Wafa Amr News & Features Blog

Security, not Politics, primary concern of the Tunisians

noreply@blogger.com (Wafa Amr) — Thu, 27 Mar 2014 04:06:00 +0000

By Wafa Amr

TUNIS-Three years after setting off what became known as the Arab Spring, Tunisia has taken wide strides towards democratization. Compared to the ongoing tension in Egypt, a bloody conflict in Syria, chaos and violence in Libya, fighting in Yemen, and political challenges or simmering anger elsewhere in the Arab world, Tunisia is celebrated as the Arab Spring’s success story.

The Tunisian people are cautiously hopeful. They are in a “wait and see” mode. The passing of a new constitution hailed by the world as the most moderate in the Arab world, has put Tunisia on the right track. (http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/eca21fa6-8734-11e3-ba87-00144feab7de.html#axzz2x8FX5y6x)

“The constitution is good, but it has loopholes. Critical articles in the constitution are vague, and could be interpreted in many ways. Let’s wait and see how it will be implemented,” said 24-year-old bank employee Zina.

I spent some time in Tunisia speaking to people from different wakes of life, the poor, the rich, young and old. I was struck by the pessimism, by the feeling that the revolution has indeed changed their lives, but not for the better. Everywhere I went, I heard people reminiscing about the days under the ousted dictator Zein El Abidine Bin Ali.

But why? I asked in surprise. They told me that freedom has come with chaos and shocking violence, a deteriorating economy, and a significant rise in poverty.

(http://www.crisisgroup.org/en/regions/middle-east-north-africa/north-africa/tunisia/137-tunisia-violence-and-the-salafi-challenge.aspx)

There were those who carried similar frustrations, but who also were hopeful that with time, the new rulers would save the country and contain the extremists.

“It will take time, but I’m confident Tunisia will improve. I have no regrets. We are in a much better situation than we have been under Bin Ali,” Sidi Wasseem told me.

Politics is not the primary concern for Tunisians. Security and the economy have become the most pressing issues for Tunisians who have enjoyed stability and peace for as long as they can remember, and who thought after the revolution, their economic woes would disappear. .

Police have manned checkpoints in different parts of the capital Tunis, but they too complained of low wages and the harshness of life. One policeman said he could barely make ends meet, and was hoping to secure a loan from a bank to feed his big family.

“We knew Bin Ali and his cronies were stealing the country, but we had a stable economy, we lived sort of comfortably,” Najwa, a teacher and mother of three, said.

“We were better off under Bin Ali,” she said. “I don’t know how to manage with my salary. Food prices have risen significantly, rents too, everything is more expensive now,” she added.

The Tunisian economy was stable under Ben Ali. Unemployment was high then, it is high now. There were almost daily street protests demanding jobs or higher wages in different parts of the country.

The government is struggling to improve the economy and attract foreign investment following its success in achieving political stability.

Tourism and foreign investment have suffered since the revolution. The violence and uncertainty have kept tourists and investors away. Hotels have minimum occupancy, I was told.

People speak about the rising crime and chaos in their country.

“Look at the women and men begging on the streets. Now they are everywhere,” said Ameena, a university graduate searching for a job.

Egypt, what next?

noreply@blogger.com (Wafa Amr) — Fri, 29 Nov 2013 05:33:00 +0000

Cairo, a lively city that never sleeps, defiant as ever.

I recently visited Cairo for the first time in seven months. Back in April, it was still under the rule of the Moslem Brotherhood. People then grumbled about economic devastation and political restrictions: these included fuel shortages, power outages, the Brotherhood’s attempts to monopolize power, chaos, restriction on the freedom of speech, and lack of security, among others.

In November, Egypt’s former presidents, Hosni Mubarak and Mohammed Morsi were both in jail, the military was in charge, and the Gulf were pumping money into the economy to help the county’s second transition. Society has become extremely polarized and intolerance of the other prevailed.

This time, people were still complaining about the economy and political domination, but there was a general sense of hope that life could gradually improve. There were some who shyly expressed concern about what they called “the culture of fear” that was seeping back into their lives.

The Islamists, reeling from a devastating defeat after the June 30 ousting of Morsi, seemed to have lost much of their support, not only in Cairo of 18 million, but also in villages and towns throughout the country. Morsi’s supporters, the core of the Moslem Brotherhood, lamenting what they see as the unlawful ousting of their rule, are convinced they can salvage their losses if they resort to the streets. There was sporadic violence in Cairo, and the new regime was pressing forcefully with what they called “the fight against terrorism”.

The interim government is driven by determination to restore normalcy, and to ensure there was no turning back.

People were handling the change differently. The media hails the military rule. The notion of eliminating the other side has become widely accepted as the people were fed one narrative. Those who question the logic behind the firmness in dealing with the Islamists are a minority. Army Chief General Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi is glorified a national hero, and a pro-army song “Tislam al-Ayadi” or “Well-Done” has become the number one hit in Egypt these days, a symbol of the resurgence of nationalism in the country. Another song called “A Message from the Egyptian Children to the Whole World” has school children dressed in military suits saluting the Egyptian flag and singing of their love for their country.

One can easily be put in the mind frame that the nation was pitted against an enemy. The people rallied around a “person”, not an ideology or a political program. They now seek a military ruler, hoping he would end the chaos and restore the sense of security lost since Mubarak was toppled. Issues such as democracy or human rights are secondary as the country undergoes its second major transition.

A taxi driver told me that democracy and human rights are a “luxury”.

“People have other more important things to worry about, such as security and bread. We want to feel safe, we want tourists to return, and we want the economy to improve. I have not slept for two nights driving this taxi to try to come up with enough money that will pay for the cost of renting this taxi. I have not made enough money to buy dinner for my family,” he said.

Others I chatted with in shops or on the streets, even in the well-off neighborhoods of Zamalek and Garden City, echoed the same sentiments.

What needs to be done to change things for the better? I asked a friend, an academic.

“The people need to get angry again so things can happen. The situation is not expected to get better soon,” my friend said.

The liberals, united in their opposition to Morsi and his movement, no longer face the Islamist threat, but they still have not organized, and still have little grassroots support. Some people are also asking: where have the January 25, 2011 activists who sparked the revolution and were expected to lead, gone? I was told those young people, who called for freedom and social justice, are dispersed. They say some may have left the country, such as Wael Ghuneim, others gave up in frustration at the democracy failure, while others are defamed and accused of acquiring funds from foreign countries.

“Nobody knows where the country is going,” a journalist colleague told me.

Diplomats however, paint a more cautiously positive picture, and believe that with time, security and political conditions will improve. They are however concerned about the apparent hesitancy to implement economic reforms for fear of a popular backlash. The Gulf will not pour money forever, and unless reforms are carried out, Egypt could find itself in a worse situation than it was under the Moslem Brotherhood, several diplomats noted. The other challenge for the new rulers is to hold elections as planned next year, and proceed on the path to democracy, they added.

Businessmen said foreign and Egyptian investors have not returned after the June 30, 2013 ousting of Morsi, and neither have the tourists. Stable owners at the Pyramids complained they have not seen a foreign tourist in months, and they did not have enough to feed their horses. I felt sorry for Jamil, the horse I rode around the Pyramids. He was skinny, and undernourished.

What will you do if the economic situation doesn’t improve after a year or so? I asked an unemployed father of eight sipping tea in a café in one of Cairo’s less privileged neighborhoods.

“We might revolt again against the revolution. I want a job, I want to feed my children, that is all I care about now,” he said.

In Washington, Malala Makes Passionate Plea for Women's Rights

noreply@blogger.com (Wafa Amr) — Sat, 12 Oct 2013 02:30:00 +0000

Tears welled up in the eyes of some women listening to 16-year-old Malala Yousafzai speak to a crowd at the World Bank today. Her audience were deeply touched by her story and courage as she advocated for girl’s education.

“I’m proud to be a girl because we girls can change the world,” Malala told her mesmerized audience. I felt a chill run through my body at her strong words and her determination to pursue the struggle for the education of girls like her, banned from education.

One year ago, on October 9, 2012, Malala, the daughter of a school owner, almost lost her life when she was shot in the head by an extremist Talibani as she rode a bus home from school in Pakistan. The Taliban movement in her remote valley in Pakistan had banned education of girls in her region.

Malala survived, but her face remains partly paralyzed from the point-blank range shooting. Her painful experience, at such a young age, turned her into a brave, global symbol of peaceful activism, and she became the youngest nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize.

At an hour-long debate with World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, Malala spoke with passion, boldness, and confidence. She pleaded for collective work to help girls win their right to education.

Not many of us have to risk our lives to go to school. In several conservative regions in the Middle East where I come from, many girls banned by their culture and families from education, and are married off at a young age, have not walked the path Malala took. They submitted to their fate, and lived a bitterly painful life. Other women however, are defying their cultures to fight for their right to drive, to enter the labour force, and to resist child marriage. It is not easy for women to extract their rights in a society that uses and twists religion to persecute women. Despite the difficulties, women’s movements in many countries in the Middle East and North Africa have made wide strides.

Today, Masood Ahmed, Director of the IMF’s Middle East and Central Asia Department, spoke to reporters at the IMF about the importance of women’s participation in the labor force in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. He said the female labour force participation was low in the MENA region, actually, the gap between male and female labour force participation there remains the widest in the world, and has grave economic implications. He said policies can make a difference by raising women’s educational attainment and benefits for working parents, reducing gender wage gaps, and supporting women’s independent mobility and equal opportunity in employment.

“I believe in the power of the wisdom of women. I believe when we walk together, it will be easy to achieve our goals,” Malala, wearing a black head scarf and traditional Pakistani dress, said, surrounded by applause and admiration in Washington, D.C. She is in the United States to promote her book titled “I Am Malala”, written with foreign correspondent Christina Lamb.

Malala wanted to be a doctor, but after her shooting, she wants to be a politician.

“If I become a politician, I can help make a tomorrow where there are no more cases of people being shot,” she said.

Malala announced the creation of the Malala Fund to help educate girls, to which immediately Kim donated $200,000 from the World Bank.

"Now millions of girls are raising their voice...but we need to work hard and to work together," Malala said.

Downfall of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood a blow for political Islam

noreply@blogger.com (Wafa Amr) — Thu, 04 Jul 2013 03:37:00 +0000

The ousting of Mohammad Morsi, Egypt's first civilian, democratically elected president today, is a drastic defeat for political Islam in the traditionally conservative, religious Egypt. The rebellion of millions of Egyptians against the rule of the Moslem Brotherhood will have wider repercussions in the region that is witnessing unprecedented political and social transitions. The toppling of the Ikhwan, however, does not mean that people in Egypt are demanding the "secular" rule.

