Moderate Palestinian's Perspective

For Israels, seeing peace is seeing the end of the occupation

2015-11-07T03:33:00.000-08:00

(This article first appeared in the Times of Israel on November 7, 2015)

In my last blog on this site, I made a profound statement. While I said that Israelis and Palestinians need to see the conflict from each other’s eyes, that is not the statement I am referring to. I said, believing that I would evoke some stark heartfelt emotions:

“Israel needs to have its first day of peace.”

I was expecting a reality check from Israelis. Seeing none amazes me.

No one said anything to me or replied in a comment about this profound statement which I say again in a more humanistic way:

No Israeli citizen has ever seen a day peace.

No one has questioned me about this statement because in reality and fact, it is a true statement.

Since May 15, 1948, Israel has been in a perpetual state of war. It has not had one day of peace. In fact, in Israel, no day is free from the fear of war as even on the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur in 1973 Israel had to go to war, once again. For over 67 years, no Israeli citizen can say that he or she has lived through one day of peace.

This should be shocking to the conscious, at least I thought it should be to Israelis. I do not know if most Israelis realize the stark reality of this statement.

The question that should be on every Israeli mind is, when will an Israeli child be born on a day of peace in the Holy Land?

By the same token, over 90% of Palestinians living in Palestine (the West Bank and Gaza), having been infants or born after the 1967 Six Day War, know nothing but the Israeli occupation of their land. And if we can look at those who are older than 67 years old, having been born prior to 1948, I would venture to say that 99% or greater of the people that make up the Palestinian/Israeli conflict have no recollection of what peace resembles in the Holy Land. Those who have migrated to Israel, having come from peaceful countries may believe that they are living in peace, but in all reality, the atmosphere is one of war–a war that can escalate at any moment and for any provocative reason.

This leaves only a very minute percentage of individuals in all of the Holy Land that have ever seen a day of peace or have not been ruled by occupation and those minute people are Palestinians who are 55 years old or older.

This also is a profound statement for Palestinians. I do know that Palestinians whether they live in Palestine or beyond realize the reality of this statement.

The constant question on Palestinian minds is when will the Israeli occupation end.

Having the first day of peace in Israel while Israel occupies Palestine is not a mutually exclusive reality. Israel cannot have peace while it occupies Palestine. Peace comes with the end of occupation. It does not come while the occupation endures decade after decade.

Thus the only opportunity for an Israeli child to be born in a peaceful environment is for Israel to end the occupation of Palestine. This is the reality that Israelis must face.

If Israel wants peace, it must end its occupation of Palestine.

As a Palestinian, I cannot express this reality in more clearer terms to Israelis. In case I have not gotten my message across, allow me to try a different means of expressing the reality.

The status quo of no peace and continued occupation cannot endure endlessly. Like water that reaches its boiling point, the occupation of Palestine has reached that point.

The reality is that the population growth of Palestinians is such that Israelis will be the minorities in the Holy Land by 2016. Currently, the population of Israelis and Palestinians in Israel and in Palestine is said to be about equal. With the birth rates of Palestinians greater than Israelis, it takes no great mathematical genius to calculate that the population of Palestinians will, in the very near future, be greater than the Jewish population.

Thus, how can Israelis, a coming minority, rule over the Palestinians, an emerging majority. While Israelis do not like to be compared to the White rule era of the country of South Africa, the stark reality is that the same concept of a minority suppressing the fundamental human rights of the majority is again being played out before our eyes.

Israelis can put on blinders and not accept the coming reality. Israelis may want the status quo to endure perpetually. However, the reality is that Israelis cannot have a day of peace without coming to terms with their occupation of Palestine.

If Israelis want to live in peace, they must end the occupation of Palestine.

Can Israelis and Palestinians See Each Other's Concerns?

2015-11-04T22:43:00.000-08:00

This article first appeared in the Times of Israel website on November 4, 2015.

In a Times of Israel blog post, Aaron B. Cohen wrote about a Chicago mock mediation event that involved a small part of the Palestinian/Israeli conflict and a dinner I had with him last week. In the article, he quoted what I wrote to him in an email as a prelude to the dinner. He challenged me, in the article, to post this statement on my Facebook page, which I accepted.

The statement which Aaron quoted was:

"Something went wrong along the way. Without putting blame on anyone — because each of us can point to atrocities committed by the other — we need to find common elements that bind us together. We can and should be able to find a solution to this mess but only if we leave our emotions at home or if we both understand each other’s emotions. What is missing is the human element. Each side is not seeing the tragic divide from the other side’s eyes.”

Saying that each side needs to see the conflict from the other’s eyes is not a hard statement to make.

If we are ever going to come to a peaceful resolution, we need to see the conflict from each other’s perspective. Rather, politicians on both sides are trying to appease their respective political base and thus statements which neither advance the peace nor calm the boiling tensions are made in the heat of passions and thus flame an already tenuous situation. This, of course, has tragic consequences.

The current crisis is a situation where the extremists on both sides of the conflict have, once again, ultimate control. The extremists on both sides continually destroy any hopes for peace, while the silent majority in the region composed of both Israelis and Palestinians in Israel and Palestine are standing idly by as mere spectators. This majority needs to recognize itself as the majority in Israel and Palestine and needs to join forces in order to isolate the extremists; and need to demand of their leaders to finally conclude a peace — not talk endlessly to no end.

Enough is enough!

I can say categorically that rockets launched at Israel are wrong. But can Israelis say that the siege of Gaza, Palestine is also wrong?

I can say categorically that when a Palestinian killed Israeli parents on October 1, 2015, it was wrong and I condemn it. But can Israelis say that the “price tag” attack by the settlers who burnt to death the infant, Ali Dawabsha and his father and mother in Durma, Palestine while sleeping in their home on the night of July 31, 2015, is also wrong and also to be condemned?

Can we not see that the “price tag” attacks by Israeli extremists settlers are terrorist acts just as the stabbing of Israelis on a bus by a Palestinian extremists?

Can we not see that the burning of Palestinian Christian churches is just as wrong as the burning of Joseph’s Tomb?

No one can deny that Israel needs security. But can Israelis deny that within the context of peace there is security?

Israelis need to have their first day of peace. Palestinians need an end to the decades old occupation and need their freedom.

Can both sides see the humanity in these statements?

Seeing the conflict from each other’s eyes is a must in order for peace to have any chance. The Palestinians know that the conflict was, is and will always be about the occupation of Palestine by Israel. The Israelis know that Israel needs to be a safe haven for Jews around the world after centuries of worldwide persecution.

The Palestinians have a fundamental right to acquire their freedom. Israelis need to understand this.

Israelis need to feel secure. Palestinians need to understand this.

Can both sides see the other’s concern?

For peace to have a chance, the Palestinian/Israeli majority needs to understand the conflict from each other’s perspective. They need to come together. American Palestinian and Jewish leaders need to join forces to bring the majorities in Israel and Palestine together. It is imperative that these two groups break their silence because the alternative is the continuation of the status quo — which is not a sustainable option, especially given the Palestinian population growth;
the continuation of more children on both sides being killed — which means more bloodshed; and the continuation of playing into the hands of the extremists — which means no peace.

The Palestinian and Jewish peace loving majority in the US and in the Holy Land must come together for peace.

Those who will undoubtedly criticize me for taking this stance, and perhaps Aaron as well, are thinking through a limited view, a periscope aimed at a dark tunnel, when they should open their eyes and see the panoramic landscape of the human dimensions involved.

Those who truly want peace need to stand up and be counted. I believe there is a majority of Palestinians and Israelis who want peace.

Alone they are each overwhelmed by the extremists on their respective sides.

Together, they can isolate the extremists on both sides.

Peace loving Palestinians and Israelis need to join forces.

The Beauty of Belladdi Under the Ugly Occupation

2015-09-08T14:44:00.000-07:00

After a 20 year absence from my ancestral home, I am here in the heart of Ramallah, Palestine a few minutes walk from the Manara, the town center. Though I lived in America for 48 years, leaving Ramallah, Palestine at the age of 6, I feel I am at home. Belladdi! My land! Though I physically left, my heart and mind stayed here in Ramallah where I grew up next to the old City Hall, the Baba coffee house and the old Dukan (store) Isheeni.

I returned (should I say visited?) to Palestine in 1995 as a member of the Palestinian American Congress Executive Committee delegation. We spent our 10 days in Palestine going to several meetings per day vising political, social, religious, educational and business leaders, so I didn't have the opportunity to visit relatives or to get the flavor of Palestine in general and Ramallah in particular. In retrospect, I should have stayed longer.

I am here now and as I frequently and fervently write about the political aspects from abroad, I longed to feel for myself the richness of my culture in Palestine. While sitting in the Nile Restaurant on 87th Street in Bridgeview, Illinois one gets a very small sampling of our culture but one does not really taste or feel or see or touch or hear the beauty of the language or smells the falafel cooked every 20 feet by street vendors or smiles as one street vendor shouts "Kaaik (round shaped toasted bread with seseme seeds) for one shakel (Israeli currency)" or appreciates the succulent figs and the yellish-green plums that simply fills your tastebuds with our culture. That is what I want to see, feel, hear, touch and taste and smell.

I have been here in Ramallah for two days now. The falafel sandwich made for me by Mahmoud whose restaurant is just a few doors from the Manara Square evoked my tastebuds beyond any sensation I have ever experienced. Maybe it was the mental anticipation, maybe it was the atmospheric surroundings, maybe it was being among my people, maybe it was my eyes that ate before I took my first bite or maybe it was my heart that reveled in the moment that enhanced the flavors of the falafel sandwich. Whatever it was, that sandwich was so good, I bought another and I devoured both.

Still I have not filled my stomach. There is so much more to see and taste. Palestine is a rich country, not by wealth from oil fiends but by the beauty of its hills and valleys; by its traditions and its culture; and by its people young and old. The olive groves are beauty to the eyes as the mind knows that our culture deeply appreciates the oil that comes from them. Yes the culture has been influenced by the political constraints imposed by the merciless Israeli occupation and indeed our music and our theatrical plays have that political element deeply embedded in them.

Rocks are also enmbedded in the landscape. Rock fences are a pleny and rocks, the symbol of our strenght, are everywhere along the roads. Roads are forever winding in Ramallah and its suburbs. Around every curve is another breathtaking sight. One's eyes are filled by the beauty of the land and the people.

I am seeing and describing a beautiful picture. I have yet to see, however, the refugee camps, I have yet to be stopped by a checkpoint. I have not been confronted by an Israeli Occupation Force soldier and I have yet to see the Apartheid wall.

In Ramallah, one can lose sense of the occupation. Businesses are flurishing, construction abounds and people are generally happy. Israeli occupational forces are no where to be seen. Life seems to be normal.

I feel engulfed by the beauty around me yet I know deep inside that that beauty is a camouflage as the human spirit is not free. The ugliness of the brutal Israeli occupation remains.

A cousin showed me his haweeya (ID pappers that every Palestian is required to carry) and then laamented that Israel allows him to go to Jerusalem only during holidays. The people, my people are in a prison.

Yet, the people are happy as they go about their daily lives. As I was walking around the Manara on Sunday, I noticed a vibrant happy people, though I wondered whether the many young men standing around were working or not.

As the per capita of PHds among Palestinians is the highest in the world, I wonder whether the talents of these young men were being wasted under the ugly occupation. How much more talent can Palestine give to the world under a free and democratic State of Palestine?

I wonder as I see and taste the beauty of Watanni (an Arabic word for nationalism not easily translatable)?

Israel's Shakespearean Plot to Punish Palestinians

2014-07-03T08:29:00.000-07:00

It has not been proven to me that members of Hamas or any other Palestinian committed the alleged murder of the allegedly missing Israeli teenagers. The scenario put out by the Israelis just does not make sense. Given the diplomatic failures or setbacks that Israel has suffered in the past several months leads many to believe that this kidnapping was an Israeli fabrication that was conjured up to achieve Israel’s real aim without bringing on the wrath of the world leaders.

Israel is vehemently upset at the Palestinian unification government that ended the 7 year rift between Fatah and Hamas, the two leading political rivals in Palestine. This is no secret. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s call to world leaders not to recognize the new Palestinian unity government was rebuffed, including U.S. and Western European leaders.

It is also no secret that Israel wanted to punish the Palestinian Authority for bringing Hamas into the Palestinian government. Israel, as the collector of duty fees on products imported to the Palestinian Authority, is withholding those fees as one form of punishment. But Israel wanted to do more.

The concoction of having 3 Israeli teenagers go missing was pre-told by non-other than the head of the Israeli intelligence agency, Mossad, one week before the alleged kidnapping. This “terrorist” kidnapping plot against 3 Israeli teenagers would elicit the support not only with Israelis but with foreign governments—a much needed element in order for Netanyahu to carry on his plan to punish the Palestinians for its unity government with Hamas. He needed to punish the Palestinians without engaging the wrath of the US and Western powers. Thus the Netanyahu government was presented with a story about 3 missing “innocent” Israeli teenagers—what a wonderful Shakespearean plot.

So Israel carried on with this Machiavellian scenario. A news blackout was imposed during the initial hours or days of the search. The plot was developing. The sympathy from around the world was pouring in as the Israeli media broadcast the names and images of the teenagers. Their mothers were crying.

The mothers even went to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland to plea for help. They left behind 198 Palestinian mothers whose children innocence was wasted in Israeli Military jails and over 1500 Palestinian mothers whose children were killed since 2000. Motherly instincts are not exclusive to Israeli mothers and thus I wonder if they spoke on behalf of all mothers.

This Shakespearean plot was such a masterful plan aimed at achieving two results. It would elicit the sympathy Israel needed after months of diplomatic setbacks and it would allow Israel, under the cover of “rescuing” its children, to punish the Palestinian Authority and Hamas for the unification government that Israel opposed.

Israel was suffering in public opinion. In April, 2014, Israel was blamed by U.S. officials, including Secretary of State John Kerry, for the collapse of the “peace” talks; settlement start announcements by Israel was hurting its image; the Palestinians united; and Palestine applied to 15 international agencies for membership. Divestment victories at U.S. campuses were gaining steam for the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against Israel. The Presbyterian Church voted to divest from 3 U.S. corporations that are profiting from the Israeli occupation. Western European countries called upon their businesses to refrain from any business with corporations that profit from the Israeli occupation.

Israel could not accept any more condemnation and needed a sympathetic ploy to do what it wanted. Thus the plot to punish the Palestinians for the reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah needed a cover. The scenario of having 3 Israelis being kidnapped by Hamas proved to be the cover Israel needed to carry on with its plot.

Under the cover of the alleged kidnapping and after gaining the needed sympathy of world leaders, Israel launched its media campaign and its Operation Brother’s Keeper, eloquently named to elicit maximum sympathy. It called up an army brigade which consists of 5,000 soldiers. Israel was going to war against the Palestinian Authority.

