Some argue that the state of Israel has great influence on the United States of America, dictating its policies and preserving the occupation and expansion of the Israeli military state. Others will disagree and tell you that it is the other way round, the US supports its ally because it is protecting its’ self interest yet the minute they, Americans, demand something of Israel; Israel is quick to comply.
This debate often takes place and usually does so amongst observers, politicians, journalists, academics and activists. The discussion stems from observing the American foreign policy especially in the Middle East and elsewhere. These testimonies seem to show the American relentless and blind support for the occupying state even when Israel is defiant and ignoring the American demands, plans, proposals and recommendations.
Who is fooling who? Are we the fooled?
Ariel Sharon came to power in early 2001, only a few months after George W. Bush was finally announced the winner of the US presidential elections, which were won not by the popular vote but by the electoral vote, thanks to Jed Bush’s state of Florida. The two men pledged to jointly work and support one another, citing the time spent together hovering in a helicopter back when the Texas governor, George Bush, visited Israel and then Minister of Housing, Ariel Sharon, who took him on his infamous chopper tour of the ‘homeland.’
Sharon and Bush have had an unshakable relationship since the two came to power; setting aside several embarrassing incidents in recent history were Israel gave the impression that it owns the US by continually ignoring demands and making unfulfilled promises. Israel caused the US to drift further away from countries of the region which the US needs as friends in its fight against ‘terrorism’ and in light of this new world order.
Recent reports claimed that the Bush administration was getting frustrated with Sharon and his refusal to meet promises made, embarrassing the US, and not lending enough support to America by stalling further and undermining, time and time again, the American designed peace plan, the roadmap.
Haaretz went on record reporting that: senior US administration officials accuse Sharon of taking advantage of the fact that the U.S. is in an election period, knowing it will not worsen the relations with him. “When President Bush is elected for a second term he will no longer treat Sharon as he did the first term if the promises are not kept." Sources quoted a senior American official as saying. These comments came as the Israeli Defense Ministry confirmed the approval of 600 new housing units in the West Bank illegal settlement of Ma'aleh Adumim after Sharon gave his green light a month ago.
The settlement expansion had been planned secretly for several months. The sight of bulldozers confirmed the Palestinian concern that, with this expansion, the ring of illegal Israel structures will be completed surrounding east Jerusalem, making it impossible for east Jerusalem to become the capital of a Palestinian state.
The US had barely condemned Israel’s expansion announcement. Nevertheless, Sharon merely got a slap on the wrist by the senior American official, Elliot Abrams, sent to Israel with what repots claimed ‘a letter from Bush’ stating all the unfulfilled promises made by Israel to the current US administration.
Once the American envoy arrived it became obvious that neither the US nor Israel are interested in calling the others bluff, or to take concrete steps to condemn illegal settlement expansion or the derailing of the ‘roadmap.’ The US envoy did not even refer to the subject of expansion, he merely focused on the political situation and coalition-expansion proceedings during his talking with the Israeli PM and FM, Israeli news sources reported.
Sharon had explained that the idea, completing the east Jerusalem envelope, was ten years old and related to the construction of hotels and tourist sites, not residential areas! An illegal structure built on occupied land is illegal whether it is used for housing or for commercial and tourism use.
Abrams further comforted the Israeli Prime Minster by assuring him that the US was acting to keep the issue of the ICJ ruling and UN General Assembly’s overwhelming majority vote, out of the Security Council. This will further empower the occupying state to stand in defiance of the whole world, minus five insignificant countries and islands, including the European bloc.
It is difficult to come to a conclusion as to who is leading who when it comes to the US, Israeli relationship. One thing is for sure; the US is not trusted or respected because of its blind support to the occupying state. Claiming to be a fair mediator or peace broker, while showing the inability to take a stance and move the peace process forward. The opportunity to exert pressure has passed for now, for the election year is not the time to anger the pro-Israeli voters living in the United States.
