The Israeli Ministry of Transport issued on February 23 an order that passengers fasten their seatbelts half an hour before arriving in Israel on all incoming flights. The order was issued following Hizbullah Secretary General Hasan Nassrallah’s televised speech a day before, vowing to avenge the death of one of its top military commanders, Imad Mughniya.
The transport ministry said its directive was to ensure that potential hijackers are unable to storm the cockpit as the plane nears Israel.
Mughniya, who was killed in a car bomb in Damascus on February 12 was one of Hizballah’s leading men. While the Lebanese resistance movement puts the blame squarely on Israel for his death, Israel has so far denied any involvement. Still, Nasrallah has vowed payback, saying “no one can protect the entire Israeli home front from our missiles.”
That goes for missiles fired from the Gaza Strip as well, apparently. The Israeli government recently agreed to 3,600 homes in southern Israel, primarily in Sderot, against Palestinian rockets, which continue to fall on Israeli territory.
In his most recent meeting with President Mahmoud Abbas on February 19, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert agreed with Abbas that peace talks should be expedited but that in order for a peace agreement to be reached, the rockets must be stopped. While the two also agreed that core issues could not be delayed, on February 17, Olmert had said Jerusalem should be the last core issue to be discussed given that it is “the most complex and sensitive” for the negotiators. Olmert also put a damper on any high hopes for negotiations, saying he hoped to reach “basic principles” in 2008 over the establishment of a Palestinian state but was not striving for a full agreement.
In the February 19 meeting in Jerusalem, however, Abbas made it clear to his Israeli counterpart that core issues cannot be delayed. “We want a comprehensive settlement to all the issues,” he told Olmert.
Olmert did also agree to Israel participating in a trilateral committee that includes the United States to follow up on the implementation of the first stage of the roadmap.
This may be more complicated than it seems, especially with Israel’s convoluted statements and controversial actions regarding settlement expansion in the West Bank and Jerusalem. According to the roadmap and to the Annapolis conference understandings, Israel is to halt any further construction or expansion in settlements. While Olmert has said he froze construction in West Bank settlements since then, he openly defied the understanding by continuing expansion in east Jerusalem, maintaining that Jerusalem – illegally occupied and unilaterally annexed – is Israeli territory.
According to the Israeli group Peace Now, since the Annapolis conference, Israel has accelerated its settlement construction and expansion in the West Bank and east Jerusalem 11 times more than in 2004. On February 20, Peace Now said settlers have continued to add new housing units to West Bank homes in settlements near Ramallah and the Jordan Valley.
Even by Israel’s own admission, many of these settlements are built on private land confiscated from Palestinian owners. On February 17, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported that the Israeli military administration admitted that one-third of all West Bank settlements are built on confiscated land – that is, 44 of the existing 120 settlements. The report added that while international law allows for certain amounts of land to be confiscated from occupied territory for “security purposes” it is never to be utilized for the construction of settlements. In 1979, even the Israel High Court ruled that settlements are not to be built for security purposes. Peace Now says 19 of the 44 settlements in question were built after the ruling.
Under international law, settlement building in occupied territory is illegal under any circumstances, which is an argument continuously made by the Palestinians.
The international community seems to agree. On February 16, President Abbas received French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner in Ramallah. Kouchner called on Israel to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and also maintained that settlements were “an obstacle” to progress, saying the settlement enterprise ultimately negates the principle of “land for peace.”
Gaza was also on the European parliament’s agenda, which met on February 21 in Strasbourg. The parliamentarians criticized Israel’s blockade on Gaza saying, “The policy of isolation of the Gaza Strip has failed on both the political and humanitarian level.”
The parliament called on Israel to halt its military operations that endanger innocent civilians and its extrajudicial killing of Palestinian activists. It also called on Hamas to halt the rockets being fired into Israel.
The EU is also reportedly putting more pressure on Israel to accept Abbas’ offer that the Palestinian Authority assume administration of Gaza’s border crossings. The EU has offered 150 million euros to the PA to reinforce police training and expand Palestinian prisons.
Unfortunately, Palestinian prisons are under fire this week, with the February 22 death of Hamas member Mejd Barghouti. The 42-year old Barghouti was incarcerated in the Ramallah Prison and died in a nearby hospital Friday night. Hamas is holding the PA fully responsible for his death while the latter says the prisoner died of a heart condition.
President Abbas ordered an investigation into Barghouti’s death, but this is apparently not nearly enough for Hamas, which is livid over the incident. Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri said Barghouti’s death was a “dangerous precedent” that exposes the brutality of the Palestinian security forces’ torture methods in PA prisons. Abu Zuhri demanded that joint Palestinian-Israeli security coordination be halted along with political arrests. “The crime began with the arrest, even before he died,” Abu Zuhri maintained.
Hamas has denied that Barghouti suffered from any heart problems, accusing the PA of “false allegations” and maintaining that Barghouti showed signs of torture upon arrival at the hospital.
