Gaza and the Politics of “Greater Israel”

Global Research
Nile Bowie

“The Bible finds no worse image than this of the man from the desert. And why? Because he has no respect for any law. Because in the desert he can do as he pleases. The tendency towards conflict is in the essence of the Arab. He is an enemy by essence. His personality won’t allow him any compromise or agreement. It doesn’t matter what kind of resistance he will meet, what price he will pay. His existence is one of perpetual war. Israel’s must be the same. The two states solution doesn’t exist; there are no two people here. There is a Jewish people and an Arab population... there is no Palestinian people, so you don’t create a state for an imaginary nation... they only call themselves a people in order to fight the Jews.” [1]- Benjamin Netanyahu

The Israeli bombardment of Gaza being perpetuated under ‘Operation Pillar of Defense’ comes at an interesting time. Under the leadership of Benjamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak, the expansion of illegal Jewish settlements into Palestinian lands has increased at unprecedented rates. Netanyahu’s administration has approved the construction of 850 settler homes in the occupied West Bank in June 2012, even after the Israeli parliament rejected a bill to retroactively legalize some of the existing homes in the area. [2] The number of Jewish settlers in the West Bank has almost doubled in the past 12 years, with more than 350,000 residing illegally under international law. [3] While Israel’s Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman asserts Tel Aviv’s unwillingness to permit Palestinians any right to return to their lands, emphasizing, “not even one refugee,” apartheid enforced on ethnic and religious lines has become a ratified part of Israeli government policy. [4] Far-right political discourse that was once considered extremism is now the status quo in Israel.

While Netanyahu publically announced support for a Palestinian state on the West Bank, his government has threaten to end the Oslo Accords if the United Nations General Assembly granted Palestine with non-member observer state status. [5] A panel of Israeli jurists assembled by Netanyahu’s government to determine the legal status of the West Bank concluded that there is “no occupation” of Palestinian lands and that the continued construction of settlement outposts are entirely legal under Israeli law, despite critical international opinion. Netanyahu’s far right-conservative Likud party was established on the philosophy of Ze’ev Jabotinksy, who called for the establishment of a ‘Greater Israel,’ a concept embraced by Israeli historian Benzion Netanyahu, the father of today’s Prime Minister. Under his fathers influence, Benjamin Netanyahu was indoctrinated in the ideological foundations of Revisionist Zionism, which promote Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria (Palestine) and the full biblical land of Israel by contemporary Jews, an oil rich landmass extending from the banks of the Nile River in Egypt to the shores of the Euphrates.

As rocket fire hits Tel Aviv for the first time since the Gulf War, the ongoing siege of Gaza must be seen as what it is – a premeditated component of Israeli expansionism. Netanyahu was a zealous supporter of former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s 2008-2009 sieges on Gaza known as ‘Operation Cast Lead,’ which killed over 1,400 Palestinians, while Israel suffered only 13 causalities. [6] On November 14, 2012, Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) launched an offensive into the Hamas-controlled Gaza strip and began announcing their progress through an official Twitter account. IDF forces assassinated a prominent Hamas military commander, Ahmed Jabari, who was allegedly in possession of a draft copy of a permanent truce agreement with Israel. [7] The agreement included mechanisms for maintaining the cease-fire in the case of future military exchanges between Israel and the Hamas-led political factions of the Gaza Strip. Militants from the armed wing of Hamas in Gaza retaliated by firing rockets into Israeli territory, a large percentage of which were intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system.

Benjamin Netanyahu used this retaliation to claim the moral high ground by warning that he will take “whatever action is necessary” to stop further rocket fire from Gaza into Israel. [8] IDF officials have called on 30,000 reservists to prepare for a possible extended ground incursion into Gaza, as IDF forces indiscriminately kill civilians attempting to strike Palestinian aerial and naval targets. [9] The Obama administration has condemned Hamas for perpetuating violence, while Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood government led by Mohamed Morsi recalled Egypt’s ambassador from Tel Aviv. Egyptian Prime Minister Hesham Kandil arrived in Gaza after the second day of Israeli attacks in a show of support for Palestine. Through ‘Operation Pillar of Defense,’ Israel is targeting the military foundations of Hamas, while attempting to portray itself as a victim in the international media. IDF forces dropped thousands of Orwellian leaflets over Gaza, urging citizens to take responsibility for their own safety, due to Hamas “once again dragging the region to violence and bloodshed.” [10]

