Netanyahu: Israel and U.S. want peace process to begin immediately: Haaretz
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, briefing the cabinet on his meetings with U.S. Mideast envoy George Mitchell, said Sunday that it would soon become clear whether Middle East peace talks, suspended since December 2008, would resume.
Addressing the weekly cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said Israel and the United States want to “begin a peace process immediately”, and that he hoped the Palestinians shared the same goal.
“We will know in the coming days whether the process will get under way. I hope that it will indeed get under way,” he said in public remarks at the cabinet session.
In a statement summing up his visit, Mitchell said he held “positive and productive talks” with Israeli and Palestinian leaders in an effort “to improve the atmosphere for peace and for proceeding with proximity talks”, a reference to indirect, U.S.-mediated negotiations.
Mitchell is expected back in the region next week.
Netanyahu has given no ground publicly over U.S. and Palestinian calls to halt the construction of settlements in East Jerusalem, an issue that has driven a wedge between Israel and the United States.
The Palestinians, who want East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, have demanded a settlement freeze as a condition for peace talks.
Mitchell said in the statement that his deputy, David Hale, would remain behind to work with the parties this week to prepare for his return to the region next week.
On Saturday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas urged U.S. President Barack Obama to impose a solution to the Middle East conflict that would give the Palestinians an independent state.
Abbas’ appeal to Obama came amid widespread media reports that the U.S. president was considering floating a proposal that would set the contours of a final peace deal.
Any such move would likely be opposed by Israel, which says only negotiations can secure a final settlement to the conflict.
Aides to Abbas raised the possibility that he would meet Obama in Washington next month but said no invitation had been issued yet.
On Saturday, officials involved in efforts to renew peace talks said that proximity talks between Israel and the Palestinians will start no later than mid-May.
European officials who have met in recent days with senior officials at the White House and State Department got the impression that the Obama administration did not expect that the proximity talks would produce any agreement.
The efforts to push the peace process forward are meant to allow the United States to claim some success in its Mideast policy as the region marks one year since Obama’s historic address in Cairo.
Officials in Washington say that the talks with the Palestinians will force Netanyahu to reveal his positions beyond those outlined in his speech at Bar-Ilan University last June.
The Americans say that if Netanyahu takes an uncompromising stance in the negotiations, like the one he displays in public, the Labor Party might quit the coalition and pave the way for a new government.
New Videos from SleeplessinGaza
See the latest films from this innovative project:
55 b sleepless Gaza Jerusalem.divx
April 24, 2010 — Day 55 b: Diana goes to meet Amer Zahr; a Palestinian American stand-up comedian in his first show in Ramallah. See her backstage with the comedian taking about his first experience presenting in Palestine! And then hear the voices of the audience laughing out loud on Amers jokes about Arabs and Palestinians living in the United States. Finally, an old Arabic song was sung by Amer BUT in his own English version!
55 a Sleepless Gaza Jerusalem.divx
April 24, 2010 — Day 55 a: Join Ashira and Cultureshoc; Palestine’s first Rock Rap Band, at Qalandia Checkpoint not for a concert but on a mission to bring some joy to the kids who work on the checkpoint to get a living. Meet the faces that you brush off on the checkpoint! Hear their stories! And what they dream to become one day! See the joy on their faces when they go to a park for the first time in their lives. Can you imagine that these days there are children that have never seen a hamburger before? Listen to Cultureshocs song dedicated to these children. Today Eman celebrates with her family the birthday of her brother Ahmad. Know more about Eman’s parents, brothers and sisters watch the yummy-looking dishes on the table, and the pastry baked by Eman’s mother right next to the chocolate cake she bought for her brother. Also enjoy a recipe of a delicious dessert made by Rana, Eman’s sister. If you suffer from a toothache, get the best advice about that from Eman’s father who is a dentist. Finally, see what Eman bought Ahmad on his birthday.
54 Sleepless Gaza Jerusalem .divx
April 23, 2010 — Day 54: Join Eman and Nagham in their tour to a number of the most famous archaeological sites in the Gaza Strip. Accompanied by a tour guide, they visited Tal Zo’rob in Rafah where excavations are carried out, it is a hill located in the highest area in the Gaza Strip…See what they found there! Saint Hilarion Monastery is another important site they toured in which has a great Christian significance, it dates back to 232 A.D. Chris. Saint Hilarion was the one who spread Christianity in Egypt. Check out the ruins left in the site in addition to the stories told about Saint Hilarion’s life and the Monastery’s function in history.
