EDITOR: The Mad Hatter’s Tea Party is now in full swing!
Now that the US elections race is on and seriously so, the normal ritual of ‘who is supporting more of Israel;s aggression?’ is now played by the main candidates. To win this game, a very difficult task indeed, one must prove that he is more supportive of Israel than the other guy. This is difficult, as the goal post is moving all the time…
The US, a country with 8.9% unemployment, is very generously supporting Israel, a country with 6.1% unemployment. It makes sense, doesn’t it. So now starts the race to give Israel more money and quicker. But this is not all; the race is also to prove who can hurt the Palestinians more – close their office in Washington, remove financial support from the PA, and the latest – removing US contributions from any UN body which supports Palestine, or passes resolutions supporting it. Neat one, Romney!
By the end of this race, the Israelis would be collecting in big way, the Palestinians will be further broken and humiliated, and all will be well. One cannot think of a better way to run the most powerful nation on earth, can one?
But, really, the most powerful nation on earth must be the one so strongly supported by the most powerful nation on earth, surely? You could get confused here, easily.
Anyway, seems that they should not worry so much, as the US and UK and other friends of Jewish Democracy for Jews Only are going to make sure there is no Security Council vote until 2020, so what is the noise about? The imperial cavalry has saved its devoted servant, yet again.
By the way, please don’t blame me for the fact none of this information can be found on the BBC. Being always objective, such items will obviously be out of place there… instead, it is leading today with: ‘Israel Offers Palestinians Talks’. Surely that is far more important, isn’t it? So you can write and complain to the BBC for being an organ of the Israeli propaganda, which while true, will not make any difference. I stopped trying.
The first real move towards freedom and democracy, must be the demand for removal of the power of veto of the four nations now holding it. Only then can issues be discussed openly and democratically at the UN! Down with the Veto Powers, Down with the past!
U.S. Republican presidential candidate Perry blasts Obama’s Mideast policy: Haaretz
Rick Perry, Republican presidential front-runner, says U.S. president’s demands ftrom Israel emboldened Palestinians to appeal for UN recognition.
Republican presidential front-runner Rick Perry waded into a tense foreign policy dispute on Tuesday by criticizing the Palestinian Authority’s effort to seek a formal recognition of statehood by the UN General Assembly and assailing the Obama administration’s broader policies in the Middle East.
In a speech in New York, Perry pledged strong support for Israel and criticized President Barack Obama for demanding concessions from the Jewish state the Texas governor says emboldened the Palestinians to appeal for UN recognition.
“We would not be here today at this very precipice of such a dangerous move if the Obama policy in the Middle East wasn’t naive and arrogant, misguided and dangerous,” Perry said in a speech in New York. “The Obama policy of moral equivalency which gives equal standing to the grievances of Israelis and Palestinians, including the orchestrators of terrorism, is a very dangerous insult.”
In a statement before Perry spoke, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney also waded into the tense foreign policy dispute over Mideast policy. He called the jockeying at the United Nations this week “an unmitigated disaster.” He accused Obama’s administration of “repeated efforts over three years to throw Israel under the bus and undermine its negotiating position.”
Perry also criticized Obama’s stated goal that any negotiations should be based on the borders Israel had before a 1967 war that expanded the Jewish state. While the 1967 borders have been the basis for diplomatic negotiations, they have never been embraced before by a U.S.¬ president. Perry called that stance “insulting and naïve.”
Perry’s remarks came as the Obama administration has redoubled its efforts to block the Palestinian bid. The U.S.¬ has promised a veto in the Security Council, but the Palestinians can press for a more limited recognition of statehood before the full … and much more supportive … General Assembly.
Perry also expressed support for allowing Jewish settlements to be constructed on the West Bank, a practice Obama has asked the Israeli government to cease. And Perry said that the entire city of Jerusalem should be part of Israel, a move that would make key religious and historical sites part of the Jewish state. Israel captured East Jerusalem from the Palestinians in 1967.
Perry even suggested he would move American diplomatic personnel out of Tel Aviv and instead recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. “As the president of the United States, if you want to work for the State Department, you will be working in Jerusalem,” he said.
Romney said the policy of limiting Israel’s negotiating flexibility “must stop now.” He called on Obama to unequivocally reaffirm the U.S.¬ commitment to Israel’s security and a promise to cut foreign assistance to the Palestinians if they succeed in getting U.N. recognition.
Both Perry and Romney said the U.S.¬ should reconsider funding for the UN itself if the global body votes to recognize the Palestinian Authority.
