Agha and Malley: Palestinian leader hardpressed to implement a peace agreement

Authors argue that because Palestinians lack a strong, legitimate central authority, " Palestinians would find it difficult to implement an agreement," argues Agha and Malley

At Mideast Peace Talks, a Lopsided Table - Hussein Agha and Robert Malley (Washington Post)

• Staggering asymmetries between the Israelis and Palestinians could seriously imperil the talks. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is the head of a stable state with the ability to deliver on his commitments. Celebrations of supposed institution-building notwithstanding, Palestinians have no robust central authority. Their territory is divided between the West Bank and Gaza. On their own, Palestinians would find it difficult to implement an agreement.
• Participation in direct talks was opposed by virtually every Palestinian political organization aside from Fatah, whose support was lethargic. Abbas' decision to come to Washington is viewed skeptically even by those who back him. If Abbas reaches a deal, many will ask in whose name he was bartering away Palestinian rights. If negotiations fail, most will accuse him of once more having been duped. Abbas will be damned if he does and damned if he doesn't.
• The demographic threat - the possibility that Arabs soon might outnumber Jews, forcing Israel to choose between remaining Jewish or democratic - is exaggerated. Israel already has separated itself from Gaza. In the future, it could unilaterally relinquish areas of the West Bank, further diminishing prospects of an eventual Arab majority.

  Hussein Agha is a senior associate member of St. Antony's College at Oxford University. Robert Malley is Middle East program director at the International Crisis Group and was special assistant to the president for Arab-Israeli affairs from 1998 to 2001. 

• Source:  summary by dailyalert.org on Sept. 2, 2010 .  Article from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/01/AR2010090105656.html

Celebrations in Gaza after shooting attack

Celebrations in Gaza after shooting attack



Processions of joy took place at a number of locations in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, after the shooting attack near Hebron, which left four Israelis dead.


Nevertheless, residents expressed concern of an Israeli military response. Palestinians reported that UAVs and fighter jets were seen circling the Strip's skies. (Ali Waked)

Source: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3947257,00.html

Reform movement to DOJ: Protect Muslims

Reform movement to Justice Department: protect Muslims

By James Besser  08/31/2010  from the New York Jewish Week     excerpt

As invective about the proposed Islamic center in Manhattan gets uglier, the Reform movement has joined with several other faith and advocacy groups in calling on the Obama administration to take stronger measures to “protect millions of American Muslims” and to take stronger steps to protect religious freedom in today's overheated political climate.

The coalition, representing the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, the Interfaith Alliance, the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty and Muslim Advocates met with Justice Department officials yesterday and urged the administration to make a strong statement “underscoring the federal government's commitment to religious freedom, condemning hate crimes and other forms of harassment and discrimination targeting the Muslim and other faith communities, and stating that the Department of Justice will hold perpetrators accountable.”

The group also wants the DOJ Civil Rights division to lead a “coordinated federal response to the backlash” against Muslim-Americans, and to “direct its Community Relations Service (CRS) offices to to act to defuse tensions where incidents have already occurred and in areas where incitement activities are expected to take place, such as Gainesville, FL where a church is planning to burn copies of the Quran on the anniversary of September 11.”

Also on their list of suggestions: making better use of the recently passed federal hate crimes law and creating a Civil Rights Division hotline for reporting hate crimes.

Blair: Combat de-legitimization of Israel

Tony Blair’s Five Steps Towards Fighting Israel Deniers

By Orit Arfa  August 24, 2010

http://www.jewishjournal.com/bloggish/item/tony_blairs_five_steps_towards_fighting_israel_deniers_20100824/

Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, now Envoy of the Quartet on the Middle East, was the keynote speaker of the August 24 symposium entitled “The De-legitimization of Israel: Threats, Challenges and Responses” organized by The Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy and Strategy at IDC Herziliya in cooperation with the Office of the Leader of the Opposition.

Speaking to an auditorium packed with press, students, and security, Blair, calling himself a proud friend of Israel, distinguished between the obvious Israel deniers (Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah) and the more “insidious” critics who say they accept a two-state solution but don’t sincerely try to understand Israel’s position.

“It’s not about an overt denial of Israel’s right to exist,“ Blair said. “It’s an application of prejudice in not acknowledging that Israel has a legitimate point of view.”

For example, those who de-legitimize Israel would take issue with Israel’s desire to inspect incoming vessels into Gaza but wouldn’t acknowledge Israel’s legitimate concern over the transport of weapons in the Gaza.

He sympathizes with critics of the Occupation, “but there has to be security once they lift the Occupation….Hamas, with an unchanged position on Israel running the West Bank, Israel would have a legitimate right to be concerned about its security.”

He tells those who condemn Israel defensive actions: “Don’t apply rules to the government of Israel that you would never dream of applying to your own government or country,” a statement which elicited fierce applause form the audience.

