EDITOR: The fateful day at the UN is here at last!
A letter asking the UN to recognise Palestine as a state will be handed in today, Friday September the 23rd, 2011, by Mahmud Abbas to the Secretary General of the UN, Ban Ki Moon. This letter will not bring about the recognition of a Palestinian state, as we all know, because the US, with its first “Jewish President”, Barack Hussein Obama, will stop this in its tracks.
But, as we were told by Lacan, ‘the letter always finds its address’. This letter has found its address in millions of people around the globe, all supporting the Palestinians in their struggle, like they have supported South African blacks some decades ago, in their struggle to end apartheid. The letter shall be delivered, and the message shall be heard, and understood.
Even for people like myself, who support a more egalitarian solution in Palestine – that of the single, secular democratic state for all Jews and Arabs living there, as well as the refugees of the many wars and expulsions since 1948 – this day is symbolically unique; here starts the slide-down of the racist state of Israel, with its tanks, jet fighters, walls, and even its nuclear weapons – nothing will protect it from the wave of history, the tsunami of political change.
It may yet take a long time, indeed, but the countdown has now started on the Zionist project, and nothing will stop it. Let them turn and twist, it will come to haunt them. They may well kill many more Palestinians and other Arabs before it is all done and dusted – I wish we could somehow stop them from doing that, but the US and the west will allow them to continue with their brutalities. But even the US cannot save Israel from history.
In one of her poems, the American Palestinian poet and activist Suheir Hammad says: “Do not fear what has blown up…. if you must, fear the unexploded”. Israel and the west should heed these words.
BREAKING NEWS! BREAKING NEWS! BREAKING NEWS!
Clashes break out between Palestinians and Israel security forces in East Jerusalem: Haaretz
Masked youths throw rocks at Israeli police and border guards, but massive protests have still not materialized ahead of Palestinian statehood bid at United Nations.
Violence broke out in and around the East Jerusalem area on Friday when Palestinian youths hurled rocks at security forces in the neighborhood of Ras Al-Amud.
Although the IDF has no indication that massive violence will erupt, it worries that events in New York – where PA President Mahmoud Abbas will address the UN General Assembly today and formally apply for UN recognition as a state – could inflame tempers. So far, fears that massive violence would break out in the lead-up to the Palestinian bid for statehood at the United Nations have not materialized.
A group of Palestinians wearing masks threw rocks at Israeli police officers and border guards Friday in East Jerusalem. Police officers gave chase as the rock-throwers fled the scene, apprehending one of them and taking him in for questioning.
Residents of the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Ras Al-Amud reported that two people were wounded in the leg, but police reported that those wounds were caused when at least one of the wounded jumped over a fence and apparently broke his leg from the fall. He was taken away for medical treatment.
Residents of Beit Hanina scuffled with border guards on the scene. Three Arab youths were arrested on suspicion of burning tires and throwing rocks at the security forces. No wounded were reported. Two young Palestinians were arrested soon after on suspicion of forcefully trying to enter the Temple Mount.
Conflict broke out as early as Thursday night in East Jerusalem, when a Molotov cocktail was thrown at Beit Yehonatan in Silwan and rioting broke out in another of locations in the area. IDF soldiers held a 15-year-old resident of the area for questioning over the incidents.
Thousands of Muslims arrived for Friday prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, though the police limited their participation in order to prevent public disturbances. The prayers ended and participants dispersed peacefully.
Police Chief Yohanan Danino and Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch visited the Western Wall police station, in light of the heightened state of security. “The coming hours are the most tense and the police officers are ready for every possible scenario,” Aharonovitch.
“The police has not received any special warnings of plans to disturb the peace,” added Aharonovitch. Danino and Aharonovitch then surveyed the Jerusalem area in order to evaluate the readiness of the forces stationed there and to meet officers in the field.
An attack by settlers on Palestinians could also spark wider disturbances, and this possibility is currently one of the IDF’s chief concerns.
The Islamist Hamas organization has declared today a “day of rage,” but the IDF believes Hamas lacks the infrastructure to foment widespread disturbances in the West Bank.
Palestinian statehood goes to UN in key moment for peace process: Guardian
Mahmoud Abbas will postpone security council vote but has broken US hegemony over peace talks, diplomats say
Chris McGreal in New York and Harriet Sherwood in Jerusalem
Palestinians fly a kite of their flag in Gaza to celebrate Mahmoud Abbas taking Palestinian statehood to the UN security council. Photograph: Majdi Fathi/Corbis
Mahmoud Abbas submits his bid for recognition of Palestine as a state to the UN on Friday. The submission comes at the end of a week that has seen a dramatic diplomatic shift in the Palestinians’ favour, even though the request, to the security council, is likely to fail.