The Republican presidential hopefuls are intent on standing strongly behind Israel, an effort to appeal to Jewish voters and donors who play a pivotal role in presidential elections. It’s also an effort to reach evangelical Christians, who play a key role in the Republican primary process and who support Israel for theological reasons.
Perry on Tuesday said that his own Christian faith is part of his support for Israel. “I also as a Christian have a clear directive to support Israel, so from my perspective it’s pretty easy,” Perry said when a reporter asked if Perry’s faith was driving his views. “Both as an American and as a Christian, I am going to stand with Israel.”
Complaints about Obama’s Israel policy helped a Republican, Bob Turner, win a special election in a heavily Jewish and Democratic New York congressional district last week. Turner appeared with Perry at the speech.
“It’s vitally important for America to preserve alliances with leaders who seek to preserve peace and stability in the region,” Perry said. “But today, neither adversaries nor allies know where America stands. Our muddle of a foreign policy has created great uncertainty in the midst of the Arab Spring.”
The National Jewish Democratic Council CEO, David A. Harris, said in a statement that “Rick Perry’s comments today demonstrate that he clearly has little command of the U.S.-Israel relationship and even less interest in preserving the historic bipartisan support for Israel.”
According to the statement, “it is long past time for Perry and other Republicans to heed the advice of those genuinely working towards bipartisan support for Israel, and to quit playing political games with support for Israel.”
Obama is also in New York on Tuesday for meetings on the sidelines of the General Assembly. He planned to meet later in the week with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Rick Perry accuses Barack Obama of betraying Israel over Palestinian bid: Guardian
Texas governor turns Palestinian statehood bid into election issue, accusing Obama of siding with ‘orchestrators of terrorism’
Chris McGreal in New York and Harriet Sherwood in Beit El
Rick Perry accused Barack Obama of abandoning Israel in favour of the ‘Arab street’. Photograph: Don Emmert/AFP/Getty Images
The confrontation over the Palestinian bid to win recognition as a state at the United Nations shifted to the US presidential race when Rick Perry, the leading Republican contender, accused Barack Obama of appeasing terrorists and betraying Israel.
Perry, at a campaign rally in New York, launched a stinging attack on Obama’s handing of the Israel-Palestinian conflict, accusing him of abandoning America’s ally in favour of the “Arab street” in the Egyptian revolution, as diplomatic wrangling continued to try to head off a showdown in the UN security council over the Palestinian request for statehood.
The Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas, was to meet the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, and the British foreign secretary, William Hague, on Tuesday as Europe spearheaded efforts to dissuade him from pursuing the UN move with promises to revive peace negotiations.
Obama has said the US will veto the Palestinian request – expected to be made on Friday – for the security council to recognise a state based on the land occupied since the 1967 war, with East Jerusalem as its capital. The US president is also expected to speak out strongly against the move in his speech to the UN general assembly on Wednesday.
But Perry said that was not good enough, and blamed the president for bringing on the crisis by siding with the Palestinians over the expansion of Jewish settlements in the occupied territories, and by saying the US would act as a neutral broker in talks.
Perry said: “The Obama policy of moral equivalence, which gives equal standing to the grievances of Israelis and the Palestinians, including the orchestrators of terrorism, is a very dangerous insult. There is no middle ground between our allies and those who seek their destruction.
“We see the American administration having a willingness to isolate a close ally, and to do so in a manner that is both insulting and naive.”
Perry attacked Obama for his recent statement, which angered Israel, that any final peace agreement should be based on the borders that existed before the 1967 war, even though it is widely accepted that will be the basis of a deal.
“It was wrong for this administration to suggest the 1967 borders should be the starting point for Israel-Palestinian negotiations,” Perry said. “The Obama administration put Israel in a position of weakness, taking away their flexibility to offer concessions as part of the negotiations process.
“Indeed, bolstered by the Obama administration’s policies and the apologists at the UN, the Palestinians are exploiting instability in the Middle East, hoping to achieve their objective without concessions and direct negotiations with Israel.”
Perry also criticised Obama’s handling of the revolutions in the Middle East, particularly in abandoning support for the former Egyptian leader, Hosni Mubarak, who was a close ally of Israel.
The Texas governor spoke of the “risk posed by the new regime in Egypt”, which is not as sympathetic to Israel.
“The Obama administration has appeased the Arab street at the expense of our national security,” he said.
Perry’s attack is part of a growing Republican assault on Obama’s Israel policy as evidence he is weak, despite the administration’s success in finding Osama bin Laden.
Israel can be a sensitive political issue in the US, in part because of considerable support for the Jewish state among Christian evangelical voters.