Seven other Palestinians also died this week as a result of Israeli military actions, all in the Gaza Strip. Two Al Quds Brigades operatives were killed on February 22 in Al Maghazi Refugee Camp while 10-year old Tamer Abu Shaar was killed by Israeli troops on February 20 on the eastern Gaza border strip with Israel. On February 17, four people were killed and another 15 injured in land and air raids and during armed clashes between invading Israeli troops and Palestinian activists trying to push them back.
On February 19, Israeli forces also closed down three charitable organizations in the northern West Bank city of Jenin during a dawn raid. One of the organizations, Al Bara’, was broken into by Israeli troops and vandalized. Documents and equipment were confiscated before a note was tacked up on a wall saying the place had been shut down for six months for “security purposes.”
Meanwhile, Palestinians are pondering the idea of following in the newly independent Kosovo’s footsteps. On February 20, PLO Executive Committee treasurer, Yasser Abed Rabbo said if peace talks continued to stall, the Palestinians should unilaterally declare their independence.
His statements were unpopular with quite a few, even Palestinians themselves. Palestinian negotiator Saed Erekat maintained that the Palestinian cause is “not like that of Kosovo” and that “independence is not only in the declaration.”
The United States, which recognized Kosovo’s independence, also did not appreciate the comparison. US State Department spokesman Shawn McCormack said there was still hope for a positive outcome in the Israeli -Palestinian peace negotiations, where none had been found in Kosovo. “There is still an opportunity for a compromise in the Middle East,” he said.
UN Resolution 1325
Date posted: February 03, 2021
By MIFTAH
Kerry talks peace while Israel bars UNESCO mission [May 19 - May 25]
Date posted: May 25, 2013
By MIFTAH
President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu both met with US Secretary of State John Kerry this week in the latter’s fourth visit to the region since he assumed office.
After meeting with the two to ostensibly find ways to restart stalled negotiations between the two sides, Kerry urged on May 24 both Israeli and Palestinian leaders to take "hard decisions" to revive the peace process.
"We're getting toward a time now when hard decisions need to be made," he said at the end of his visit.
Kerry admitted a day before after meeting with the two leaders that there was skepticism and cynicism about his efforts to revive talks.
"I know this region well enough to know there is skepticism, in some quarters there is cynicism, and there are reasons for it. There have been bitter years of disappointment," he said. Still, he maintained: "It is our hope that by being methodical, careful, patient, but detailed and tenacious, that we can lay on a path ahead that can conceivably surprise people and certainly exhaust the possibilities for peace."
British foreign secretary William Hague was also in the region visiting with leaders on both sides and even visited the Bedouin community of Khan Al Ahmar between Jerusalem and Jericho, whose residents are under the threat of displacement.
On May 23, Hague was poignantly clear on where his country stands on Israeli settlements in the West Bank. "Israel has lost some of its support in Britain and in other European countries over time - this is something I've often pointed out to Israeli leaders -because of settlement activity, which we condemn,” he said.
"We strongly disagree with settlements on occupied land. Israel is a country we work with in many ways but we do disapprove of settlements,” he maintained, adding that: "We want to see both Israelis and Palestinians really commit themselves to the peace process while there is still a chance of a two-state solution."
In Khan al Ahmar, Hague listened to the residents’ grievances from Israeli efforts to push them out to make way for more settlement expansion. "We (in Britain) strongly condemn the building of settlements and recognise they are a severe threat to a two-state solution,” he told the people there.
On March 21, Israeli forces demolished two residential buildings in the Jabal al-Mukabbir in East Jerusalem. Earlier, they demolished two Palestinian homes in al-Tur, all under the pretext of unlicensed construction. Dozens of people have been left homeless from the demolitions.
A UNESCO fact-finding mission was supposed to arrive this week to look into Israeli measures in the Old City of Jerusalem and their impact on the archeological, cultural and heritage significance of the place, but was denied entry by Israel on May 20. Israel justified its decision by saying Palestinians were trying to politicize the visit.
"The Palestinians were not respecting the understandings,” an Israeli foreign ministry official said. “The visit was supposed to be professional, (but) they were taking measures that showed they were politicizing the event and not letting the delegation focus on professional sides of it," the official said.
UNESCO maintained that the mission was not cancelled, but postponed, the agency’s spokeswoman Sue Williams said.
The Palestinians said they expected Israel to pull something like this. “We weren't surprised by this decision because we believed that Israel's agreement to (allow the mission) was not convincing," minister of foreign affairs Riyad Al Malki said.
The Rafah crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt was reopened on May 22 after a five day closure. Egyptian soldiers and policemen closed the crossing following the kidnapping of seven Egyptian soldiers in Sinai, only reopening it after the soldiers were freed. Over 2,400 Palestinians had been stranded on both sides of the crossing during the days of the closure.
Extremist Israelis extended their attacks this week all the way to the Negev desert. On May 19, residents of the Retamim Kibbutz attacked the nearby Bedouin village of Bir Hadaj and set fire to a tent, according to head of the local village council, Salman Ibin Hamid
"The setters of Retamim are acting like they are in the West Bank," Ibn Hamid said. "These people have the mentality of the occupying settler to attack every Arab."