Egypt's military forces removed Morsi, suspended the Constitution, and installed an interim government, placed Morsi and senior Muslim Brotherhood officials under house arrest, and called on all sides to prepare for early presidential elections and a parliamentary vote, thus ending a little over a year of Islamists' rule. The military orchestrated their move carefully, bringing along political and religious figures to avoid calling their intervention a "coup". This was accompanied by a crackdown on Islamists' media outlets and supporters in Alexandria mosques and elsewhere throughout the country. The salafis, who won a majority in last year's parliamentary elections, chose to quickly endorse the military's road map.

The country remains deeply split. The ouster of the powerful Muslim Brotherhood throws the country into the unknown, with a danger of reprisals and confrontation. The question is whether the country will take the course of democracy.

The Moslem Brotherhood, working against time to control the country, had angered the public and isolated other political parties, including the salafis. The people felt the Muslim Brotherhood was "ikhwanising" state institutions, and had poorly managed a country delving deeper into economic woes and chaos.

"For the thousandth time, we say that President Mosris had made big mistakes, be in in tackling internal Egyptian issues, or Arab affairs, foremost the Palestinian and Syrian files," AbdelBari Atwan, editor of al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper wrote in his editorial today.

Palestinians in West Bank cities, rejoiced the defeat of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. The "coup" in Gaza in 2007, had led to the division of the future Palestinian state and placed the coastal strip under the Islamist rule of Hamas. Inspired by the popular rebellion launched by the "Tamarrud" group in Egypt, a Palestinian group in Gaza, calling itself "Tamarrud Gaza", issued a statement on facebook to oust Hamas from Gaza. In Tunis, small groups of youth were reorganizing to follow Egypt's suit.

For now, the Egyptians have succeeded in giving themselves another chance at achieving their Arab Spring
The transitions in the Arab world are incomplete, and the future remains uncertain. . Will we see more bloodshed before a "modern, civilian" rule is installed in these countries, or will the second phase of the "Arab Spring" take a more democratic course?

Birth Certificate for the State of Palestine

noreply@blogger.com (Wafa Amr) — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 03:39:00 +0000

Sixty-five years after the U.N. partitioned mandatory Palestine, the U.N. General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to recognize Palestine a non-member observer state. 138 countries voted in favour, 41 abstained, and 9 rejected. For Palestinians struggling for statehood, it is the beginning towards recognition as a full member state in the international body.
http://youtu.be/dxx9eoKpYBU
Though symbolic, the move was a historic recognition for the Palestinians, a step towards a dream that slowly seemed to materialize into reality. The word "PALESTINE" is rooted in the depth of every Palestinian. It means identity for the uprooted people scattered across the world, many driven in 1948 to live in squalid refugee camps, while many others became pillars and builders of countries in the Middle East.
People wept when the vote was announced at the U.N.'s General Assembly in New York today. Delegation members hugged and congratulated Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who defied intense pressure from the U.S. and other Western powers to back down.
Palestinians in the West Bank city of Ramallah and elsewhere in PALESTINE celebrated, danced, and chanted national songs.
"We did not come here seeking to delegitimize a state established years ago, and that is Israel; rather, we came to affirm the legitimacy of the state that must now achieve its independence, and that is Palestine," Abbas said in his historic speech at the U.N.
The Palestinian state that was recognized today is 22 percent of mandatory Palestine: the West Bank and Gaza, with Jerusalem as its capital, a victory for the Palestinians, a rebuff to Israel and its allies.But for the move to advance towards peace and a two-state solutio, U.S. meaningful involvement is required.
The hope that was placed on U.S. President Barack Obama after his election in 2009 subsided quickly as he proved unable or hesitant to change the rules of the Amerian game. Like his predecessors, he placed presure on the Palestinian leaders to make unilateral compromises that did not and would not lead to a 2-state solution.
The late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat had accepted the Oslo Accords in 1993 as a stepping stone for a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza. He died without realizing the dream he lived and struggled for. His body was exhumed two days ago to search for evidence that he was poisoned. Peace talks have stalled, and violence replaced peace moves. The state that Arafat sought became cantons divided by walls and checkpoints.
Abbas believed it was now or never. Abbas, a form believer in peace, was determined to win recognition for a state under occupation.He has warned that the window for a two-state solution was closing, and hopes the U.N. recognition would nudge the U.S. to break the impasse and work towards meaningful talks.
The boundaries of Falasteen, or Palestine, the area between the Mediterranean Sea and th Jordan River, have changed over the years.
In 1994, Jordan's King Hussein told me he worked towards peace between Israel and Jordan to protect the borders of his Kingdom. Today, Abbas won recognition for the boundaries of the Palestinian state under occupation.

MARIE COLVIN

noreply@blogger.com (Wafa Amr) — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 03:28:00 +0000

It is with deep sorrow that I write today about the loss of my dear friend, Marie Colvin, who, just a few months ago, urged me never to stop writing.

I still remember the sms messages she sent me from Cairo. I was working for UNHCR, sitting in my office in Beirut, watching the Revolution on TV and aching to be with Marie in Tahrir Square. “Your place is here, not in an office, come to Tahrir. I’m waiting for you,” Marie wrote.

Again, she would call me from Libya to tell me how much excitement I was missing by not covering the war there, and the sadness that filled her heart to see so many people killed.

I have worked closely with Marie since 1987. We shared the good and bad times. I learned so much from her, about life, and journalism.

Our foreign correspondent friends in Jerusalem would look at us in confusion and disbelief when we told them about the great time we had covering stories in Gaza, a, a city many would visit only if a big story unraveled, but a place we made our second home.

We covered peace and war, and the adrenaline kept us going, believing that the more risk we took, the more deeply we would seek the truth and relay it to the world.

I worked with Marie during the first and second wars in Iraq. Her passion for seeking the truth stopped at nothing. I remember how her dedication to help people made her rent a bulldozer in Iraq to uncover mass graves and help families reunite with the bones of their loved ones.

Her courage was unique. Wars she covered in all places of the earth should have hardened her, but she was soft, kind, and caring. She was not tough. The kind of human stories she told so well showed the real person she was.

She lived her life passionately, both as a journalist and as a human being. War correspondents are not normal human beings, she would tell me.

It is rare to find journalists so dedicated. She risked death so many times, we knew she would die trying to save lives, but the loss of such a legendary journalist and a good friend is always shocking.

She did not go to wars to prove herself, she had a point to prove, she was on a mission.

Last month I invited her to my new home in Washington and told her: “Take care of yourself”, she replied, “You know me”.

It’s a very sad day for all of us. This day underlines the risks journalists take.

Abbas issues emotional plea for Palestinian statehood recognition at UN

noreply@blogger.com (Wafa Amr) — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 03:28:00 +0000

GENERAL ASSEMBLY, United Nations- It was a historic, emotional day for the Palestinian people.

Many members of the Palestinian delegation and may others sitting in the hall and balconies of the General Assembly wept as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas made his passionate plea for state recognition on behalf of his people.

As a refugee himself, uprooted from his hometown in 1948 when the state of Israel was created, Abbas spoke of the pain of displacement and the suffering of the refugees. "Enough, enough, enough," he said. "It is time for the Palestinian people to gain their freedom and independence...to end their displacement and end their plight."

"This is the moment of truth...we are the last people to remain under occupation," the Palestinian President said.

Abbas was welcomed to the podium by applause, cheers, and a standing ovation by many delegates, not including the Americans and Israelis who seemed isolated by their rejection of the Palestinian decision to approach the United Nations. He was interrupted 15 times by applause and cheers during his speech.

Abbas did not spare the U.S. and Israel from criticism.

"I don't believe anyone with a shred of conscience can reject our application for a full membership at the UN and our admission as a state," he said.

It was obvious Abbas was impatient with Israel's rejection to halt settlement expansion and with the U.S.' inability and refusal to press Israel to accept agreed parameters after 20 years of futile negotiations.

Abbas' credibility was on line. He knew he could not go on negotiating forever. His people gave negotiations a chance and were losing patience.

The status quo of building more settlements, changing facts on the ground, demolition of homes, the eviction of Palestinians from Jerusalem, and many more actions would have imminently led to violent protests.

The Palestinian President urged his people to use peaceful means to resist occupation.

In an unprecedented move, Abbas warned of the possibility of the collapse of the Palestinian Authority and the death of the two-state solution if the Palestinians continued to be deprived of freedom and independence.

"This policy will destroy the chances of achieving a two-State solution which enjoys international consensus, and here I warn loudly: The settlements policy threatens to also undermine the structure of the Palestinian National Authority and even end its existence," Abbas said.

It was an appointment with history for many Palestinians. For others, such as Abbas' rival Hamas, it was a symbolic move void of content.

An Arab American friend agreed and said" As long as the Palestinians approach the world with emotions, they will never get a state."

A Jordanian of Palestinian origin called me from Amman to say that the speech made him feel "proud, and hoped this UN bid will bring the Palestinians a step closer to their state."
It is not clear what step the Palestinians will take next. But whatever it is, it does not look like they're heading for negotiations with this Israeli government any time soon.

Obama's U.N. speech not about Palestine, but domestic politics

noreply@blogger.com (Wafa Amr) — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 04:14:00 +0000

UNITED NATIONS - A last-ditch effort By U.S. officials to dissuade Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas from seeking full membership for the state of Palestine through a U.N. Security Council vote has failed. The Americans are now resigned to the fact that it's too late for Abbas to back down and efforts are now focused on dealing with the day after.

Abbas met U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday following Obama's speech at the U.N. blasted by Palestinian officials as one of the worst they have heard.
Officials who met Obama on Wednesday and who watched him deliver his speech at the U.N. said they saw a "defeated man."

"He sounded like the Palestinians were occupying Israel and not the other way around," a senior Palestinian official said, echoing the sentiments of other angry members of the Palestinian delegation at the U.N.

Palestinian officials said the meeting between Obama and Abbas was friendly, with each leader holdingon to his position and discussing the day after the vote.

A source close to the U.S. administration said Washington was worried that once Abbas fails to gain statehood membership at the U.N., Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza would take to the streets in anger.
"Why not, if the masses demonstrate peacefully, what does the world have to fear," responded one Palestinian official.

One could sense defeat and probably isolation among U.S. officials.Anger maybe for having failed.

Many observers saw Obama a shattered man as he delivered his speech at the U.N. He was tense and weak, and a disappointment.

An expert on the Middle East said Obama's speech "was part of the election campaign and was directed towards the Jewish lobby not to the heads of state and the General Assembly. It was full of factual mistakes and inaccuracies."

Abbas may not have intentionally sought to isolate the U.S. and Israel by taking his cause to the larger international forum, but he has succeeded in exposing the resentment by many international players to the U.S.' monopoly of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and how its bias to Israel has harmed American interests in the Arab world.