Israeli soldiers, in the past several weeks since the alleged kidnapping, freely and indiscriminately entered into over 1,000 Palestinian homes without any search warrants; killed 8 Palestinian children; arrested hundreds of Palestinian men; and ransacked homes—many times just in search of a TV which carried the World Cup games. Thousands of pictures where posted on social media sites showing Israeli soldiers blindfolding and dragging Palestinian children, as young as 7 years old off to prison. Israeli has bombarded an already devastated Gaza relentless for over the past week. The collective punishment against the Palestinian people was being carried out relentlessly and not a word was heard from world leaders.

When news broke that the 3 missing Israeli teens were found dead, Israel’s bombardment of Gaza escalated and the indiscriminate collective punishment against the Palestinian people went unabated and again without any condemnation by world leaders. Israel had achieved its objectives: gaining sympathy and punishing the Palestinians.

In analyzing the events of the past several weeks, the Shakespearean plot put out by Israel seems unrealistic. Killing the teenagers would not have served Hamas’ interests as the value of abducting Israelis is in the prisoner exchange. Murdering the teenagers has no value to Hamas, as the merciless bombing of Gaza has proven. Israelis did not like the prisoner exchange that was made to entice the Palestinians to renew the peace talks last year. In fact, Knesset members introduced legislation this year to prevent the Israeli government from agreeing to prisoner exchanges. Thus the chance of knowing that the teenagers were alive and held as a bargaining chip to exchange prisoners was not in Israel’s self-interest. Israel would have been in a real dilemma had the children been alive and it could not bargain for their release.

Thus the allegedly kidnapped teenagers were found dead. But Hamas never claimed responsibility. Again, it was not in Hamas’ interest to kill the teenagers.

Israel, a mastermind of staging media events, did not provide a picture of the bodies of the teenagers. They did not offer any evidence that members of Hamas committed the alleged kidnapping other than the preordained accusations by Netanyahu and his war hawk ministers.

The question is really not: Where is the proof that members of Hamas committed the alleged kidnapping and murder of these Israeli teenagers? The question should be: Who has the motive to present a scenario to the world that would gain sympathy for the preordained Israeli desire to punish the Palestinians for uniting? Shakespeare could not have written a better plot.

(Fadi Zanayed is an attorney and a Palestinian-American community activist. He blogs at http://fadizanayed.blogspot.com/ and his poetry collection is at http://poetrybyfadizanayed.blogspot.com/. He can be reached at FadiZ4u@yahoo.com)

Condemn All Murder Of Children

2014-06-30T18:55:00.000-07:00

The death of the three allegedly kidnapped Israeli youths saddens me. It is appalling but before we rush to judgment as to who killed them let us analyze the facts.

Israel came off one of its worst diplomatic months ever. In April, Israel reneged on releasing Palestinian prisoners it had committed to releasing and then it announced further illegal settlement housing starts amid US attempts to salvage the talks. US Officials blamed Israel. The Palestinians sought membership in 15 international agencies and are about to seek membership in the International Criminal Court. The Palestinians have ended 7 years of rift between Hamas and Fatah, much to Israel's chagrin. Countries across the globe, including the US, welcomed the new Palestinian unity government despite by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plea otherwise. France, UK and several other European countries warned their businesses not to do business with corporations that profit from the Israeli occupation of Palestine. The Presbyterian Church voted to divest from 3 US corporations who so profit.

Indeed, the diplomatic tide against Israel was being written on the wall.

A week before these youths went missing, the head of the Israeli Mossad predicted that 3 Israeli youths would go missing. Israel in all its communications demanded that the PA disavow the unification agreement between Hamas and Fatah. That was the Israeli intent behind its Operation Brother's Keeper. Israel may have already known the fate of the missing teenagers.

It is not beyond the realm of belief that Israel would sacrifice the lives of its citizens for the greater good, to gain sympathy from world public opinion. So let us not condemn anyone here because it is not proven if they were kidnapped, even the NY Times questioned the "alleged" kidnapping.

It is also within the realm of belief that Israel will fabricate charges on some innocent Palestinians to cover its tracts. Let us not forget the thousands of alleged confessions that Israel gained through the use of torture.

Let us not forget that the US courts found Mohammed Salah innocent despite the torture induced confession written in Hebrew. At Israel's insistence, Salah was put on the terrorist watch list, was stripped of his ability to work and support his family and was striped of any rights. He fought back against the Israeli accusations and won.

Yes, the murders of these 3 Israelis needs to be condemned in the strongest terms. But so does the murder of 8 Palestinian children during the massive operation to find the missing Israelis. The collective punishment perpetrated against the Palestinian population also needs to be condemned.

You cannot condemn one act and not the other.

Where Is The Outrage Against Israel?

2014-06-20T08:50:00.001-07:00

By Fadi Zanayed

The indiscriminate collective punishment imposed by the ruthless Israeli terrorist army in search of the allegedly kidnapped illegal Israeli settlers has gone unabated and the world is not in an outrage. In Chicago we have a major crisis of children being shot and killed on a daily basis and if the Chicago police raided the homes of citizens without search warrants and arrested Chicagoans at will based on an antiquated administrative detention law that does not charge or try those accused of wrong doing, the US would be in outrage. This does not happen in America because we are a democracy. We have a constitution–Israel does not not.

Israel has ransacked over 800 homes, has arrested more than 200 Palestinians, killed one child and produced such havoc that it strikes fear in the hearts of Palestinians. While Israel ruthlessly violates all international laws in its search for the 3 Israeli children, it has kidnapped 198 Palestinian children in its military jails. Let me emphasize: CHILDREN. Where is the outrage?

Israel displays the grieving mothers of the 3 Israeli children but the anguish of the 198 mothers of the Palestinian children abducted by Israel are ignored. Israel has every right to search for the missing 3 Israelis and everyone hopes that they return safe and sound back to their parents. But at the same time Israel must recognize that the right for children to be with their parents is not an exclusive right for Israelis alone. Palestinian children also have a right to be with their parents and not lingering in isolation inside Israeli prisons far away from their homes where there parents cannot visit them because Israel will not allow them to travel through military checkpoints.

The world continues to be outraged at the missing 300 African girls who were kidnapped last month. The world should be outraged at the kidnapping of the 3 Israeli children. And the world should be outraged at the illegal kidnapping of the 198 Palestinian children. The world should also be outraged at Israel for its ruthless indiscriminate collective punishment it is imposing upon the Palestinian population in direct violation of the Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.

Where is the outrage against Israel?

(Fadi Zanayed is an attorney and American-Arab Community Leader. He blogs athttp://fadizanayed.blogspot.com. His poetry is at http://poetrybyfadizanayed.blogspot.com. He can be reached at fadiz4u@yahoo.com)

Keeping the Momentum Going - Seek ICC Membership

2014-06-03T13:52:00.000-07:00

By: Fadi Zanayed

The momentum towards achieving a Palestinian State is swinging in favor of the Palestinians. With increased activity by Palestinians and supporters on social media sites with the Boycott;Divestment and Sanctions Movement (BDS); at college campuses, and in international diplomatic levels, the momentum has shifted. The question facing Palestinians is whether they can keep this momentum going?

The momentum in the social media is increasing. The video showing how Israeli soldiers killed 2 Palestinian children, who posed no imminent danger to the soldiers, during Nakba commemorations has gone viral--so much so that the UN and US State Department have independently called for a transparent investigation. To increase social media activity, the Palestinian authority should require internet and cellular companies in Palestine to install video cameras at major confrontational areas with the occupying Israeli army. Additionally, the Palestine should employ the children of jailed Palestinian political prisoners and pay them for video and picture evidence taken on the atrocities committed by Israeli soldiers. This will justify the payments that are going to families of imprisoned political Palestinians lingering in Israeli military jails.

The momentum with the BDS Movement is also increasing. The actions of the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) are getting widespread media coverage as they bring forth resolutions before the US universities' student governments to divest from corporations who profit from the Israeli occupation of Palestine. Many US university student body governments are taking up the issue of divestment. These university student body governments are engaged in a non-violent peaceful and democratic activity to bring public awareness of the Israeli apartheid practices and the US corporations that help Israel continue the occupation.

While the SJP students may not win every vote, the public discourse and awareness generated by these student's efforts are to be praised.

Israel is pulling all stops to swing the momentum back toward its favor and divert attention to its apartheid regime. University faculty are being provided junkets to Israel to persuade them against supporting divestment movements. Public relation firms are behind advertisement campaigns against the divestment movements on university campuses. Despite all the advertising and junk money, the BDS movement is growing stronger every day.

The momentum on Facebook, Twitter and other social media are also increasing. Each day more and more Palestinians and supporters are posting and sharing stories that bring to light what the Israeli occupation is doing to everyday lives of the Palestinians. Statements, articles, news stories, videos and pictures are being posted. A recent photo-shopped picture of Salma Hayek displaying a "#FreePalestine" message went viral with the message "Perception is Reality."

The momentum in Palestine is growing stronger and it must continue. The momentum generated by the brave Palestinian youth who daily confront the Israeli terrorist soldiers with rocks is growing--nothing can stop them for their human spirit to be free is insurmountable.

Neither Israel nor her supporters can stop this momentum. Sheldon Adelson's billions thrown at Republican candidates cannot stop this momentum.

The momentum on all fronts needs to continue to grow, especially the political front.

April, 2013 was a great month for the Palestinian cause, especially on the political front, despite the faltering of the "talks". The Palestinians sought membership in 15 nternational agencies and a unification agreement was signed by Fatah and Hamas, the two leading parties in Palestine. Even American officials blamed Israel for the faltering of the talks.

To keep this momentum going, a great majority of Palestinians now desire that Palestine seek membership in the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The momentum for seeking international organization membership and seeking to hold Israeli officials accountable for war crimes is now during President Barrack Obama's second term. Waiting to take action during a first term US president in 2016 will not be as effective as the new president, wishing to be re-elected in 2020, will then have to appease the supporter's of an entrenched Israel in return for the political contributions..

Now is the time for Palestine to seek membership in the ICC. President Abbas' must be under tremendous pressure as he recently stated that Palestine is not seeking such application. He did leave some encouragement when during the swearing in of the new unity government in Palestine he stated that any Israeli punitive action for the reunification between Fatah and Hamas will be countered on the international level.

The will of the Palestinian people in Palestine and in the Diaspora is to seek membership in the ICC. The pressure from a new US president in 2 1/2 years will be much greater as the political momentum will shift if action is not taken now.

President Abbas needs to strengthen the political momentum by seeking membership in the ICC and by bringing to justice those Israelis who have committed war crimes against Palestinians.

President Abbas can use the Nakba Rememberance Day killing of Nadime Siam Abu Nuwara, 17, and Mohammed Awad Salemeh Abu Thaher, 22, by the Israeli soldiers as a justification to seek membership in the ICC. He can use the video which shows that these martyrs posed no imminent threat to the soldiers and thus are criminally liable. This move will give great hope to the Palestinian people, especially in Palestine and it will give the Israeli leaders and soldiers pause before they fire another bullet aimed at Palestinian children.

Despite Israel's whitewash of this video, President Abbas needs to capture the moment to keep the political momentum going. He has a duty to protect the Palestinian people. Israeli soldiers are killing innocent Palestinians and they need to be brought to justice. ICC membership by Palestine is the next step to keeping the momentum going.

US/Israeli Interests Diverge as Palestinians seek UN agency membership

2014-04-03T12:01:00.000-07:00

The implications of Palestine seeking membership in UN and international organizations are seismic for Israel, Palestine and the US. The divergent interests of the US and Israel will come to a head in Congress as members will have to choose between US interests and the Israeli interests. For Palestine, it is now more at parity with Israel as the threat of seeking justice within these UN agencies makes Israelis shiver as the threats of international sanctions, economic boycott and international criminal trials for its current and former leaders loom in the horizon.

For the Palestinians, the decision to seek membership in UN agencies is a win-win move which was precipitated by Israel’s breach of its commitment to release the last of the 104 Palestinian prisoners it was holding before the Oslo Agreement. Palestinians were enticed by Secretary of State John Kerry to restart peace talks with Israel in July, 2013 on condition that 104 Palestinians will be released and that final status discussions would be addressed. The Palestinians agreed not to seek membership in UN agencies.

When Israel breached its part of the agreement, the Palestinians, seeing no progress on the final status issues, applied to 15 UN agencies for membership. Israel wanted Palestine to recommit to the talks beyond the April 29, 2014 deadline set out when the “talks” began but the Palestinians stated that the release of the prisoners was already agreed to and would not commit to extend the talks for the same agreement. The US then tried to sweeten the deal by considering releasing the notorious Navy spy Jonathan Pollard in exchange for the release of 400 Palestinian women and children prisoners held by Israel. (The reader should note very clearly that this is an admission by Israel that it is imprisoning Palestinian children.)

Additionally, Secretary Kerry elicited a show of “restraint” by Israel in new housing starts that did not include settlements in East Jerusalem and did not include housing starts already announced. On Tuesday, April 1, 2014, Israel, in what it thought was a cunning move before an agreement could be reached, announced over 700 new housing starts. This was the last straw for the Palestinians and the Palestinian Liberation Organization Action Committee unanimously voted to seek UN agency membership.

The divergence of US and Israeli interests was evident when Palestine was granted membership in the UN agency UNESCO in 2012. The US had to stop paying its membership dues in UNESCO as two US laws, over 20 years old, compel the US to de-fund any UN organizations which approves Palestine’s membership. The laws were intended to keep Palestine out of these organizations as a way to protect Israel. The law, however, was ill conceived for it has and will hurt the United States while protecting Israeli interests. Congress attempted to influence member nations of these organizations to vote against the acceptance of Palestine for fear of losing significant US funding. Members of UNESCO were not easily bribed.

For two years the Obama administration sought a waiver from Congress without success, and last November the U.S. lost its voting rights at UNESCO as a result of being two years in arrears. US Ambassador to the UN Samantha Powers urged Congress on April 2, 2014 to repeal or waive the law in its application to Palestine stating that defunding UN agencies that admit Palestine is not in the interests of the US. She stated that defunding these agencies would be a “double win” for the Palestinians. With US influence in these agencies diminished through losing its voting rights, Russia, China and even Cuba would take the lead.

UNESCO’s purpose is to contribute to peace and security by promoting international collaboration through education, science, and culture in order to further universal respect for justice, the rule of law, and human rights along with fundamental freedom proclaimed in the UN Charter. Some UNESCO sponsored projects include literacy, technical, and teacher-training programs; international science programs; the promotion of independent media and freedom of the press; regional and cultural history projects; the promotion of cultural diversity; translations of world literature; international cooperation agreements to secure the world cultural and natural heritage and to preserve human rights, and attempts to bridge the worldwide digital divide. These are all within the interests of the US but with the loss of its voting rights, that influence has been negated—all because Congress has put Israel’s interests ahead of the interests of the US.

