-end negotiations is because they cannot come to terms with Israel's existence. It is perhaps on these issues that the Joint List has the potential of being a facilitator in future peace negotiations. The issues are so crucial for both Israelis and Palestinians and lack of vision for new ideas on both sides do not give much promise on making peace. The Joint List option could be a new direction that may produce positive results as they are not viewed as enemies of the Palestinian people in the PA-Hamas controlled areas. The Joint List, even though they are regarded with suspicion and the action of the three MK's mentioned was not productive, created further animosity as a really bad tactic that was unnecessary and achieved nothing. After the hype of this unfortunate meeting will blow over and the possibility of Joint List participation in bridging the wide gaps between the two sides can be given more serious consideration.

Thursday, July 30

The New Left Alliance in Israel is Essential for Survival

The left in Israel is fragmenting. In order for it to survive, it must seek a new alliance that can give it a chance to regain power in Israel. The right wing coalition in Israel is moving away from democracy and human values. Even the Netanyahu Coalition is subordinate to the illegal right wing settler movements, who have been raising their ugly heads and establishing wild card settlements on lands that belong to the Palestinians. The latest settler activities go against the law and decisions of the Israeli Courts. They have never had it so good with coalition support.

Meretz Leader, Zahava Gal-on

If the left in Israel is not united it will remain a weak opposition and will strengthen the ruling right wing. Support for Meretz has remained static and is even diminishing. The Israeli electorate has shifted to the right and are cutting off their noses to spite their faces, especially when it comes to socio-economic issues. The Israeli Electorate has many sectors that are becoming more religious. Pension schemes (Kupot Gemel) are in the hands of tycoons of the likes of Yitzhak Tshuva and their greedy capitalistic cartels. These tycoons borrow money from public investments. Whether one likes it or not, if one has solid investments, it is not so solid. Those who invest their savings for retirement must be aware of this. The International Stock Exchange is on the verge of cyclical collapse and this will affect us all whether we like it or not.

Housing prices for young married couples are exorbitant and buying a home is impossible for many. This will not change while piggish capitalism rules the roost and the government runs after tycoons. It is a vicious circle!

All the social services that the citizen is entitled will be less efficient and more expensive. Education under the present Education Minister, Naphtali Bennett, of the extremist Bayit Hayehudi Party, is no paragon of educational values when his party flouts the Israeli Law Courts on decisions that go against the ultra-nationalist settler movements that attempt to build on lands not belonging to them.

The rule of law is wavered when it comes to the right wing settler movements with government coalition support that is unanimous. The heart of the right wing coalition is with the settlers and this means that the taxpayer also has to foot the bill for their folly.

These are just a few examples of the price we pay for a tycoon-friendly government.

Joint List Leader MK, Aymen Oudeh

The Zionist Union is also showing a movement to the center and Meretz is on the verge of collapse. The Meretz Leader, Zahava Gal-On, does smell the coffee and is seeking a new alliance. Peace Now had a convention recently in which many personalities from the center-left, and left attended, including members of the Joint List Party. She realizes that Meretz is doomed to the dustbin of history if there is no true soul searching and strategy to gain support.

A common platform that all parties on the left in Israel could support, despite their wide ideological differences on many issues could be initiated. This new left alliance should downplay the Zionist ideology part and place more emphasis on a common citizenship that both Jewish and non-Jewish Israelis share. A common patriotism shared by all Israel’s citizens for the good of Israel should be an essential plank in this new common platform. It could embrace Meretz, Joint Arab List and even the Zionist Camp. Balad that is part of the Joint List must also comply with a platform for the common good of all Israel’s citizens. It also means an improvement of quality of life and more confidence in Israel’s economy. It will also render the BDS Movement obsolete. This would go a long way in solving the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict and ending the occupation for the good of all Israelis. The static, non-movement towards a solution is bad for both Israel and the Palestinians. Serious negotiations with authority and vision is essential to put an end to this tragic conflict. A new left alliance will have the tools to solve this conflict.

This will facilitate restoring Israel’s image and would also improve Israel’s relations with the moderate neighboring Arab states. It will also form a strong, united bulwark against Daesh and Islamist terrorist movements that threatens all the people of the Middle East. The new Israel can play a pivotal role in achieving this. The economic opportunities for a Middle Eastern Union with an open border policy similar to the EU would be a wonderful goal for which to strive. At this stage it seems altruistic and unachievable. All new solutions are born from dreams.