issue no 55

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Issue No : 55 5th August, 2013

Palestinian Cultural Organization Malaysia | 1


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Palestinian Cultural Organization Malaysia

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Read In This Report

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Israeli to displace 1,300 Palestinians from Hebron

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Al-Barghouthi risks death on his 91st day of hunger strike

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What is behind the resumption of negotiations in Washington?

By:

Yassir al Zaatara

Gaza gov’t warns of humanitarian disaster due to closure of Rafah crossing

Palestinians take to the streets against defamation campaign in Egypt

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After the first round of talks, Israel to retain 85% of settlements in West Bank

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CONTENTS

News of Palestine

Articles & Analyses

What is behind the resumption of negotiations in Washington? 10

Palestinians take to the streets against defamation campaign in Egypt 4

Gaza gov’t warns of humanitarian disaster due 5

to closure of Rafah crossing

After the first round of talks, Israel to retain 85% 6 of settlements in West Bank

Israeli to displace 1,300 Palestinians from Hebron 7

Al-Barghouthi risks death on his 91st day of hunger strike 8

One martyr and 200 detainees during July 9

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News of Palestine

01/08/2013Palestinians in Gaza organised on Saturday a ral-ly in the middle of Gaza City against what they called an «organised defamation campaign» car-ried out against Palestinians by the Egyptian me-dia. Carrying Egyptian flags, they chanted slo-gans referring to the strong relationship between Palestine and Egypt.

The demonstrators expressed their anger very clearly over the repeated media accusations that Palestinians «interfere» in Egyptian affairs. «Gaza is not Tel Aviv,» they chanted.

Meanwhile, a Hamas official said that elements within the Egyptian authorities colluded with some Fatah elements to demonise Hamas.

Salah, al-Bardaweel, a member of Hamas, said during a press conference on Tuesday that Fatah, as well as members of the Palestinian Authority, the governing body in the occupied West Bank, pushed forward a malicious agenda to tarnish

Hamas. He also denied any involvement with the current unrest in Egypt.

«These documents urge hatred, not only against Gaza or Hamas, but against the Palestinian peo-ple.» he said.

Osama Hamdan, a leader in Hamas movement, stated that PA president Mahmoud Abbas leads a serious scheme to drive a wedge between Gaza and Egypt, as part of a systematic policy to take revenge on Hamas movement.

Hamdan confirmed that Hamas movement has managed to get official documents to prove PA involvement in a conspiracy in coordination with US and Israel to liquidate the Palestinian cause.

Abbas is involved in paving the way for an Israeli aggression against the Gaza strip, the leader in Hamas movement said.

Source: Agencies

Palestinians take to the streets against defa-mation campaign in Egypt

Hamas warns of a malicious campaign against it

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Gaza gov’t warns of humanitarian disaster due to closure of Rafah crossing

01/08/2013The Palestinian government in Gaza has warned of humanitar-ian disaster in the besieged en-clave in the event the Egyptian authorities continued to close the Rafah border crossing.

The ministry of foreign affairs said in a message sent Thurs-day on behalf of the govern-ment to regional and interna-tional organizations, human rights groups, and political and notable figures that the health and municipal sectors would be the most affected.

The ministry appealed to all parties concerned with the Ra-fah terminal to work for its re-opening to allow normal flow

of traffic of people and goods.

It pointed out that the allocated truckloads of fuel for the Gaza power station were not enough to operate the station in full, adding that power was being cut off for ten hours daily as a result.

The ministry said that all Gaza crossings should operate nor-mally and pressures should be exerted on Israel to end its seven-year-old “oppressive” blockade.

The ministry said that the Egyp-tian authorities’ closure of the Rafah terminal on 5th July and its partial reopening few days later led to grave deterioration in the inhabitants’ living condi-tions.

It said that the crossing was the only outlet for Gaza people with the outside world, adding that Egypt slashed its operating hours from nine to only four per day.

It said that Egypt allows only 150 persons to leave the Strip daily and they should be hold-ers of Arab or foreign passports or very ill persons.

The ministry charged that the measure was a clear violation of the internationally guaran-teed freedom of movement.

