The Arab world has been rocked by what are being called the "Palestine papers" - a collection of over 1600 documents relating to Israel and Palestine peace negotiations that have been leaked to Aljazeera and now put on the internet.
For a complete look go to the Aljazeera website
http://english.aljazeera.net/palestinepapers/2011/01/201112214310263628.html
The documents paint a very negative picture of the PLO negotiators and also of their Israeli counterparts.
They claim to show that the PLO was prepared to make huge concessions to the Israelis. The extent of the concessions - on the Israeli settlements, on the number and status of refugees, on the division of Jerusalem - have aroused enormous anger amongst Palestinians.
The PLO claims that the documents - at least some of them - are forged. They point to the CIA and Israeli security forces as the culprits and think Aljazeera has been gullible.
Aljazeera's reputation for serious honest reporting is good. But now their reputation is on the line.
I certainly don't know whether the documents are legit or not. And we may never know.
But the release of the documents, and the extent of the concessions that PLO negotiators are supposed to have made has certainly brought to the fore the question of the "one state" vs. the "two state" solution. Certainly, the new "Palestinian state" which is foreshadowed in the documents as released is barely viable and its hard to see how it would meet the basic needs of the Palestinian people.
IMPLICATIONS FOR CANADIANS
Should Canadians support the "Two State Solution"
Many Canadians intrinsically prefer a "2 state solution' as the most fair way to settle this longstanding issue. (Interestingly, Israel has not yet said that it agrees).
However, we should be careful about entering into an internal Palestinian debate. The two state solution may or may not be what most Palestinians want. It will certainly depend to a great degree on what the size and powers of that Palestinian state will be. .
Canadians should agree to support any solution (one state, two states, 3 states) which Palestinians and Israelis can agree to and which fits with international law and human rights for all.
Some Palestinians are for a two state solution, some are for a one state solution. Some don't know. Canadians should abstain from what is essentially an internal Palestinian issue.
In fact, there is an increasing feeling amongst Palestinians that Israel's expansion and settlements may have already made a 2 state solution no longer possible. If that is the case, the only way to go forward would be to call for one state with equal rights for all. This would be the end of Israel as a "Jewish state", something that the current leaders of Israel fear even more than the 2 state solution.
Here is a short video which explores what some people on the ground inside Israel are thinking about the "one state solution".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z94I66qYb4E&feature=channel
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Monday, January 24, 2011
Armed man kills two Palestinian animals, Escapes to Havat Ma'on settlement
| Palestinian shepherd's dead dog |
Two teenage Palestinian shepherds were watering their family's flock at a well just above their village when a man running through the area, carrying an M-16, fired four or five shots at the dog which accompanies their flock. The shooter proceeded to chase the flock, kicking a ewe and throwing rocks at its head. The dog died immediately from four gunshot wounds and the incapacitated sheep died approximately two hours after the beating.
The two teenage shepherds, Mohammed Mahmoud Mukahmri, 15, and 'Awli 'Ali Mukhamri, 13, ascended the hill, following the assailant from a distance. They reported the man had a dark brown beard and was wearing black pants, a black shirt, and a yarmulke.
Hani Salaami Mukhamri, the owner of animals reacted sharply to the police investigator's doubts that Mukhamri could be certain the assailant that he saw was an Israeli settler, and not an Arab. “Palestinians in this area don't have guns, never in my life have I seen a Palestinian civilian with a gun. Only settlers have guns here.” Mukhamri also lamented the utter disregard for the lives of his animals, “three lives were lost here today: my shepherding dog, a sheep, and the unborn lamb that the ewe was carrying.”
The well where the shooting took place is a main source of water for the families in Maghayir Al-Abeed . In early 2001, Mukamri's mother was shot in the leg by an Israeli settler while she drew water from the very same well.
International peace activists from Christian Peacemaker Teams arrived at the scene after the shooting, taking testimony and photo and video documentation.
Pictures are available here: http://cpt.org/index.php?q=gallery&g2_itemId=22150
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Israel demolishes historic Shepherd's Hotel in Palestinian East Jerusalem
Below are two comments on the demolition by Israel of the historic "Shepherd's Hotel' in East Jerusalem.
