JULY 2007
In this Gaza, nobody wins; Our leaders have only served to further
Ariel Sharon's plan, and to de-legitimate our claim to self-government
EYAD SARRAJ
19 June 2007
The Globe and Mail
Two years ago, the Egyptian security envoy in Gaza told me that if
there were a military confrontation, Hamas could easily defeat the
predominantly Fatah security forces and take over all of Gaza in
three days. "I've seen both sides," he said, "and it is clear that
Hamas scores much higher in five areas: leadership, discipline,
training, arms and, most important, the motivation." He said the
security forces would be hobbled by being stationed in buildings,
while Hamas fighters would be able to hit and run. To the shock of
the terrified population of Gaza, that's exactly what happened last
week. An Israeli military analyst said the Palestinian Authority
forces were like a paper tiger.
I went on a tour Sunday morning. Gaza was wearily quiet and people
were bewildered. An old man said to me, "Okay, they destroyed the
corrupt. We welcome that. Can they feed us now?" I saw what was left
of the looted home of Mohammed Dahlan, commander of Gaza's preventive
security service, and of the beach chalets that were used for
training his new recruits.
My family and I had spent several traumatic days and sleepless
nights, trying to find a safe corner in the house as the shooting and
shelling raged around us. My baby son was with his grandparents when
the fighting erupted and we could not bring him home or even see him
until it subsided. The most alarming thing was the inhuman treatment
of those who were captured: One man was tied and thrown from the 10th
floor of a building; some injured fighters were killed in their
hospital beds; and stories of insane torture were numerous and
horrific.
It's not easy to explain what has happened here and why. On the
surface, it looks like a power struggle that grew out of the U.S.-led
blockade of the Hamas government and even to efforts at forging a
Hamas-Palestine Liberation Organization unity government.
Last year, I was among a small group of Palestinians that met Elliott
Abrams, President George Bush's deputy national security adviser. He
was blunt that the Hamas government, which was democratically
elected, must be pushed out at any cost. We're not Hamas followers,
but we tried to persuade him and other officials that engagement,
rather than confrontation, is the better choice; but their
determination was unshakable. We warned there would be suffering and
starvation and even armed conflict, but to no avail. It wouldn't be
the fault of the U.S. if that happened, he said.
The siege imposed on the Palestinians has been biting. Poverty has
reached unprecedented levels, along with unemployment. According to
the World Bank, 60 per cent of Palestinians live on less than $2 a
day. Israel, which is in full control of all Gaza borders and its sea
coast, intensified the blockade by curtailing Palestinians' movement.
At times, even fishing has been prohibited.
Already overcrowded, lawlessness became rampant in Gaza. Kidnapping,
theft and armed robbery have frightened everyone. Last week, my
brother's car was taken away at gunpoint. Many people have been
forced to surrender their wallets or cellphones. Beggars roam the
streets asking for money or bread. For more than 18 months, civil
servants did not receive a salary, only parts of it every now and
then. Municipal workers were given a bag of bread every day instead
of their wages.
The explosion was bound to happen, and the last straw came when the
interior minister declared that he could not fulfill his duties and
resigned. He blamed the obstructive attitude of Fatah's director of
preventive security.
Of course, Palestinian affairs are not purely Palestinian. The big
players are in Washington, Tehran and Tel Aviv. It seems to us that
the U.S. and Iran are fighting their war in Gaza, and in Lebanon and
Iraq.
But this situation is more than just a power struggle. It stems from
the absence in Palestine of a culture of democracy and the rule of
law.
Emerging in the mid-1990s from Israel's occupation, we Gazans dreamed
of a new era. Instead, our Palestinian Authority continued the
culture of the gun. This culture is based on loyalty, secrecy and
decisively rooting out opponents. There is no regard for human rights
or the rule of law or even human life itself.
What began in the name of resistance to the Israeli occupation became
worse during Yasser Arafat's years in power. Many times, I was
confronted and even jailed by officials of the security forces -
people who had once been in the resistance but showed no
understanding of the seriousness of torture and abuse of the law.
The culture of the gun is contagious. Armed people exhibit a euphoric
and self-confident image as the gun in their hands compensates for
inner impotence. In the face of defeat and humiliation against the
powerful outside enemy, people look for smaller enemies they can win
over. The armed militia leader becomes the new model, the symbol of
power who can kill at will and torture others without a hint of
remorse.
As the dream of an independent Palestine fades - the result of
Israel's continuing grab of West Bank land and the anarchy of Gaza -
we now imagine the nightmares that may come next. Will there be three
states instead of two: Israel, the West Bank and Gaza? Will there
only be one? Will Gaza become an even more extreme place than it is
now?