It was clear from French President Sarkozy's speech and peace proposal (talks with a one year timeline and upgrading the status of the Palestinians to non-member state at the U.N.) that other parties were willing to jump in and that from now on, the American's may find it difficult to alone dictate terms of peace.
The Quartet, consisting of the EU, the U.N., Russia and the U.S., may play a bigger role in mediating peace, despite their divided positions.
It is unclear whether Abbas' move would invite punitive actions by the mostly pro-Israel Congress and Israel itself. It is too early to say whether this was a calculated move by the Palestinian President or a gamble that would risk relations with the U.S. and some Arab states, and aid.

It is obvious that this is the first time that Abbas publicly challenges the United States, and publicly invites other international players to have a go at resolving the decades-old conflict.
Whether Abbas' U.N. bid ails or not, the sides will ultimately return to the negotiating table. Israel will come under pressure to resume talks on the basis of Obama's principles that call for a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with agreed swaps of lands between the sides.
"The court is in Israel's court now," a source close to the U.S. administration said.

As the emboldened Abbas walked into the Millennium U.N. Plaza Hotel after Obama's speech on Wednesday, a South Sudan delegate ululated in support.

Abbas determined to push for state membership, come what may

noreply@blogger.com (Wafa Amr) — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 20:36:00 +0000

NEW YORK – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has decided to go all the way!

His mind is set on seeking full membership for the state of Palestine at the U.N. Security Council on Friday.
His discussions with leaders and officials in New York are now focused on the day after the request submission.
Abbas has told delegates visiting him in New York that following the submission of the state membership request on Friday, he will fly back to Ramallah in the West Bank and discuss options with the Palestinian leadership.
An official close to Abbas said:
"President Abbas has told all his visitors the Palestinian leadership will discuss three options after the U.N.: Either go to the General Assembly and seek an upgrade in status to non-member state,or return to negotiations without pre-conditions, and the third option is to hand over the keys of the Palestinian Territories to Israel and say now you pay the cost of occupation,which really means a one-state solution."

It is clear the issue of Palestinian statehood has taken centre-stage at the UN this year. Abbas has been holding back-to-back meetings with different Arab and Western leaders and officials, some supporting his U.N. bid, while many others trying to talk him off the idea of going to the Security Council to avert an imminent U.S. veto.

The U.S. has been consistent in its opposition to the Palestinian decision to approach the Security Council or the General Assembly for full membership and an upgrade of status.

“The Americans are telling us no Security Council, no General Assembly, direct negotiations with Israel only. We have negotiated for 20 years, we have done what the Americans wanted us to do, and we have knocked on every door to achieve results through negotiations alone. What did we get? Nothing,” a senior Abbas aide said.

The Europeans are divided and so are the Arabs.

Abbas has been cajoled, threatened, pressured, and warned, but nothing has worked with him.

As European pressure failed to deter Abbas, the Arabs began leaning on him.

Abbas, the refugee from Safad, who remembers the pain and agony of displacement as a child in 1948, when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled or were forced to flee their homes and villages that later became part of the state of Israel.

That refugee boy, now 76-year-old President of the Palestine Liberation Organization, and President of the Palestinian Authority, is telling the world that Palestinian statehood is long overdue.

Unlike his predecessor Yasser Arafat, Abbas is not a military man and shuns violence as a means to achieve his goals. He believes he has heeded U.S. advice even when this has damaged his standing among his own people (such as the delay of discussion at the UN over the Goldstone Report).

“He has reached the point where he has no faith in the role of the American Administration as a neutral mediator. Where would he turn to for justice other than the United Nations? So he decided to internationalize the Palestinian conflict and place the United States and others in the international community before their responsibilities,” another senior aide said.

“He will go to the Security Council on Friday and for him, it’s a win-win situation,” he added.

In New York, U.S. President Barack Obama was busy with the issue of Libya. Both US Republican presidential front-runners Rick Perry and Mitt Romney were also in New York campaigning. They slammed Obama’s Middle East policy and insufficient support for Israel.

As he meets more delegates at his headquarters at the Millennium U.N. Plaza Hotel in New York, Abbas turns more confident that he would not drop his U.N. bid and would press ahead for full membership. He is listening as world leaders make maximalist and minimalist offers to keep the Palestinians away from the Security Council.

The Palestinians are also split over the U.N.bid. Some say it is a symbolic move that will cost the Palestinians a lot such as deteriorated relations with Washington, the suspension of much-needed aid, and probably isolation. Others counter it is time words are translated into deed, and those who seek a two-state solution, would have a chance to prove it through a vote.

“Abbas drew attention back to the Palestinian cause as delegates frantically try to come up with offers and new ideas before Friday. He is watching and listening, but his mind is so far made up,” one aide said.

What are the Palestinians expecting at the U.N. in September?

noreply@blogger.com (Wafa Amr) — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 21:34:00 +0000

The Palestinians are confused. The contradicting and often vague comments and statements made Palestinian officials regarding the Palestinian quest for recognition as a state by the United Nations has left the people at a loss.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says the move to seek recognition for the State of Palestine at a U.N. meeting planned for September is not a “stunt”, and though negotiations remain his first option, Israel's failure to stop settlements expansion and failure to renew meaningful talks has compelled him to seek the United Nations help to end the conflict peacefully.(http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/17/opinion/17abbas.html?_r=1)

Then Abbas says if he is presented with a peace offer before September, he will back down. (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4084937,00.html)

Most Palestinian officials I have spoken to, particularly diplomats and officials working hard on seeking recognition at the U.N. insist that with or without new peace offers, the U.N. bid is going ahead.

There is little understanding even among senior Palestinian officials about the technicalities of trying to win that recognition. Contradicting statements are also made about how to go around the imminent U.S. veto, how they will use the U.N. laws and by laws and regulations, intense lobbying, diplomatic battles, etc…to win recognition.

Then there is the question of what happens the day after. What if the Palestinians do not win the recognition after raising the hopes of their people? Some anticipate a “Third Intifada” or uprising, and Israel prepares for the day and places its troops on high alert. Others say they will continue the diplomatic struggle because the “recognition battle” starts by submitting the request to the U.N. Secretary General in July and the process proceeds for a year.

I went to Ramallah, where the Palestinian leadership is based in the West Bank, to try to understand. I met Palestinian diplomats working at the U.N., senior Palestinian officials, journalists and columnists, Abbas advisers and others. I left with more confusion and with the belief that not many people really know what’s brewing in Abbas’ mind.

“It’s a win-win situation,” said one senior Abbas aide.

“We are going to the U.N. regardless of any peace offers we might get because any peace proposal so far has failed to bring about a halt to settlements construction and (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu has clearly rejected talks based on the 1967 borders,” he said.

This statement has been echoed by at least three other senior Palestinian officials.

Another source close to Abbas said the Palestinian leader was clear when he repeatedly stressed that negotiations were his first choice and if he was presented before September with a peace offer that leads to an Israeli commitment to stop Jewish settlements building and to restart talks based on U.S. President Barack Obama’s speech (1967 borders with agreed swaps), Abbas would abandon the U.N. bid and renew talks.

Will there be recognition in September? Have the Palestinians secured the recognition of the required 130 states? The normal Palestinian was told “Yes” by some officials, and “No” by others, and “We will get there by September” still by some other officials.

A Palestinian official working at the U.N. said the Palestinians have so far won the recognition of 114 states only, but they will effort to reach the 130 states. However, this is not sufficient for the Palestinians to gain recognition for the State of Palestine as a new member at the U.N.

Nasser Qidwa, the former top Palestinian diplomat at the U.N. was very clear.

“Unfortunately, there will be no recognition of the State of Palestine in September. It is not going to happen,” Qidwa said.

“Why? Because the vote by the Security Council is a requirement and there’s no way going around this,” he added.

Some other officials had told the press how they can go around this by using other mechanisms, including the two thirds of the General Assembly votes and the Uniting for Peace Resolution, and explained other U.N. technical methods that the Palestinian on the street has no understanding of.

The U.S. veto is important. The United States has so far cast 27 vetoes only on resolution in favor of the Palestinians. In his last speech on the Middle East, President Obama has vowed to continue to defend Israel in all public international forums. This will continue, even if the U.S. was isolated internationally by being the only country casting the veto.

So, we know there is no recognition in September. Do the Palestinians have a plan?

Yes, they say.

“This is a process that begins in September. This is not the end,” a senior Palestinian diplomat at the U.N. said.

“We plan to take the state recognition a step forward and we are certain we will win an improvement of our status at the United Nations,” he said.

Will the Palestinians be closer to a state after September?

Yes and No, officials say.

Yes, because the struggle at the U.N. will continue and the international community will work harder to present peace proposals that are based on the 1967 borders. Pressure will increase on Israel to accept Obama’s offer to restart talks on the basis of a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with agreed swaps. How long can Israel reject and resist. Obama’s speech was significant because he was the first U.S. President to publicly state what has been a long-time private U.S. policy.

Washington believes that a peaceful end to the conflict rests with having a Palestinian state next to Israel on the West Bank, (including East Jerusalem), and Gaza Strip. Swaps would be negotiated between the sides, and thus the issue of the settlements would be resolved once the borders have been agreed. That was the basis on which Obama’s former peace envoy George Mitchell worked for months before he resigned.

Abbas and former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had also negotiated based on these principles but they disagreed on the location and percentage of the areas that would be swapped.

All parties are aware that the opportunity for a 2-state solution is closing.

Israeli President Shimon Peres recently told CNN in an interview that failure to strike a deal with the Palestinians urgently threatens the Jewish character of the Israeli state.
"If there will be one state without a clear majority or an un-Jewish majority, that is against everything we are trying to work for," Peres said. (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4084332,00.html)

The West Bank is still completely under occupation, settlements are still expanding, Arab East Jerusalem is quickly being taken over by the Israelis, and the Palestinian people are convinced there is no real basis for future talks.

Will the Palestinians wait indefinitely for the U.S. and the international community to convince Israel to return to the talks? Experience has taught us that the situation would explode any time.

It could be a third uprising, but not necessarily a violent one. The situation could lead to a strong push for a one-state solution, a nightmare scenario for Israel. Refugee leaders in exile are already debating ways to push for that solution and the younger generation in the Palestinian Territories is already losing hope for a 2-state solution.

Obama understands Israel's strategic interests more than its leaders

noreply@blogger.com (Wafa Amr) — Wed, 25 May 2011 21:05:00 +0000

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to the U.S. Congress on Tuesday full of “No’s will not give the Palestinians the state they aspire for and will not achieve the security and peace the Israelis so badly need.

For the Palestinians, negotiations under Netanyahu’s terms would seem futile. Their choices are to go to the United Nations to seek recognition for a state on the 1967 borders, or take to the streets in non-violent protests demanding an end to the 44-year-old occupation, or both.

Netanyahu insists that Israel is not a “foreign occupier” because the land is the Jews’ ancestral homeland.