He proposed five steps to combating the de-legitimization Israel.

First: “The aim is not to make people agree with Israel’s point of view but to insist that they listen to it and persuade them at least to a point of understanding.”

Second:  “Israel has to be staunch and unremitting actor for peace.“ The restart of negotiations next month is a positive step and “shows there is a simple and sincere yearning on part of people of Israel to live an enduring and honorable peace with their neighbors.”

He acknowledged cynicism about the peace process, but believes “if Israel can receive real and effective guarantees about its security, it’s willing and ready to conclude negotiations for a Palestinian state.”

Third: Negotiations must include discussions of final stages. “Proposals on this issue will be a litmus test to seriousness.”

Fourth: While taking into account legitimate security concerns, Israel must do what it can to improve quickly the daily life of the Palestinians.

“No top down negotiations will work without it.”

Fifth: “It is our collective duty, yours and mine to argue vigorously against the de-legitimization of Israel. It is also our collective duty to arm ourselves with an argument and narrative we can defend and with which we can answer the case made against Israel with pride and confidence.”

Having spent more time in Israel since his premiership, he has come to admire the democratic nature of Israel: its vibrant parliament, freedom of the press, and enforcement of individual rights. The creativity of the Jewish state, he said, stems from the Jewish spirit of achievement in the arts and sciences.

“The best answer to the de-legitimization of Israel lies in the character of Israel itself and the openness, fair-mindedness and creativity of all Israelis. That character is what built the state of Israel.”

He received a standing ovation when he concluded with: “What you’ve created is remarkable for you, but what you’ve created is remarkable for the rest of us.”

Cordoba Project Imam on Israel: Favors one-state solution in comments made in 2005

Again, whether you support or oppose placement of an Islamic Center near Ground Zero, 

you should know that  Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, the leader of the project ( The Cordoba Initiative,)

 appears to favor positions that can be characterized as anti-Israel. 

 

A win-win solution to the Palestinian/Israel conflict requires a two-state solution:  A safe and secure Jewish state and a safe and secure Palestinian Arab state.

 

 In 2005,  Imam Rauf  publicly advocated for a one-state solution, in which no separate State of Israel will exist.   

 

 Rauf said he does not favor the plan to establish a Palestinian state along with Israel.

 

 "The differences, perhaps, may lie on whether the solution lies in the two-state solution or in a one-state solution. I believe that you had someone here recently who spoke about having a one land and two people's solution to Israel. And I personally - my own personal analysis tells me that a one-state solution is a more coherent one than a two-state solution. So if we address the underlying issue, if we figure out a way to create condominiums, to condominiamise Israel and Palestine so you have two peoples co-existing on one state, then we have a different paradigm which will allow us to move forward."

 

Source:  http://www.investigativeproject.org/2121/rauf-lecture-reveals-radicalism  ( Steve Emerson)   Audio documentation  

 

 

 As you may already know, Imam Rauf declines to repudiate the terrorist organization Hamas.

 

 When asked to acknowledge Hamas as a terrorist organization, Imam Rauf refused, saying, in part:

"I am a peace builder. I will not allow anybody to put me in a position where I am seen by any party in the world as an adversary or as an enemy." 

Souce : http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/imam_terror_error_efmizkHuBUaVnfuQcrcabL 

In writings translated from Arabic, Imam Rauf states that he sees Hamas, Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad -- organizations identifed by the U.S. State Department as terrorist organizations -- as organizations seeking 'justice."  

Source: http://redcounty.com/content/walid-shoebat-translation-ground-zero-mosque-imam-faisal-abdel-rauf-%E2%80%9Cafter-911-%E2%80%9Chamas-hezbol

 

//Mark Finkelstein    jcrc@dmjfed.org

 

Imam should have no role in Cordoba Project because of his support for Hamas

 

Whatever your opinion about the Islamic Center proposed for construction near Ground Zero in Manhattan, you should be aware that the imam of the Cordoba Project, Imam Faisal Abdul Rauf has refused to acknowledge Hamas as a terrorist organization.  

 

 In my opinion, this is unacceptable, no matter the rationalization.   If the imam cannot clearly repudiate Hamas, the imam should have no role in the project.

 

 Hamas is listed by the U.S. State Department as a terrorist organization.  Hamas regularly and intentionally targets Israeli civilians.  Hamas both conducts and plans military attacks while embedded among Palestinian civilians, and its Charter embraces the hope that Jews will be subjected to genocide.

 

When asked to acknowledge Hamas as a terrorist organization, Imam Rauf refused, saying, in part:

"I am a peace builder. I will not allow anybody to put me in a position where I am seen by any party in the world as an adversary or as an enemy." 