A pro-Israeli Congress would be reluctant to allow Congressional members to vote their conscience to grant a waiver or repeal these laws. The Israeli lobby, true to its history of championing Israeli interests over US interests, will not allow Israel interests to be hurt and therefore, its considerable power over Congress will restrain Congressional members from voting for US interests and against Israeli interests. The Israeli lobby has demonstrated on numerous occasions that it champions Israel’s interest over the US interests; most recently over President’s policy visa vie Syria and Iran. The lobby in both cases wanted the US to attack these countries over a reluctant American public’s weariness over two unfunded wars.

With the Israeli lobby ever threatening each member’s election over their loyalty to Israel, members of Congress will be in a quagmire trying to decide whether they should act in the best interest of the US or Israel—or more accurately whether they are willing to put their own re-election interests at the mercy of the Israeli lobby or whether they will do the very thing they were elected—protecting US interests.

Secretary of State John Kerry was perceptive in January, 2014 when he stated that if a peace agreement is not reached, Israel will be further isolated. He must have foreseen that the US must now act in its own self-interest and cannot therefore base its international relations based on the interests of Israel.

The US cannot allow other nations’ political agenda to drive the US out of the UN and its agencies. The decision whether to fund these agencies must be based on the totality of US security, political, and economic interests served by the agencies. Congress will have to stand up for American interests and tell Israel that the divergence of US and Israeli interests is at hand. US foreign policy cannot be based on the interests of another nation.

U.S. diplomats have warned Israel that the United States cannot stop further Palestinian moves at the United Nations, especially if the current negotiations collapse—which they have despite the statement by Secretary Kerry to not write off the “talks”.

The move to seek membership in UN agencies is yet another step toward legitimacy for the Palestinian State after having won “non-member observer state” status in 2012 from the UN General Assembly. Legitimacy for the Palestinian Authority is also achieved from the Palestinian people who have been exasperated by yet another round of “talks” with Israel that are endless and lead to no end. A great majority of Palestinians, most of which are moderate and who were supporters of the Oslo Accords, have become frustrated with an endless state of talks that never end, that are always conditioned upon an agreement to agree on something else in the future. They were also frustrated that as the Palestinian Authority was conducting “talks” with Israel, Israel killed over 60 and wounded over 900 Palestinians; Israel kept building and building more Israeli settlement housing; and the illegal Israeli settlers were cutting down more and more Palestinian olive groves. Thus, taking the step to seek membership in UN agencies is very much favored by the Palestinian people in Palestine and around the globe.

Once Palestine is a member of UN agencies, it can seek to address the Israeli violations. For example, Article 2 of the Fourth Geneva Convention states that signatories are bound by the convention both in war, armed conflicts where war has not been declared, and in an occupation of another country's territory. In addition, the United Nations Security Council, in 1993, adopted a report that concluded that the Geneva Conventions had passed into the body of customary international law, thus making them binding on non-signatories to the Conventions whenever they engage in armed conflicts.

The Fourth Geneva Convention clearly states the illegality of an occupying power moving its people to occupied areas. The International Court of Justice has given an advisory statement regarding the Israeli wall built deep on Palestinian land. The advisory ruling in 2007 states clearly that as an occupying power, Israel is forbidden to settle in Arab areas captured during the 1967 war. Thus the status of the Israeli colonization (settlements as the press calls them) will be legally challenged through legal means once Palestine is granted membership in the Fourth Geneva Convention and the International Court of Justice.

Palestine will be in position not only to bring war crimes against Israeli officials but against countries and corporations who support or benefit from the occupation of Palestine. Tzipi Livni, Israel's foreign minister during the War on Gaza in 2008-2009, was cautioned by legal experts not to leave Israel if the Palestinians resorted to the “nuclear option”, i.e. seeking membership in UN agencies. Corporations worldwide, like Caterpillar, can be sued for aiding in the Israeli practice of demolishing Palestinian homes, 27,000 since 1967. Legal precedents have been set by the case against former Yugoslavia President Slobodan Milošević and against Shell Oil--which had to make a hefty settlement to Nigerian farmers after being indicted for human rights violations in its efforts to extract oil. The tide is turning towards justice for the Palestinian people.

By applying for membership in UN agencies, the Palestinians are on the road to achieving parity with Israel. Parity is much needed. The latest action by the Palestinian Authority may be the action that achieves parity. Parity has been thwarted by the diplomatic shield that the US has been giving Israel for more than 6 decades. That shield is evaporating as Palestine’s admission into these agencies has caused a diversion of US and Israeli interests.

Palestinian Exasperation - Israeli Desperation

2014-03-30T09:00:00.000-07:00

In July, 2013 United States Secretary of State John Kerry brought the Palestinian and Israeli parties to the negotiating table to discuss peace yet again. The deadline for those talks was set as April 29, 2014. To entice the parties to the table, certain agreements were made by both sides. But the alluring factor for many Palestinians was that final status issues would also be discussed. With less than a month before that deadline, we are entrenched in a dispute not over those core issues but about whether side issues will be met or whether the Palestinians will seek justice at international forums. Another 9 months have been wasted and the status quo has gone from exasperation to desperation.

There was a great reluctance among the majority of Palestinians to begin yet another chapter of talks with the Israelis. Many Palestinians felt and continue to feel that they do not need to endlessly talk to no real end and that talking to Israel served Israel’s interest to perpetuate the decades old cruel military occupation of their land and their people and preventing the Palestinians from seeking justice through international forums. Israel, instead of agreeing to stop all settlement building activities, agreed to release 104 pre-Oslo prisoners in four installments, the latest of which has been breached. The Palestinians agreed not to go to United Nations forums to seek international justice against the Israelis—and Palestinians have thus far kept their end of the bargain.

Now the talks are at a juncture which is not aimed at resolving the issues of the status of Jerusalem, the right of return for Palestinian refugees, the border issues or even water rights—a fundamental issue to any peace agreement but which has not been given much consideration by the parties and the media. Instead the topic of discussion is whether the Israelis will release the last batch of Palestinian prisoners and who will decide which prisoners will be released but only for extending the talks.

During the last 9 months of “talks” Palestinians have witnessed

over 60 Palestinians being killed and over 900 wounded by Israeli soldiers.
an increase in housing starts in the illegal settlements

o August 12, 2013."Israel approves 900 additional homes in East Jerusalem". http://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-approves-900-additional-homes-in-east-jerusalem/

o On 10 January 2014. Israel approved plans for 1,400 settler homes. http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/01/10/us-palestinians-israel-settlements-idUSBREA090KW20140110

o January 21, 2014. Peace hopes fade as Israel plans 381 more settler homes http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/afp/140121/peace-hopes-fade-israel-plans-381-more-settler-homes-0

reports of olive trees being cut down are rampant in the media. Here is but a sampling:

o March 27, 2014 Settlers cut down 50 olive trees near Nablus http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=685271

o October 5, 2013 Palestinian farmer: West Bank settlers destroyed 129 olive trees http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/1.550637

o October 21, 2013 Israeli Settlers Chop down more Palestinian Olive Trees (having destroyed 800,000 since 1967) http://www.juancole.com/2013/10/settlers-palestinian-destroyed.html

o October 19, 2013 ISRAELI SETTLERS ACCUSED OF DESTROYING PALESTINIAN OLIVE TREES http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2013/10/19/israeli-settlerschopdown100treesinwestbankvillage.html

o March 3, 2014 Israeli settlers destroy olive trees in West Bank http://www.presstv.com/detail/2014/03/03/352980/israelis-destroy-olive-trees-in-wb/

The results of the talks have been a step forward for Palestinians, not in terms of achieving a State anytime soon, but in terms of positioning in negotiations. While it is the Palestinians who were and continue to be exasperated, it is the Israelis who are desperate. The Palestinians have been exasperated by 20+ years of endless talks that have led to no end. Palestinians are no closer to a State then in 1993 or the last 9 months. The Israelis are desperate to prevent the Palestinians from seeking justice at UN forums, especially at the Human Rights Commission and at the International Criminal Court. Additionally, Israelis are deathly afraid of the Boycott, Divest and Sanctions Movement which is growing by leaps and bounds. Secretary of State Kerry has warned Israel of a third Intifada and further isolation.

Continuing the “talks” without any real progress to date is an exercise in futility for Palestinians and will only serve Israel’s interests. By agreeing to the continuation of the talks, Palestinians will allow Israel to buy additional time to continue building more settlements; continue building the apartheid wall; continue to murder, wound and imprison more Palestinians; and continue to uproot more and more Palestinian olive trees. Additionally, the abusive Israeli military checkpoints will not be eased and Israeli dominance over Palestinian lives will go unabated.

Exasperated by another Israeli demand to recognize Israel as a Jewish State, Palestinians obtained the support of the Arab League in rejecting this demand. This demand was not imposed upon the Jordanians or the Egyptians when Israel negotiated peace treaties with these countries. Additionally, this was not addressed in the Oslo Accords or any of its ancillary agreements. It is yet another demand creatively concocted by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not for any altruistic purpose but for Israel’s selfish purpose—to kill the peace process. This is not Nethanyahu’s first attempt to redefine terms or impose new wordings in order to kill the peace process. In 1996 during his first stint as Prime Minister, he changed the Madrid Conference formula from “land for peace” to “land for security” which inevitably destroyed the Oslo movement towards a comprehensive peace.

Today, Netanyahu is concocting all sorts of schemes to maintain the status quo for as long as possible and to preventing the Palestinians from seeking justice at international forums. All the following proposals are aimed at eliciting a rejection so as to blame someone other than Israel for the failure of the “talks”:

· Besides, the Jewish State recognition demand, Netayahu wants to maintain a military presence in the Jordanian valley thus eliminating a border between Palestine and Jordan.

· March 2, 2014. Israel: Stop nuclear Iran and we’ll agree to Palestinian state http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/world_news/Middle_East/article1381901.ece

· March 23, 2014 Swap proposed over release of Palestinian prisoners and spy (Jonathan Pollard) http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/850216.shtml#.UzAZsPldWSo Israel’s yet another attempt to have the notorious Israeli spy released from an American prison.

· Netanyahu earlier tried to tie the Wye River Agreement to the release of Jonathan Pollard in October, 1998. http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4461414.html

The one proposal that will win over hearts and minds for peace is not even suggested by Netanyahu—freezing settlement activity. While Netanyahu does not want peace, he wants the peace talks to endlessly go on to no real end. This duplicity in political posturing has caught up with him as the world understands his witty proposals are not aimed at furthering peace but at perpetuating the Israeli hegemony over the Palestinian people and land.

After nine months of “talks” there is a complete perpetuation of everything negative about the occupation. Palestinians are positioned at this time with a stronger negotiating power. They should use this power effectively.

The “talks” can go on for another 6 months but only if the Palestinians extract certain conditions from the Israelis. Palestinians should demand the following in exchange for not pursuing unilateral diplomatic actions in international forums, such as taking Israel to the International Criminal Court:

Demand that any further Palestinian deaths at the hands of Israeli soldiers be investigated by a trilateral Palestinian/Israeli/US tribunal.
Demand that all Israeli settlement building activity in the West Bank and Jerusalem be frozen, including but not limited to “natural growth.”
Release of additional Palestinian prisoners including Marwan Bargouti
Demand that a joint tribunal of Israelis and Palestinians will investigate and prosecute those responsible for destroying the Palestinian olive trees.
Demand that Israel arrests and tries Israeli settlers who commit crimes against Palestinians.

Should Israel not agree to these demands, Palestinians should walk away from the “talks”. There is no need to discuss anything with Israel while Palestinian rights, land and dignity are continually trampled upon.

Should the Talks Collapse, Palestinians should then then employ the following (from my article Should the Talks Collapse—What Then? http://fadizanayed.blogspot.com/2013/09/if-talks-collapse-what-then.html)

Palestinians should demand that Fatah and Hamas reconcile.
The Palestinian police should be ordered to take their guns and give them to the Israeli soldiers at the checkpoints. We need to be David using a rock against the military might of the Big Israeli Army. We do not need the guns that are not effective against the Mighty Israel Army. We should confront Israel with our stones from Mother Earth against the tanks and helicopter gunships.
The Palestinian Authority should no longer accept money from donor nations. We cannot afford to be bribed into complacency and to accept the status quo of a continued brutal military occupation.
Palestinians should use their cameras, camcorders and cell phones to inundate Facebook, Twitter, blogs and all forms of social media with images of the atrocities of the Israeli army.
Support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel
Palestinians need to organize a coherent message of non-violence that needs to be shared by thousands on these social media outlets. Throwing stones against the military occupier is within the international right of Palestinians to resist the Israeli occupation of Palestine.
Palestinian youth need to understand the power of the land and use it against the military occupation forces. This is not a call to arms but a call to repel the occupation.

Additionally, Palestinians should do what the Israelis fear most—go directly to the International Criminal Court and hold Israeli officials accountable for its human rights abuses toward Palestinians.

هل الجنود الإسرائيليين إرهابيين ؟

2013-12-04T08:07:00.000-08:00

قبل عدة أيام ، تم شاب فلسطيني 17 عاما ، و توفي في عيد ميلاده . أطلق جنود الاحتلال النار عليه و اردوه قتيلا بعدة طلقات على نقطة تفتيش في الخليل ، فلسطين. ثم انخرطوا بنشر دعاية بادعاء أن الشاب الفلسطيني كان يحمل مسدسا لعبة و وجهه إليهم. يا لها من قصة غير قابلة للتصديق من قبل المحتلين ؟

أولا ، أين هو هذا المسدس اللعبة ؟ ألن يظهره المحتلين مع القصة بنية جعل قضيتهم قابلة للتصديق ؟ ثانيا ، كيف يمكن لشاب فلسطيني ، ولد ونشأ مع الخوف في قلبه من جنود الاحتلال ، أن يكون بهذه السذاجة ليلوح مسدس لعبة في وجه جندي الاحتلال ؟ وقد استحضرت جنود الاحتلال المسدس اللعبة عندما ذكرت انه حصل عليه أثناء عيد ميلاده. الآن، لو قال المحتلين انه لوح مسدس حقيقي ، القصة تكون أكثر قبولا. سنوات من تراكم الإحباط ضد جنود الاحتلال قد يؤدي بشاب فلسطيني لمحاولة قتل المحتلين. أستطيع أن أصدق ذلك، ولكن ليقولوا انه كان يحمل مسدسا لعبة - هذا مجنون.

في مناقشات مع مختلف أنصار جنود الاحتلال، قمت باثارة نفاق عدم تسمية حادثة اطلاق النار في مركز تجاري في أوريغون مول الأخيرة عمل إرهابي ولكن كان يمكن أن يتم ذلك إذا وقع ذلك الفعل نفسه في مركز تجاري بتل أبيب . قام أنصار الاحتلال الإسرائيلي بتعريف الارهاب كالأتي: " يهدف إلى التسبب في الوفاة أو إلحاق إصابات جسمانية خطيرة في صفوف المدنيين أو غير المقاتلين بهدف ترويع مجموعة سكانية أو إرغام حكومة أو منظمة دولية على القيام أو الامتناع عن القيام بأي عمل " . وأظن أن هذا تم نسخه من مصدر موثوق .