Source: PIC

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After the first round of talks, Israel to retain 85% of settlements in West Bank

01/08/2013Israel expects to retain about 85 per cent of set-tlements in the occupied Palestinian territories at the end of the negotiations, Yedioth Ahro-noth said on Thursday. Citing sources in the US Congress, the newspaper estimated that Israel will keep control over all of the major settle-ment blocs.

Immediately after Israel›s Tzipi Livni and Pal-estinian negotiator Saeb Erekat left Washing-ton, it is claimed, Secretary of State John Kerry phoned some of his friends in Congress, most of whom are pro-Israel, to feed back on the talks. It is said that the two sides not only dis-

cussed arrangements and measures regarding the negotiations, but they also discussed the expected land swap to ensure that the settlements will come under formal Israeli sovereignty. Kerry assured his friends that Israel›s interests will be protected.

One congressman, described by the Israeli news-paper as a major friend of Israel, asked Kerry if the Palestinians would recognise Israel as a Jew-ish state. «One of my major goals is to establish a Jewish country for Jews,» Kerry is alleged to have replied.

Source: MEMO

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Israeli to displace 1,300 Palestinians from Hebron

01/08/2013The Israeli authorities have begun moves to evacuate about 1,300 Palestinians from eight Palestinians villages in south of Hebron in the occupied West Bank on the pretext that ‹they oc-cupy a firing range in military training area›.

The Israeli newspaper, Haaretz, reported on Thursday that the ‹state› wanted to evict the Pal-estinians from their homes because it wanted to save the Israel army time and money.

Earlier this year, in January, Palestinians from 12 villages in the area filed two petitions in the Supreme Court. They called for the cancelation of the planned measures and the military order that considered the area a ‹closed military zone.›

According to Haaretz, the Israeli Authorities did not ask the Jewish settlers to leave the area. In-stead, they only asked the Palestinians who have been living in the area for hundreds of years.

Israel decided to expel all the villagers in the area in 2000 for the same reason, but the Su-preme Court decided to leave them until a final resolution was issued regarding their case.

Meanwhile, legal experts have affirmed that the forceful expulsion of Palestinian residents con-travenes international law and should be chal-lenged in the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

Source: MEMO

Palestinian Cultural

Organization Malaysia

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02/08/2013

The health condition of prisoner Abdullah Al-Barghouthi has seriously deteriorated after 91 days of hunger strike along with four other Jor-danian captives.

Lawyer Mohammed Al Shayeb, who visited Al-Barghouthi yesterday in Afula prison, warned of the serious deterioration of the striker›s health condition due to his continued hunger strike.

The lawyer quoted the doctor as saying that Al-Barghouthi risks death at any moment, noting that his medical condition is monitored twice a day to check his heart rate, blood pressure, and

glucose levels.

The IPS in Afula prison has refused the doctors› demand to conduct the hunger striker physical examination to his nerves under the pretext that his transfer from his room to the clinic causes a security problem, the lawyer added.

Abdullah al-Barghouthi has declared since early May an open hunger strike along with four other Jordanian captives, Mohammad Rimawi, Muneer Mir’i, Hamza al-Dabbas Othman, and Alaa Ham-mad.

Source: PIC

Al-Barghouthi risks death on his 91st day of hunger strike

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01/08/2013

The Israeli forces have killed one Palestinian and arrested 200 during July throughout West Bank and Gaza strip, Tad-amun Foundation for human rights revealed.

Ahmad al-Bitawi, a researcher at the foundation, stated that Moataz Idris Sharawna, 19, was martyred after being hit by an Israeli jeep during clashes that erupted in Dura in al-Khalil.

One martyr and 200 detainees during July

among the detainees were a Palestinian deputy, a university lecturers, two journalists and liberated prisoners.

Several Palestinians were ar-rested at Israeli checkpoints set up throughout West Bank and Erez crossing of the Gaza strip in addition to the Karama bor-der crossing of the West Bank.

Source: PIC

The foundation›s report said that 200 Palestinians were detained during July including 40 minors between the ages of 12-18 years and 10 university students who study abroad.

Nearly 70 Palestinians were ar-rested in al-Khalil, 32 were de-tained in Nablus, 30 in Ramallah and al-Bireh, 25 in Jerusalem, 23 in Jenin, and 2 in Gaza strip.