The Palestinian leader is expected to hand over a letter asking for Palestine to join the UN as a state shortly before he addresses the general assembly to plead the case for admission.
The Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, is scheduled to speak shortly afterwards. He is likely to denounce the Palestinian move as destabilising and a threat to the peace process – even though that is largely dormant.
A heavier than usual Israeli security presence will be deployed in the West Bank and East Jerusalem at the end of Friday prayers and around the time of Abbas’s speech.
Thousands of Palestinians are expected to gather before open-air screens in West Bank cities to watch their president’s address, and the Israeli military is concerned that hardline settlers may try to provoke confrontations.
“We have heightened the security alert to one level below the highest,” Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.
“Twenty-two thousand police officers have been mobilised, with emphasis on Judaea and Samaria [the West Bank] and East Jerusalem. We hope that any demonstrations will be peaceful.”
Expectation among Palestinians has risen over the past week as Abbas has stood firm in the face of strong US opposition to his bid for statehood. It is matched by fury in the West Bank at a speech by Barack Obama to the UN on Wednesday, which was seen by both Palestinians and Israelis as overtly sympathetic to the Jewish state.
Abbas’s determination to press ahead has prompted the most serious attempt to revive the peace process in years as Washington, London and Paris seek to avoid a showdown in the security council that could severely damage their standing in a rapidly changing Middle East.
The US said it would veto statehood, while Britain and France were likely to abstain.
The days of diplomatic wrangling – much behind the scenes but some on the open stage of the UN general assembly – have resulted in a compromise. Abbas will submit his application, but any vote will be put on hold to allow for fresh attempts to revive peace talks.
While Abbas has climbed down from an immediate confrontation, some senior Palestinian officials and European diplomats believe he may have won a significant victory because the US grip on the oversight of the peace process – which has been decidedly in Israel’s favour – has been weakened, and other countries now want to force the pace of peace negotiations.
Washington’s claim to dominate mediation has not only been damaged by its unwavering threat to veto a Palestinian state in the security council, setting up a confrontation that alarmed Britain and France, but also by Obama’s speech, which offered no new initiatives.
That has opened the way for Europe to press for a greater role. In a speech to the UN, the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, questioned the US leadership, describing it as “years of failure”.
Diana Buttu, a former Palestinian negotiator who has since been critical of Abbas’s leadership, said his insistence on going to the security council had delivered a diplomatic victory of sorts. “Is this a coup for Abbas? Yes, absolutely,” she said. “This is the first time since 1974 that Palestine has been able to capture international attention at the United Nations in this way.
“He’s managed to get people discussing whether Palestine should be recognised as a state, whether it should get its independence immediately, how we get there. It’s been a brilliant move.”
A European diplomat said Abbas had changed the diplomatic equation, adding: “The ground has shifted. There’s been no peace process to speak of for years. Obama has tried and failed to push Netanyahu in to taking negotiations seriously. There’s a feeling that this crisis has created a moment to try a different way.
“It’s still negotiations. It’s still up to the Israelis and Palestinians, who have to do the deal. But we are all aware that the Arab Spring is changing everything and, while the Americans are always going to play a major role, we may be moving towards a place where they are not the only ones in the game.”
Nevertheless, Abbas has been reminded of the blunt force of US power – power no other country is likely to be able to wield.
The Palestinian leader privately retreated from his pledge to seek an immediate security council vote in part because he is no longer sure of winning the necessary majority, which would have given the Palestinians a moral victory even if, as threatened, the US used its veto.
Palestinian sources say they believe Washington has bullied several security council members, including Portugal, into withdrawing their support for the Palestinian move by threatening to withhold support in financial institutions for its stricken economy, and Bosnia, over its opposition to Kosovo being admitted to the UN.
Palestinian officials believe Nigeria is no longer certain to vote in their favour, while there are also questions about the position of Gabon and Colombia.
One senior Palestinian official said the US was “playing a really nasty game”.
Abbas was also under pressure from European leaders keen to avoid abstaining in a security council vote on the issue. Abstention would be widely interpreted in the Arab world as implicit support for Israel, although the leaders recognise the need for Abbas to submit the statehood request in order to retain his political credibility at home.
Britain urged the Palestinian leader to back away from a showdown, while Sarkozy met Abbas and pleaded with him to accept a delay in the vote in return for a promise that the French would work to revive peace talks.
Sarkozy, in his UN speech, said the US leadership on the peace process had failed and pressed for greater involvement of European and Arab states in negotiations. “Let us stop believing that a single country or small group of countries can resolve so complex a problem,” he said.