53 Sleepless Gaza Jerusalem.divx
April 22, 2010 — Day 53: You saw it on 49a the forensic doctor told Ashira that it wasnt a suicide like the Israeli authorities claimed, nor was it a natural death! We called the film Murder in an Israeli Prison! The exclusive footage of the film was used by Al Arabiya, CNN and Reuters just transmitted it to 600 television stations worldwide. Since then the Sleepless in Gaza and Jerusalem girls have been wondering what is taking officialdom so long to declare the reason of death. Ashira goes today to the Press conference that makes it official. Raed was killed with a blow to his spine causing damage to his spinal cord and internal bleeding. Asma wrote a book about Gazan woman in war and Nagham wanted to bring life to one of the stories, so Asma takes her to see Nawal and her family; victims of Israels attacks on the civilians of Gaza in January 2009. Israel called it Operation Cast Lead; most of the world called it a Heinous Crime. How did Nawal have her baby in the middle of the attacks?
New Trailer Sleepless Gaza Jerusalem .divx
52 Sleepless Gaza Jerusalem.divx
April 21, 2010 — Day 52: Diana is in Belin for the 5th Annual Popular Resistance Conference where locals and Internationals gather to coordinate and plan non-violent action against the occupation! Listen to what some participants have to say. Nagham in Gaza reads the writing on the wall, any wall, everywhere and about everything! Check out the Gazan communications machine! You can use it to make a political stance, express yourself, or place an advert.
51 Sleepless Gaza Jerusalem.divx
April 20, 2010 — April 20, 2010: Day 51: Ashira joins her friend Bakrieyh on a tour to the Palestinian villages that were displaced in order to drive the Palestinians out of their homes and make way for Jewish immigrants in 1948. Today marks Israels Independent Day which is known to Palestinians as the Catastrophe; when the Palestine lost their country and Israel came to being. Why did Fidaa leave Spain and come back home? Why doesnt she believe in dialogue anymore? Listen to Sari on how neighbor turned on neighbor. What is the story of Abed who was born in Miska. Listen to what Sheikh Raed Salah has to say on the right of return. What happed at the village of Miska? Where are its people now?
In Gaza, Eman pays a visit to her friend Umm Walid who lives in Beit Lahia. Meet the Palestinian farmers women who harvest the land along with their husbands. The farms cant afford to hire workers so man and woman put hand in hand to make ends meet. Join Eman to help Hend pick her Zucchinis and listen to the farmers tell you about their experience being so close to the borders with Israel.
50 Sleepless Gaza Jerusalem.divx
April 19, 2010 — Day 50: Join Yara in Aroura as she reports for Ajyal Radio station on the largest Musakhan dish (Palestine’s National Dish) trying to break the Guinness Book of World Records! Watch the peasants making the bread and cooking the chicken! Check out PM Salam Fayad dressed like a Chef! While talking to Ribhi on how Israel claims Palestinian dishes as their own, Yara discovers that he is the brother of Mashour Arouri who was killed 34 years ago and his body is still not delivered to his parents! At her request, he takes her to his parent’s home to meet them. Mashours parents only wish to bury their son in his village. Who is Mashour Arouri? Mashours mom shows us her sons clothes that she has kept in place since his death.
In Gaza, Eman goes to the Corner Market (Souk Al Zawiya); a historical landmark, to buy groceries. People from all around the Gaza strip come to the Phoenix square. What does it symbolize? Check out the rich souk! Listen to Abu Ahmad, a cart merchant, singing about his goods and customers! Is he angry with them?!! Take a look at one of the oldest mosques in Gaza boasting several domes: Al Omari Mosque. This mosque is located between the corner market and the Gold market. Do you need some jewelry?
49 a Sleepless Gaza Jerusalem Correct Version
April 19, 2010 — April 18, 2010: Day 49 a – Special Edition: Diana and Ashira are adamant to find out the truth about Raed Abu Hamad’s death while in solitary confinement at Beersheba Prison. Diana heads to Raed’s home and Ashira heads to the Israeli Forensic center where the autopsy is performed. Why did the parents and the PA’s Ministry of Prisoners send a Palestinian doctor and lawyer to monitor the autopsy? So was it a suicide like the Israeli Prison Authorities claimed? What did the lawyer have to say? The Israeli ambulance takes the body of Raed close to his hometown where he is moved to a Palestinian ambulance. Why is the forensic doctor checking Raed’s body again? After five years away, arriving in an Israeli black bag is not the way to return back home, so his brothers wrap him in a Palestinian flag. Join Ashira in the ambulance till they reach home where Diana and the family await. How is Raed received at home? The girls stay with him through the farewells at home, a procession of thousands that takes him to the cemetery, last prayers and until he is buried.