The report pointed out that

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What is behind the resumption of negotiations in Washington?

Articles & Analyses

By: Yassir al Zaatara*

US Secretary of State John Kerry has worked hard on the Israel-Palestine portfolio since he came into office earlier this year. He has made six tours to the region, the most recent end-ing in the announcement of the resumption of negotiations. It would be foolish to say that Kerry›s tours were solely an American initiative, as the US only intervenes in the Middle East based on the demands of Israel as Washington is now more concerned about the rise of China.

It is worth reminding ourselves that the Palestinian demand for a freeze on settlement activity was not the reason behind the deadlock in negotiations; it was, after all, just one of the Palestin-ian Authority›s conditions over which it negotiated for 3 years with ex-Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, whose government was the most determined to escalate settlement activity.

It was Obama who put Mah-moud Abbas on the spot when the US president told current Is-raeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stop all settle-ment activity in order to create an atmosphere suitable for ne-

gotiations. Ever since, Abbas has insisted on an end to settlement growth before resuming talks with the Israelis. Netanyahu has refused and stood his ground, leaving Abbas and Obama to give in to his conditions. They are now talking despite settle-ments still being built on land supposedly earmarked for a Pal-estinian state. An insistence on the 1967 borders as the basis for negotiations replaced the settle-ment condition but has also been rebuffed. The only gain from go-ing back to talks is the release of 104 veteran Palestinian prisoners who have been in prison since before the Oslo Accords and are deemed to be no longer a threat to Israel›s security.

Of course we must be happy about their release, but it should not be a reason to give up on the cause for which so many have spent lifetimes behind bars.

Hence, Israel›s illegal settlement expansion continues and the 1967 borders are not acknowledged as a reference for negotiations; and the people are expected to believe that Abbas is committed to the Palestinian national con-stants which include a sovereign state within the 1967 borders,

including East Jerusalem, and a light land-swap of land with the same area and significance. We are also expected to believe that Netanyahu is foolish for intensifying settlement activity in areas he will be surrendering in 6 to 9 months, the time scale agreed in Amman for the talks to produce tangible results.

Looking at Kerry›s promises to Abbas in the Amman meetings, which the PA president com-municated to members of the PLO Executive Committee, the secretary of state was gener-ous with his guarantees; that›s the usual manner in which the Americans deal with the Pales-tinian file. It is as if any Ameri-can leader can force Netanyahu into doing anything he doesn›t want to even though the Israeli prime minister is well aware that he has more support in

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the US Congress than any US president has, Republican or Democrat.

I used the term «generous» metaphorically because we are aware of the truth behind the Is-raeli position, and the US is ac-tually far from generous. Kerry made a number of promises and guarantees in order to lure Abbas back into negotiations, or at least for him to be able to tell Fatah and the PLO that he was able to secure promises of the following: a state within the 1967 borders with some land-swaps and East Jerusalem as the capital while keeping Je-rusalem united; and a dignified solution for the refugees, one that does not threaten Israel›s Judaisation plans. This, we are led to believe, will result in the end of the occupation, and thus the end of the conflict, while ensuring Israel›s security.

In addition, Kerry proposed an economic package to Abbas during the Dafus Economic Forum at the Dead Sea, but he did not link it to economic peace (Netanyahu›s project) as he did at the Dead Sea. Instead, he spoke about multiplying the national income in the West Bank and decreasing the un-employment rate from 23 per cent to 8 per cent over the next 3 years, explaining that he has important commitments from Saudi Arabia and the UAE in this regard.

While most of the leaders of

exposed by Al Jazeera which revealed the extent of the con-cessions the PA is willing to agree to? They also revealed Israel›s inflexibility, especially regarding the refugees and Je-rusalem.

Israel›s Justice Minister and lead negotiator Tzipi Livni told her Palestinian counterpart Saeb Erekat that the number of refugees who will be allowed to return to what is now Israel will be «zero». As for the mat-ter of East Jerusalem, when Erekat told her that he was proposing «the largest Jerusa-lem in Jewish history», Livni replied arrogantly that the mat-ter was beyond the context of negotiations. Everyone knows that the Jerusalem issue is what caused the Camp David nego-tiations to fail in 2000, and not the refugees. Everyone, that is, except the Palestinian negotia-tors, it seems.

