US MediationIsrael and Palestine
The US would like to believe it is fair and balanced and a fair broker for the conflict. Most of the rest of the world, and especially the Arab street, see things otherwise. Why? What do do we say and do to promote that view? Do we even recognise that we do it?
Thursday, February 16, 2006
[Palestinians] are already driven ... by fury, frustration and poverty. ... [don't] undermine Hamas government by putting impossible demands
The Right Way to Pressure Hamas - New York Times: "Published: February 15, 2006
America and Israel have to walk a very narrow line in defining their relations with a democratically elected Palestinian government built around Hamas, a party that not only endorses terrorism but also commits it. They cannot possibly give political recognition or financial aid to such a government. Neither can any country that claims to oppose terrorism. That defines the right side of the line.
On the wrong side lies the kind of deliberate destabilization that, according to a report by our Times colleague Steven Erlanger, Washington and Jerusalem are now discussing. That would involve a joint American-Israeli campaign to undermine a Hamas government by putting impossible demands on it, starving it of money and putting even greater restrictions on the Palestinians with an eye toward forcing new elections that might propel the defeated and discredited Fatah Party back to power.
The Right Way to Pressure Hamas - New York Times: "Published: February 15, 2006
America and Israel have to walk a very narrow line in defining their relations with a democratically elected Palestinian government built around Hamas, a party that not only endorses terrorism but also commits it. They cannot possibly give political recognition or financial aid to such a government. Neither can any country that claims to oppose terrorism. That defines the right side of the line.
On the wrong side lies the kind of deliberate destabilization that, according to a report by our Times colleague Steven Erlanger, Washington and Jerusalem are now discussing. That would involve a joint American-Israeli campaign to undermine a Hamas government by putting impossible demands on it, starving it of money and putting even greater restrictions on the Palestinians with an eye toward forcing new elections that might propel the defeated and discredited Fatah Party back to power.
Set aside the hypocrisy such a course would represent on the part of the two countries that have shouted the loudest about the need for Arab democracy, and consider the probable impact of such an approach on the Palestinians. They are already driven to distraction by fury, frustration and poverty. Is it really possible to expect that more punishment from the Israelis and the Americans, this time for not voting the way we wanted them to, would lead them to abandon Hamas?
In the long, sorry history of the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, there is not a shred of evidence to support the notion that pushing the Palestinian population into more economic desperation would somehow cause them to moderate their political views. In fact, experience teaches the exact opposite.
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
U.S. support has allowed Israel to violate Palestinian rights repeatedly | www.azstarnet.com �
U.S. support has allowed Israel to violate Palestinian rights repeatedly | www.azstarnet.com �: "Tucson, Arizona | Published: 02.13.2006
The surprising victory of the Islamic Party Hamas in Palestinian elections was due in part to the corruption of the ruling Fatah Party.
But many Palestinans rejected Fatah because, despite its moderation, it failed to gain recognition of Palestinian rights from Israeli Prime Minster Ariel Sharon, whose hard-line policies undercut Fatah's credibility with Palestinians and gave Hamas a boost." ...
...
Sharon refused to negotiate a final settlement with either Yasser Arafat or Mahmoud Abbas. Instead, he continued Israel's seizure of Palestinian land and water resources for the expansion of Jewish settlements in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian West Bank. During 2004, the number of settlers in the West Bank grew by 14,000 — more than the number taken out of Gaza. There are now 400,000 settlers in the West Bank, which includes Arab East Jerusalem.
U.S. support has allowed Israel to violate Palestinian rights repeatedly | www.azstarnet.com �: "Tucson, Arizona | Published: 02.13.2006
The surprising victory of the Islamic Party Hamas in Palestinian elections was due in part to the corruption of the ruling Fatah Party.
But many Palestinans rejected Fatah because, despite its moderation, it failed to gain recognition of Palestinian rights from Israeli Prime Minster Ariel Sharon, whose hard-line policies undercut Fatah's credibility with Palestinians and gave Hamas a boost." ...
...
Reality differs. Since the Oslo Accords of 1993, Palestinian leaders have been willing to accept a West Bank-Gaza Palestinian State on 22 percent of Palestine/Israel — the area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.
Sharon refused to negotiate a final settlement with either Yasser Arafat or Mahmoud Abbas. Instead, he continued Israel's seizure of Palestinian land and water resources for the expansion of Jewish settlements in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian West Bank. During 2004, the number of settlers in the West Bank grew by 14,000 — more than the number taken out of Gaza. There are now 400,000 settlers in the West Bank, which includes Arab East Jerusalem.
The existence of settlers, the settlements, and the confiscation of resources are all illegal under international law, namely the Fourth Geneva Convention and U.N. resolutions. The United States, however, has refused to pressure Israel to remove the settlements. Financial, military and diplomatic support from the United States has enabled Israel to grossly violate the human rights of Palestinian Muslims and Christians.
B'tselem, Israel's leading human- rights group, reported that during the 1990s Israel violated 29 of the 30 Articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in its treatment of Palestinians under Israeli occupation. Among violations (some war crimes): torture, collective punishment, destruction of thousands of homes and tens of thousands of fruit trees, killing of civilians, and confiscation of land and water resources (www.btselem.org). ...