باستخدام هذا التعريف ، قمت باثارة سؤال: هل يمكننا الاتفاق على أن الغرض من الجندي الإسرائيلي هو غرس الخوف في المدنيين الفلسطينيين ؟ ثم سألت ، في ضوء هذا التعريف ، هل يعتبر جندي الاحتلال الاسرائيلي الذي قتل شابا فلسطينيا في الخليل، فلسطين، "إرهابي ؟ "

ا شك في أن في 45 سنة من احتلال الضفة الغربية وقطاع غزة ( وأنا أعتبر غزة لا تزال تحت الاحتلال ) أن جنود الاحتلال الإسرائيلي ( عوزي و المستوطنين غير الشرعيين السخرية ) تسببت في "موت أو إلحاق إصابات جسمانية خطيرة في صفوف المدنيين أو غير المقاتلين ، " أي السكان الفلسطينيين . وأنا أتحدى أي شخص أن يجادل خلاف ذلك.

اذن ما هو الغرض من الجندي الإسرائيلي ؟

قبل أن أجيب على هذا السؤال، اسمحوا لي أن أقول أنه إذا كان من الممكن أن تضم إسرائيل الضفة الغربية لها معنويا، لفعلت بسن تشريعات تسمح لها بذلك منذ عقود. لم يفعلوا لعدم توفر لديهم أي صفة قانونية تمكنهم من القيام بذلك. يريدون ضم الضفة الغربية إلى إسرائيل و ذلك باستخدام سياسة ممنهجة غير قانونية لمصادرة الأراضي الفلسطينية ، بادعاء أن الأرض هي " متنازع عليها "، ولكن لا أحد يصدق هذه الحجة .

تكتيك آخر تستخدمه إسرائيل ، و هنا يأتي دور الجندي الإسرائيلي، هو تكتيك اجبار اكبر عدد ممكن من الفلسطينيين على مغادرة الضفة الغربية.

ما هو التكتيك الذي يستخدمه المحتل ؟

الخوف !

الغرض من جندي الاحتلال الإسرائيلي في الضفة الغربية هو غرس الخوف ، أي تخويف السكان أو " على سبيل المثال... على القيام أو الامتناع عن القيام بشيء ما . و القصد من ذلك هو غرس الخوف في الفلسطينيين للسيطرة عليهم و جعل حياتهم بائسة لدرجة تدفعهم بالقيام بفعل لا يقوموا به عادة، وهو ترك الأرض.

وبالتالي ، فمن المنطقي ، بالنظر إلى تعريف الإرهاب الذي قدموه لي أنصار الاحتلال الإسرائيلي،فان جندي الاحتلال الإسرائيلي هو إرهابي . هو/هي هناك لفعل شيئا واحدا : للسيطرة على السكان الفلسطينيين ، لتخويفهم ، لجعل حياتهم بائسة.

كيف يتم تحقيق ذلك؟

تنتشر في الضفة الغربية العديد من الحواجز العسكرية اللا إنسانية والمعيقة يحرسها جنود الاحتلال والتي تعرض الفلسطينيين عمدا لشتى أنواع الاهانات والمضايقات. بل وهي سياسة منهجية يومية تنفذ يوميا على مدار السنة. في أي وقت من الأوقات، حتى في منتصف الليل، يستطيع جنود الاحتلال هدم الباب أي بيت فلسطيني و البحث عن والاستيلاء على ما يريدون، و سحب أي فلسطيني إلى السجن بحجة الاعتقال الإداري . إذا لم يكن هذا خوفا ، وهو خوف مستمر كل ثانية من كل يوم في حياة كل فلسطيني ، فلا أعرف ما هو الخوف.

وبالتالي ، إذا كان الخوف هو الغرض من وجود الجندي الإسرائيلي في الضفة الغربية ، فانه يجب أن يكون إرهابيا .

Movie Review: Twelve Years a Slave – Decades of Occupation

2013-10-27T07:00:00.000-07:00

This weekend I viewed the movie Twelve Years A Slave. As I sat throughout the movie and for five minutes afterwards I was numb, bewildered and astonished, unable to move from my seat. I just don't know how African-Americans endured such cruelty, such horror, such brutality, such a violation of every indignity known to man. Then I thought about what Israel has done and is currently doing to the Palestinians and while I cannot personally relate and while I do not want to belittle the dreadful era of American history known as slavery, I am perplexed to understand how man can commit such inhuman violations upon his fellow man. Slavery and occupation are abhorrent attributes of the evil that man can inflict upon man. Slavery has been constitutional banned in America. Occupation is still in our midst in Palestine.

Twelve Years A Slave is a powerful movie which depicts the savagery of slavery like no other movie ever has. The arousal of our emotions is deliberate but you have to be spineless if you are not moved- by the brutality of the long hours of hard labor; by the whippings, even for the minuscule deviation from the white master’s rules; by the cramped and unsanitary living conditions; by the indignity of being constantly raped by the master; and by a constant dehumanization of a race. But there is something more in this movie to make you wonder beyond what you see on the screen.

As I scrutinized the movie on the big screen, I wondered how man can be so malevolent towards another, so callous to the deprivation of another’s human rights and so righteously barbarous even when interpreting the words of the Prince of Peace. The lure of cheap labor and the exploitation of another unlike “your image” for profitable gain based on a warped perception of superiority over another race are powerful persuasive monetary and narcissistic incentives that induce the worst trait of human behavior to dominate. Hitler used this glorified perception of superiority to attempt to conquer Europe and the world and also to attempt to annihilate the Jews. The Southern Whites in pre-civil war America needed a cheap labor force to pick the cotton fields and chop the sugar canes in order to keep their large multi-acre plantations and lavish lifestyle and they justified their actions within their own twisted and malignant minds by using the words of Jesus in support of their immoralities. The exploitation of the “uneducated” Africans presented the cheap labor force needed by Southern Whites to perpetuate their decadently self-centered existence. Besides Africans were different than Whites and identifiable in such a way as to be controlled.

Thank God for the abolition of slavery in America.

Within the 150 years after the abolition of slavery, we find that the lessons of how not to treat our fellow man have not been learned.

· The egocentric Nazis attempted to claim the German race superior to all other people and they galvanized the emotional charge of a defeated nation in World War I into another world war that saw a holocaust beyond imagination.

· At its height, the British Empire colonized over 458 million people, one-fifth of the world's population at the time. The empire covered almost a quarter of the Earth's total land area. Revolutions around the globe in America and India and elsewhere attest to the abomination of what Britain has done throughout the centuries to exploit other people.

White South Africans subjugated the native Black South Africans to apartheid in 1948 but the precursors to that system were embedded into that region over a century before. It was not until the release and election of Nelson Mandela (1990 and 1994 respectively) that the human spirit of the Black South Africans was set free.

Many countries in the world have not learned these lessons and therefore, much to the disappointment of those who champion human rights, we see repeated violations against humanity. Paradoxically, Israel, which should be the chief advocated of human rights given its citizen’s memory of the holocaust and their “never again” mantra, is the chief country which repeatedly violates the Fourth Geneva Convention regarding the protection afforded to civilians in an occupied territory. Israeli atrocities against Palestinians have been documented extensively in the past forty to fifty years.

The brutal military occupation of Palestine by Israel is not unlike slavery in America and as I sat in my theater seat squirming within my mind at the horrific scenes of Twelve Years A Slave, I could not help recall what I read about the recently arrested Palestinian Rasmiah Odeh in Chicago, Illinois, USA.

As local news accounts flashed about Rasmiah having allegedly not disclosed her imprisonment by Israel for “terrorist” acts she allegedly committed in Jerusalem in 1969, I quickly did a quick Google search of her. To my amazement, the first thing I read was the following about her torturous interrogation by Israeli Mosad agents:

In February 1969, Rasmiah Odeh was arrested and brought to Moscobiya [prison]. Her father, Joseph and two sisters were detained for interrogation. Joseph Odeh was kept in one room while Rasmiah was beaten nearby. When they brought him to her she was lying on the floor in blood stained clothes. Her face was blue, her eye black. In his presence, they held her down and shoved a stick up her vagina. One of the interrogators ordered Joseph Odeh "to fuck" his daughter. When he refused, they began beating both him and Rasmiah. They again spread her legs and shoved the stick into her. She was bleeding from the mouth, face and vagina when Joseph Odeh fell unconscious. http://www.palestine-encyclopedia.com/EPP/Chapter22_1of4.htm

In Twelve Years a Slave there is a scene in which the main character, Solomon Northup, is ordered to whip a female slave, Patsey, and when he hesitates, a gun is pointed at his head as the enraged “master” threatens to indiscriminately kill all the “Niggers.” Reluctantly, Solomon beats Patsey mercilessly and when his conscience no longer allows him to continue the whipping, the master takes over, but only to appease his wife as she knows that her licentious husband favors Patsey whom he repeatedly rapes.

That horrific scene on the big movie screen bellowed out the screams of Patsey but in my mind’s eye I also heard the screams of Rasmiah. The penetrating pain of whip marks upon Patseys’ back horrified me as I recalled the descriptive brutality inflicted upon Rasmiah.

Like the White Southern, the Israeli military brutality subjects Palestinians into a submissive state of being in order to exploit the cheap labor that Palestinians are compelled to offer the Israeli middle and upper class. Prior to the Oslo Accords, the Israeli military occupation administration of the West Bank and Gaza would not issue building permits for Palestinians (in Area A) thus leaving Palestinians clustered into shanty homes that can never be improved or expanded. This is not different than the shacks that were loosely built to house ten or more slaves in a single room.

Deprivation of basic rights such as housing, education, speech, assembly and representation in government are all denied by the oppressor. Slaves could not read or write and when Solomon is exposed as to his writing ability, he must deny it to save his hide from the wrath of an insecure oppressor who fears education among the oppressed. Israel routinely closes Palestinian schools and in many cases turned the buildings into military bases for the occupation.

According to a 2009 Palestinian Ministry of Education and Higher Education report:

“Since 2004 the IDF [Israeli Defense Forces] shelled and invaded 13 colleges and universities, “shelled and broken into”, 288 schools, overtook and converted 43 schools into military barracks, and disrupted 1125 school”.

During the First Intifada (which literally translates as the shaking off the occupation) in 1987 through 1992, Palestinian education was effectively made illegal by the Israeli occupation. Palestinian universities, schools and even Kindergartens were closed down by Israeli issued military order for nearly five years. http://organizations.bloomu.edu/gasi/2009%20Proceedings%20PDFs/RahmanImpact%20of%20the%20Israeli%20Occupation%20on%20Palestinian%20Education%20for%20GSIA.pdf

All this has come after the Oslo Accords (Treaty between the Palestinian Liberation Organization and Israel) first signed in 1993 at the White House Rose Garden.

In Twelve Years A Slave, Solomon was once a free man and living comfortably as a violinist in Boston, Massachusetts with his wife and two children. He was separated from them when he went to Washington D.C. (a slave territory at the time—about 1842) to perform when he was captured and covertly shipped to the deep South to be sold as a slave. Other slaves never knew what being free meant as they were born into slavery. In Palestine, a great majority of Palestinians know nothing but the brutal Israeli military occupation. Generations are being born into a submissive state where a gun is pointed at their heads and while they are not slaves subjected to the cruelties of the White Southern as Africans, their human spirit is nevertheless imprisoned and they are not free.

In the end, Solomon was freed when a Canadian working with him on the plantation agreed to write a letter for him to his family. This started a chain of events (not in the film) which freed him back to his family.

Who will write a letter of conscience to the world to set the Palestinian human spirits free?

IF THE "TALKS" COLLAPSE--WHAT THEN?

2013-09-14T05:51:00.000-07:00

I have always been very optimistic that peace between the Palestinians and Israelis will one day be achieved. Yet, I cannot be the optimist I once was about the new round of “peace talks” recently launched by Secretary of State John Kerry. For the sake of peace, however, I, as well as the majority of Palestinians, hope that peace will finally be achieved although we are not holding our breaths. This is the last chance for peace.

On the 20^th Anniversary of the Oslo Accords, which I witnessed on the White House Rose Garden, it is fitting to say that we have been talking endlessly to no real end. What many perceived as the final chapter of the long enduring conflict was only a mirage in the desert seen by Palestinians while the Israelis knew that the thirst for peace would not be fulfilled. With each passing unattained deadline; with the quadrupling of colony activity by Israeli right wing fanatics; with each assault on Gaza; and with the building of the Apartheid Wall, as well as many other measures that deflated rather than elevated the prospects for peace, I, along with a great majority of Palestinians, have become pessimistic. Secretary of State Kerry’s attempt to broker a Middle East peace does not alleviate this changed attitude.

Ever since the Madrid Conference in 1991, we have been talking with the Israelis. Except for a limited, very limited, autonomy in the form of an “authority” over only populous Palestinian cities called Area A, the “talks” have led to a massive confiscation of Palestinian land in the West Bank and an increased hawkish mentality within Israel that will not dismantle the occupation’s military apparatus but rather has fermented that hateful feeling that the insidious Israeli occupation of the West Bank and its decadent blockade of Gaza will last forever. All the while, Israel tells the world that Palestinians in Gaza cannot oppose, in any form, the open-air prison that Israel imposes. Palestinians cannot fire rockets into Israel; cannot seek United Nations statehood; and cannot attempt to go to the World Court to bring Israeli leaders before an international tribunal for international war crimes. We cannot even have democratic elections unless the outcome of the elections is what Israel and the US will accept.

Agreements were made but not regarding final status maters—which kept getting put on the back burner that never gets lit. The Oslo Accords called for final status negotiations to begin no later than May 1996. Fast forward seventeen years later on the 20^th Anniversary of Oslo. Palestinians and Israelis are now “talking” once more after a three year stall due to Israeli refusal to freeze its expansion of its colonies on Palestinian land and their insistence of no preconditions to talks, while the Palestinians did not want to talk for the sake of talking and wanted to finally discuss a final status agreement. After a concession by Israel to release Palestinian political prisoners (prisoners who should not be prisoners in the first place), the pressure from the United States, a leading donor country, was too great for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to overcome and he finally relented to the “talks”. So we are now talking, yet again.

So here we are 20 years later waiting for the final status talks to conclude. While these “talks” are clouded in secrecy, the general sentiment among Palestinians is that this should be the final “Oslo” approach to attaining peace. Talking for the sake of talking will no longer be acceptable if the outcome of the “talks” does not bring forth a comprehensive peace agreement. The meaning of a comprehensive peace agreement does not mean that it is conditioned upon issues to be agreed upon in the future. It means a final agreement, an end to the conflict, a fully implemented peace treaty that covers all aspect, all issues and all-encompassing matters.

Comprehensive peace agreement also means that the following major issues will be resolved:

· Jerusalem’s status

· Palestinian refugee right to return or be compensated

· Established secure borders of the two states

· Water rights and control

· Removal of colonists in the West Bank or incorporating them into a Palestinian State

If the “talks” do not lead to a comprehensive peace agreement, a different Palestinian strategy needs to emerge. A strategic discussion of that alternative path to be addressed now, less we continue to stagnate for years without any real direction.