It is also important to remind ourselves that one of the reasons behind the Israeli-American keenness to resume negotiations is the fear of a new Intifada in the West Bank; Kerry was frank about this during his meeting with Abbas in Amman. These fears cannot be downplayed, as the occurrence of an Intifada would mean the collapse of all of Israel›s security achieve-ments over the last 7 years, in addition to imposing a serious threat to the Zionist state in the context of the Arab Spring.

”

”Fatah and the PLO Executive committee were not convinced by Kerry›s proposal and guar-antees, this was overlooked, es-pecially since no one could go against Abbas, the leader of both groups. There is no doubt that the Arab references, which quickly communicated the orders to Am-man, contributed towards the en-hancement of Abbas›s position.

Of course, Kerry can tell Mah-moud Abbas whatever he wants, but his ability to impose anything on Netanyahu is almost non- -ex-istent. If Obama was unable to convince him to freeze settle-ment activity in order to resume negotiations, how will he be able to convince him to make conces-sions in East Jerusalem?

Remember the leaked documents

The only gain from

going back to talks is

the release of 104 vet-

eran Palestinian pris-

oners who have been

in prison since be-

fore the Oslo Accords

and are deemed to

be no longer a threat

to Israel›s security.

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Of course, the new round of negotiations may not achieve anything at all due to the is-sue of Jerusalem and borders. Arab League approval for land swaps will see the major settlement blocs annexed to Israel, fragmenting a Pales-tinian state permanently. The Jordan Valley will also prove to be a difficult matter to re-solve, and it is a massive part of the occupied West Bank.

If a final agreement is not achieved, no problem; the Israeli army will simply be deployed into new areas and more money will be thrown at the conflict. Negotiations will be replaced by another attempt to get full member-ship of the UN, leading to the establishment of a temporary state within the confines of Israel›s «Separation Wall» in a constant battle over borders without Abbas or anyone else ever having to admit that they have surrendered over the constants. This situation will last for years until «tempo-rary» turns into de facto «per-manent». In the end, the Pal-estinian cause will be wiped out and a «confederation» with Jordan will most prob-ably emerge.

The other possibility is that negotiations will continue in secret, and will end in Mah-moud Abbas accepting much less than what he accepted from Olmert, with a final deal

which sees the PA getting a share of the areas surrounding Jerusa-lem which the Israelis have add-ed to «Greater Jerusalem» since 1967 to use as the capital of Pal-estine. Meanwhile, historic Jeru-salem will indeed remain «unit-ed» as the capital of Israel. This will include Al-Aqsa Mosque, which will be subject to special arrangements for worshippers but the sovereignty of the area in which it is located will be Israel›s. Moreover, the Jordan Valley will be leased to Israel for 30 years as per the old Camp David proposal plus security ar-

ity of this compensation being accompanied by security and political arrangements with Jordan, also in the form of a confederation.

The first possibility seems to be the most likely but the second scenario cannot be ruled out. It is all quite easy for Mahmoud Abbas as he will be ruling over the West Bank alone, and so will be easy to manipulate. As for the Gaza Strip, that will be dealt with separately based on the development of the Pales-tinian situation in the region in general.

All that is left to say is that this is what they are considering, but the Palestinian people may have other ideas; it is quite likely that they do, as around 78 per cent of all Palestinians are excluded from the discus-sions and equation. They will not accept their cause being wiped out by the emergence of a temporary state, nor a distort-ed solution. They will rise up against the PA and its partner in a new struggle that will be different in terms of its ability to realise achievements for the people and the cause.

* The author is a Jorda-nian writer. This article is a translation from the Ara-bic text first published on Al Jazeera Net, 31 July 2013

””The new round of ne-

gotiations may not

achieve anything at all

due to the issue of Je-

rusalem and borders.

rangements in the spirit of the annex of the Geneva Accords.

The end result will be a frag-mented entity whose constituent parts are linked by bridges, tun-nels and bypass roads, without the return of the refugees to their land in Israel; they will receive compensation paid for by the Arab states. This is if the Israe-lis do not demand greater com-pensation for Jews› property in Arab countries, with a possibil-

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issue no 55

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