Finally, on May 23, the US appointed Gen. John Allen as special envoy on security issues in negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. According to a US official, Allen will deal with the U.S. position on Israeli security needs and the security arrangements that would accompany the establishment of a future Palestinian state.
Al Nakba commemorated amid increasing settler attacks [May 12 - May 18]
Date posted: May 18, 2013
By MIFTAH
This week Palestinians commemorated the 65th anniversary of the Nakba, the catastrophe of 1948 on May 15, with a variety of activities, demonstrations and events throughout the Palestinian territories and outside of its borders. Festivals were held in Ramallah and Nablus in addition to several protests and confrontations with Israeli occupation forces. In Jerusalem, clashes broke out between protesters and Israeli police and border guards when Palestinians commemorating Al Nakba, raising Palestinian flags and facing off with Jewish settlers and soldiers. Thirty people were wounded or arrested during the clashes in addition to six Israelis.
The Jerusalem clashes come at a time when settler break-ins to Al Aqsa have been on the rise amid increasing calls by extremist Jewish groups to make a presence at the compound. The break-ins have become a near daily event. Muslim worshippers and Palestinian youths have kept constant vigil at the mosque to stave off the break-ins which included settler groups who used children as a cover to enter the compound on the occasion of Shavuot.
Settlers in the West Bank have wreaked havoc this week as well. On May 17, three Palestinians were injured in clashes in Urif south of Nablus when dozens of settlers set fire to lands in three area-villages: Urif, Einabus, and Asira al-Qibliya. The settlers also attacked citizens and threw burning tires at people’s homes.
Jewish extremists attacked inside the Green Line as well. On May 14, extremists set fire to three cars and sprayed racist graffiti on a mosque south of Haifa, according to Israeli media reports.
"Price-tag" and "Eviatar," which is thought to refer to the name of a settler stabbed to death last week, were found on the mosque’s walls in addition to the Star of David. In Safed, even farther north, racist graffiti with the words "Arabs out" was found on walls in the city.
On May 13, Israeli settlers exhumed a number of graves and sprayed racist graffiti in the Sawiya village in Nablus. Ghassan Daghlas, head of the PA settlement activity file, said settlers from the Alia settlement were responsible for the damage.
On the same day settlers from Tel Hatimar begin building a religious school for children on Al Khader lands in the Bethlehem area.
The Israeli army meanwhile, uprooted over 1,200 olive tree saplings on May 16 and razed land Palestinian farmer in the northern West Bank, according to Daghlas. He said the army dug up over 40 dunums of farm land and demolished a water tank and stone walls in Ras Karker, near Nablus.
On May 17, three Palestinian laborers were wounded in Beit Ula northwest of Hebron after Israeli forces fired rubber-coated steel bullets and unleashed police dogs at them according to Issa al-Amla, coordinator for the popular struggle committee. He said Omar Al-Amla, 31, and Abdulkadir Al-Amla, 28, suffered multiple dog bites to the neck and hands. A third laborer, Jihad Saleem, was shot in the leg.
In Jerusalem on May 17, Israeli forces raided the home of Iyad al-Awar and insisted on taking his two children 6-year-old Qassam and 5-year-old Nasrallah for “interrogation”. While their father prevented the forces from arresting his boys, Israeli soldiers handed him a warrant ordering him to bring his children to the Russian Compound for questioning.
"We arrived to the Russian Compound and the troops wanted to take my kids for investigation; I refused and they beat me in the ear and the leg. My kids started crying and were so scared from the troops. They took my kids by force," al-Awar said.
Israeli Intelligence officers apparently questioned the children about their detained cousin Shadad, and asked if they had seen him throwing stones or Molotov cocktails at Israeli forces, Al Awar said.
On the same day however, Palestinians scored a tiny victory in the Jerusalem suburb of Abu Dis when they were able to tear a hole through part of the separation wall. Protesters marking the Nakba anniversary ripped a 4-meter hole in it, eyewitnesses said. Clashes ensued between the protesters and Israeli soldiers who fired tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets. Several injuries were reported.
Peace Now reported on May 16 that the Israeli government planned to grant retroactive approval to four West Bank settlement outposts it had previously pledged to at least partially demolish.
The Israeli state attorney's office said that settlers had purchased the private Palestinian land on which they built, thus paving the way for the government to give its blessing.
"In the response, the government declares its intention to legalize four outposts, in isolated areas," Peace Now said in a statement, adding that the strategy was an affront to US Secretary of State John Kerry's efforts to revive dormant Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. "The intention to legalize outposts as new settlements is no less than a slap in the face of Secretary Kerry's new peace process," Peace Now said.
On May 14, Hamas and Fatah agreed in Cairo to form a national unity government within three months during which they would finalize and approve the Palestine National Council elections law. The two sides, represented by Fatah leader Azzam Al Ahmad and Hamas politburo member Mousa Abu Marzouq, came to the agreement under Egyptian sponsorship and said President Abbas would immediately begin talks on the new government formation. Once the government is formed, general elections can be held.