I am no supporter of violence and strongly believe that the rockets launched from Gaza into Israel and the use of suicide bombers against civilian targets leads to a negative perception of the Palestinians. Yet, I also strongly believe that those under occupation have a fundamental right to resist that occupation. I equate the Palestinian right to resist to that of the American colonies right to declare independence against a King who amassed troops in the Colonies to control the population, who taxed them without representation and who imposed a series of intolerable acts upon Americans. The grievances that Palestinians have against Israel are not less intolerable. They include:

· Taxation in the Palestinian territories is beholden to the whims of the Israeli government. Israel collects about two-thirds of the Palestinian Authority‘s self-generated revenue which, since the 2006 Palestinian legislative election, has been routinely withheld by Israel. No self-respecting people would tolerate this. The Thirteen American colonies did not and neither should the Palestinians.

· Israel has two sets of laws for two peoples—which clearly show that Israel is practicing apartheid:

o Israelis living illegally in the West Bank are allowed to carry Uzi submachine guns which they use to intimidate Palestinians. Palestinians, on the other hand, are not allowed to carry any form of arms, including rocks.

o These gun-taunting Jews are never prosecuted for their criminal activities including the destruction of Palestinian olive groves.

o License plates on the West Bank are color coded to inform the soldiers whether the occupants are Jews or Palestinians.

o By-pass roads are for the exclusive use of Jews while Palestinians are subjected to dehumanizing military checkpoints.

o Palestinians are brutally subjected to imprisonment under military administrative detention orders that are renewable every six months; no formal charges are ever presented in open court; and no trial is ever forthcoming. Many Palestinians linger in Israeli military jails without ever having been accused of any crime and without being tried in court. Their detention is summarily extended under the guise of the military detention used by the British Mandate law of 1945 entitled Law on Authority in States of Emergency. As many as 200 Palestinian children, some between the ages of 12 to 15, are currently detained in such fashion. In July, 2013, Israeli soldiers even detained a 5 year old child.

o Palestinians are not free to move from one part of the areas controlled by the Palestinian Authority to another and cannot go from the West Bank to Gaza or vice versa. Abusive military checkpoints dot the landscape, many of which are mobile, leaving the Palestinian population to wonder how long a normal 10 minute trip between Ramallah and Beir Zeit will take—sometimes hours.

· Israel has built an apartheid wall

o That divides and encircles towns into conclaves with controlled military gates that subject the Palestinians to the whims of the Israeli soldiers. This has created many open-air ghetto/enclave prisons;

o That divides landowners from their farms thus depriving the use of the land which benefits Israeli farmers;

o That divide relatives from each other;

o That inhibits the flow of commerce, thus imposing a stranglehold upon the Palestinian economy; and

o That cuts into more than 8.5% of Palestinian land on the West Bank an area that is less than 22% of the original partition by the United Nations in 1948.

No people can tolerate living under such grievances. The human spirit, inherent in all peoples, will not tolerate a permanent status which subjugates their inalienable right to be free. If the current “talks” do not end the Israeli military occupation of Palestine, the Palestinian human spirit needs to find another path to freedom. Looking back at the endless path that the Oslo peace process has taken over the past 20+ years would beget Palestinians to search for a new path to the inevitable desire for the human spirit to be free.

The first Palestinian Intifada which began in December, 1987 paved the road to the Madrid Conference in 1991. Talks ensued thereafter only to be usurped by secret talks in Oslo, Norway which lead to the Oslo Accords signed on September 13, 1993 at the White House Rose Garden. The Palestinian Authority took root in the West Bank and Gaza; hopes for peace were so high that many Palestinians activists became complacent. Then the peace process was derailed when Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated by an Israeli extremist and by Palestinian suicide bombers, both bent on scuttling the peace process. Benjamin Netanyahu became the Israeli Prime Minister and changed the Madrid Conference formula from “land for peace” to “land for security” demonstrating that the Israeli use of the English language was superior to that of the Palestinians in that the former knew how to play on the sympathies of the American public. Netanyahu’s self-proclaimed efforts to kill the Oslo Accords, exposed in a 2001 video, were successful.

Nevertheless, the Oslo Accords timeline for final status talks came and went; new agreements were signed (Oslo II, Wye River and Sharm el-Sheik) and the Camp David and Taba Summits (2000-2001) proved that an impasse was evident. The September 11, 1991 attack by Al-Qada terrorists focused the world attention away from the Palestinian/Israeli conflict throughout President George W. Bush’s administration. While President Bush stated that the downfall of Saddam Hussein will lead to the democratization of the Middle East, paradoxically he and, not so surprisingly the Israelis, rejected the outcome of the Palestinian elections in 2006.

President Barrack Obama, although sincere in his efforts to achieve Middle East peace, could not budge the Israelis to stop the building of colonies on the West Bank, although succeeding American administrations called them “obstacles to peace.” Consumed with domestic economic woes brought about by the Great Recession, President Obama let the conflict in status quo doldrums. Israelis, happy to keep the status quo, insisted on the Palestinians returning peace talks without any preconditions—interpretation: Israelis wanted to continuously talk without talking about final status talks.

In the middle of the two decades of talks, a second Intifada took root. This time Israel crushed the uprising with its use of tanks and helicopter gunships; such military might was not seen in the First Intifada. The fact that the Palestinian police force was given guns through the Oslo Accords to maintain civil order gave the Israelis the perceived justification for its precipitous use of its full military force to put suppress the Second Intifada—youths throwing stones. Images of helicopter gunships attacking Ramallah in 2002 remain vivid memories. Israel also attacked Tulkarm, Qalqilya, Bethlehem, Jenin and Nablus. Goliath was attacking David, yet the true story was not exposed as Israel prevented the media from entering the West Bank.

The perception of David vs. Goliath needs to be retold. Palestinians are the new David. But before Palestinians can take on the role of David, they need to reconcile amongst themselves. Fatah and Hamas need to reconcile at all costs. Read my article entitled “Demand Palestinian Reconcilation” on this subject at http://fadizanayed.blogspot.com/2013/04/demand-palestinian-reconcilation.html. Additionally, the Palestinians must not fall into the Israeli trap of a three state solution: Israel and Area C and most of Area B; Palestinian Authority controlling Area A and some parts of Area B; and Gaza controlled by Hamas. Read my article entitled Oppose the Israeli Three State Solution at http://fadizanayed.blogspot.com/2013/03/oppose-israeli-three-state-solution.html.

The new path the Palestinian Revolution needs to take needs to be unorthodox. Palestinians should endorse the following actions:

· Palestinian unification. Palestinians should demand that Fatah and Hamas reconcile.
· The Palestinian police should be ordered to take their guns and give them to the Israeli soldiers at the checkpoints. We need to be David using a rock against the military might of the Big Israeli Army. We do not need the guns that are not effective against the Mighty Israel Army. We should confront Israel with our stones from Mother Earth against the tanks and helicopter gunships.
· The Palestinian Authority should no longer accept money from donor nations. We cannot afford to be bribed into complacency and to accept the status quo of a continued brutal military occupation.
· Palestinians should use their cameras, camcorders and cell phones to inundate Facebook, Twitter, blogs and all forms of social media with images of the atrocities of the Israeli army.
· Support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel
· Palestinians need to organize a coherent message of non-violence that needs to be shared by thousands on these social media outlets. Throwing stones against the military occupier is within the international right of Palestinians to resist the Israeli occupation of Palestine.
· Palestinian youth need to understand the power of the land and use it against the military occupation forces. This is not a call to arms but a call to repel the occupation.

I can hear the arguments stating that these actions will cause an increase of Palestinian suffering and that people will die. My answer: Palestinians are suffering and dying regardless, albeit these policies may increase the rate. I believe that Palestinians would rather die with their dignity rather than live in disgrace. The Palestinian youth understand that by allowing the status quo to linger, as did their fathers and grandfathers before, will only lead to the continued suppression of their inherent right to be free. Thus, the choice to rebel is easy. Either allow the status quo to linger and forever be occupied or rebel and free your human spirit.

The Palestinian human spirit to be free is no different than the human spirit inherent in all human beings desiring to be free. It is no different than the human spirit that inspired the American Colonies to declare themselves independent from a brutal King; that ignited Black South Africans to break the chains of apartheid; that encouraged African-Americans to March on Washington for equal rights; and that empowered the people of India to break the bonds of colonization. Read more about my thoughts on the human spirit to be free at http://fadizanayed.blogspot.com/2012/01/human-spirit-will-overthrow-apartheid.html

What alternative do the Palestinians have should the “talks” collapse? Should they accept the status quo and continue to be subjugated to the brutal Israeli occupation with the inherent bribery and forced complacency all the while seeing their land usurped dunnem by dunnem? Should the Palestinians give up, as the Israelis would love for them to do?

The human spirit inherent in all poeople will guide the Palestinians to a new revolutionary path should the “talks” collapse. That path should be guided by the moral cause against occupation and with the vision that the oppressed, the weak, the underdog will triumph over oppression, over colonization, over a contemptuous military occupation of Palestine..

It is a new revolution of Rocks vs. Tanks. Boy vs. Soldier. Right vs. Might.

It is the story of David vs. Goliath retold.

STRIKING SYRIA WILL NOT IMPROVE US CREDIBILITY

2013-09-01T08:02:00.000-07:00

I just read the 4 page US assessment of its evidence on Syria. It begins by saying "The United States Government assesses with high confidence that the Syrian government carried out a chemical weapons attack in the Damascus suburbs on August 21, 2013." Beyond this there is nothing else. "High confidence" is just short of confirmation.

There are no satellite images showing that rockets were launched from Syrian government controlled areas at a specific time when these chemical weapon massacres took place, as the report claims. Although the report states that numerous public media reports from different locations throughout the site of the attacks have been reviewed, no references are provided and the reader must research the internet on his/her own to verify the information used by US government.

There is nothing in the report, beyond the "assessment" of the US Government that would prove its veracity. While I am no fan of the Assad Regime, I must say this is Déjà vu: Iraq/Colin Powell/weapons of mass destruction.

The US claims that its credibility is at stake if it does not act against Syria. It says countries like North Korea and Iran are waiting in the lurch wondering if Syria will get away with using chemical weapons. But the credibility of the US has already been devalued because of its lack of response to Israel's use of chemical weapons against the Palestinians.

There is wide spread evidence that Israel admittedly used white phosphorous on the Palestinians in Gaza. see http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2013/05/03/israels-illegal-use-of-white-phosphorus-during-operation-cast-lead/

But the US did nothing against Israel. Incidentally, UN buildings in Gaza were targets of the Israeli Army and Israel was in no way penalized for this egregious crime.

The "assessment" by the world is that hose who are allies of the US can use chemical weapons but those who do not subscribe to US dictates and its inconsistent foreign policy cannot.

Inevitably, US officials claim "national security" interests to justify what it does.

US foreign policy cannot be based on "national security" for the use of this policy allows every other country to claim its own "national security" to do whatever it wants thus creating chaos in the world. But wait, there is already chaos in the world. Could it be that the leader of the free world, the country that is the oldest constitutional democracy, is creating chaos in the world?

A constitutional democracy is the best form of government, yet the US is making a mockery of this system by its inconsistent and chaotic foreign policy. By allowing Israel to go unpunished for its use of chemical weapons and then punishing Syria for its use of chemical weapons leaves one to doubt the credibility of the US government. Striking Syria would not make the US credible. In fact, striking Syria would make the US less credible for its lack of response to the Israeli use of chemical weapons against the Palestinians.

US credibility is already at a low point. Striking Syria will not improve US credibility.

US foreign policy should be to encourage the people of every country to want to establish a democracy in their country. The US should encourage the rebels in Syria to want to remove the President-for-Life Assad for a democratic government. The US should be a shinning example that a constitutional democracy is the best form of government.

http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/USGassessmentonSyria08302013.pdf

Demand Palestinian Reconciliation

2013-04-01T13:32:00.000-07:00

I simply cannot understand the division within the Palestinian political makeup and I cannot understand why Palestinians are not speaking up against this division in our ranks.

Here we are a people struggling to free ourselves from the cruel and unjust chains of occupation and an apartheid system under the iron fists of a brutal Israeli army and we are more organized in our disunity rather organized against our oppressor. One faction is being blackmailed by allowing the oppressor to collect the tax dollars that belong to the Palestinian people that it governs while the other faction is being retaliated against with US made weaponry with the goal of the oppressor to keep the two Palestinian factions from reconciling. Both are playing into the hands of the collective oppressor.

Israel would like nothing better than to continue the division between Fatah, which controls the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, and Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip. By keeping these Palestinian factions split, Israel hopes to impose a three state solution (3SS) to the decades old conflict. Israel is working against a demographic time bomb that will unquestionably label the so called democratic Jewish (oxymoron) state an apartheid state, even if it does not agree with this label now. Israelis will become a minority within the 1948 borders of Palestine by the year 2016; and as a minority it will collapse as a government as it cannot rule a Palestinian majority as did the apartheid regime of the minority White South Africa collapse as it tried to rule the Black African majority. Keeping the Palestinian factions from reconciling through blackmail and military might, Israel hopes to overcome this demographic time bomb by imposing a 3SS.

The division, ironically, started after democratic elections in 2006. Hamas won a majority of seats in the Palestinian Legislature and should have been allowed to govern. Israel and the US would not recognize the victor despite the fact that the world was told by President George W. Bush that the Iraqi invasion will lead to the democratization of the region. Instead of embracing democracy, blackmail and sanctions were imposed upon the Palestinians for having elected Hamas. The irony of the taunting democracies to not recognize a democratic election is beyond me. What further irks me is that Fatah played right along with this devaluing of the democratic principles that the Palestinians are told they must have in order to establish a state.

The silence of Fatah during the 2008-2009 Israeli invasion and constant slaughter of Gaza was beyond belief. Here was Israel bombarding innocent Palestinian women and children and Fatah leaders said nothing. This was demoralizing to all of us diaspora Palestinians who demonstrated and organized against this massacre which was happening before our television screens for three weeks. What we should have been demonstrating against was the silence of Palestinian Authority leaders.

Yet it was not enough that Israel was killing Palestinians, Palestinians died from bullets fired by Palestinians during 2008 and 2009 as the various clashes between Fatah and Hamas forces spilled Palestinian blood. While unfortunately we are all too familiar with seeing Palestinians killed by Israeli soldiers, we are not accustomed to seeing Palestinians kill Palestinians. This is unbelievable the worst thing that Palestinians can do to each other. Instead of having a unified front against the oppressor, the two factions started vilifying and attacking each other which lead to Fatah controlling the West Bank and Hamas governing Gaza. Ultimately, this division is leading right into the Israeli plans to split, divide and impose its 3SS.

Reconciliation attempts have thus far been unsuccessful with the Doha Agreement signed by Fatah and Hamas in 2012 still far from being implemented. The agreement is described as “stalled” as no unity government is in sight. Legislative elections have been announced, delayed and rescheduled—this time for October, 2013, seven years after the last elections. There are election law reforms which are in dispute. They were imposed by President Abbas because he states that he could rule by decree as long as the legislature is unable to convene. From my readings, I am not sure whether Hamas will participate in the elections.

