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Palestinians and Israel: Wrecking the peace process03/15/2008
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice meekly observed: "I have not hidden the fact that I think that there is a lot of room for improvement on both sides concerning road map obligations,"
That was a diplomatic way of portraying the grim reality: Both Israel and the Palestinian National Authority have been busy sabotaging the road map and the Annapolis peace process by what can be at best described as passive resistance. The Annapolis "process" turns out to be what one suspected it would be, a show for the foreign khawajas.
On the Israeli scorecard, we can put failure to remove outposts, failure to remove roadblocks in the West Bank an announcement that Israel will build more housing for Jews in East Jerusalem and constant "incursions" in the West Bank, in which Palestinian
The roadblocks, the incursions, the arrests and killings however, are a different matter. As bloody and ugly as they are, they are for the most part a necessary evil. They are probably responsible for the fact that there have been relatively few terror attacks. Both Mahmoud Abbas and Ehud Olmert, and even the clueless Condoleezza Rice, must be aware that a succession of major terror attacks from the West Bank would make the "peace process" totally unviable.
The potential is indicated by the recent bombing in Dimona and the shooting in East Jerusalem, but "you should see the ones that got away." The foiled attacks are as damning as the ones that occur, because they all indicate that the Palestinian Authority has really done absolutely nothing to disarm
The Fatah Al-Aqsa group was dismantled months ago according to President Abbas. But it is still around, and it praised the terror attack in Jerusalem. Abbas himself has been less than helpful. Those who think his suspension of talks with Israel following the Israeli raid in Gaza is justified, should explain why an Israeli suspension of talks after the massacre of Yeshiva students in Jerusalem would not have been equally justified.
Most ominous was the rhetoric Abbas used in an in interview in Al Doustour. Right-wing Zionists insist that the "peace process" is only part of the Fatah staged plan to destroy Israel. Abbas seems to be vindicating their worst prognostications: "About the resistance, Abbas said: It was I who, in 1965, had the honor of firing the first bullet. Many people, locally and abroad, know the resistance for what it is, how and under what circumstances it brings pride – and when it does not, what benefit can be derived from it, and what constitutes serious, genuine, and effective resistance. It is also commonly known when resistance may cause harm, and when the time, place, and circumstances are auspicious.
"[Abbas continued:] We [Fatah] had the honor of leading the resistance. We instructed everyone, including Hizbullah, as to what the resistance means. They were educated in our camps... At this time, I object to the armed struggle, since we are unable to conduct it; however, in future stages things may change.." Abbas, it seems, has nothing against murdering civilians, and as soon as it is practical and useful to do so in order to further the plan, Fatah will resume terror attacks. The roadmap commitment to ending terror is just a phase according to Abbas, though Israeli withdrawals from territories are expected to be permanent. What would be the point of creating a Palestinian state in order to make it more propitious for Abbas and the Fatah to resume terrorism? That sort of temporary condemnation of terror is not going to kindle any mass peace movement in Israel.
Ami Isseroff
Original text copyright by the author and MidEastWeb for Coexistence, RA. Posted at MidEastWeb Middle East Web Log at http://www.mideastweb.org/log/archives/00000680.htm where your intelligent and constructive comments are welcome. Distributed by MEW Newslist. Subscribe by e-mail to mew-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. Please forward by email with this notice and link to and cite this article. Other uses by permission. |
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Replies: 3 comments The fairy tale is over. Obama's pixy dust is wearing off. A few in the corporate media are finally starting to reveal some details about this man's judgment. I speak of Obama's long association with his spiritual advisor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Obama says he didn't know Wright was far, far left. While that is hard to believe, it says that Obama is not a very discerning judge of character. And it shows poor judgment for a presidential candidate to allow such an extremist to serve on his campaign. Rev. Wright says AIDS was created by the US government to kill black people. Come on! "I didn't know about that man, Rev. Wright." Is that what Obama is telling us? But there is more to come. Obama's friend, William Ayers, is an unrepentent terrorist. An Obama fund raiser, Rashid Khalidi, supports terrorists. Wait till these tidbits come out. Maybe they won't release them till after Obama wins the nomination. These associations with radicals show that Obama does not yet have the judgment nor the experience to be at the top of the ticket. Posted by soperson @ 03/18/2008 02:04 AM CST
soper… Dear editor: One of the most valid points in your article about Annapolis was that each side--Palestinians and Israelis--should teach history in their own schools the way their enemies would teach it. So as a first step toward peace, I, a Jewish American, part of the diaspora Jews, will do just that right here in your magazine. But I will take it one step further: I will teach that mutual history the way it is seen--not by the Palestinians--but as it is seen by fellow Jews and Zionists like Benny Morris and Ami Isseroff. I suspect you are familiar with them although 99% of Americans are not because of the biased and bigoted US corporate media. I would also include in that teaching, Professor Ian G. Lustik of the University of Pennsylvania. He is an expert on the subject of Israeli-Palestinian history. I think you are also familiar with him since you published one of his articles in your magazine. Mr. Morris, a renowned Zionist historian, has documented how Zionist terrorists stole the land of the Palestinians between 1947 and 1949, committing at least 24 massacres such as the one at Deir Yassin with the purpose of ethnically cleansing the Palestinians, a necessary element in establishing a majority Jewish state. Professor Lustik points out how the first secretary of state of Israel called this terrorism the smaller holocaust indirectly caused by the larger holocaust committed by Hitler. The secretary even mentioned taking some of the German-paid reparations to Israel and diverting them to the Palestinian victims of "The Tragedy" as the Palestinians refer to it. I believe Professor Lustik will also concede that the Israeli government doesn't even want to allow the refugees caused by The Tragedy and later acts of Israeli terrorism and ethnic cleansing to return to the West Bank or the Gaza Strip, let alone the actual land that was stolen from them within the current borders of Israel. Ami Isseroff, a Zionist for peace, gets into the nuts and bolts of one of the particular massacres committed by Zionist terrorists, the Irgun and the Stern Gang, at Deir Yassin. He explains how the terrorists shot and killed prisoners, women and children at close range. He also explains how the villagers of Deir Yassin had signed a peace treaty with the Zionists before they were attacked unmercifully. Oh, and as part of our history lesson for peace I have another source that is not Palestinian or Arab: "The Surrogate Colonization of Palestine" by Scott Atran. Mr. Atran points out the cause behind the riots of the 1920s in which Palestinians killed Jews. Wealthy Zionists who purchased a small portion of the land later to become Israel, purchased the land from those who stole it from the Palestinians, the Ottoman landlords. Only the Ottomans allowed the Palestinians to continue to work the land and make a living without having "legal" ownership to it. After the Zionists purchased this land--bought fenced property--they proceeded to kick the Palestinians off of the land they had worked and lived on for generations. I presume these wealthy Zionist thieves had armed gangs to protect them so the displaced Palestinians took out their anger on less well-armed Jews who may have been illegally immigrating into Palestine. And thus began the war that continues even now and extended itself into America on 911. So how's that for our first history lesson for peace? Posted by soperson @ 03/18/2008 02:07 AM CST i don't think tikkun ever published the above letter. i don't know why not. Posted by soperson @ 03/18/2008 02:29 AM CST Please do not leave notes for MidEastWeb editors here. Hyperlinks are not displayed. We may delete or abridge comments that are longer than 250 words, or consist entirely of material copied from other sources, and we shall delete comments with obscene or racist content or commercial advertisements. Comments should adhere to Mideastweb Guidelines . IPs of offenders will be banned. |
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