Despite Israel targeting the elected Hamas government of Gaza, an article in the Wall Street Journal titled, “How Israel Helped to Spawn Hamas,” cites a former Israeli official who claims that Israel encouraged the formation of Islamist groups to counterbalance secular nationalists affiliated with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). The Israeli government even officially recognized a precursor to Hamas called Mujama Al-Islamiya as a charity group, allowing it to build mosques and an Islamic university. [11] Israel cooperated with the influential Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, who was opposed to secular Palestinian activists, as he spearheaded the Sunni Islamist movement that became Hamas. In late October 2012, Gaza’s Hamas government received Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, the Emir of Qatar, for an official visit. As part of an aid development package, Al-Thani granted Hamas $400 million, at least $150 million of which will go towards a housing project in southern Gaza – it would be reasonable to assume that large portions of that aid would be invested in defense. [12]

The support given to Hamas by Qatar must be understood through the context of its engagement in Syria. The New York Times articled titled, “Rebel Arms Flow Is Said to Benefit Jihadists in Syria,” states that the arms being shipped to Syria by Saudi Arabia and Qatar are being used to bolster jihadists and al-Qaeda affiliated groups attempting to topple the government of Bashar al-Assad. [13] Qatar has held numerous meetings of US-backed Syrian opposition leaders and hosts a critical American military air base at Al-Udeid, west of the capital, Doha. Qatar has also allowed the establishment of a Brooking Institute center on its territory. Brookings’ Saban Center for Middle East Policy published “Saving Syria: Assessing Options for Regime Change” in March 2012, and the directives described in the report have ostensibly become the policy of allied Western and Gulf countries aiming to topple the Syrian government. The Saban Center that published the report was established in 2002 when Israeli-American mogul Haim Saban pledged nearly $13 million to the Brookings Institution in an attempt to influence pro-Israeli policy. [14]

Despite paying lip service to the Palestinian cause, Qatar is supporting policy engineered to give Israel a pretext to consolidate its power. Both Qatar and Saudi Arabia have cooperated with the United States and Israel by exporting the Salafist ideology that is so prominent among radical rebel fighters in Hamas and the Free Syrian Army, and using their enormous oil wealth to fund and arm these movements. An unapologetic Op-Ed written by Israeli columnist Guy Bechor titled, “Dangers of a Palestinian state,” bemoans the possibility of an independent Palestine, in fear of the nation becoming a hub for extremist violence:

“A sovereign Palestinian state will immediately absorb 700,000 Palestinians who are living in terrible conditions in Syria, another 750,000 Palestinians who currently live in Lebanon and hundreds of thousands of others who will flock to the new state from all over, because to them the West Bank and Israel are America – just ask the African infiltrators. Due to the ‘Arab Spring,’ Syria and Lebanon would gladly kick the Palestinians out, and the Palestinian state would welcome them with open arms in order to change the demographic reality on the ground. Qatar and Saudi Arabia would fund the entire exodus.

Turkish PM: Israeli attacks on Gaza are ‘state terror’

End the Lie

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan made some quite heated statements in condemnation of the most recent Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip in a speech Tuesday, calling the attacks a “massacre.”

A cease fire between Gaza militants and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) went into effect Tuesday but there have been reports of rocket attacks despite this agreement.
Thus far, according to Israeli news outlet Haaretz, almost 200 rockets have hit Israeli territory since the most recent outbreak of violence began on Friday.

The Israeli Air Force has conducted some 37 airstrikes on targets in the Gaza Strip, 19 of which supposedly targeted rocket launchers while 18 allegedly targeted weapons warehouses.

These attacks have resulted in 26 Palestinian deaths, 22 of which were allegedly militants while four were civilians who had no hand in the rocket fire.

In a speech to the Turkish parliament, Erdogan called on Israel to “stop the brutal attack against Palestinians and stop the massacre and bloodshed.”

He also called the Israeli airstrikes on Palestinians “state terror,” adding that the Turkish people have an obligation to “remember that Gazans are our brothers, and will always remain so.”

Erdogan has made some similarly strong comments in regards to the Israeli actions in the past, even going as far as to say that any further flotillas which intend to break through the Gaza blockade would be accompanied by Turkish vessels after the massacre on the Mavi Marmara, in addition to claims that Turkey was going to seek legal retribution for the murders.