Both Fatah and Hamas need to go to the ballot box in October, 2013 and allow the Palestinian people to once again democratically vote their collective will. Whoever wins the election must be respected by both factions. If a unity government needs to be part of a ruling coalition, then the Palestinian people demand that such a ruling government be allowed to govern regardless what Israel, the US and Europe want, think, blackmail or impose.

If Hamas wins again, Fatah must stand up to the Israelis, the US and European leaders and state categorically that Hamas is the ruling party and that all Palestinians will stand unified behind Hamas. The imposition that Hamas must first recognize Israel and denounce violence is nothing more than smoke and mirrors to keep the Palestinians from reconciling. It is a diversion from getting to the crux of the conflict; it is another delay tactic by Israel to keep the status quo while it usurps more and more Palestinian land on the West Bank, land that Israel does not want to concede as it wants a 3SS. Israel wants to retain Area C and parts of Area B; wants the PA to establish a state on Area A and part of Area B that Israel is willing to give up; and it wants Gaza to be a separate state.

This imposition upon Hamas is hypocritical as within Israel there are parties that want to either annihilate the Palestinians completely (as Hitler wanted to do to the Jews) or scatter them among the other Arab states.

Israel’s demand that Hamas recognize the State of Israel (not just as a state but a Jewish State) is absurd and will not result in any new round of talks. “Hamas didn't come to power until 2006/07. Between 1993 & 2006 Israel had the more moderate, peaceful & pliant Palestinian authority (which recognizes Israel & renounces violence) to deal with as a partner for peace. What did Israel do? Did it make peace?” [see Michael Aydinian https://www.facebook.com/groups/321400271210048/permalink/622882407728498/)

Israel cannot impose upon the Palestinians who can or cannot speak for them just as Palestinians cannot impose upon Israel who can be a part of their coalition government. Since 1984 every Israeli coalition government included the Shas Party whose spiritual leader openly called for the annihilation of the Palestinian people without any repudiation by any Israeli leader, including Benjamin Netanyahu. Could the Palestinians have said that they will not negotiate with Israel as long as this racist and Nazi-like party is part of the Israeli government? Rightfully, Israelis would reject this precondition as should the Palestinians reject the imposition that Hamas cannot be part of any Palestinian government unless certain preconditions are met.

Before Palestinian elections are called, however, the Palestinian people, both in Palestine and in the diaspora, need to call upon both Fatah and Hamas to reconcile. We as a people need to impose upon our Palestinian leaders the wisdom of unity despite what the US and Israel want. We can no longer be a house divided. We can disagree with each other but when confronting the oppressor, we need to be united.

If the US and Israel want to impose economic and financial sanctions or want to withhold financial aid from the Palestinians, that should be the price of unity. The price of destabilization is what the Israelis and the US will have to consider for blackmailing the Palestinians. Destabilizing economic conditions will lead to a third Intifada and Israel and the US will be to blame.

I call upon all my Fatah and Hamas friends to speak up and communicate to Fatah and Hamas leaders that the time to stop this quibbling must end and now. We need to demand that Fatah and Hamas reconcile now at all costs.

Celebrating: Day Of The Land in the Diaspora

2013-03-19T10:39:00.000-07:00

ONE PEOPLE, OUR LAND

America is known as the melting pot—meaning that many people come to the U.S. and melt in the social and community fabric that makes up this great nation. Yet, as we, the Palestinian community in the U.S. become a part of that social fabric by becoming voters and active participants in what makes the U.S. great, we also need to keep the beauty of the Palestinian culture alive in our hearts, our minds and our souls.

As Palestinians, we know too well the many attempts to eradicate our culture; to uproot our roots in terms of people and our commercial epicenter—the olive tree; to steal our culinary meals—humos; to confiscate our land—ever increasing illegal settlements; and to prevent the unification of our political parties—blackmailing one party to not reconcile.

We know too well that we need to be one people on our land—Palestine. We know too well that our enemy wants to remove us from our land, our Palestine, and they will use any means necessary. They have and continue to use the “divide and conquer” methods to attempt to destroy our will. They employ religious tactics to pit Christians and Muslim against each other; and they employ blackmail, war and political incentives to pit Fatah against Hamas.

Our enemy can use all the tactics at its disposal. It can use military tanks and war planes to destroy our buildings, our schools, our hospitals, our universities, and our commercial centers. They can build an Apartheid Wall which divides our people from each other; which separate us from cultivating our land; and which isolates our towns and cities into separate Bantustans.

However, there is one thing our enemy can never destroy. They can never destroy our will, that innate human spirit that inspires every human being to be free. The human spirit inside us, inside the collective will of the Palestinian people, cannot be destroyed; it cannot be separated from our culture; it cannot be stolen by claiming our food as theirs; it cannot be eradicated by military might; and it cannot be blackmailed with piecemeal political incentives that divide our people.

No, our human spirit to be free from the chains of occupation and apartheid cannot be destroyed. It lives in each and every Palestinian. The human spirit lives in the grandfather that still has the key to his house in Yaffa (not Jaffa as our enemy calls it). The human spirit lives in the Palestinian boy who faced down our enemy’s tank with a stone. The human spirit is rooted in our people who steadfastly remain strong and remain on the land.

So we celebrate the DAY OF THE LAND together to energize our collective human spirit; to cultivate the human spirit of our culture in our children and to state that we are ONE PEOPLE who remain defiant against any attempt to separate us from OUR LAND.

Oppose The Israeli Three State Solution

2013-03-10T08:26:00.000-07:00

I have written in previous articles that Israelis are excellent at using words to manipulate the thought patterns of world public opinion, especially in the United States. They have, through the use of the word “terrorist” against the Palestinians, been able to monopolize a negative opinion of Palestinians in the US, although the history of the creation of the State of Israel is not without horrendous terrorist acts against Palestinians. I have countered that it is the Israeli soldier that is a terrorist because his/her primary job is to instill fear into the minds of Palestinians in order to get them to do what they would not ordinary do on their own, i.e. give up, leave their land.

Now the Israelis are trying to manipulate public opinion by redefining “checkpoints.” The Israeli soldier controls what Israel now calls “security crossings” to imbed into the minds of public opinion that the formerly called “checkpoints” is the border of the State of Israel. United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) stated that there were 522 roadblocks and checkpoints obstructing Palestinian movement in the West Bank in July, 2010. This figure is up from 503. There are other checkpoints called “flying checkpoints” that are unknown as to when and where they will pop up. On average per month in 2011, 495 of these random checkpoints sprung up, in addition to the 522 permanent roadblocks and checkpoints, to not only hamper, humiliate, harass but also to instill fear, frustration and fatigue into the lives of every Palestinian.

The use of the term “security crossings” and its manipulation and blackmailing of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank is what leads me to believe that Israel does not want a Two State Solution (2SS) but rather wants a Three State Solution (3SS). Israel is in a frantic mode to impose this 3SS upon the Palestinians before the projected demographics make Israelis the minority in 2016 to prevent the inevitable solution: One State Solution (1SS). Israelis believe that if they continue its policy of fear, frustration and fatigue, the Palestinians will ultimately succumb to the 3SS that Israel sees as a counter to the inevitable 1SS. This policy will fail.

Israelis argue that the Palestinians have negotiated away Area C in the West Bank by agreeing to give up control of this area to Israel in the Oslo Accords. Nonsense! Israeli intransigence in not agreeing to the final status matters in the so called “peace talks” and it’s continued expansion of the illegal settlements have rendered the Oslo Accords null and void. Israel refuses to discuss the final status of Jerusalem, which Palestinians claim as the capital of a Palestinian State. Israel refuses to discuss the right of return of Palestinian refugees. And Israel refuses to discuss the borders between Israel and Palestine. Calling the checkpoints “security crossings” is part of the Israeli attempts to impose a 3SS.

Another blatant attempt to impose a 3SS is Israel’s blackmail of withholding taxes that Israel collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority if the Palestinian politicians of the West Bank attempt to reconcile with the Palestinian politicians in Gaza. In essence, Israel does not want Fatah and Hamas to reconcile. It wants separate States for these two political rivals in the West Bank and Gaza. The stupidity of these factions in continuing the divisions between themselves is playing right into the Israeli plans to impose a 3SS.

I argue, in other articles, that this imposition will not be successful as the Palestinian human spirit to be free, innately a part of every human being, will overcome the Israeli aggression against them. However, Palestinians cannot rely on the burning desire inside themselves alone, they must have gumption; they must be shrewd; they must think outside the box.

Palestinians need to understand what Israel is planning and they must counter the political manipulation of their land, their lives and livelihood.

There are a variety of practical actions that Palestinians could advocate in their struggle to break the Israeli chains of oppression.

· Palestinians need to support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement . Mobilization and support for the BDS movement needs to part of the Palestinian agenda around the globe. Supporting supporters of Palestinian Statehood is a must.
· Palestinians need to make the Israeli businessman suffer the consequences of the occupation. In my article, “Hitting Israel Where it Hurts—Economically”, I argue outside the box by advocating boycotting a single Israeli product imported into the West Bank and Gaza at a time. Read it at http://fadizanayed.blogspot.com/2011/12/hitting-israel-where-it-hurts.html
· Palestinian youth need to throw their stones. I advocate keeping the option of the stone alive in the following articles: “Romancing the Stone” and “Keeping the David vs. Goliath Option Open.” http://fadizanayed.blogspot.com/2011/12/romancing-stone-option.html and http://fadizanayed.blogspot.com/2011/12/keeping-david-vs-goliath-option-open.html
Palestinians need to reconcile their divisions and present a unified front against the Israelis. I have written numerously in various articles about the need for Hamas and Fatah to reconcile. See “Palestinians Must Establish Parity with Israelis” at http://fadizanayed.blogspot.com/2011/12/palestinians-must-establish-parity-with.html. Opposing Israeli attempts to place obstacles to the reconciliation of these Palestinian political factions needs to be the goal of every Palestinian. Palestinian unity is a must!
Palestinians need to take their fight to the International Criminal Court and bring to justice those Israeli leaders who ordered and Israeli soldiers who committed human rights violations against Palestinians.

While the impending demographics will impose a 1SS, Palestinians cannot sit idly back and let the hope of events control their destiny. Palestinians need to be continuously active to make the inevitable human spirit within them blossom sooner than later.

Israeli Elections: Hegemony Over Homogeny

2013-02-18T19:02:00.000-08:00

I have been trying to find something positive to write about the recent Israeli elections. I just cannot. There is simply nothing good about it. It simply is just the continuation of the status quo and that is not good for Palestinians and really not good for Israelis as well. For the Palestinians, the status quo means the continuation of the occupation and the deprivation of the human spirit to be free. For the Israelis, it means that the lack of a clear expressive desire for peace in the election outcome ignores the ever increasing demographic boiling point which is turning Israel into the old Apartheid regime of South Africa.

The basic result of the Israeli election is that the right wing and center-right parties are likely to end up with 61 of the legislative seats in the Israeli Knesset, thus continuing the status quo of the Benjamin Netanyahu Government.

The status quo of domination over the Palestinians is what Israel wants for the region but this only exasperates and heightens the inevitable inner Palestinian human spirit to evolve towards the will to be free. Israel prefers hegemony over--instead of homogeny with--the Palestinians; it would rather dominate the Palestinians rather than treat them with equality. This is the crust of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. The result of the Israeli elections elevated this inherent perplexity to the forefront; yet, Israelis seem oblivious to the fact that this clash between Israeli dominance and the Palestinian spirit to be free will come crashing down when the current trends in the demographics will result in an anticipated Palestinian majority in 2016.

I have written about the human spirit to be free and my article can be read at http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6942645014941809001#editor/target=post;postID=7408208507238483659. In essence, I argue that inevitably Israel cannot suppress the will of 4.29 million Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza who desire to be free of occupation and a relentless siege. By 2016, it is projected that the Palestinian population in Israel, West Bank and Gaza will outnumber the Israeli non-Arab population.

Suppressing the Palestinian desire to be free perpetuates the status quo. Keeping the status quo is rooted in the aspiration of maintaining a Jewish homeland as Jews around the world feel secure in having Israel be a safe haven given world history of atrocities toward Jews. Thus, The Israeli election also tells me that Israelis are horrified of losing the concept of a Jewish homeland and therefore are clinging onto the status quo. Given the history of the Jewish people, that fear is warranted; but this aspiration driven by historical fear comes at the expense of the Palestinian people. Finding a solution that would alleviate that fear while acknowledging the inevitability of the Palestinian human spirit to be free is what is needed to resolve the conflict.

The Israeli election did not shift Israeli politics to the left or right but rather left it smack where it has been—standing still. Peace talks are standing still because Palestinians feel that there is no use in endless talks that lead to nowhere. The Occupation of Palestinian land is standing still—continuing in its fifth decade. Yet the fermenting Israeli suppression of Palestinian aspirations is about to boil over. The Israeli elections did not alleviate this tension.

Israelis have consistently expressed security concerns in the 20 plus years of attempts at trying to negotiate a final solution with the Palestinians. I interpret this security concern to mean a safe haven for Jews all over the world. This security may ultimately be elusive however, if it comes at the expense of the Palestinians, for the natural course of human development is to be free from the oppressor’s chains that bind the collective individual conscience.

This has been demonstrated time and time again with the thirteen American colonies breaking away from the British King; with the French masses overthrowing the absolute monarchy; with Black South Africans breaking the White Minority Rule apartheid chains; with Gandhi leading his people to overthrow the mighty British Empire; with the eventual American realization that slavery cannot long endure; and with many countless other examples where peoples all over the globe repelled imperialist colonial hegemony.

The Palestinian human spirit is no different than the American colonists, the French masses, India’s masses and the Black South Africans. The Israeli election did not negate the Palestinian spirit; in fact that spirit has regenerated and grows with each Palestinian generation.

The social revolution which opens the world to all also opens the spirits of the Palestinian people. Palestinians are not oblivious to the freedoms enjoyed around the world and they desire that same freedom in their daily lives. As Palestinians interact with the globe community on social network sites, their human spirit to be free grows. Social networks exponentially inspire the Palestinian youth to lift off the chain that suppresses their collective bondage that the Israeli occupation imposes upon them.

The Israeli election takes little note of this growing social internet revolution and shows that Israelis would rather continue to believe that the colonial aspirations of the past several centuries is still prevalent in today’s age. That belief is antiquated and it leaves Israel further isolated around the family of nations.

Recently, the Palestinian human spirit has gained from international recognition and international intervention. The upgrade in Palestine’s status at the United Nations has inspired Palestinians in that it gave them faith in the world community, while the truce between Israel and Hamas, brokered by the US and Egypt and international pressure against a ground assault, excited the Palestinian will to fight off Israeli aggression.