Jewish voters tend to overwhelmingly support Democratic presidential candidates, but unhappiness over US policy on Israel can have an impact in swing states, most notably Florida, and on congressional elections.
Last week, Democrats suffered an upset, losing a New York congressional election to the Republicans in a heavily Jewish constituency. Although several factors were at play, particularly high unemployment and economic stagnation, polls showed that among some Jewish voters there was significant disquiet about Obama’s Israel policies.
More importantly, the issue is used by Obama’s opponents to accuse him of being soft on America’s enemies and incompetent.
Republicans in Congress are blaming the president for the Palestinian request to the security council because of a speech Obama made to the UN a year ago, in which he said he hoped to welcome a sovereign state of Palestine as a UN member by October 2010.
The Palestinians are portraying that statement as “Obama’s promise”. Republicans say it is further evidence that Obama is hostile to Israel.
Another leading presidential contender, Mitt Romney, last week said the Palestinian approach to the UN “is another testament of the president’s failure of leadership”.
Perry said that if the UN grants additional recognition to the Palestinians, the US should close the Palestinian Liberation Organisation office in Washington. Other Republicans want to go further, and cut of the more than $500m in aid the Palestinian Authority receives from the US each year.
The House of Representatives foreign affairs committee last week held a hearing on the issue in which the chairperson, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, called for aid to be cut.
Israel’s deputy foreign minister, Danny Ayalon, said at the UN on Tuesday that the Palestinians should be punished for taking the statehood bid to the security council.
“There should be consequences for irresponsible behaviour. There should be consequences for the Palestinians shutting the door on negotiations,” he said.
In the West Bank, which the Palestinians want the UN to declare part of their state, a call to Jewish settlers to rally against the move flopped when only a few dozen attended a series of marches against the Palestinians’ bid for statehood. Soldiers in riot gear watched as the protesters burned the Palestinian flag near Beit El, a settlement close to the Palestinian city of Ramallah.
“If the Palestinians want a state, they can go to Europe or the US – it’s very nice there,” said Michael Ben Ari, a member of the Israeli parliament. “This is the land of Israel and we are here forever.”
Hardline settlers have stepped up attacks on Palestinians and their property in the runup to the UN meeting, according to the Palestinian media, amid fears on both sides that they are trying to provoke confrontations. The Israeli security forces have stockpiled tear gas, rubber bullets and foul-smelling water cannon in preparation for possible violent demonstrations.
Report: UN vote on Palestinian statehood might be delayed for weeks: Haaretz
Sources say a ‘silent agreement’ exists among Western powers to act to postpone the Security Council vote.
The upcoming United Nations votes on a Palestinian state are expected to be postponed to an unspecified date, sources in New York said Tuesday.
Postponements are expected for both the UN General Assembly vote on the declaration of an independent Palestinian state, as well as the UN Security Council vote on full Palestinian membership, the sources said.
While media sources are preoccupied with whether the United States will succeed in its attempts to secure a majority of opposing votes to decline the Palestinians’ bid for statehood, sources say a “silent agreement” exists between Western powers to act to postpone the vote at the Security Council.
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe hinted at the apparent vote postponement. In an interview with ‘Europe 1′ radio on Tuesday, Juppe said that “diplomats are still hoping to prevent a crisis. It doesn’t appear that a vote (on a declaration of Palestinian independence) will happen this Friday and that is in order to allow time for diplomacy to renew peace talks.”
Juppe added that “there’s a procedure for dealing with such requests and it can take a few days or weeks more.”
Juppe’s comments are in accordance with estimates among sources involved with the U.S.-led and western-supported attempts over the past few days to delay the Security Council vote.
If the Palestinian request does go ahead on Friday, the United States can refer the request to a debate inside the framework of informal consultations that Security Council members hold behind closed doors – a procedure that could last weeks or months. The sources reminded that more than a month ago, France distributed a draft resolution that included sanctions against Syria. The draft has not yet reached a discussion because Russia, with the support of China, has been delaying discussions of the draft at the Security Council.
Lebanon holds a senior position as rotating president of the Security Council and the Lebanese ambassador can try to speed up the process of debating the Palestinians’ request, but a rotating president cannot decide on the priorities of Security Council discussions.
Sources in New York claim that Abbas is interested in postponing the Security Council vote, for this would give him time for diplomatic bargaining with the United States.
Palestine Q&A: towards an independent state: Guardian
Palestine will become the 194th member of the UN if its application for statehood goes ahead and succeeds. But what will this mean?