Souce : http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/imam_terror_error_efmizkHuBUaVnfuQcrcabL

Given the deeds and intentions of Hamas it is surely in American interests, in Israel's interests, and in Jewish interests to stand against Hamas as an adversary. 

 

To go further into the matter,  go beyond what individuals, such as Imam Rauf, say in English and attend to what they say in Arabic.

 

The following is from Walid Shoebat, an anti-Islamist [ not anti-Muslim, but anti-Islamist] activist.  The text suggests that Imam Rauf is not 'neutral' towards Hamas ( as he would claim) but indeed embraces Hamas.

 

//Mark Finkelstein    jcrc@dmjfed.org

 

 

Imam Faisal Abdul Rauf. In his translation  from the Arabic in an article “Sharing The Essence Of Our Beliefs” by Feisal Abdul Rauf, published in the  Al-Ghad Newspaper in Jordan, 5/9/2009, Shoebat noted:

In it, Imam Rauf reveals his views to Muslims right after the 9/11 attacks that Hamas, Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad were born as a result of the Muslim hunger for Islamic law and justice. 

The words of Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf:

(Translated from the Arabic by Walid Shoebat)

If someone in the Middle East cries out, “where is the law”, he knows that the law exists. The only law that the Muslim needs exists already in the Koran and the Hadith. People asked me right after the 9/11 attack as to why do movements with political agendas carry [Islamic] religious names? Why call it ‘Muslim Brotherhood’ or ‘Hezbollah (Party of Allah)’ or ‘Hamas’ or ‘Islamic Resistance Movement’? I answer them this—that the trend towards Islamic law and justice begins in religious movements, because secularism had failed to deliver what the Muslim wants, which is life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. 

Source: http://redcounty.com/content/walid-shoebat-translation-ground-zero-mosque-imam-faisal-abdel-rauf-%E2%80%9Cafter-911-%E2%80%9Chamas-hezbol

Peace Cannot Be a One-Way Street - Micky Boyden

Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

---

From: DKaufman@aol.com

Date: Sat, 21 Aug 2010 09:09:04 EDT

To: <DKaufman@aol.com>

Subject: Peace Cannot Be a One-Way Street - Micky Boyden

Peace Cannot Be a One-Way Street

I have friends, who today are supporters of J-Street, and were involved in Peace Now back in the 1960's. I was there too, back in the old days. I voted for Yitzhak Rabin z"l and remember him saying: "We shall fight terror as though there were no peace, and make peace as though there were no terror".

I still have a bag bearing the stickers "Peace Now" and "A Whole Generation Seeks Peace". But then came the 2nd Intifada, Intifada Al- Aqsa, which claimed the lives of over 1,100 Israelis and left many thousands more wounded, some of whom still bear the physical and mental scars of their injuries to this day.

None of us will forget how the Palestinians danced on their rooftops as Scud missiles fell on Tel Aviv, and rejoiced as the Hizbollah rockets pounded our northern towns and villages.

I understand them. They are weary of an Israeli occupation, which they have had to endure for over forty years. Not that they had ever enjoyed independence. Prior to 1967, the Jordanians were their masters, while prior to 1948, the British had held the reins of power, which they in turn had wrested in 1917 from the Ottoman Empire, who had conquered Palestine four hundred years earlier..

But today the Palestinians want a state of their own, although there are few signs that they are able to work together, or that such a state will be democratic. When and if it is ever established, it will most likely join the ranks of the dictatorships and the theocracies in our region. Nevertheless, most Israelis support them in their quest for independence.

However, statehood comes at a price. The Palestinians will have to forgo their ambitions to destroy Israel. They will need to recognize that no Israeli government will allow the Jewish state to be swamped with hundreds of thousands, if not millions of the grandchildren of those who claim to have been displaced by the creation of the State of Israel in 1948.

One year earlier, in 1947, the United Nations had presented its Partition Plan for the division of the territories west of the river Jordan between a Jewish and an Arab state. We reluctantly accepted the plan in spite of all of its disadvantages and limitations. After all, half a cake is better than none. However, the Palestine Arab Higher Committee, supported by the Arab League, rejected it.

More than 60 years later, the Palestinians are faced with the same dilemma: Compromise and accept less than what you want, or remain where you are.

As the US Administration tirelessly works to cajole Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) into direct negotiations with Prime Minister Netanyahu, it is to be hoped that the President of the Palestinian National Authority will be more pragmatic than his predecessors. Were we seeing Palestinian moderates calling upon him to compromise for the sake of peace, then the chances of success would be greater. But I don't hear them.

Micky Boyden
Rabbis For Israel
WeAreForIsrael.org

 

David Jay Kaufman
Rabbi
Temple B'nai Jeshurun
Des Moines, Iowa
www.templebnaijeshurun.org
www.rabbikaufman.blogspot.com
515-274-4679
dkaufman@aol.com