He has told the Palestinians:

- Recognize Israel (borders to be determined by Israel) as the state of the Jewish people

- No to the right of return of refugees

- No to the return to the 1967 borders

- No to a unity pact between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas

- No a divided Jerusalem
(http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/netanyahu-to-congress-ready-to-make-painful-compromises-but-jerusalem-will-not-be-divided-1.363802)

The standing ovation and the extensive applause Netanyahu received from members of the Congress made the Palestinians wonder whether the Israeli leader represented the Americans more than U.S. President Barack Obama.

Congressmen applauded as Netanyahu challenged Obama’s speech that outlined the parameters for peace between the Palestinians and Israel.
The Palestinians’ experience tells them that Obama is serious about ending the conflict and helping the Palestinians achieve self-determination, though he might mean well, he is unable to press Israel to make the compromises required to return to meaningful peace talks.

Does Netanyahu understand the factors that led to the popular explosions in Tahrir Square in Egypt, the mass protests that led to the toppling of Tunisia’s president, and protests elsewhere in Yemen, Syria, and Libya?

Has Netanyahu not been informed of far-reaching proposals made by former Israeli prime ministers such as those made by Ehud Olmert and the understandings reached at Taba in 2000 between negotiators from both sides?

The Israeli leader may have won a diplomatic battle in Congress, but how will he win when his country becomes more isolated in the region? Egypt is moving away from Israel. The departure of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has brought about huge changes that have a great impact on Israel. One example is the effect the reopening of the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza will have on Israel.

How will Netanyahu react when the Palestinian masses move towards the checkpoints in non-violent protests and the refugees march towards the borders from neighbouring states?

The scenario is more conflict and death.

Obama has asked the Palestinian and Israeli leaders to make the necessary compromises to restart talks. It is obvious Obama understands the changes that are reshaping the Arab World and has rushed to support the peoples’ quest for freedom and dignity. It seems obvious that Obama understands better than Netanyahu where the strategic interests of Israel lie.

There is still a chance for talks to begin but as Obama said, peace cannot be imposed, it must be negotiated.

Obama's Middle East speech creates controversy among Israelis and Palestinians

noreply@blogger.com (Wafa Amr) — Thu, 19 May 2011 20:28:00 +0000

U.S. President Barack Obama raised great hopes in 2009 when he addressed the Muslim World and the Arab young generation from Cairo. His words then on ending occupation and halting settlement expansion on occupied land gave many Palestinians and Arabs a sense that there was truly a “new beginning.” A few months later, the hopes were dashed.

I was among several journalists who interviewed the new President in 2009 immediately after his Cairo University speech in June. Having covered the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for a very long time, I believed only strong intervention from the U.S. could help the sides engage in a serious peace process, but I was sure the new U.S. President would have a very hard time translating his words into action and enforce a settlement freeze.

Obama’s speech today, his first since the Arab Spring blossomed, was a major address that outlined the American policy in the Middle East and North Africa, a policy based on backing political reforms and helping nations demanding freedoms and dignity.(http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/05/19/remarks-president-middle-east-and-north-africa)

He acknowledged that the U.S. had not been an actor in the Arab popular uprisings and articulated America’s policies and role in the new Middle East in a new context now that Osama Bin Laden was killed, and combat troops out of Iraq.

He warned Syrian President Bashar Assad of increased isolation if he continued to use force to quell his peoples’ uprising and bluntly said: “President Assad now has a choice. He can lead the transition, or get out of the way.”

He was also blunt in his call for allies Bahraini leaders to use dialogue and not force, though it was questionable why he stumbled or hesitated while speaking about Bahrain.

I may be skeptical, but I did not find his words on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict sufficient to revive the negotiations that were suspended following America’s failure to enforce a settlement freeze.

I found his words were meant at telling both sides they were expected to make serious concessions to revive the peace talks and end the conflict.

Obama’s public endorsement of a two-state solution based on the 1967 borders is new, but this is not a major U.S. policy change. Former U.S. President George Bush endorsed this, Hillary Clinton stated this before. Actually Israeli leaders, including former Israeli leader Ehud Olmert, were all negotiating a solution based on the 1967 borders with agreed swaps. The disagreement was on the percentage of the land that would be swapped.

The U.S. President’s idea of a solution based on resolving the border and security issues first were not new either because his envoy, George Mitchell, who resigned last week, had worked on this with the Palestinians and Israelis for months but failed to achieve progress because the issue of settlement expansion, especially in Jerusalem, obstructed progress. Condoleeca Rice had also made an effort to reach understandings on territory first.

I believe the more critical and new elements in Obama’s speech were:

- His rejection of Palestinian plans to seek the United Nation’s recognition of a Palestinian state based on the pre-1967 borders.

- His remarks on a full and phased withdrawal of Israeli troops from the West Bank. The Palestinians have repeatedly rejected new interim deals and are seeking a final deal that will end occupation and create a state. The Israelis want to keep a military presence in the Jordan Valley on what it says are security grounds.

- Delaying the sensitive issues of Jerusalem, settlements, and refugees. This might be a non-starter for the Palestinians who have seen how the Oslo interim deals have failed to bring about an end to occupation.

- When Obama lays down the foundations of a peace process and then says: “Ultimately, it is up to Israelis and Palestinians to take action. No peace can be imposed upon them, nor can endless delay make the problem go away,” he is basically saying, I will not take serious action to translate my words into action.

Many Palestinians and Arabs are skeptical of Obama’s words on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict because he went so high up on the tree in 2009 when he insisted on halting settlements expansion, but then not only did he climb down fast, but he applied pressure on the moderate Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas to accept talks without any preconditions. Abbas lost credibility and came under pressure to halt negotiations.

Obama was right to back the Arab revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt. He has done the right thing for America by stating his unequivocal support for nations seeking democracy and reforms, but when in the same breath he says: “We will stand against attempts to single it (Israel) out for criticism in international forums,” he raises eyebrows among those same young people who led the revolutions in the Arab world and he may be sending the wrong message.

Immediately after his speech, young Arabs were tweeting skepticism of Obama's support for self-determination while he rejects a symbolic move by the Palestinians to create statehood.

Israelis tweeted their rejection of Obama’s endorsement of a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders and saw this as a major U.S. policy shift.

Refugees from Syria appeal for help, tell tales of fear and death

noreply@blogger.com (Wafa Amr) — Wed, 18 May 2011 20:05:00 +0000

Al-Rameh, Wadi Khaled, Lebanon, May 18 - Ten women from the Syrian towns of Tal Kalakh and Aridah sat on the porch of a small house of a Lebanese family hosting them in the border village of al-Rameh describing the violence and fear they said had led to the displacement of thousands from their homes.
A child screamed and ran to her mother's lap at the sound of bullets in the background.
They said they fled on Saturday, leaving their money and belongings behind, as well as some male family members who they said could be either arrested or killed.

"I saw three bodies of men in pools of blood outside our home on Saturday in Tal Kalakh. Nobody dared to drag them out of the streets. Our houses were fired at by tank shells and bullets, we were terrified," a 17-year-old girl told me.

"We heard of many more killed. There were snipers everywhere. The armed Shabeeha (thugs), and armed Alawite civilians as well as the army were burning and destroying homes. Tanks were surrounding the town," her mother added.
Another woman from al-Aridah town on the border with Lebanon, said she was making breakfast for her family when she heard shots outside her home. She looked out her window and saw tanks coming down the hill.
"Our neighbours the Alawites turned into armed gangs against us the Sunnis. We were surprised because we never thought they held so much hatred for us. They burned, destroyed and shot," another woman said.

"Two bullets from snipers outside our home flew near my face while I was in my room," one said.
An older refugee woman from Aridah said her aunt was shot in the head and killed while fleeing on the bridge that separated her Syrian town from the Lebanese al-Rameh village. Another relative fleeing with her was shot and wounded in the leg.

"We didn't dare go near them to rescue them, the shooting was heavy. A Lebanese soldier braved the bullets and went to drag her inside Lebanon, he too was shot and wounded in the leg," she said, with tears welling up in her eyes.
Another woman said the fleeing woman and their children had to crawl across the bridge because "bullets were falling above our heads like rain."

According to the refugee families, some 5,000 people had fled the town of al-Aridah of 33,000.
Women said few men had succeeded to cross into Lebanon. Many of those who did, were either elderly men or crossed illegally at night.

The international media was not allowed to cover the protests inside Syria and stories by refugees could not be independently verified.

Men, who had managed to flee, gathered near the river bank that overlooked Aridah town. A few men they said were armed thugs, were seen riding motorcycles in the empty town across the river. There was no other sign of life there.
They too had stories to tell about the brutality they saw.
One young man said he had to crawl for hours out of Tal Kalakh Saturday night.
"As I was crawling, I felt dead bodies beneath me," he said.
He said the tanks and troops stormed into Tal Kalakh on Saturday a day after a demonstration called for the downfall of the regime. The men said they called for the toppling of the regime when they felt their demands for the release of prisoners went unheeded.
Asked how long their displacement would take, one man said: "I will not return. If I go back, I will either get killed or arrested."

WHAT IS OBAMA WAITING FOR?

Several Turkmen from Zara town said the too had fled on Sunday. They believed they were targetted in retaliation for Turkish Prime Minister Rajab Tayeb Ordogan's position on events in Syria.

"Ask (U.S. President Barack) Obama what is he waiting for? Why is he not calling on Bashar Assad to step down? It didn't take him that long to call for the removal of Hosni Mubarak and Zein Bin Ali of Tunis?", one of the Turkmen said. "We're without food, communications, and electricity. Hasn't he heard of the mass grave in Dar'aa?"
Human rights lawyer Razan Zaitouna said the army and security forces have killed at least 27 civilians since the army moved into Tal Kalakh.

On Wednesday, Obama imposed sanctions on Syrian President Bashar Assad and six other senior Syrian officials. The move reflected Washington's frustration with Syria's lack of response to international condemnation of its crackdown on political protests in the country.

Human rights groups say at least 700 civilians have been killed in two months of clashes between Syrian forces and protesters seeking an end to Bashar Assad's 11-year rule.
In an interview published in the al-Watan local paper on Wednesday, Bashar Assad acknowledged for the first time that the security forces had made a mistake handling the protests.
The protests are the most serious challenge to Assad's rule.

"We have no confidence in him, we appeal to the world to help us," one young man said.

Nakba Day protesters try to claim the "Right of Return" with their bodies

noreply@blogger.com (Wafa Amr) — Sun, 15 May 2011 19:41:00 +0000

Lebanon - When the masses are driven by a dream, hope, and suppressed anger, no force can control the outpour of emotions or stop the surge of the crowds.

That is what happened over 20 years ago when on "Nakba Day" thousands of Palestinians and Jordanians went in buses and cars to demonstrate near King Hussein Bridge at the Jordanian-Israeli border. I was among the masses covering the story for UPI. Despite the heavy presence of the Jordanian army and the calls for restraint by Unionists and political party leaders, the sight of Palestine so close, yet so far, across the bridge, prompted the masses to charge towards the border. The scene was chaotic, teargas and shots in the air could hardly stop the crowds who were hypnotized by the determination to move on and enforce their Right of Return.