Harriet Sherwood in Jerusalem
Palestinian football fans cheer their national men’s team at half-time during an Olympic games qualifying match with Thailand. Photograph: Ammar Awad/Reuters
What will be the territory of Palestine?
Palestine is likely to consist of territory in the West Bank and Gaza, totalling around 6,200 sq km (2,393 sq miles). At the moment the two areas are physically separate, although they could be linked by a sealed road in future.
The Palestinians claim East Jerusalem as the capital of their new state. Israel, which annexed the east of the city after the 1967 war, rejects any division.
The borders have not been decided and will be a matter for negotiation with Israel, which wants to retain its big settlement blocs in the West Bank. Land swaps in compensation are expected to be agreed.
The Palestinian population is around 2.6 million in the West Bank, 1.6 million in Gaza and 270,000 in East Jerusalem. Palestinians are overwhelmingly Muslim although there is a small Christian population.
There are also around 300,000 Jewish settlers in the West Bank and a further 200,000 in East Jerusalem. Israel evacuated settlers from Gaza in 2005.
Arabic is the language of Palestine.
What are the symbols of the new state?
Flag: black, white and green stripes overlaid with a red triangle, adopted as the flag of the Palestinian people in 1964. It was banned by the Israeli government until 1993.
Passport: Palestinian Authority passports have been available to people born within its jurisdiction since 1995. However, many Palestinians hold Jordanian passports.
Currency: the Israeli shekel, but there is talk of reviving the Palestinian pound.
Sport: Palestine has both a men’s and a women’s national football team.
Military: Palestine has no army, airforce or navy.
How is Palestine governed?
There are two separate de facto governments in the West Bank and Gaza, under a president elected by all the Palestinian people. There is also an elected legislative council.
In the West Bank, the authority, dominated by the Fatah political faction, is the official administrative body. Established in 1994 under the Oslo accords, its jurisdiction runs only in the main cities of the West Bank.
Hamas is in charge of the Gaza Strip after fighting a bloody battle for control against Fatah in 2007, after winning elections 18 months before.
The Palestinian president is Mahmoud Abbas, and the prime minister in the West Bank is Salam Fayyad. In Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh is the de facto prime minister.
Earlier this year, following a reconciliation agreement with Hamas, which has since faltered, Abbas promised elections next year.
Does Palestine already have most of the institutions of state?
There is a legislative council and local authorities, and ministries of finance, health, education, transport, agriculture, interior, justice, labour, culture, social affairs etc.
The West Bank and Gaza have separate security forces and judicial systems.
There is a Palestinian stock exchange in Nablus.
Where does its money come from?
Most of the authority’s income comes from international donors, although it also raises money from taxes and customs. Under the Oslo accords, Israel collects around £69m each month in customs duties which it then forwards to the authority.
Employees pay taxes, although much employment is on a cash basis.
Most of the West Bank’s trade is with Israel, although some goods are exported to Europe. Exports from the West Bank were estimated to be worth around $850m (£541m) last year. Exports from Gaza have ceased, with rare exceptions, since Israel imposed a blockade more than four years ago.
The EU contributes around $700m a year, and the US $600m.
In April, the International Monetary Fund said the authority was “now able to conduct the sound economic policies expected of a future well-functioning Palestinian state, given its solid track record in reforms and institution-building in the public finance and financial areas.”
Gaza’s funding is opaque. According to Israeli and western intelligence, money is channelled from Iran and Islamist supporters in the Arab world.
Will state recognition change the situation on the ground?
No, is the short answer. Almost everything will be the same. The lives of Palestinians will continue to be dominated by the Israeli occupation and control over their territory. But it may strengthen their position in future talks.
What about Gaza?
Gaza is hardly mentioned in all the current debate about a Palestinian state. Mahmoud Abbas is the elected president of all Palestinians in both the West Bank and Gaza, but the current geographic and political separation make a unified state difficult. Hamas disapproves of the authority’s approach to the UN, saying it reflects a “path of compromise” instead of resistance. Haniyeh has said: “We support establishing a Palestinian state on any part of Palestinian land without giving up an inch of Palestine or recognising Israel.”
I want to visit the new state of Palestine. How do I get there?
The West Bank’s only entry and exit points are overland via Israel and Jordan. It has no airport and is landlocked. It is practically impossible for ordinary visitors to get into Gaza. It has two strictly-controlled exit and entry points by land to Israel and Egypt. Israel maintains a naval blockade off Gaza’s coast preventing the movement of sea traffic. The runway of Gaza’s airport was bombed by the Israelis in 2002.