Both, George Bush and Ariel Sharon are opportunists who have fortified their position as state leaders through planting fear initiating wars and causing instability. Both will soon enough pressure each other once the stakes are high and either of them is required to further reinforce their place and conserve their seat at the top of the world in defiance of norms and expectations.
Believing in Jerusalem
Date posted: May 27, 2013
By Joharah Baker for MIFTAH
Last week, Israel barred a UNESCO fact-finding mission from entering the country, charging that the Palestinians had ‘politicized’ the mission before it had even arrived. The mission was tasked with looking into conditions of historical sites in the Old City of Jerusalem, something Israel apparently found to be very threatening.
Looking at the state of Jerusalem’s eastern sector today, it is understandable why Israel would not want UNESCO or anyone else walking around the Old City, especially the Palestinian-populated parts of it. Because anyone who does, will see the devastation that Israel and its settlers have wreaked on one of the oldest and most beautiful cities in the world.
Excavation works are being conducted in and around the Aqsa Mosque to make way for more Jewish construction at the place where Waqf authorities say Ottoman and Abbasid artifacts have long been tucked away. A Muslim graveyard is being dug up just outside the Old City’s Jaffa Gate, to build – ironically – a museum of tolerance. Today, two stores were forcefully taken over by Jewish settlers in Al Hakari, one of the neighborhoods in the Muslim quarter and every day, it seems that more and more homes are either being demolished by Israeli municipality authorities or being taken over by Jewish settlers.
The “Judiazation” of Jerusalem is a term many Palestinians and Arabs use for what Israel is doing in the city. In a nutshell, it is the long-term plan Israel is gradually carrying out to change the Arab Palestinian character of Jerusalem. This means demolishing old and historical structures, displacing Palestinians, handing over their homes to settlers and trying to erase the Palestinian or Arab history of the city.
The sad truth is that, on the surface, Israel has succeeded in this to a large extent. Pockets of Jewish settlers now live in the heart of Muslim quarters and aim to take over more and more. Sheikh Jarrah, one of the more affluent Palestinian neighborhoods of Jerusalem, is now pierced with Jewish flags waving from homes that have been wrestled from their Palestinian owners, and Israel’s light rail train cuts right down through Palestinian neighborhoods outside of the city center. The train, of course, is not meant to service the Palestinian population but rather to connect Jewish neighborhoods and settlements in the city, but the area confiscated from Shufat and Beit Hanina for its construction simply fell into the plan.
What the UNESCO mission would not have seen even if they made it into the Old City is the overall humiliation that the Palestinian population of Jerusalem must endure on a daily basis because of Israel’s military occupation. Trips to the Israeli ministry of interior must be made just to prove that one lives in the city for fear that their residency rights may be revoked; young Palestinian men are stopped randomly by Israeli soldiers to check their ID cards or just to harass them, and settlers are always given the luxury of maximum security whenever they walk the streets. If settlers want to march through the city, the Palestinians are told to close their shops, are barred for hours from reaching their homes if they run along the path of the march and are always the ones blamed if any kind of confrontation between the two sides breaks out.
Jerusalem is being squeezed by these measures more and more each day. But there is always that glimmer of hope, that strength that shines through proving that all is not lost. On Shavuot, Israeli settlers and extremists poured into the Old City, singing loudly, banging on the shop doors and waving huge Israeli flags. The sight was disconcerting to say the least. However, the afternoon of that same day, at Damascus Gate, passersby were met with a completely different scene. Palestinian flags waved in determined Palestinian hands under the threatening eye of heavily armed Israeli police and soldiers. The youths were fearless, demanding freedom, with strong, unrelenting voices.
The sight of the Palestinian flag waving at the entrance to Damascus Gate was a breath of fresh air. All is not lost and never will be because hope is eternal and determination and strength come from a never-ending spring.
That day at Damascus Gate is what all Palestinians must keep in their minds’ eye in spite of the daily oppression of the occupation. No matter how many missions Israel bars from entering or how many houses it takes over, there will always be those brave souls who, despite the risks, will always raise Palestine’s flag.
Joharah Baker is a Writer for the Media and Information Department at the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH). She can be contacted at mid@miftah.org.