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The Shepherds Hotel, once the home of the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, is on a height of land in Palestinian East Jerusalem. Israel confiscated it when it occupied the West Bank in 1967 and it has been unused since. It is on prime land and beside the UK consulate. It would be one of the key buildings in any new Palestinian state. Recently, Israel has ordered it demolished and plans to build apartments for Israeli Jews. For Immediate Release January 9, 2011 Palestine Liberation Organization Negotiations Affairs Department “Israel continues its efforts to cleanse Jerusalem of its Palestinian inhabitants, heritage and history.” Dr. Saeb Erakat, Chief Palestinian Negotiator, denounced today the Israeli demolition of the Shepherd Hotel in Jerusalem, initiated at 5 am this morning. “The State of Israel is demolishing one Palestinian property after another in an effort to cleanse Jerusalem of its Palestinian inhabitants, heritage and history. East Jerusalem, and the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in particular, havebeen targeted by Israel in a campaign to forcibly remove Palestinians and supplant them with Jewish settlers. Such actions are unlawful and undermine the two-state solution and the negotiations process.” The Chief Palestinian Negotiator concluded, “What is happening today is part ofthe political program of the Israeli government to preempt any solution on Jerusalem. While Netanyahu continues his public relations campaign regarding the peace process, on the ground he is rapidly moving to prevent the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state.” Settlement plans in Sheikh Jarrah, similar to those in Silwan, Mount of Olives,Ras Al Amoud, Al Issawiya and other neighborhoods in East Jerusalem, aim to create a ring of settlements severing the Old City from the rest of occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank.” The property currently referred to as the Shepherd’s Hotel was built in the1930’s by Haj Amin Al-Husseini, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, as his family home outside of the Old City of Jerusalem. In 1967, the Hotel, along with the rest of Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood where it’s located, fell under Israeli occupation. Israeli authorities confiscated the property and transferred it to the Israeli Custodian of Absentee Property who in turn transferred it to the Israeli Development Authority from where it subsequently passed, on 5 November 1985, to "C & M Properties." The Shepherd’s Hotel is currently being demolished in order to facilitate theconstruction of a residential Jewish settlement. These demolition and settlement construction plans mask an settlement project that date back to the 1984. In July 2009, the Israeli planning authorities approved the construction license for the project, thus allowing for the demolition of the existing building in favor of two new residential buildings, which will include 30 housing units and associated amenities at the first stage and 90 housing units at a later stage. |
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A map of Jerusalem showing the border between Israel (in green) and East Jerusalem (in pink) which Israel Occupied in 1967. Israel continues its program of taking over all of Jerusalem, by tearing down historic Palestinian buildings, evicting Palestinians from their homes and building new settlements for Jews. Canada does not recognize Israel's right to continue the occupation but does very little to oppose it. We will see whether Canada will say anything about this latest step. (Note: the caption is mine, not the Economists.) |
Few architectural sites in East Jerusalem capture the flavour of Palestine’s British Mandate more acutely than the Shepherd Hotel. It was where British officers hobnobbed with Palestinian high society before the territory was partitioned in 1948.
But on January 9th the Israeli authorities, who argue that all of Jerusalem is theirs, and rarely license Arabs in the city to add so much as a balcony to their homes, gave the go-ahead for bulldozers to flatten a wing of the hotel to enable Jewish homes to be erected in its place.
Israel’s prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, derisively calls the site just another “private house”, saying it would be wrong to make certain districts of Jerusalem out of bounds for Jews. But the new settlement to be built on the rubble forms the missing link in a tongue of land acquired by Jewish settlers that rolls down from the outer hilltops to the heart of the city’s Arab part.
It is in East Jerusalem’s diplomatic quarter, beside the British consulate and offices of European governments accredited to the Palestinian Authority (PA), which is supposed to run the emerging Palestinian state, thus highlighting foreign impotence over the erosion of Palestinian areas.
European officials in Brussels, unable to stop such actions, have charged Israel with illegality and obstructing peace.
A statement by foreign ministers of the European Union (EU) even seemed to equate the recognition of Israel with that of Palestine. One inference was that, if the Palestinians failed to secure a state, Israelis might forfeit theirs too. Not so long ago Germany, racked by guilt over the Holocaust, would have rushed to quash such chidings by the EU, but no longer.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
BDS movement growing
Former EU leaders call to sanction and boycott Israel
Twenty-six former European Union leaders, including the EU’s former top diplomat, Javier Solana, issued a letter last week calling for boycotts and sanctions targeting Israel
Ten former European leaders were among the signatories of the December 6 letter, including
The 26 signatories called for the EU to prohibit import of products made in settlements, and demanded that
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Meanwhile, Catherine Ashton, the EU’s head of foreign affairs, wrote, “The EU position on settlements is clear: They are illegal under international law and an obstacle to peace. Recent settlement related developments, including in east
Monday, January 3, 2011
Israel has already killed 2 Palestinians in 2011 - looks good to beat 2010 record
PLO report tallies Israel's 2010 record of building settlements, demolishing arab houses, and arresting (and even killing) protesters
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| Slowly but surely, Israel is trying to "ethnically cleanse" Jerusalem of its Palestinian inhabitants. It wants to make Jerusalem an Israeli-Jewish city. It doesn't seem to care how many it has to arrest or kill to do it. Palestinians continue to resist - for the most part peacefully. |
In addition, the Israeli authorities approved the construction of 16,479 illegal new housing units in Palestinian territories last year.
In occupied East Jerusalem, the Israelis have adopted an unprecedentedly violent policy, demolishing 63 Palestinian houses, and forcing other 15 families out of their properties under the full protection of the Israeli police, and border security.
The Israeli authorities have issued 1,334 demolition orders to Palestinian families in occupied East Jerusalem during 2010, targeting mainly the Arab neighbourhood of Silwan.
In addition, 10,000 housing units for Jews have been approved in East Jerusalem, where the construction of 1,200 housing units have already started.
The PLO statement warned that 125,000 Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem face threats of losing their residencies in the holy city, where the Palestinian residents have no civil rights, and are not provided with any kind of facilities and services.
The statement said that Jewish colonists have burned the Holy Bible Church in occupied Jerusalem, and burned three mosques in different parts of Jerusalem and the West Bank, and successfully asked for demolition orders for two mosques.
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