Again, the Israeli election results seemed oblivious to growing worldly sentiment that the Palestinian human spirit is on the road towards freedom. The question is will Israelis ride along with the Palestinians or will Israelis fate be that of the White Minority rulers of South Africa.

Israeli’s fate is really in their hands—or more accurately in their right to vote. Palestinian’s fate is in the natural evolution of their human spirit.

ARE ISRAELI SOLDIERS TERRORISTS?

2012-12-13T22:17:00.000-08:00

Several days ago, a Palestinian youth turned 17 years old; he died on his birthday. While at the Occupier's Checkpoint in ElKhalil, Palestine, the Occupying Soldiers shot him dead with numerous bullets. They then spewed the propaganda that the Palestinian youth had a toy gun and pointed it at them. How implausible is this story by the occupiers?

First, where is this toy gun? Wouldn't the occupiers show the toy gun with the story to make their case believable? Second, how can a Palestinian youth, born and raised with fear in his heart from the occupying soldiers, be that unsophisticated to allegedly brandish a toy gun against an occupying soldier? The toy gun was conjured up by the occupiers as they stated he got it because of his birthday. Now, had the occupiers said he brandished a real gun, that may be more acceptable. Years of built up frustration against the occupying soldiers could lead a Palestinian youth to try to kill his occupiers. That I can believe, but to say he had a toy gun--that's crazy.

Now in a discussions with various Occupying soldier supporters, I raised the hypocrisy of how the recent Oregon Mall shooting was not labeled a terrorist act but would have been so if that same act occurred in a Tel Aviv mall. The definition that was offered by the Israeli supporters for terrorism was "intended to cause death or serious bodily harm to civilians or non-combatants with the purpose of intimidating a population or compelling a government or an international organization to do or abstain from doing any act." I suspect that this was copied from some authoritative source.

Using this definition, I raised the question can you agree that the purpose of the Israeli soldier is to instill fear in the civilian Palestinians? Then I asked, given this definition, whether the Israeli occupying soldier that killed the Palestinian youth in ElKhalil, Palestine would be considered a “terrorist?”

It is undisputed that in the 45 years of occupation of the West Bank and Gaza (I consider Gaza still under occupation) the Israeli occupying soldiers (and the Uzi taunting illegal settlers) have caused “death or serious bodily harm to civilians or non-combatants,” i.e. the Palestinian population. I challenge anyone to argue otherwise.

What is then the purpose of the Israeli soldier?

Before I answer this question, let me say that if Israel could have morally annexed the West Bank into Israel, they would have enacted such legislation decades ago. They have not because they have no legal standing to do so. They want to annex the West Bank into Israel and have employed the systematic illegal policy of confiscation of Palestinian land, claiming that the land is “disputed.” But no one is buying this argument.

Another tactic that Israel is employing, and this is where the Israeli occupying soldier comes in, is to force the Palestinians to leave the West Bank—at least as many as possible.

What tactic does the occupier employ?

Fear!

The intent of the Israeli occupying soldier of the West Bank is to instill fear, i.e. intimidating a population or compelling…to do or abstain from doing any act." The intent is to instill fear into Palestinians to control them and to make their lives so miserable that they would do an act that they would not normally do, i.e. leave the land.

Therefore, it is logical, given the definition of terrorist given to me by Israeli supporters, that the Israeli occupying soldier is a terrorist. He/she is there to do one thing: to control the Palestinian population, to intimidate them, to make their lives miserable.

How is this accomplished?

The West Bank is dotted with hindering and dehumanizing military checkpoints manned by occupying soldiers that purposefully subject Palestinians to harassment and demoralization. It is a systematic daily policy that is carried out 24/7, 365 days a year. At any given time, even in the middle of night, Israeli occupying soldiers can knock down the front door of any Palestinian and search and seize whatever they want and haul away any Palestinian to jail under the pretext of administrative detention. If this is not fear, a constant fear every second of every day of a Palestinian’s life, I do not know what fear is.

Thus, if fear is the purpose of the presence of the Israeli soldier in the West Bank, he must be a terrorist.

Thinking Out Loud: A Conversation About What is Terrorism?

2012-12-12T20:10:00.001-08:00

I posted the following comment on my Facebook page and a discussion on what is terrorism ensued:

Thinking out loud. If the Oregon Mall killings yesterday would have happened in Israel, the suspect would have been labeled a "terrorist" by the media. Now what is the difference between this senseless shooting here in the US and any other senseless shooting anywhere else except for geographic locations. Isn't this incident a terrorist, a domestic terrorist incident. And why is the media not using this term? Is it because, the American media does not want to think we are terrorists or that terrorists live in our neighborhoods? Actually, the Palestinian freedom fighter has a cause, fighting for his freedom. What is this random murderous Oregon thug fighting for? Isn't he more of a terrorist than say a Palestinian who attacks his occupiers? I am not condoning terror attacks in the least bit, just trying to obtain internal clarification as to what is and what is not a terror attack and why one is labeled a terrorist and the other is not?

Like · · · Share

Hakam Batarseh, Mike Ayyash, Linda Wahed and 12 others like this.
Yarden Mariuma Actually, Fadi, it's specifically the fact that the Palestinian "freedom fighter" has a cause that makes him a terrorist, and not a deranged lunatic. And while you can claim that a lunatic is beyond our understanding, we expect a discipline from people...See More

5 hours ago · Like · 1
Fadi Zanayed I understand the definition Yarden... but you haven't explained why the media does not call the Oregon shooter a terrorist, as well or are you saying that you have to have a cause to be called a terrorist. Incidentally, the House of Representative voted to remove the word "lunatic" from the public record.

3 hours ago · Like · 2
Kyle O'Laughlin A Palestinian broke into a woman's house in the occupied West Bank with a knife and a pipe - he was called a "terrorist." Not an intruder, or a burglar, or whatever - a TERRORIST.

Everything is terrorism if Arabs do it.

3 hours ago via mobile · Like · 1
Kyle O'Laughlin A terrorist is "anyone we don't like" from the Big Three - the USA, the UK, and Israel.

2 hours ago via mobile · Like
Fadi Zanayed Exactly my point Kyle, there is a double standard when it comes to the Palestinians. Israeli supporters have monopolized the terms "terrorist" and "anti-Semite" to the point that it is becoming annoying--not with just Palestinians but with the average American that understands current events.

2 hours ago · Like · 2
Kyle O'Laughlin It's Boy Who Cried Wolf Syndrome. They've overused both terms so frivolously that they don't mean anything anymore.

2 hours ago via mobile · Like
Linda Wahed what about a female Israeli soldier that shot a 17-year-old Muhammad Al Salaymeh tonight in the occupied West Bank and he had just finished celebrating his 17th birthday and was on his way to the bakery to buy a cake to take home to celebrate with his family. why cant we call the soldier terrorist for shooting innocent unarmed boy for no reason? is that also because she has caused to kill? what a pathetic excuses!

2 hours ago · Like · 1
Fadi Zanayed One man's/woman's terrorist is another man's/woman's freedom fighter.

2 hours ago · Like · 1
Yarden Mariuma I'll leave you and Kyle to agree with each other. It seems you are both perfectly happy in a circle of mutual congratulations.

2 hours ago · Like
Kyle O'Laughlin Being right tends to yield such results.

2 hours ago via mobile · Like · 1
Yarden Mariuma No, Kyle, being closed minded does.

2 hours ago · Like
Kyle O'Laughlin "Only error needs the help of government. Truth can stand alone."

- Thomas Jefferson

2 hours ago via mobile · Like · 1
Yarden Mariuma Fadi Zanayed to try to stay on point, yes, a terrorist is someone who kills for some cause. A person who kills for gain or love or whatever is just a murderer, and a person like the Oregon shooter is insane. You can argue that one is worse or better than the other, but that's the definition. Kyle, I crown thee king of Non Sequitor.

2 hours ago · Like
Fadi Zanayed Yarden, can you see that the Israel soldier is there to "terrorize" the Palestinians?

2 hours ago · Like · 2
Yarden Mariuma Fadi, any deliberate killing of civilians is terrorists. If an Israeli solider kills civilians purposefully, it is an act of state terrorism. I think people argue about whether the IDF does no, not whether it would be terrorism if it did.

2 hours ago · Like
Kyle O'Laughlin Well the fact is that she did, and it was. What needs to be examined is why his murder isn't being called what it is, a terrorist attack.

2 hours ago via mobile · Like · 1
Yarden Mariuma In the recent Hebron case, for instance, the IDF is claiming that Al Salaymah pulled out a gun, which turned out to be a toy gun. If that's true, the case is puzzling. If she shot him just because he was Palestinian, yes, that would be state terrorism....See More

2 hours ago · Like
Fadi Zanayed by your defintion, then are the shoppers in the Oregon mall civilians?

2 hours ago · Like
Yarden Mariuma Fadi, the Oregon Mall is a different story, it's the act of a madman, there are no "civilians" or soliders when you're not fighting.

2 hours ago · Like
Fadi Zanayed someone give me the cite of the Israeli soldier....

2 hours ago · Like
Yarden Mariuma You mean of the IDF position or the solider?

2 hours ago · Like
Yarden Mariuma http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4319188,00.html

Border Guards kill terrorist in Hebron
www.ynetnews.com
News: Security forces engage man wielding gun near one of West Bank city's checkpoints; riot ensues

2 hours ago · Like · Remove Preview
Fadi Zanayed So what do you call the "people" in a cafe when a suicide bomber kills them?

2 hours ago · Like · 1
Yarden Mariuma Why are you putting people in quotes?

2 hours ago · Like
Yarden Mariuma They are civilians, of course.

2 hours ago · Like
Fadi Zanayed what is your definition of civilians?

2 hours ago · Like
Yarden Mariuma Fadi, part of the definition of terrorism has to do with the intention of the person carrying it out. Terrorism is the attempt to achieve a political or religious goal through the use of force against non-combatants. It's simple. If it's an issue of insanity, greed, personal agenda, etc. it's not terrorism.

2 hours ago · Like
Fadi Zanayed I read the story and find it hard to believe that a 17 year old would carry a "toy gun"

2 hours ago · Like · 2
Yarden Mariuma Fadi, if you are going to tell me that everyone in Israel is not a civilian because they are in the IDF or the reserve, that's bullshit.

2 hours ago · Like
Yarden Mariuma I find the whole story very puzzling as well.

2 hours ago · Like
Yarden Mariuma The IDF version does not seem to make sense, I am waiting for their full press conference tomorrow. And why anyone would waive a toy gun at an Israeli soldier is beyond me too.

2 hours ago · Like
Fadi Zanayed What do you think the "full press conference" is going to tell you?

2 hours ago · Like · 1
Yarden Mariuma Probaly nothing.

2 hours ago · Like
Vickie Mansour-Hasan Only what the public wants to hear.,

2 hours ago · Like · 1
Fadi Zanayed Therefore, Yarden would you call the actions of the Israeli soldier a terrorist act?

2 hours ago · Like
Yarden Mariuma It depends on whether you believe the IDF. If you don't believe them, yes, it would be.

2 hours ago · Like
Yarden Mariuma I can understand why you and Vickie would automatically not believe them,, I am going to wait until I hear their statement and make up my mind afterwards.

2 hours ago · Like
Linda Wahed toy gun that is really funny :))) why would he carried a toy gun on the way to buy cake at the bakery and he is 17 years old not a 3 or 5 years children! what a lies, they never stop lying!

2 hours ago · Edited · Like
Fadi Zanayed If you are going to have a discussion with me Yarden, you have to fair and logical. You stated that it is unlikely that a 17 year old would carry a toy gun... 17 year olds in American do not carry a toy gun.... why in the f&%$ would a 17 year old Pale...See More

2 hours ago · Like · 1
Fadi Zanayed I would probably believe that the Palestinian had a real gun.... more believable! but a toy gun.... no way.. totally unbelievable.

2 hours ago · Like
Fadi Zanayed but the story is a toy gun.... that is what makes the story put out by the Israelis so unbelievable... they had no other plausible story for their terrorist act

2 hours ago · Like
Vickie Mansour-Hasan Yarden, my position isn't based solely on being Palestinian. I was raised on the south side of Chicago. I taught on the south side of Chicago I know when kids are ghettoized, they taunt and thwart authority in stupid ways. They wave fake guns or BB ...See More

2 hours ago · Like
Fadi Zanayed I have to go see a client, I will probably be back in about 40 minutes

2 hours ago · Like
Yarden Mariuma Vickie, the whole story seems to have come out and is not really disputed by anyone. He had a toy gun - a water pistol I think - and he got it as a birthday gift. Because of that, he was holding it - not pointing it at anyone. The Israeli solider who saw it was trigger happy and shot. This seems like the current undisputed account of events, which is appearing on Palestinian pages as well.

2 hours ago · Like
Yarden Mariuma Before YOU go all ghetto on me, I think the real problem in this case is the fact that we are in Hebron in the first place.

2 hours ago · Like
Vickie Mansour-Hasan LOL... I don't go "ghetto".

2 hours ago · Like · 1
Yarden Mariuma Anyway, it's an absolute tragedy, and as someone posted elsewhere, under other circumstances, those two young people might well have been friends. This is, Vickie, one of the reasons I think it is beyond stupid that we have the settlements at all, although, as I said, if the solider saw what she had good reason to believe was a pistol I don't blame her specifically -but I do blame the settlement movement and their political enablers in the Likud. On that last part, I suppose the two of us agree. The ironic part is that Hebron is exactly the city where the tombs of our legendary common ancestors are to be found...

2 hours ago · Like
Fadi Zanayed The bottom line is words are manipulated to one's advantage and every time one reads, listens and observes the many bewildering stories coming from all over this globle one has to analyze from what vantage point the reporter, the newscaster or writer is telling the story. Then one has to use logic and prudence to decipher the human aspect of the story--being true to one self and one's ideals.

about a minute ago · Like

World Community Lesson Flies Over Netanyahu

2012-12-06T04:29:00.000-08:00

The last month in the Israel/Palestinian conflict has taught us a valuable lesson. The world community took two actions that were fair and balanced, signaling to the parties, including the extremists, that enough is enough; end the conflict by nudging the parties towards boundary lines based on UN Resolution 242, i.e. a Two State Solution.

At first the world community supported Israel for defending itself against rocket attacks from the Hamas controlled Gaza. Then the world community overwhelmingly supported an upgrade in Palestine’s status at the UN from an “entity” to a “state.” What is the world community of nations trying to tell the Israelis and Palestinians?

I hope that both the Palestinians and Israelis interpret the world community actions in the spirit that I believe they were taken.

After the cease-fire between between Gaza and Israel, Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal quickly stated that Hamas is willing to accept a TSS with 1967 borders. This is a major accomplishment for the advancement of peace in the region. No similar statement was heard from any of the major parties within Israel.

In fact, after the UN voted to upgrade the status of Palestine to that of observer “State”, Israel responded by stating that they will go forward with objectionable plans to build settlements in Area E1 around Jerusalem, which effectively kills the TSS by dissecting a West Bank home for a Palestinian State. This too is a major accomplishment but not for the advancement of peace but for the prolongation of the status quo, i.e. occupation. This is sad.