“Too many crucial players have been sidelined. After so many failures, who still believes that the peace process can succeed without Europe? Who still believes that it can succeed without the involvement of the Arab states that have already chosen peace?”
Sarkozy proposed negotiations that would adhere to a strict timetable intended to strike an agreement ending occupation and creating an independent Palestine within a year.
The French president’s position is in line with proposals put forward by Tony Blair as envoy of the Middle East quartet of the UN, EU, US and Russia to allow Abbas to fulfil his pledge to go to the security council but defer a vote.
Abbas could then claim a victory for the Palestinians by saying he has achieved his principal goal at the UN of breaking the stalemate around the peace process.
Buttu said the challenge for Abbas now was to ensure that the momentum created this week continued in the Palestinians’ favour.
“I think the old negotiations process has completely run its tired course. You’ve got countries around the world recognising that you can’t just have this process of endless negotiations with the so-called honest broker who’s not so honest at all. This has put the final nail in the coffin of the United States being the honest broker,” she said.
“Now it’s being seen for what it actually is, which is Israel’s lawyer. The next step depends on what Abbas does.
“Is he going to continue to pander to the Americans? Or is he really going to try to build up an international coalition that will deal with this in a very different way to how it’s been dealt with in the past?”
Bill Clinton: Netanyahu isn’t interested in Mideast peace deal: Haaretz
Former U.S. President says a cynical perspective of Prime Minister’s calls for negotiations ‘means that he’s just not going to give up the West Bank’.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is responsible for the inability to reach a peace deal that would end the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, former U.S. President Bill Clinton said on Thursday.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Clinton Global Initiative conference in New York, the former U.S. president was quoted by Foreign Policy magazine as claiming that Netanyahu lost interest in the peace process as soon as two basic Israelis demands seemed to come into reach: a viable Palestinian leadership and the possibility of normalizing ties with the Arab world.
“The Israelis always wanted two things that once it turned out they had, it didn’t seem so appealing to Mr. Netanyahu,” Clinton said, adding that Israel wanted “to believe they had a partner for peace in a Palestinian government, and there’s no question — and the Netanyahu government has said — that this is the finest Palestinian government they’ve ever had in the West Bank.”
Furthermore, the former U.S. president is quoted by Foreign Policy as saying that Israel was also on the verge of being recognized by Arab nations adding that the “king of Saudi Arabia started lining up all the Arab countries to say to the Israelis, ‘if you work it out with the Palestinians … we will give you immediately not only recognition but a political, economic, and security partnership.”
“This is huge…. It’s a heck of a deal,” Clinton said, adding: “That’s what happened. Every American needs to know this. That’s how we got to where we are.”
“The real cynics believe that the Netanyahu’s government’s continued call for negotiations over borders and such means that he’s just not going to give up the West Bank,” he added.
Clinton also said he felt the Palestinians would accept the deal rejected by former PA President Yasser Arafat in 2000 negotiations with then Prime Minister Ehud Barak, saying that Palestinian leaders “have explicitly said on more than one occasion that if [Netanyahu] put up the deal that was offered to them before — my deal — that they would take it.”
“For reasons that even after all these years I still don’t know for sure, Arafat turned down the deal I put together that Barak accepted,” he was quoted by Foreign Policy as saying. “But they also had an Israeli government that was willing to give them East Jerusalem as the capital of the new state of Palestine.”
Clinton also added, as to the chances of Mideast peace being achievable in the foreseeable future, in light of past failures, saying that the “two great tragedies in modern Middle Eastern politics, which make you wonder if God wants Middle East peace or not, were [Yitzhak] Rabin’s assassination and [Ariel] Sharon’s stroke.”
Clinton’s comments come as a Palestinian delegation headed by Abbas is planned to officially submit its statehood bid to the United Nations later Friday, with both Palestinian President Abbas and Prime Minister Netanyahu scheduled to address the General Assembly.
Despite heavy pressure from the West, Abbas remained determined to formally apply for UN recognition of a Palestinian state Friday.
U.S. President Barack Obama met with Abbas Thursday night in an effort to convince him not to seek Security Council recognition, warning that the U.S. would use its veto power to block it. Lower-level American officials also met with Abbas several times, but to no avail.
Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, reiterated on Thursdays that Abbas’ statehood bid will not contribute to the peace process and will merely delay the start of negotiations – which, she added, are the only way the Palestinians can actually achieve independence.
American officials also continued their effort to mobilize enough Security Council votes to defeat the statehood bid without a U.S. veto. Germany has already announced it won’t vote yes, and Rice said she is convinced other countries will do the same. America, she said, is not the only country to realize that the UN gambit is unproductive.