Today, on the 63rd anniversary of the Nakba, when the Palestinian refugee problem was created along with the establishment of the State of Israel, thousands of people in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Egypt protested at those countries' borders with Israel. Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza held their own demonstrations near fences and walls that separate them from the rest of the Palestinian Territories or from Israel.

Thousands of Palestinian refugees and Lebanese were shuttled from Saida to the border area in buses this morning. People were also shuttled from different parts in Syria to the border. The fact that they were allowed to reach the border could be interpreted as an encouragement by Hizbullah and the Syrian regime.

Hundreds effectively destroyed the border fences and entered the other side. Four were killed by Israeli fire on the border with Syria. 10 were killed in Lebanon.

Israeli sources said 13 people were lightly wounded on Israel's side of the border near the Druze village of Majdal Shams, including 10 Israeli soldiers, by stones hurled by Nakba Day protesters.

"We'll be back" shouted the protesters returning into Syrian territory.

These people went to claim their Right of Return with their own bodies. The Israeli army may have expected trouble at the border with Lebanon, but events showed they had least expected trouble at the usually quiet border with Syria.
The Palestinians wanted to show today that they are part of the Arab revolutions. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-13406869)

What do the events of today show?

For most Palestinians, it shows that the refugees have not given up on the Right of Return, that the old and the young living in refugee camps have not forgotten. It shows that for the Arab people, the Palestinian problem and the refugee issue is still at the core of the Middle East conflict.

Some Israeli commentators suggested that the Syrian regime and Hizbullah may be using Nakba Day to deflect attention from the bloody incidents and protests taking place in Syria. Others said the events in Lebanon and Gaza bore the fingerprints of Iran.

Netanyahu said the Nakba Day events were not about the 1967 borders, but rather about "undermining the very existence of Israel." (http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/netanyahu-israel-is-determined-to-defend-its-borders-sovereignty-1.361915)

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh told a crowd of some 10,000 people in Gaza that "Palestinians mark the occasion this year with great hope of bringing to an end the Zionist project in Palestine." (http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/hamas-leader-on-nakba-day-the-zionist-project-must-end-1.361798)

It is true that 63 years after the Nakba, many of those refugees uprooted from their homes and living in squalid camps in Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Gaza and in the West Bank do not recognize Israel's right to exist and still hope to return to their homes in what is now Israel. These people have not given up the dream. Some had hoped the 1993 Oslo accords would end their plight, but over the years, these people saw Oslo had led to further slicing of what remained of Palestine: the gradual loss of Jerusalem, and a big chunk of the West Bank eaten up by settlements. In the end, it meant more displacement.

The majority of Palestinians who believed peace negotiations would end occupation are becoming a minority, as the Israeli society is moving more and more to the right.

"I am horrified by the way the barrier affects the Palestinians," said Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs Valerie Amos during a visit to Jerusalem on the eve of Nakba Day. She noted that the Israeli policies of home demolitions and restrictive measures lead to forced displacement from Jerusalem and from the rest of the West Bank.

One-State Solution:

I was sitting with some Palestinian refugees in Beirut yesterday discussing the Right of Return and was struck by the deep conviction of those refugees who had never seen Palestine that eventually they will return to Haifa, Yaffa, Safad, and other towns and villages their parents were forced to flee in 1948.

The discussion turned to the issue of the two-state solution. None of the six people I had coffee with believed it was still a viable solution. They were debating the possibility of lobbying for the one-state solution. They said discussions among refugees in exile were already underway to build support for the idea among the younger generation as a means to return to their homeland.
Israel has repeatedly said it would never accept the one-state solution.

The older generation still held on to their home keys and told stories about their childhood in Palestine.

In the camps of Mar Elias and Shatila, the young men and women hardly knew anything about Safad or Haifa, or their original towns and villages. They knew they were Palestinians from this or that village but had little or no information apart from that.

"If you want to know more about Safad, ask my father, he remembers," Salah, 16, from Shatila, told me.

But when asked if he wanted to return, he replied: "Nothing will stop me from hoping for the realization of that day."

If One Day A People Desires To Live

noreply@blogger.com (Wafa Amr) — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 19:02:00 +0000

((THIS BLOG REPRESENTS MY PERSONAL VIEWS, NOT MY EMPLOYERS))

Tunisian poet Abul Qassem Al-Shabi’s famous poem: “The Will of Life” reads:
“If, one day, a people desires to live, then fate will answer their call.
And their night will then begin to fade, and their chains break and fall.
For he who is not embraced by a passion for life will dissipate into thin air,
At least that is what all creation has told me, and what its hidden spirits declare…”
Translated by Elliott Colla.

An Egyptian man shouted anti-government slogans before setting himself on fire in Egypt today Monday. Another man also dissatisfied with his government set himself on fire in Mauritania.

Despair may have led these individuals to believe that copying Mohamed Bouazid would lead to change. Two weeks ago, Bouazid set fire to himself in the southern Tunisian city of Sidi Bouzid after police prevented him from selling his vegetables, sparking anti-government riots that toppled Zein El Abideen Ben Ali’s regime.

Last week’s protests in Algeria subsided when the government retracted on price hikes. Anti-government protests in Jordan and Libya have continued. Demonstrations against price hikes took place in several Palestinian cities. The Yemenis also protested in support of the Tunisians.

In the past, we have seen individuals or political parties leading revolts and rebellions.
In Tunisia’s case, the angry masses led the change. The move was popular and secular. It is interesting to see that protests that followed in some parts of the Arab world were not led by the Islamists.

Could the Tunisia uprising have emboldened the ordinary Arab who shares the same economic grievances and absence of democracy?

Events in Tunisia sent shock waves beyond the Tunisian borders.

Has the level of anger in the Arab world reached a limit? One has to follow the outpour of comments on face book and twitter to read the sentiments of the younger generation across the Arab world. Abul Qassem al-Shabi’s poem may never have been as popular as it was last week.

Could unilateralism in Jerusalem bring the Palestinians closer to statehood

noreply@blogger.com (Wafa Amr) — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 21:42:00 +0000

(THE VIEWS IN MY BLOG ARE PERSONAL AND DO NOT REPRESENT MY EMPLOYER)

The razing of the Shepherd Hotel in Jerusalem to make room for the construction of 20 housing units for Jewish families on the site is yet another example of how the Holy City is changing.

World condemnation (http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/un-chief-deplores-demolition-of-east-jerusalem-hotel-1.336270) and the EU envoys' recommendations in a confidential policy report are also a sign of how the international community is changing its attitude towards Israel's continuing unilateral actions. The EU is stepping up its opposition to the rapid erosion of the Arab identity of East Jerusalem. Some in the international community may be turning against Israel as frustration with lack of progress in the peace process deepens.

Palestinians' access to Jerusalem was greatly restricted following the 1993 Oslo accords. Entry to Jerusalem by West Bank Palestinians has become literally impossible during the years of the second intifada. In their policy report prepared last month, the heads of 25 European missions in Jerusalem and Ramallah urged Brussels to treat East Jerusalem as the future capital of a Palestinian state. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/10_01_11_eu_hom_report_on_east_jerusalem.pdf)
The report also calls for an EU presence at the demolitions of Palestinian homes, and intervention when peaceful protesters face arrest. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12150792).

International leaders are warning that Israeli actions in the city are jeopardizing the two-state solution.
But some Palestinian leaders say Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's drive to assert the Jewish identity of Jerusalem could be moving the Palestinians closer to statehood.

"Netanyahu is doing us a favor. We have little difficulty now in convincing the world Israel is obstructing a peaceful settlement and to heed our call to recognize a Palestinian state. Our next move was to push the Europeans to take a stance and step up objection to Israel's unilateral actions. He is making that task easier," a senior Palestinian official said.
Netanyahu defended his government's actions in Jerusalem by reiterating it was Israel's right to build in Jerusalem.

The failure of direct and indirect Israeli-Palestinian peace talks to reach a final settlement prompted the Palestinians to opt for Plan B: Step up diplomatic and peaceful action against settlements construction, turn to the United Nations to issue a Security Council Resolution against settlements expansion, and win international recognition of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza. The Palestinians, led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Fayyad, are determined to have a state by September.

"President Abbas is now considering several paths of action if he fails to get a negotiated settlement by September. He will either step down and admit failure to realize his quest for a state, or place the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza, under the mandate of the United Nations. Other options are also being examined. In any case, there will be an announcement in September," an official close to Abbas said.

Fayyad is confident he is moving towards attaining his statehood goal.
"We are working hard at all levels towards achieving this goal. You might think I'm not serious when I say there will be a state, but I am," Fayyad told me during a recent visit to Ramallah.

It might seem hard for many to imagine what kind of state would be established with hundreds of checkpoints dividing the West Bank, with Jerusalem totally cut off from the rest of the Palestinian territories, with Gaza under Hamas' control, and the U.S. strongly opposed to a unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state.

I remember in 1994, when I moved from Jordan to Jerusalem for work as a journalist, one could hardly see an Israeli walking the streets in East Jerusalem. There was a sense of a de facto division of the city: the East side for the Palestinians and the West for the Israelis.
The Orient House, the PLO's headquarters in Sheikh Jarrah, headed by the late Faisal Husseini, was running the affairs of the Palestinians in Jerusalem.
Today, the West side is still Israeli, and the Palestinians are struggling to maintain a presence in the East side.
The Palestinian Authority is banned in Jerusalem. Jerusalemite Palestinians feel abandoned by their leaders and fear for their future.

It is true we are witnessing a dramatic change in the nature of East Jerusalem, but we are also seeing a willingness by some European states to go beyond the usual criticism or silence.
The Palestinians say they are not expecting similar action by the U.S., at least not in the near future.