Let Mohammed rest in peace
Date posted: May 20, 2013
By Joharah Baker for MIFTAH
There is no point falling into the pit of countering the claims being made about the death of Mohammed Al Durra, the 12-year old boy from Gaza whose videotaped killing was seen around the world. The boy, crouching in fear behind is equally afraid father as bullets whizzed around them, was killed admittedly by the Israeli army. Later, the army recanted after investigating the tape, saying Durra was killed by Palestinian fire instead. Well now, Israel is changing its story altogether, saying he was not killed at all. In fact, he was probably not even wounded and the French channel that broadcast the footage and brought some pretty bad rap to Israel, had most likely filmed a charade.
The reason why I will not waste my time countering this claim is that even with the great lengths the Israeli government went to to prove that the boy was never killed, it could not provide any irrefutable proof that Mohammed Al Durra – who would be 25 now – is still alive. No pictures, no testimonies, no hospital or morgue officials giving statements to refute his death, have been provided. Only sketchy information about ‘poor quality footage’ and the fact that it seems as though the boy moved his arm after he had slumped over his father following the explosion.
My point is this: indeed, Mohammed Durra’s death was at least one of the catalysts that fueled the second Intifada, and thus, was an important event in the history of the Palestinians. However, more importantly – most importantly to me –is the fact that this is about a boy who died in sheer terror, with his distraught father futilely trying to shelter him from the barrage of bullets coming their way.
Mohammed Al Durra was a boy, with a life, a family and friends. He died a horrible death and now he is being made to die a second one. I did not know Mohammed or his family, but I can only imagine how awful it must be for them to read these claims now and feel the pain of losing their child all over again. If nothing else, this is disrespect for human life of the worst kind.
Some may postulate that the rehashing of the Durra case is a personal jab at the French cameraman who shot the footage, Charles Enderlin. Perhaps. But as a Palestinian who has seen the pain endured by numerous families who receive the horrible news that their sons or daughters have been killed by the Israeli army, my concern is for his family and for his memory. He should be left to rest in peace. If Israel has axes to grind with French journalists or with the international community for holding it accountable for its actions, then so be it. Israel is not lacking in the public relations department.
That being said, there is just one decent thing left to do. Leave Mohammed Al Durra and his memory alone.
Joharah Baker is a Writer for the Media and Information Department at the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH). She can be contacted at mid@miftah.org.
Recognition and justice is our demand
Date posted: May 13, 2013
By Joharah Baker for MIFTAH
This week Palestinians will commemorate Al Nakba, the catastrophe that befell the Palestinian people when Israel was founded. Every year, Palestinians hang placards pointing to the right of return, they carry keys symbolizing the homes they were forced to leave and could not return to and remember the Palestine that was lost to them 65 years ago.
This year will be no different. Every May 15, Palestinian recall their catastrophe and demand justice. They demand that they are granted the right of return for those who were made refugees virtually overnight and were then relegate to a life they did not choose. But more than anything, they demand recognition of the tragedy that befell them rather than a denial that it ever happened, or worse, that it was of their own making.
It has been 65 years since Israel was established in 1948, which means those who were cast into exile are either very old or have long passed. Those who experienced the Nakba are now few and far between, clinging to those few precious memories of a small garden in front of their house in Jaffa or of the salty smell of the sea in their neighborhood in Haifa. The rest of us are either descendants of these refugees or ordinary Palestinians who feel their cause is our cause because we are one people.
But the Palestinians have made one thing clear. The refugee issue will not die with the last refugee. It is felt nationwide, the loss, the injustice and the fact that those who were forced from their homes have mostly passed, longing for their beloved homes.
We cannot turn back time. What was lost has been altered, destroyed, changed or taken over by Israel’s newcomers. What we can do is hold on to the right to be recognized, for the injustice to be rectified in word and deed and for Palestine to never be lost in our minds or hearts.
Joharah Baker is a Writer for the Media and Information Department at the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH). She can be contacted at mid@miftah.org.
