Oranges and Olives
Probably, it should be Oranges, Olives, Figs, Bananas, Strawberries and Grapes. That should be all areas of Palestine, all of Palestine. This is for a One Palestine, Complete, for All. Sorry, Segev, that's how it is meant to be, it is not ours to keep, not yours it is really everyone's. So this page tries to be for all. I don't want to be offensive, but as Ziad says, "I am not an atheist, but what can I do if all blasphemous things have coalesced in me."
18.10.10
Don't be part of Apartheid
30.9.10
love thy enemy
28.9.10
Only free men can negotiate
25.9.10
I think i should go back to writing
25.3.10
on bullying and sanctions
On 30 Januray 2006, representatives of the Middle East Peace quartet came out in London to commend the Palestinian elections that were held earlier that week and to set 4 conditions that any new Palestinian government must adhere to in their policy: commitment to non-violence; recognition of Israel; acceptance of previous agreements; and, engaging in negotiations aimed at realising the two state solution. These conditions became a basis for a later international boycott against the Palestinian Authority when Hamas came to power in March that year. This boycott, in turn brought the Palestinian economy to ruins and was a major factor in the ongoing schism between Hamas and Fateh.
Four years later, we find ourselves in a similar situation: we have a government that is not, in any way, committed to non-violence; a government that does not recognise previous agreements, specifically the road map; a government that does not recognise the two state solution; and, one that is not committed to any meaningful negotiations. Had this government been not Israeli, it would have been brought to its knees by economic sanctions. Instead, the Americans, despite the ongoing row over Israel’s stance have just signed a quarter of a billion dollars arms deal with Israel. How could all of this be true, and yet this reward be given to the Israelis? I will try to discuss these allegations that I have just made to support the argument that similar actions necessitate similar reactions- in a fair world, that is.
Speaking about Israel’s commitment to non-violence can only be a sub story in Alice in Wonderland. I won’t put a lot of effort into discussing the four people killed earlier this week by Israeli soldiers while plowing their fields or demonstrating against the wall. neither will i spend more time discussing the continuous Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip.
Israel is clearly not committing itself to its obligations under peace understandings, specifically the Road Map. While the Palestinians have met all their commitments to stop incitement and violence, Israel is committed to continuing the building of settlements, a clear violation of the Road Map. Even the announced ‘freeze’ by Israel which does not include Jerusalem, ‘natural growth’, building in progress and social infrastructure is short of its obligation to cease all settlement activity. To add fuel to fire, the Israelis keep on announcing new plans everyday, especially in Jerusalem where they recently announced that plans in the pipeline include over 50,000 housing units. That’s at least 250,000 more obstacles to any peace process.
Israel’s only commitment to the two state solution came in the form of a Palestinian state that is non-contiguous, has no sovereignty over airspace, no control over its borders, no armed forces… practically nothing that can make it a state. We are currently in the same situation, under such circumstances the PA cannot free electromagnetic spectrum for a mobile communications company nor can it find a suitable place to establish a dumpster for Ramallah without getting Israeli consent.
As for peace negotiations, it is clear that Netanyahu is interested in gaining political capital by standing up to the US in its efforts to restart the negotiations. Every time things start moving he finds the perfect way to put them back to square one, just as he did during Biden’s visit.
So it is clear that the Israelis are not keeping with the requirements of the quartet. When the Palestinians were in the same position, they had to suffer from 2 years of sanctions. Why shouldn’t the Israelis be directed to the same treatment now? It is easy to come up with all sorts of excuses against this. Some might say we cannot interfere in Israel’s democracy- but isn’t that exactly what the world did to the Palestinians in 2006, dealing a strong blow to Palestine’s nascent democracy?
Israel is acting like a school bully. Such behaviour calls for measures that would put an end to it. The only conceivable measure, taking into consideration that diplomatic effort the world has put into managing it so far, is to impose sanctions on Israel.
26.12.09
a sense of purpose
22.12.09
The story of Samarah
This is a story from a friend of mine about her daughter trip to Palestine/Israel.
As you know she is a British subject who wanted to spend a couple of weeks Christmas holiday. seeing friends and family in Jerusalem and Haifa to “have a bit of fun” as she puts it. She arrive Sunday at 3:30 pm at Tel Aviv airport not expecting any problems . Sammarah is 17 years of age and is in year 12 of school in a school in the UK.
What she went through from the moment she arrived at the airport until she was sent back to U.K was unbelievable. She was taken in a white van to what I presume the detention center at the airport. There she was questioned by a “bulky big man who kept shouting at me and asking silly questions about my friends and family. I kept saying yes to everything he asked so that he would stop shouting”. The reason given to her for refusing to allow her in was that they thought she may not leave the country, even though it was clear from what she said and the school books she carried with her that she was a school girl .
At any rate after the interrogation , she was put in a cell “filthy small cell with a double bunker bed . the bottom mattress was filthy, the top one was rubber with many holes in it but looked cleaner than the bottom one. No bed cover apart from a very dirty looking blanket. I slept on the top bed with my Palestinian “kufia” for a cover. They initially said they would leave the door open as I was under age. But woke up at some point to find the door locked and kept that way all the time. I screamed my head off to get them to open the door but they did not. The food they gave me was a sandwich part eaten. I was given some water to drink and some tea which I held very tightly to warm my very cold hands. They took all my things away from me including my telephone and they refused to let me call anybody from my family to let them know what was happening. At 6:30 am I was taken by a police car to board a plane to UK, only to find out they managed to put me on the wrong plane which was heading to Denmark! Eventually I was on the right plane to London”.