Fairuz instills hope in the lives of fans in momentous concert

noreply@blogger.com (Wafa Amr) — Sat, 09 Oct 2010 14:57:00 +0000

BEIRUT- “Yes there’s hope”, sang Fairuz, the Lebanese icon to thousands of fans in Beirut.
The song was from her latest album released on Thursday. The crowd of more than 14,000 included celebrities who travelled from the Arab world to attend the concert, Fairuz’ first since 2006.
The audience held their breath as Fairuz entered the hall.
The legendary singer, wearing a white dress, was described as coming on stage as an “angel”. Her voice, despite her age, was still majestic. Her fans gave her a standing ovation as she appeared on stage in the Biel (Beirut International Exhibition Centre) downtown Beirut, and chanted along as she sang older songs such as al-Tahouni and Kifak inta.
In her songs, Fairuz addressed social problems such as marrying at an early age, and proved she could still appeal to all generations. She took her audience through the different stages of her musical life with the old and new songs.
The audience included fans from the younger generation, and children whose families insisted they introduce them to the most celebrated singer known in recent history.
The famous Egyptian comedian actor Adel Imam, who happened to be in Beirut for the shooting of his new film “Alzheimer”, delayed his trip back to Cairo to attend Fairuz’ concert.
“This is Fairuz, I won’t miss her concert,” Imam, who is also UNHCR’s Good Will ambassador told me.
The audience applauded, sang, and demanded more as Fairuz ended her performance the second day. She came back on stage for another song.
“I have attended her concerts before, but this was her best. This time it was different,” one fan said.
Many felt the concert gained additional significance following reports she was banned by heirs of Mansour Rahbani from singing songs composed by the Rahbani Brothers without their prior consent. The reports led to widespread protests across the Arab world.
Beirut streets were jammed. The airport witnessed an unusual traffic as fans flocked from across the Arab world to express what was viewed as their rejection to attempts to restrict or silence the voice that has become part of their lives and memories since the sixties.
The absence of her son Ziad Rahbani was noticed, yet he was very much present when the accompanying orchestra’s sang parts of his latest album ”Mniha”, each time the celebrated Fairuz went backstage for a short break.
My friends felt they had witnessed a historic concert but left wondering if Fairuz will hold another concert.

"Sergio Vieira De Mello", a story of sacrifice and inspiration

noreply@blogger.com (Wafa Amr) — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 21:09:00 +0000

Watching Greg Baker's Oscar-nominated documentary "Sergio" about the life and death of the UN's Special Representative in Iraq Sergio Vieira De Mello brought back good and bad memories of 2003 when I was in Iraq as a journalist covering post-Saddam Hussein Iraq.
Like other journalists, I frequented the U.N. headquarters in Baghdad for press briefings. The news of the bombing of the Canal Hotel where the UN had its headquarters two weeks after I left Iraq came as a shock.
The bombing killed 22 people, including Sergio and a dear friend Rick Hooper.
I had escaped death several times in Iraq, but the bombing of the Canal Hotel marked a turning point. Instability and violence became the norm.
Baker's moving and emotional film tells the story of Sergio who, despite his opposition to the war in Iraq, accepted the job as the UN's top man there, and showed his deep belief that the UN could be a force for positive change.
UNHCR's office in Jordan chose World Humanitarian Day on August 19 to show the film. It is the day the UN recognizes all humanitarian and UN personnel who have risked their lives to promote the humanitarian cause. It marks the day Sergio was tragically killed along with 21 of his colleagues.
The film was a tribute to a charismatic peacemaker, who has left his mark everywhere he worked.
Chetin Chabuk, co-producer of the HBO documentary "Sergio" was invited to attend the film screening in Amman. Greg Baker could not attend since the documentary was nominated for the Emmy Awards and was waiting for the result.
Chabuk said in the process of researching "Sergio", "lots of lessons were taken away: you think of this man as an inspiration to better the lives of others who need it."
Imran Riza, UNHCR's representative in Jordan said before the film screening in Amman's Film House that the world in which humnanitarian workers live in today has changed. Figures of humanitarian workers killed or abducted or injured have risen five fold compared to 10 years ago.
- 278 humanitarians were victims of 139 serious security incidents in 2009, compared with 1999 when 65 humanitarians were involved in such incidents. In 2009, 205 of these victims were national staff members of humanitarian organizations, while 73 were international. In 1999, 40 victims were national staff and 25 were international.
- 102 humanitarian workers were killed in 2009 compared with 30 killed in 1999.
- 92 humanitarian workers were kidnapped in 2009 compared with 20 in 1999.
- 139 security incidents occurred in 2009, compared with 34 in 1999. Kidnappings, the most common incident, increased from 9 to 37 over this period. Attacks and assassinations rose from 7 to 32. Bombing incidents increased from 3 to 23. Ambush and road attacks increased from 8 to 20.
Seven years after the U.S. invasion of Iraq, the problems of this country have not been resolved.
By the end of this month, U.S. troops would withdraw to leave behind 50,000 from some 160,000. There are mixed feelings about U.S. President Barack Obama's pledge to complete withdrawal next year, leaving behind a limited military training presence.
Though the security situation in Iraq has improved in some areas, it is still risky, political deadlock hampers stability, and sectarian conflict is likely to continue.
Humanitarian workers aiding victims in disaster and conflict areas often work in remote, difficult, and dangerous places.
The Pakistani Taliban today said the presence of foreign relief workers in flood-ravaged Pakistan was “unacceptable” and hinted that militants could carry out attacks against members of aid groups.
In July, monsoon rains led to flooding in Pakistan and an estimated 1,600 people have been killed and about 17 million have been affected across the country.
UNHCR, which had previously sought $41 million for its special Pakistan operation, has upped its appeal for Pakistan's flood victims to $120 million so it can provide some 2 million people emergency shelter and assistance over the next four months.
UNHCR field workers reported that encampments were mushrooming across Sindh province as the floods spread into new areas of southern Pakistan over the past few days.
So far, UNHCR has provided more than 41,000 plastic tarpaulins, 14,500 family tents, 70,000 blankets, 40,000 sleeping mats, 14,800 kitchen sets, 26,600 jerry cans, 18,600 plastic buckets, 17,700 mosquito nets and 13.3 tons of soap amongst the flood affected people of Pakistan. In the first delivery to Sindh province , the Provincial Disaster Management Authority airlifted 1,000 UNHCR tents to Sukkar.
UNHCR staff across the world have left their families and homes to go to Pakistan to help the flood victims. They know they can make a difference.

A day with Marcel Khalife

noreply@blogger.com (Wafa Amr) — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 21:45:00 +0000

AMCHIT, Lebanon- The iconic Lebanese artist Marcel Khalifeh sang for Palestine, and turned the wonderful poems of the legendary Mahmoud Darwish into songs that became part of the national identity of the Palestinians and Arabs.
Today, Marcel took me and family friends Jamal Saidi and his wife Samar to tour the coastal village of Amchit, north of Beirut, where the infamous singer was born, where he lives, and where his heart is.
He still speaks with pain about the time when he was expelled from Amchit for 18 years for going against the tide during the civil war in the seventies by sympathizing with the Lebanese left and the Palestinians.
Marcel recalled his childhood memories as we drove through the beautiful small village with breathtaking scenery of the coast and mountains, and its old houses. Unlike in Beirut, modernity has not replaced the historical nature of the village.
“Look at this house, its windows, the palm trees. Look at the old stones, the beauty of the nature. How I love it,” Marcel said in his soft voice.
“Stop the car here, this is my first school. He walked over to the school and showed us his class, the school playground, and pointed to an old tree that stood from the days of his childhood.
Like a child, full of life, excited and eager to share his love for the village, its multifaceted religious and cultural history that inspired his first love for music and creativity.
“My village, isn’t it beautiful. Look at the nice coast. I run along the Cornish every morning when I’m here,” he said.
“This old house is the house of my first music teacher. I used to wait four hours for him outside this house until he would wake up from sleep, and when he would call me in, he would ask me if I had waited long, I would reply that I had just arrived,” Marcel said with a smile.
“There in that house I was born…There in that church I sang as a child…There on that street I walked under the rain…There…There…There….”
The celebrated composer, singer, artist, musician, has promoted change through music. Not only did he sing patriotic songs, but through his creative mixture between the Western and Arabic art, he has made important contributions in shaping the Arab musical culture.
He said he has used music as a means to highlight the civilized image of the Arabs.
What is intriguing about Marcel is his down to earth, humble nature. For the Arab masses, he is a legendary artist who has appealed to all people of all ages. In addition to the many awards he received, Marcel was the first Arab named UNESCO artist for peace in 2005.
He has succeeded in transforming the complex poetry of Mahmoud Darwish into folkloric songs. Darwish once told me that Marcel had for years turned his poetry into songs before the two men met, but he did not mind and loved them. The two later became great friends.
Marcel spoke endlessly about Darwish in a way that reflected the bond between them, and about his personal deep loss and that of the world when Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after a heart surgery.
He also spoke sadly about the death of his mother at the age of 39, when he was only 15. His mother, he said, had recognized his musical talent at an early age and encouraged him.
One of his grandfathers was a baker, the other a fisherman and flutist.
His house in Amchit belonged to his family. He lived in it since he was seven. He had given me and my friends the tour of the village before going home having that day just arrived from Syria where he gave a concert.
“My life is in a plane and in hotels,” he said, dragging his suitcase inside his house where his wife Yolla was waiting.
Asked if he was tired of travelling, he said:
“I have a message to convey.”

UNHCR sees deepening needs among Iraqi refugees even as world interest wanes

noreply@blogger.com (Wafa Amr) — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 20:25:00 +0000

BEIRUT, Lebanon, March 30 (UNHCR) – Seven years after the start of the Iraq war, the future of the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees remains shrouded in uncertainty. While much of the world is losing interest in their fate, UNHCR is warning of deepening needs that will take years to resolve.

Most Iraqi refugees see no immediate solution to their plight, unconvinced it is safe to return home. Although conditions in Iraq have improved over the past two years, the situation remains fragile. In recent months, the number returning has been largely offset by new departures from Iraq.

Those who remain in host countries are not allowed to integrate locally and are in a state of legal limbo. With savings used up, the conditions of Iraqi refugees are deteriorating. If the outflow resumed, host countries facing strained resources and dwindling international financial support could close their doors to Iraqi asylum seekers.

"Seven years after the start of the Iraq conflict in March 2003, and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis still are still uncertain about their future and their prospects for return," said Renata Dubini, the head of UNHCR's office in Syria. The agency has registered some 300,000 Iraqi refugees who have approached UNHCR offices in the surrounding countries, while government estimates are far higher.

"Prolonged exile can have a crushing impact on a person's sense of dignity and self-worth. With any savings or resources depleted, many refugees are resorting to negative coping mechanisms in order to survive. Problems like school drop-out, child labour, domestic violence, trafficking and exploitation are on the rise, all of which are difficult to monitor and detect."

UNHCR is seeking US$510 million to fund programmes for Iraqis inside Iraq and in hosting countries this year. The Iraqi refugee population is largest in Syria, with some 220,000 registered with UNHCR. Another 47,000 have been registered with UNHCR in Jordan, while Lebanon hosts 10,000 registered refugees.

"Over the years, we have made considerable progress in terms of providing quality assistance and maintaining the protection space for Iraqis in Syria," said Dubini. "However, vulnerabilities are deepening at a time when the world is losing interest in Iraqi refugees. We count on the continued support of the international community and host governments to care for the hundreds of thousands still in need of our help."

Iraqis fleeing to Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt and other states are generally poor and need medical care, education, financial aid and protection. Since states hosting the largest number of Iraqi refugees such as Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon are not signatories to the 1951 Convention that defines the rights and obligations of refugees and host countries, refugees are not granted residency and risk detention, exploitation or deportation.