Britain, France Spain, the European Union, Denmark, Sweden, Australia and Egypt have all summoned its Ambassadors to Israel, a step short of “recalling” the Ambassador to protest the Israeli settlemtn announcement. Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel decided to meet formally with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to sternly tell him to drop plans to build 3,000 new settler homes in a highly contentious strip of the occupied West Bank near Jerusalem.

Netanyahu responded by not fully appreciating what the World community was trying say to Israel and Palestine by telling the German press, "I appreciated the support of Chancellor Merkel and the German government during the operation in Gaza..At the same time, I would be disingenuous if I didn’t tell you that I was disappointed, as were many people in Israel, by the German vote in the UN.

Netanyahu also stated that the UN vote also would unite the West Bank Fatah Party with the Gaza Hamas Party, as if that was taboo. This just reinforces my argument that Israel is not looking for a TSS but a Three State Solution (TSS). He also referred to Hamas as terrorist, overlooking the fact that in his own coalition includes the Shaas Party, whose whose spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yousef calls for the annihilation of the Palestinians.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abass has signaled, after the upgrade of the UN status for Palestine and in response to the Israeli action on new illegal settlement building, that he will seek International Criminal Court action “in the case of Israeli aggression.” Netanyahu responded by withholding $100 million of taxes that Israel collects on behalf of Palestinians and must turnover to the Palestinian Authority.

The world community lesson of the past month has flown over Netanyahu’s head as he wants 100% consent without objection. Not every country can be as controlled by Israel as the United States. Netanyahu doesn’t seem to understand that 95% of the world community wants a fair and balanced resolution of the conflict with the Palestinians. His defiance is hindering any chance for a TSS and only drives Israel into a One State Solution (OSS).

Israel turns to the further Right

2012-11-27T01:33:00.000-08:00

The turn to the further right by the Likud Party in Israel just reinforces the

argument that 1) there is no political will within Israel to make a

comprehensive peace with the Palestinians and 2) the Two State Solution

(TSS) is dead. If one reads between the lines and listens carefully to what

Israeli spokespersons are saying one will comprehend what Israel wants: a

Three State Solution (3SS) with 1) Israel with Area C and part of Area B; 2)

Palestinian Authority with Area A and part of Area B; and 3) Gaza. Israel is

already calling the checkpoints between Area's A and C as border crossings,

an obvious reference to two entities and its spokespersons state that Oslo

gave Area A and B to Palestinians and the Palestinians negotiated away

Area C. As to Gaza, they claim that in 2005 that they dismantled the

settlements and left Gaza giving them their "own State." Palestinians are

falling into the Israeli cunning trap yet again. Palestinians need to resist

by 1) seeking UN recognition--and use this platform to press for a One

State Solution (OSS) 2) strongly support the BDS movement 3) Support

the emergence of a new generation of Palestinians who will take up

their stone and restore the dignity of future generations and 4) most

importantly, unify the leadership in Gaza and the West Bank at all

costs.

See Jerusalem Post article: http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/

Article.aspx?id=293562

MODERATE PALESTINIANS SORELY DISAPPOINTED

2012-11-21T08:21:00.000-08:00

I have always been an optimist. I have always advocated peace. I was one of the first Palestinians to call for the recognition of Israel. I did so in 1980 on the University of Illinois - Chicago campus (although I attended Loyola University) and was ostracized by Fatah, Jabha and other Palestinian student groups. I held my ground and was one of the few Palestinians in the Chicago area that could go to any group’s events.

I welcomed the Oslo Accords and attended the White House signing ceremony on September 13, 1993. I witnessed the famous handshake between Arafat and Rabin and felt a sense of relief that the long hard nightmare for my people might soon be over.

Since Oslo, however, I and many moderate Palestinians have been sorely disappointed.

We have seen the settlement expansion in the West Bank more than quadruple.
We have seen thousands of Palestinian agriculture acres (olive groves) destroyed.
We have seen a separation wall built around our towns and villages leaving isolated enclaves that basically imprison Palestinians especially men between the ages of 18 and 40.
We have seen a voluminous number of humiliating military check points that disgrace and dehumanize Palestinians.
We have seen democratic Palestinian elections whose results were not accepted by Israel and an American President who told us that one of the results of the Iraqi invasion of 2003 was a democratization of the Middle East.
We have also seen since Oslo, (unfortunately) the introduction of the Palestinian suicide bomber and the assassination of an Israeli Prime Minister (by an Israeli terrorist) which, in essence, killed the peace process.
We have also seen the right wing religious fanatic groups who have increased their power and because they have been and are part of the past and current coalition governments in Israel, in my opinion, hold the entire Middle East hostage.
We also see the continued marginalization of the Palestinians

because of inter-fighting;
because the world cannot accept that the Palestinian people have elected one party over another party that is repeat with corruption and that has not produced the liberation it has said it will deliver; and
because the power of the purse is used to blackmail the Palestinian West Bank leadership to accept what the people will not allow them to accept.

We have also witnessed in 2008-2009 and now again the barbarity of the Israeli devastating and disproportionate onslaught against our brothers and sisters and our children in Gaza as the continued Israeli blockade causes severe economic conditions of food, water and medical shortages for which, we are told, the Palestinians cannot repel and for which the world flotilla aid campaign cannot break.

Because we have seen all these demoralizing aspects of the conflict, I, as well as many moderate (if not all) Palestinians, have abandoned the two state solution.

It is inconceivable that the 600,000 settlers in the West Bank will get up and leave. This is not the Gaza Strip where 21 settlements illegally inhabited by 21,000 extreme Zionist settlers can be disbanded and the settlers removed.
It is inconceivable that the right wing ultra-conservative/orthodox parties within Israel will agree to give up Areas C especially since their power is increasing and especially since the recent poll in Israel tells us that the majority of Israelis have no problem living in an Apartheid like state.
It is inconceivable that Israel will abandon its policy to allow a Palestinian limited state within Area A and parts of Area B, on the one hand and another Palestinian entity in Gaza, as the Liberman Plan has so stated for Gaza.

Inconceivability is only in the political realm. In realty however, the numbers (population growth of the Palestinians visa via the Israelis) will force Israel to rethink its position. My doubts are in succeeding Israel requests to endlessly talk to no end. The Israeli policy is "let us agree to agree in the future" but the future never comes because Israel always finds ways to interpret agreements by defining terms as it defines them. My pessimism is in endless talks that attempt to fill the glass with water but the glass is always half empty.

For Palestinians, the concept of a two state solution is illusionary. Since Oslo, succeeding Israeli governments have allowed the ever expanding settlements on illegally confiscated Palestinian land, thus creating “facts on the ground.” Israel has played its hand too long. Israeli leaders thought they could exhaust us into submission; that as long as they continued to build illegal settlements and continued to appease the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank while driving a wedge between West Bank and Gaza leaders, they could frustrate the Palestinians into accepting two Palestinian entities, one in the West Bank with Area A and part of Area B; and the other in Gaza. Thus in essence, Israel has been trying for a three state solution. Palestinians cannot and will not accept this.

By playing its hand too long, Israel has lost the moderate Palestinians.

Moderate Palestinians are seeking other means to assert Palestinian fundamental rights. Moderate Palestinians wholeheartedly support the Palestinian request to join the United Nations General Assembly with pre-1967 borders but understand that this is only a prelude to a one state solution to the conflict. We also support the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against the Israeli occupation. We welcome the emergency of a new generation of Palestinians who will pick up their stone and fight for the dignity and well-being of future Palestinian generations. We also call upon the Palestinian factions to reconcile their differences and believe that the Palestinian house needs to be united immediately.

Why Can't the Palestinians Do As the Israelis?

2012-08-28T11:12:00.000-07:00

Several observations in response to the Jerusalem Post article concerning the Palestinian Authority building in Area C:

http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Op-EdContributors/Article.aspx?id=282825&fb_source=message

#1. "illegal land grabs" The Israeli press has the audacity to call this an illegal land grab when they know darn well that Israel has been doing it for decades. In America, we have a saying: "What is good for the goose is good for the gander." If Israel can illegally land grab so can we.

#2. " Allocation of final sovereignty in Area C was to be determined in negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority under the Oslo Accords and the Bush Roadmap of 2002." Israel has determined that this means that Israel can build in Area C and not Palestinians. They stall final "determinations" so that they can continue to build and build while not allowing us to build.

#3. "state lands" I have written that Israel already considers Area C to be Israeli state land. They have no intention to give this up. Although the Jerusalem Post article readily admits that "final sovereignty in Area C was to be determined in negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority" it is Israel that has the exclusive right to build on this land. Hogwash! Read my article at http://fadizanayed.blogspot.com/2012/02/apartheid-israel-policy-to-retain-area.html

#4. If anyone does not think that Israeli bulldozers purchased with American aid dollars from Caterpillar Corporation will not demolish these buildings then the Israeli propaganda campaign creating the world gullibility conscience has succeeded. Long live Rachel Corrie!

No Talking Endlessly

2012-08-25T10:00:00.000-07:00

A Facebook member contacted me with the following message: hello---can you say something about achieving peace both for Israel/Palestinians and over all area -- or are you just anti-Israel? I see you are educated…. so you should be working for a solution

My reply:

I am not anti-Israel. I was one of the first Palestinians to call for the recognition of Israel. In1980 I championed the recognition of Israel at college campuses and within the Palestinian community in Chicago. I attended the White House Rose Garden peace signing ceremony on September 13, 1993 and witnessed the famous handshake between Rabin and Arafat.

I have always been and continue to be an advocate for peace. Yet, I like many peace-loving Palestinians have become disillusioned by Israel's constant talking but not really talking. They want to talk but never conclude the "talks" and all the while they want to illegally confiscate more Palestinian land and build more illegal settlements and transfer more hard core machine gun taunting settlers into these settlements. Their justification for this is that the Palestinians have given up Area C in the Oslo Agreement. This is hogwash.

They cut down our olive groves and then Israeli supporters justify this by saying that "terrorists" hide in the trees. This is hogwash.

When I ask Israeli's to explain the discrepancy between laws that differently effect Palestinians and Israelis and how they cannot call Israel an apartheid state, they have no explanations. They have no explanation for Jewish only roads; no explanation for colored license plates for Palestinians; no explanation for a wall that divides farmers from their farm land; no explanation for surrounding towns with barred wires and checkpoints out of those towns that allow residence ingress and egress at only certain times of the day. In one such town, an elementary school is outside the wall and the guards at the 3pm crossing when children are released from their school purposefully choose to not open the gates leaving the children alone to wait until the evening crossing before they can return to their families and homes. This is a direct policy that builds frustration and hatred and ultimately aims to continue the status quo--occupation.

No one can explain to me that why Israel always asks the Palestinians to return to the "negotiating table" when Israeli soldiers carry out a direct and humiliating policy to destroy the human will of the Palestinians. No one asks the Israelis why their leaders continue to frustrate and subjugate Palestinians into complacency. No one asks Israel to stop its policy to dehumanize Palestinians and establish a policy to build an atmosphere of confidence in the future.

The future is in numbers. Peace will be established when Israel realizes that the will of the Palestinians people cannot be destroyed; that they cannot continue their apartheid practices especially when in 2016 it is expected that the population in Palestine and Israel will be such that Israelis are the minority.

The problem with a lack of peace is that the Israeli political system gives too much power to its minority parties. In all the 64 year history of Israel, there has been only one Israeli government that had a majority in its Knesset. All the other Israeli governments have been run by coalition governments that are beholden to right wing minority parties that do not want peace because these parties wield the ongoing threat to switch their allegiance in the Knesset in a no confidence vote thus bringing down the ruling party. (See my article Soul Searching Leads to Peace http://fadizanayed.blogspot.com/2011/12/soul-searching-leads-to-peace.html which explains how the Israeli political system is a hindrance to peace. )

The only way for peace to be achieved is through a One State Solution. It is not an impossibility. South Africa has proven that. Despite the decades of White Rule in South Africa the Black population, through the heroic efforts of Nelson Mandela, reconciliation between the people of South Africa, thought to be unattainable, was achieved successfully. Recompilation can be achieved in the Holy Land.

I still have hope for peace. I will always have hope for peace. I want to live with Jews, Muslims and Christians in prosperity in the Holy Land. I want to work for a solution but I cannot and will not talk for the sake of talk if it will lead to a never ending talks.

A One State Solution is the only thing to "talk" about.

Why Can't We Live Together

2012-05-04T19:21:00.001-07:00

I have not written about Middle East affairs for several months. I have been tending to the needs of my brother Munther who has since succumbed to the cancer that invaded his body. His death certificate came in today and the place of birth that was inscribed therein stated “Israel.” I was offended as I am sure my brother would also have been. Even in death, the Palestinian identity is being eliminated. I'm having the death certificate changed.

When asked by the Funeral Director where my brother was born, I informed her that Munther, known as Mike, was born in Jerusalem. That information was translated to being Israel. Jerusalem is not part of Israel under international law and is subject to final status negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis. Negotiations have been unfruitful and the circumstances indicates that one day soon, all of the land now known as Israel and Palestinian Territories will be one state encompassing all Palestinians and Israelis. Perception however has been painted in public opinion that Jerusalem is Israeli. Nothing can be further from the truth. Palestinians have not and will not give up its claim to Jerusalem.

Israelis are doing everything they can to ethnically cleanse Jerusalem by not only excluding Palestinians from returning to the place of their birth but also by making it difficult for Palestinian residence in ethe Holy City to remain. This brings me back to my brother Mike and his perceptive insight on this matter.

My brother Mike did not discuss politics much. In fact he had a convoluted logic and unreasonable thinking when it came to the Middle East. Mike was a jokester and when he offered a solution to the Middle East conflict which was unreasonable and contained convoluted logic, it at first made me laugh. However, when I thought about it while preparing his eulogy, I realized his point. First let me tell explain his solution.

He stated, several months before his passing, that an Arab man and woman and a Jewish man and woman should be selected and placed on an island. Then he said, America should “nuke” the entire Middle East. After the nuclear dust settles, he stated, “ Take the Arab man and Jewish woman and have them mate; likewise for the Jewish man and the Arab woman. And then start all over!”

Unreasonable? Yes. Convoluted logic? Yes. But if you really think about it, I think my brother Mike was trying to tell us that we should all just live together.

By the year 2016, it is predicated that Palestinians will outnumber Israelis in Israel and the Palestinian territories, i.e. West Bank and Gaza. Israel cannot continue to govern as a minority entity for regardless of the Israeli position that the Palestinian Authority governs Areas A & B in the West Bank and Hamas governs Gaza, the fact is Israel controls all the territory west of the Jordan River. The apartheid practices of Israel will catch up with reality. And then we will be faced with the reality that my brother Mike was trying to convey: Why can’t we all live together.

(© Copyright 2012, Fadi Zanayed. Publication or distribution of this material is allowed provided its content is not altered and the source and its author are cited.)