Who Rules Israel?: NY Times
By YOSSI ALPHER, Published: April 22, 2010
TEL AVIV — The Obama administration’s problems with Israel go beyond the construction of another few hundred housing units in East Jerusalem. More ominously, the ruling coalition in Israel reflects a reshaping of Israeli society that has fortified right-wing designs on the West Bank and strengthened resistance to a peace agreement.
To be sure, this is not the first time Israel is dealing with a right-religious-settler-Russian coalition pushing a reactionary agenda. The difference is that this political alignment could be dominant in Israel for some time to come.
The political left has virtually disappeared, discredited by failed peace gambits. At the same time, the conservative, ultra-orthodox sector is growing rapidly in numbers. So is the Israeli Arab population, which, in the shadow of a failed peace process, is becoming increasingly hostile to the idea of being a minority in a Jewish state — thereby stiffening the reaction of the Jewish majority.
Moreover, the stakes are higher than in the past. The Israeli right perceives an international onslaught against its bastions in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. It has resolved never to permit a repeat of the withdrawal from Gaza. Hence it is attacking its critics and beefing up its grip on the instruments of power. And this reaction further amplifies Israel’s international isolation, creating a vicious circle.
The most blatant aspect of this right-wing campaign is its focus on the Israeli civil-society groups that monitor government actions and decisions. A bill that has already passed a preliminary vote in the Parliament would require all Israeli NGOs that receive support from foreign governments to publicly declare themselves “foreign agents” if they seek to “influence public opinion or … any governmental authority regarding … domestic or foreign policy.”
That means everyone from critics of the occupation to women’s rights advocates could be deemed “foreign agents” if they accept American or European financial support. This could seriously deter domestic criticism of Israeli settlement and occupation policies.
The rightward shift of Israeli society is changing the shape of fundamental state institutions. The combat ranks of the Israel Defense Forces are now so heavily manned by religious settlers and their supporters — close to a third of infantry officers, by some reckoning — that it is possible the IDF can no longer be counted on to forcibly evict masses of settlers. The army chief of staff, Gabi Ashkenazi, has asked that the government avoid turning to the army for such tasks.
On the legal front, the government has failed to enforce High Court orders to dismantle some sections of the West Bank security fence deemed illegal or to remove unauthorized settlement outposts and structures in Arab East Jerusalem and provide equal schooling opportunities for Jerusalem Arab children. High Court Chief Justice Dorit Beinisch recently felt compelled to remind the government that court rulings are “not recommendations.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition almost seems programmed to provoke. The Internal Security and Foreign Affairs portfolios are in the hands of Yisrael Beiteinu (Israel Is Our Home), the Russian immigrant-based party whose leader, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, is known for his Arab bashing and is himself under investigation for corruption. Housing is in the hands of Shas, a party based in the low-income Sephardic Orthodox community — hence the housing construction in places like Ramat Shlomo in East Jerusalem, where land is cheap.
Of course Israel does have real enemies. Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah present growing existential threats to the Israeli public. But the right wing’s hard-line stance leads the government to ignore genuine opportunities for progress toward peace, such as the successful state-building enterprise of the Palestinian Authority’s prime minister, Salam Fayyad, in the West Bank, or Syria’s repeated offers to renew a peace process that could, if successful, strike a blow against Iran and its proxies.
In this context, Israel’s occasional security successes, as in Gaza last year, perversely strengthen the growing international campaign to delegitimize it.
The Netanyahu government complains loudly about Palestinian incitement against Jews (which is, in fact, decreasing) while its policies encourage or ignore growing anti-Arab incitement in Israel.
If 80 percent of the students in Israeli religious high schools want to disenfranchise the Arab citizens of Israel (one-fifth of the population), as a recent survey found, their schools must be teaching them something very wrong. If the spiritual head of the Shas party, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, can tell his huge flock, as he did late last year, that the Muslims’ religion “is as ugly as them,” and provoke little but embarrassed smiles, it is because Shas is a member of the governing coalition. Yet if an NGO I belong to objects to such statements, I might soon be legally labeled a foreign agent.
One redeeming truth remains: Israelis know they need not only American support for their security, but also American endorsement of the Jewish and democratic society they aspire to. A vital U.S. and international interest in regional stability is involved here.
Yossi Alpher, former director of the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University, is co-editor of bitterlemons.org.