Because refugees cannot legally work and face recent price rises in rent, food, and fuel in host countries, UNHCR is working on reducing the impact and trying to counter homelessness, child labour, school dropouts and early marriage. The number of refugees with special needs is rising. Financial assistance remains essential for families, especially the most vulnerable.

UNHCR Syria has identified some 85,000 Iraqi refugees with special needs, including 10,549 women at risk. In Jordan, UNHCR assists more than 11,000 Iraqi refugees with specific vulnerabilities. In Lebanon, more than 1,600 Iraqis are especially vulnerable.

UNHCR is running a programme of resettlement for Iraqi refugees who are either unable to ever return home or are too vulnerable to remain in their current host countries. So far UNHCR staff have interviewed and referred for resettlement over 93,000 Iraqis, including 66,000 to the United States. The individual resettlement countries then examine the recommended cases, with more than 40,000 Iraqi refugees already starting new lives in third countries.

For the rest, they wait in the host countries, watching developments at home. Inside Iraq, UNHCR tries to monitor the relatively small number who do return and also hopes to improve conditions to allow some of the 1.7 million Iraqis displaced inside their country since 2003 to go home. UNHCR expanded staffing by 50 per cent in 2009 to 150 throughout Iraq.

Over 2,000 Iraqis are estimated to return to Iraq each month but UNHCR's assessment is that conditions for sustainable, large-scale return of Iraqi refugees in conditions of dignity and safety are not yet in place. UNHCR will help those wishing to return but is not advocating that people go home.

With Iraq at a critical stage of its political development following the national elections earlier in March, and with a planned U.S. troop withdrawal by the end of 2011, UNHCR is anxious that the international community maintain support to displaced Iraqis inside and outside the country. The dwindling media interest in Iraqi refugees is not matched by a decline in the scale of the problem.

By Wafa Amr in Beirut, Lebanon
Source: UNHCR

Palestinian Refugees in Lebanon

noreply@blogger.com (Wafa Amr) — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 23:44:00 +0000

Standing in a dark alley outside her two-room home in a decaying, decrepit building in Shatilla camp in Beirut and with Yasser Arafat's poster plastered on her wall, Un Ahmad, 43, a refugee from Safad, pointed at the muddy narrow passageway that snaked through the camp littered with garbage and sewage.
"Of course I want to return to Palestine. Do you want me to continue to live in these degrading conditions? Anywhere in Palestine is better than this," she said.
Like many refugees living in squalid refugee camps in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank and in Gaza Strip, Um Ahmad dreams of the day she will leave the miserable life of the camp and return to Palestine. She was born in Shatilla camp and has heard about life in the West Bank from her sister who married a Palestinian West Banker and left the life of the camps to a life under occupation.
The first time I visited Gaza in 1994 and walked around the refugee camps in the city, I was shocked at the desolate conditions there.
Shatilla camp was worse than Gaza. It was raining as I walked through the mud and litter. The building complexes were so close to each other they hid the daylight. Electricity cables were hanging low from the buildings that felt they would collapse any minute. It was clear Arafat's Fatah faction was the dominant faction in the camp. Many faded posters of Arafat, some of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and several pictures of dead Fatah founders filled the camp.
Children in ragged clothes played in the mud amidst the filth and mountains of garbage.
"I'm from Palestine, but I don't know where from Palestine," said six-year-old Saleem.
"I'm from Lebanon," Najwa, 8, said.
Old men, some wearing Arafat's black and white Keffiyehs on their heads, sat in front of a small, almost empty shop gazing at nothing in particular, misery and sadness in their eyes. A sense of hoplessness overwhelmed the refugee camp Palestinian residents.
The crowded camp now is home also to Syrians who came to Lebanon for work, some Sudanese and Iraqi refugees and poor Lebanese families who could not afford housing in better parts of Beirut.
The smell of sewage and decay filled the air and sewage swamped the alleys of the camp. A building destroyed by artillery and which was once used as headquarters by the PLO's Liberation Army in 1982 was riddled with bullet holes and served as one of many reminders of the 1982 massacre.
Mar Elias refugee camp, known as the better camp, was somewhat cleaner and its houses were not as tiny or falling to pieces as those in Shatilla. The alleys in the camp were so narrow only one person at a time can walk through them. The air also smelt of sewage.
Um Youssef was an angry old woman. She was angry at the past and the present. She said she was angry because the Palestinians were divided and the leaderships of Hamas and Fatah were too busy fighting each other to think of the refugees and their right of return.
For the Israelis, the Palestinians' wish to return is a lost cause because for them it contradicts the survival of the "Jewish State."
The right of return however is a unifying collective dream for the refugees.
"Palestine is in my heart, I want to return now," said Nadia, 24.
"But for some here in the camp, some of the younger generation, the (Palestinian) cause is not their priority. They want to live and work and improve their economic conditions, this now comes first for some," she said.
"Hunger, deprivation and starvation push them to this," Abu Abed, 61, shouted from his grocery shop across the alley.

Lessons for Future Negotiations: The Geneva Initiative Annexes

noreply@blogger.com (Wafa Amr) — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 19:54:00 +0000

Today I attended an interesting conference organized by the Geneva Initiative in Tel Aviv which tackled proposals to reach a comprehensive final settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The discussion focused on conclusions reached by Israeli and Palestinian teams compiled n a 423-page book detailing issues relating to a final status agreement, including borders and security.
The book was presented to local and international leaders as well as think tanks to serve as a base of reference for future talks on a final agreement.
Presentations included maps and detailed information on proposals to reach a final settlement.
Brigadier General Udi Dekel, head of the Negotiations Administration under the former Ehud Olmert government said talks were conducted after Annapolis in a serious manner and the Israelis wanted to reach an agreement before elections but this was not possible mainly because of the Cast Lead war on Gaza Strip.
During the talks which ended with failure to meet U.S. President George Bush's timeline for an agreement by the end of 2008, Dekel said the sides negotiated in secrecy, an essential element for the success of any negotiations, however, the way the talks were structured was problematic because the sides had agreed that nothing was agreed until everything was agreed.
"It should be that anything agreed should be implemented," Dekel said.
He said that the Palestinians sought to anchor their rights and would not show compromise such as insisting on the fact that they gave up most of historical Palestine and were left with 22 percent, so they insisted on either getting 100 percent of it or nothing. The Israeli negotiators felt that the 2-state solution was used as a playcard by the Palestinians when Ahmed Qurie, head of the Palestinian negotiating team took out the winning card by threatening to opt for a binational state to push the Israelis to make concessions.
Dekel's interesting point, which I have heard from several Israeli negotiators was his comment about how the Palestinian negotiating team was well prepared with maps and documents while the Israelis had nothing.
"We were running around the clock trying to find paperwork...somebody made sure it disappeared," Dekel said.
Several other Israeli negotiators spoke about the impressive work of the PLO's Negotiations Support Unit, which employs articulate, Western educated, young legal and political advisers who draft documents, maps, and have negotiations drafts ready on every single issue. They said Israeli negotiators change with each new government, there is no continuity, and usually old negotiators don't share their documents with the new ones. The Palestinians however, have known Qurie (Abu Ala), Yasser Abed Rabbo, and Saeb Erekat as the only faces dealing with negotiations.
Dekel's Palestinian counterpart in the negotiations and map expert Sameeh al-Abed responded to Dekel's claims by saying that the Palestinians had made compromises and shown flexibility on a number of issues including territory when they presented different maps at the Camp David summit in 2000, in Taba in 2001, and during talks after Annapolis.
"Nobody in Israel or in the United States mentiosn that we presented compromise maps at Camp David because they wanted to blame the Palestinians for not accepting what were not generous offers," Abed said.
"Dekel admits the Palestinian side was prepared. That was because we were serious, while we were negotiating seriously after Annapolis, we felt that the Israelis were not serious because they were not prepared, as he said," Abed said.
Haim Ramon, former Minister of Jerusalem Affairs and Chairman of the Kadima Council discussed Jerusalem. He said in 1967, Jerusalm was 38 square kilomters.
"Jerusalem today is not Jerusalem. We have annexed 43 villages which were never Jerusalem...We are eternalising the lie (that all the annexed territory is Jerusalem). The public should know that Jerusalem is ot Jerusalem. It's a Holy Basin," Ramon said.
"We never spoke about dividing Jerusalem but about returning villages that were never part of Jerusalem," he said.
Like other presentators,Ramon doesn't believe that the present government of Benjamin Netanyahu can begin a dialogue or reach an agreement with the Palestinians.
Yossi Beilin, former Justice Minister and of the Geneva Initiative Steering Committee said it was possible to reach a settlement but the political leaders don't have the political will.
"There's a Palestinian leader (President Mahmoud Abbas) who, even most of the right-wing in Israel, believe he wants peace. He's not a replica of Arafat. There's an American President (Barack Obama) whose a miracle. He said all the right things...but the Obama administration after one year has failed to advance the peace process," Beilin said. He said sadly, opportunities were lost during the past year since Obama came to office.
Rightly so, Beilin pointed out the Israelis' apathy with peace moves. He said the Americans were mistaken in making a full settlement freeze a condition to resuming peace talks "and to give it up was a worse mistake."
Beilin said that Netanyahu's 10-month temporary settlement freeze was a "joke". He said decision-making in Washington, especially the agreement reached with Israel over the temporary settlement freeze while excluding the Palestinians "is very disappointing to the peace camp."
Beilin said Abbas was mistaken if he believes that Obama would set the parameters for him. "The world isn't going to give us solutions, it's either we do the job or nobody will do it for us."
He cautioned that if a negotiated solution was not reached, "Sharon Two will come. A prime minister will come and take unilateral decisions, and take the fence as a criteria...because there's no Zionist leader who believes in a binational state. A Prime Miniter will be coerced into unilateral steps and it will be like Gaza." There will be some attacks and no peace, he warned.
"This is completely idiotic...We can only say (Geneva Initiative proposals) are the only alternative. Never Give Up."