Palestinians are bitterly divided in politics and in geography, as
the emergency cabinet sits and operates in the West Bank, while the
Hamas-led government sits and operates in Gaza. Separating our two
territories was one of the objectives of Ariel Sharon's plan of
unilateral withdrawal. The tragic irony is that Palestinian leaders
have only served to further the Sharon plan, and to de-legitimate our
claim to self-government.
The only solution is a government that is made up of neutral people
of integrity who advocate peace negotiations with Israel but insist
on keeping Palestine intact.
Eyad Sarraj received the 1997 Physicians for Human Rights Award and
the 1998 Martin Ennals Award for human-rights defenders.
EYAD SARRAJ
Director of the Gaza Community Mental Health Program[newprofile message1221] Eyad sarraj Palestinian Territories What's left
The prospects for progress in the Arab-Israeli ‘peace process’ in the current climate are remote.
New UN map charts West Bank
reality
By Sharmila Devi and Harvey Morris
in
The impact of Israeli civilian and
military infrastructure is to render 40 per cent of the
territory, which is roughly the size of the
state of
The Israeli justice ministry
branded the report as “one-sided, immoral and
riddled with mistakes”.
Copyright The Financial Times
Limited 2007
EU boycotts Israel’s
celebration of 1967 war
Date: Mon, 14 May 2007 17:10:33 -0400 From:
"Sadanand, Nanjundiah \(Physics Earth
Sciences\)" <sadanand@mail.ccsu.edu>
EU boycotts 'provocative' Israeli anniversary party
By Eric Silver in Jerusalem
14 May 2007, The Independent (UK)
news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article2539373.ece
Ambassadors from European Union states are to boycott
celebrations of the 40th anniversary of Israel's conquest
of Arab East Jerusalem this week - in the opening shot of
what promises to be a challenging summer for Israeli
diplomacy.
The United States ambassador, Richard Jones, is also
expected to join the Europeans in snubbing the
celebrations .
What Israelis commemorate as the
"reunification" of their historic Jewish
capital is seen by most of the international community,
not to mention the Palestinians, as a unilateral attempt
to pre-empt a key issue in any peaceful solution.
One-third of the city's 725,000 residents are
Palestinians, who have opted to reject offers of Israeli
citizenship. Along with most other countries, the
Europeans keep their embassies in Tel Aviv.
Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the Palestinian parliament,
yesterday welcomed the European boycott as a blow for
international law and peace. "The Israelis,"
she said, "cannot get away with creating facts on
the ground and then forcing everybody to fall in
line".
Foreign diplomats are likely to be equally wary of
celebrating the anniversary of the 1967 June war. Most
Israelis cherish it as a glorious victory, but left-wing
demonstrators reminded them last week that it heralded 40
years of occupation of Palestinian and Syrian lands.
On the Europeans' behalf, Germany, which holds the
rotating presidency of the 27-member union, rejected
invitations to a Jerusalem Day event at Israel's
parliament on Wednesday.
A spokesman for the European Commission said: "...
we do not recognise the Israeli annexation of East
Jerusalem. We believe that the future of Jerusalem should
be settled by negotiations between Israel and the
Palestinians".
The British embassy confirmed that Tom Phillips, the
ambassador, would not attend the event. "We think it
is not appropriate," a spokeswoman explained,
"because Jerusalem is one of the unsettled
final-status issues."
The Israeli reaction was calculatedly low-key. It is not
spoiling for a fight over Jerusalem at this stage. Mark
Regev, the Foreign Ministry spokesman, said: "We are
disappointed and unhappy that not all governments will be
sending representatives."
He reiterated Israel's long-standing policy: "We
have agreed that the issue of Jerusalem is part of
final-status talks. We will bring our position to the
table. The Palestinians will bring [theirs]. But our
position is that Jerusalem will remain the united capital
of the Jewish state."
The Israeli cabinet, which met yesterday in the Menachem
Begin Heritage Centre overlooking the Old City, approved
a 5.75 billion-shekel (£7m) package designed to
strengthen Israel's hold on Jerusalem over the next five
years. It includes tax relief for charities, hospitals
and educational institutions; and transferring more
government offices to the city.
Ehud Olmert, the Prime Minister, said the measures would
"advance and encourage Jerusalem". But Mohammed
Baradeh, an Arab member of the Israeli parliament,
protested: "Holding the government meeting across
from the walls of the Old City, celebrating the
occupation, is a provocation. There will be no peace
without two capital cities in Jerusalem." EU
boycotts Israel’s celebration of 1967 war