November 29 was the day in focus this week. After months of rallying and in the face of tremendous pressures, Palestine became the 194th state in the UN’s General Assembly. The historic vote played out mostly as the Palestinians expected – with 138 countries in favor of the draft resolution requesting that Palestine be upgraded to the status of non-member observer state, nine countries opposed and 41 abstained. There were some pleasant surprises though, much to the chagrin of Israel.
Germany and the UK, which had previously said they would vote against the move ended up abstaining after weeks of trying to convince the Palestinians either to delay their bid or to at least provide guarantees that they would not resort to the International Criminal Court of Justice in the Hague to try Israel for war crimes. The Palestinians held their ground, saying they could not give such guarantees and the two major European countries folded, withholding their opposition at least. On that note, however, President Mahmoud Abbas did say before leaving New York on December 1 that although the leadership would not immediately go to the ICC, it would not hesitate to do so if they were attacked by Israel.
The vote came after months of Palestinian rallying in European and world countries, of American, Israeli and European pressures and threats and most significantly, after the Israeli war on Gaza, which claimed over 170 lives.
In the opening to his UN speech on November 29, President Mahmoud Abbas began with a tribute to Gaza, saying the bid comes as “Palestinians were still tending to their wounds and burying their dead.”
In a confident, straightforward address to the world’s nations, Abbas asked for recognition as a state. “Palestine comes to you today at a defining moment regionally and internationally, in order to reaffirm its presence and to try to protect the possibilities and the foundations of a just peace that is deeply hoped for in our region.”
After enumerating Israel’s continuous assaults on the Palestinian people and land, Abbas maintained: “We will not give up, we will not tire, and our determination will not wane and we will continue to strive to achieve a just peace…”
“However, above all and after all, I affirm that our people will not relinquish their inalienable national rights, as defined by United Nations resolutions. And our people cling to the right to defend themselves against aggression and occupation and they will continue their popular, peaceful resistance and their epic steadfastness, and will continue to build on their land…We will accept no less than the independence of the State of Palestine, with East Jerusalem as its capital, on all the Palestinian territory occupied in 1967, to live in peace and security alongside the State of Israel, and a solution for the refugee issue on the basis of resolution 194 (III).”
Abbas went on to say that granting Palestine observer statehood status was the last-ditch effort to save the two-state solution and that in spite of Israeli threats to the bid, the leadership would push forward.
“We have heard and you too have heard specifically over the past months the incessant flood of Israeli threats in response to our peaceful, political and diplomatic endeavor for Palestine to acquire non-member observer status in the United Nations…We have not heard one word from any Israeli official expressing any sincere concern to save the peace process…The moment has arrived for the world to say clearly: Enough of aggression, settlements and occupation.”
Wrapping it up, the President said: “In our endeavor today to acquire non-member State status for Palestine in the United Nations, we reaffirm that Palestine will always adhere to and respect the Charter and resolutions of the United Nations and international humanitarian law, uphold equality, guarantee civil liberties, uphold the rule of law, promote democracy and pluralism, and uphold and protect the rights of women. This is what we are pledging today.”
And finally, his reiteration: “This is why we are here now.”
Palestinians everywhere rallied around the leadership in their UN bid, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad. On November 30, Hamas Prime Minister in Gaza Ismail Haniyeh said the vote was a “culmination of Gaza's victory and an affirmation of Palestinian steadfastness.”
Haniyeh thanked the 138 countries that voted in favor the night before, saying Hamas welcomed the bid, but would continue its policy of not recognizing Israel and "not giving up an inch of Palestinian land."
Likewise, Secretary-General of the Islamic Jihad, Ramadan Shalah, called the vote a "historic moment."
At least 17 European nations voted in favor of the Palestinian resolution, including Austria, France, Italy, Norway and Spain. Britain, Germany and others chose to abstain the Czech Republic joined the United States, Israel, Canada, Panama and Pacific Island states likes Nauru, Palau and Micronesia in opposing the bid.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu immediately condemned Abbas' speech as "hostile and poisonous", and full of "false propaganda "These are not the words of a man who wants peace," Netanyahu said in a statement released by his office.
US Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice meanwhile, called for the immediate resumption of peace talks. "The Palestinian people will wake up tomorrow and find that little about their lives has changed save that the prospects of a durable peace have only receded," she said.
"The United States calls upon both the parties to resume direct talks without preconditions on all the issues that divide them and we pledge that the United States will be there to support the parties vigorously in such efforts," Rice said calling on both parties to "avoid any further provocative actions in the region,”.
Israel, which knew beforehand that the resolution would be passed, was still disappointed by the outcome. "Even old friends like Germany refused to stand alongside us,” said one unnamed senior Israeli official. “It is hard not to see this as a total failure for our diplomacy which will obviously have consequences," he said.
Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev also said that although Israel was "disappointed" by the vote it was not surprised.
Still, some Israelis were happy with the outcome. Around 250 Israeli protesters demonstrated in Tel Aviv on November 29 chanting, "Israel and Palestine, two states for two peoples" and carrying signs which read, "Palestinian state – an Israeli interest."
While Israel has been threatening punitive measures against the Palestinians, including a withholding of tax revenues and a decrease in work permits for Palestinian laborers to work inside Israel, the most immediate response came on November 30 with Israel announcing approval for the construction of 3,000 new homes in Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Jerusalem.
The announcement was met with condemnation by the Palestinians and lukewarm dissatisfaction from the United States. PLO PLO's envoy in Washington Maen Erekat said the settlement plans reflect America's "lack of reaction" to unilateral moves. The units would be built in the so-called E-1 area thus linking Jerusalem to the West Bank by a settlement belt.
“It is exactly the lack of reaction on behalf of the US, and others in the international community, to continued Israel violations of previous agreements that pushed us to seek intervention at the UN,” Erekat said.
Washington, meanwhile, said the new settlement expansion plan was "counterproductive" and could make it harder to bring Israel and the Palestinians back to the negotiating table.
"We reiterate our longstanding opposition to settlements and East Jerusalem construction and announcements," White House spokesman Tommy Vietor said."Direct negotiations remain our goal and we encourage all parties to take steps to make that easier to achieve."
Palestinian UN ambassador Riyad Mansour called the move "an immediate provocation" to the UN vote. "They are trying to provoke us to react … I don't know in which way," he said, adding that the Palestinians "will continue to extend our hand in peace," but warned that more provocations would be "testing our resolve" and could lead to unspecified actions.
Meanwhile, Palestinians continue to die in Gaza. On November 30, 21-year-old Mahmoud Jaroun died from a gunshot wound he sustained hours earlier in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. Medical sources said he was hit in the pelvis. Eleven other Palestinians sustained wounds by Israeli fire along the borders between the Gaza Strip and Israel.
Furthermore, Hamas' military wing said one of its fighters was killed early November 30 when remnants of an Israeli shell from the latest Gaza invasion exploded. Mustafa Ahmad Hijazi, 25, was killed at a military site in Jabalia refugee camp, the Brigades said. Eight others were wounded in the blast, two in a serious condition. A day earlier, on November 28, another Qassam fighter died of his wounds
That day, Israeli forces also shot and injured seven Palestinians near the border in the central Gaza Strip east of Al Maghazi and Al Bureij refugee camps. An Israeli military spokeswoman said "rioters" damaged the border fence and tried to enter Israel.
Finally, on November 27 late President Yasser Arafat’s body was exhumed and 20 samples taken from him for further investigation into allegations of poisoning. The samples were handed to French, Swiss and Russian forensic experts. Results of the testing could take up to three months to be announced.
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.