Once again, the Palestinians are pushed against the wall

noreply@blogger.com (Wafa Amr) — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 20:23:00 +0000

Once again, the Palestinians find themselves on the defensive, and again, Israel has succeeded in blaming the Palestinians for obstructing the renewal of peace talks.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said he was not opposed to the resumption of peace talks, but after marathon and slow talks since 1993, this time he wants a complete halt to settlements and wants guarantees that negotiations will lead to a Palestinian state on lands Israel occupied in 1967. He is not against a limited and agreed swap of lands.
But this is not what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants. The Israeli leader came to power with the following principles: No negotiations over Jerusalem or refugees' right of return, no to a complete settlements freeze and borders are subject to negotiations.
The world hailed what Netanyahu successfully portrayed as a siginicant shift in his position when he accepted a two-state solution. The international community was pleased with his new shift in position regarding a 10-month freeze on settlements excluding Jerusalem, and Washington believes this to be an unprecedented move.
World leaders who followed U.S. President Barack Obama's lead in calling for a complete settlements freeze and pressed Israel to comply, changed their heart when Obama did and accepted Israel's "restraint" on building. Nobody wants to see Netanyahu's right-wing coalition fall, and anyway, they now believe it was a big mistake to start a peace process with asking too much of Israel.
While world leaders were making the shift to accomodate Israel's domestic hardships, Abbas continued to insist on a total settlement freeze and international involvement on setting the borders of the Palestian state.
The international community now says that Netanyahu has bended far enough, that's all he can give, and it was up to Abbas to climb down the tree.
It has always been easier to pressure the weaker side.
Palestinians are now reminded of the times when the world was blaming Arafat for rejecting Ehud Barack's offers during the Camp David summit even after Rob Malley explained no so-called "generous" offers were made.
Abbas will this time come under pressure, or is already under pressure to accept whatever the Americans offer or be blamed for lacking leadership. Abbas can't be accused of fomenting violence or opposing peace, but his leadership skills will come under attack.
An aide to Abbas said the Palestinian leader now wants a state. The United States and Europe say they want to see Israel end occupation that began in 1967, they reject Israel's occupation and annexation of East Jerusalem and want to see a Palestinain state, but they are not ready yet to accept that state.
"If Abbas comes under pressure, he will leave the political scene, and the world will get Hamas instead, the aide said.
The Palestinians' backs are again to the wall.

The Nablus shootings may be a turning point in Israeli-PA security coordination

noreply@blogger.com (Wafa Amr) — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 08:59:00 +0000

On Saturday, Dec. 26, Israeli forces shot dead six Palestinians in two separate attacks in the West Bank city of Nablus and northern Gaza Strip. Human rights groups and witnesses said Israeli undercover units extra-judicially executed three members of the Fatah Aqsa Martyrs Brigades Israel says were involved in shooting a Jewish settler on Dec. 24 in the Nablus District.
The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) said: "Israeli occupation forces claimed that undercover unit fired at the three victims as they refused to surrender. However, investigations conducted by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) conclude that the three victims were executed in cold blood."
(http://www.pchrgaza.org/files/PressR/English/2009/129-2009.html)
The Thursday and Saturday incidents in Nablus have very serious repercussions, particularly for the Palestinian government of Salam Fayyad which was blasted and verbally attacked during angry demonstrations and funerals. Angry Palestinians chanted anti-Israeli slogans and demanded ending security coordination between the Palestinian Authority and Israel.
The Nablus shootings may be a turning point in the security coordination between Fayyad's government and Israel.
Palestinian officials said Israeli authorities tricked Fayyad's government which was already taking measures and arresting people for involvement in the shooting of the rabbi. While the Palestinian security services were busy in Tulkarm area, the Israeli under cover units made a surprise attack in Nablus, a move not coordinated with the Palestinian Authority, and instead of arresting the three Fatah militants, they shot them dead at close range. Witnesses said the three Palestinians were either not armed or did not return fire.
The Nablus killings led to a popular backlash against Fayyad's security coordination moves with Israel and led even some members of his own security forces to question the merits of coordination with the Israelis.
Fayyad considers the incident as "very serious" and has called every American official and General he knows in the United States on their cell phones despite the holidays to demand intervention to put an end, once and for all, to all Israeli raids into Palestinian cities.
The American's, realising the seriousness of the situation, are pre-occupied with seeking clarifications from the Israelis to try to calm emotions and find a way to restore trust. Some have proposed an urgent meeting between Fayyad, senior Israeli defense officials and the Americans to redefine and outline accepted security coordination measures. Fayyad, however, seeking to prevent the collapse of the Palestinian Territories again into lawlessness and to preserve his so far successful measures to end armed chaos, is demanding that the U.S. press Israel to end its raids in the Palestinian areas.
It is interesting to note that despite the anger in Nablus at the government's security coordination with Israel and emotional calls for revenge, the normal Palestinians in Nablus are worried about being drawn back to violence and lawlessness.
"People want to live. We don't want to see the return of suffocating, humiliating checkpoints like Huwara checkpoint. It seems Israel wants to take us back to the vicious cycle of violence," a Palestinian housewife from Nablus said.
Meanwhile, the American envoy George Mitchell is engaged in trying to get Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's approval on a package that the Americans believe can get the Palestinians back to the negotiating table. According to Arab diplomats and Yossi Beilin, as well as an article published last week by the Middle East Forum, Mitchell and the U.S. administration are close to finalising an agreement with Netanyahu for peace talks lasting two years, that will discuss the Palestinian demand for borders based on the 1967 lines and will include an exchange of territory and suitable security arrangements.
According to Haaretz, former Israeli Justice Minister Yossi Beilin told the Meretz party leadership that information he got from foreign and Israeli officials confirmed agreement between Netanyahu and the U.S.on the following:
* Timetable: Netanyahu is willing to accept the U.S. proposal to allot 24 months to talks, but doesn't want to announce that the goal is to reach a deal by the end of that period.

* Borders: Netanyahu has agreed that the goal of the talks is to end the conflict and reconcile the Palestinian position of establishing an independent state on the basis of the 1967 borders, with the exchange of agreed-upon territory, and the Israeli position of a Jewish state with recognized and secure borders that will meet Israel's security needs.

* Jerusalem: Netanyahu has agreed that the status of Jerusalem will be discussed in the negotiations, but has not agreed to any preconditions on the issue.

* Refugees: Netanyahu said he was willing to discuss the refugee issue only in a multilateral framework.

* Previous agreements: Netanyahu is willing to commit to all previously signed agreements.

* Arab peace initiative: Netanyahu is not willing to support the plan, but is willing to say both sides are taking into consideration international initiatives that contribute to the advancement of the peace process, such as the Arab peace initiative.

Mitchell is expected to visit Israel and the Palestinian Authority in the second week of January to complete talks on the terms of reference for negotiations, Beilin said. The Americans believe that such a deal could bring the Palestinians back to the negotiating table.
Senior Palestinian official Yasser Abed Rabbo said the Palestinians were kept in the dark about the American agreements with Israel.
Other senior Palestinian officials said the agreements fall short of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' demand for starting negotiations from the point they stopped with former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Olmert and Abbas had discussed the issue of Jerusalem in some detail. While Olmert said he did not agree to the principle of the right of return of Palestinian refugees, he has agreed to the return of a certain number on humanitarian grounds.
The Palestinian say that a deal with Netanyahu's right-wing government would not be possible, that is why they are demanding U.N. and international support for a U.N. Security Council resolution that determines the borders of the future Palestinian state.
A diplomat in the region said it was critical to get the sides to resume talks and keep the momentum going to prevent falling back into chaos and violence.
“When Mitchell returns in January, President Abbas will have to take tough decisions,” the diplomat said.

Palestinians say it is time to declare statehood

noreply@blogger.com (Wafa Amr) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 18:13:00 +0000

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' announcement he will not run in elections planned for January 24, 2010 has stirred a politicaldebate both within the Palestinian areas, and internationally. Sceptics say he had threatened to resign before and the move was a tactic. But people close to the Palestinian leader insist he is serious this time and the announcement not only reflects his despair, but a shift in strategy and approach.
The moderate 74-year-old Abbas may have reached the conclusion that there needs to be a dramatic shift in strategy in dealing with his internal rivals Hamas who have refused to sign a unity deal to end their violent takeover of Gaza Strip and towards the United States that has failed to convince Israel to pay a price for a final peace witht he Palestinians.
He feels abandoned by Arab states and by the United States. Aides said the Arabs verbally express their support for him but refuse to press Hamas to end the split between Gaza and the West Bank. The U.S. withdrew its demand that Israel totally freeze settlement construction and opted to press the weaker side, the Palestinians, to resume peace talks withour any pre-conditions.
Abbas is not Yasser Arafat, who took up negotiations and supported the fighting during the second Intifada. Abbas' only option has been negotiations alone can achieve statehood.
Abbas' prime minister Salam Fayyad has succeeded in putting an end to armed chaos in the West Bank, and has led a financial reform policy applauded by the international community.
Abbas' options may be limited but may well turn the tables on Israel that wants negotiations to go on forever without results, and the United States and its frantic efforts to restart the negotiating "process" at any cost.
U.S. President Barack Obama had promised to restart peace talks before the end of the year, and if he can't press Israel to give more than a partial freeze, then the Palestinians, as usual, can be leaned on to compromise for the sake of keeping his promise, Palestinians say.
Israelis are asking why is Abbas taking such a maximalist position now, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in power. If Netanyahu's right-wing coalition falls as a result of American pressure to halt settlements, Obama would have to wait for a few months into the next year before a chance to resume negotiations emerges.
The Palestinians have been through this process before and now say gradualism has failed. More voices are being heard calling for the preparation for a unilateral declaration of a state. The move has been delayed since 1999, when under Oslo, the interim peace phases end.
Fayyad, thinking strategicaly, and trying to create new facts on the ground, published in late August a plan that prepares for the creation of the Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza, lands occupied in 1967,by 2011. He is not wasting time to wait for Israel to make moves to end its occupation, which may take forever.
Fayyad is working on building the state, like a businessman, using the bottom-up approach, by building the necessary infrastructure of the state and empowering the Palestinians to peacefully work towards ending occupation.
Fayyad, preoccupied with his mission, has silently engaged the Arabs, the international community, including the United States, and the United Nations, to support and adopt his plan. He is the moderate, peaceful technocrat Israel has grown to fear the most.
Like Arafat, he believes that the Palestinians haev made the painful sacrifice for peace in 1988, when the Palestinians recognised Israel and agreed to set up a state on only 22 percent of historical Palestine.
Palestinian politicians, who once criticised his statehood plan on either factional or personal grounds, seem to be drawn to it unconsciously as it becomes the only doable option.
"Gradualism is no longer feasible. The Palestinians should now work to prepare for the declaration of statehood," said former Palestinian negotiator Hassan Asfour.
Western diplomats said Abbas' anouncement not to seek re-election has prompted the U.S. to consider ways of re-engaging him to make him change his mind. One way is to approve a United Nations Security Council resolution that supports the creation of a Palestinian state.
The details of such a resolution are not yet clear, but if such a resolution was adopted, it would act as a pressure tool on Israel to withdraw from the Palestinian Territories and move towards a meaningful peace process. Or it may be added to the pile of U.N. resolutions that only collect dust over the years. The position of the United States on such a resolution may make a difference.
In the meantime, if Abbas is pressed further to re-enter a futile peace process, his options would be:
- Announce the failure of the two-state solution, and dissolve the Palestinian Authority, a clear admission of the failure of the peace strategy.
- Unilateral declaration of statehood
- To step down and hold elections in January.
The Palestinian leadership has not yet reached the point of declaring the failure of the two-state approach, but it is considering the unilateral declaration of a state more seriously.
Western diplomats say Obama may be thinking of declaring the United States support for a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza if after two years, negotiations fail to end the conflict.
The Palestinains say they can't wait for another two years.