Even considering his fiery words, Erdogan tends to fail to actually follow through, and I honestly doubt that he will take any action against the Israeli attacks.

During the speech Erdogan also took the opportunity to address Syria, saying that “the window of opportunity was closing following the massacres taking place daily in the country,” while also saying that Turkey “was making every possible effort to prevent further escalation in Syria.”

Ambassador: US, Israel have ‘total cooperation’ on Iran

The Hill
Jeremy Herb

The U.S. ambassador to Israel said Thursday there is “total cooperation” between the United States and Israel on Iran, as he sought to downplay public divisions that have emerged in recent weeks between the two countries.

Speaking to the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations in Jerusalem, Ambassador Dan Shapiro said reports of distrust between Israel and the United States are “pure speculation, and much of it is wrong,” according to JTA.

“I cannot think of any issue on which we are better coordinated than on the issue of Iran,” Shapiro said.

U.S. and Israeli officials, however, have not presented such a unified front recently, in the lead-up to a meeting next month between President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in an interview with CNN Sunday that an Israeli strike would have a “destabilizing” effect in the Middle East. 

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman then said in an Israeli television interview Wednesday that Israel’s decision to attack Iran is not the business of the United States or others.

Talk of a strike to prevent Iran’s nuclear program from developing a weapon has spiked in recent weeks, as Iran continues to show defiance in the face of sanctions. Iran said its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only, while the United States, Israel and their allies suspect Iran is trying to build a nuclear weapon.

The Washington Post reported recently that Defense Secretary Leon Panetta believes there’s a strong possibility that Israel will attack Iran in the spring, something Panetta did not deny.
Ahead of Obama and Netanyahu’s White House meeting, National Security Adviser Tom Donilon visited with Netanyahu and other top Israeli officials last week in Israel. Dempsey also made a trip to the country recently.

Both Obama and Netanyahu are scheduled to speak at the annual AIPAC conference the first weekend in March.

Get down from the roof, you crazies

Haaretz
Yoel Marcus

When Netanyahu is trying to recruit a majority in his forum of eight senior ministers for an attack on nuclear installations in Iran, this is not just a scandal but also a macabre fantasy.

Even Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman - who once proposed bombing the Aswan Dam and is now proposing going to war in the Gaza Strip to wipe out Hamas once and for all - said this week on the current events radio show "It's All Talk" that we are talking too much about the Iranian issue. He even quoted a line from a famous Western: "If you want to shoot, shoot, don't talk." Lieberman, the most extreme of the extremists, who has not revealed whether he is in favor of an attack on Iran, is aware of the madness in our threats to attack it.

It's hard to believe that not too long ago the censors prohibited any publication connected to the nuclear issue. At best, they demanded the invocation of the phrase "according to foreign sources." As though whoever is plotting something against us in this area doesn't know about himself what we know about him. When the censors permit what was prohibited until not long ago, maybe it's no coincidence: It is aimed either at preparing the public that the worst and scariest thing of all is liable to happen, or at putting pressure on the United States to act against Iran, or at finding excuses for why we are dawdling in making concessions to the Palestinian Authority. With regard to Iran, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak are adopting Machiavelli's advice: Choose yourself an enemy and nourish your loathing of him.

The difference between the situation now and the situation in the First Lebanon War, which was supposed to have taken 48 hours and lasted for 18 years, is that Prime Minister Menachem Begin (whose understanding in matters of defense boiled down to a question to soldiers at the front: "Did you have machine guns?" ) relied blindly on Defense Minister Ariel Sharon and Chief of Staff Rafael Eitan - the same two men who broke him after a long road of mental and physical suffering.

Now the Bibi and Barak duo is threatening to lead the next war if there is one, heaven forbid, contrary to the recommendations of the top military and security people. The impression is that Barak and Netanyahu are not managing to make the necessary concessions for a diplomatic agreement with the Palestinians and have decided to scare the nation and the world with the Iranian nuclear threat and the need to extirpate it.

The atomic arsenal that, according to foreign sources, Israel possesses has been called the Judgment Day weapon - that is to say it is intended for use in a situation of extreme danger to Israel's existence. The possibility of using it was once raised by Prime Minister Golda Meir at the start of the Yom Kippur War, when Defense Minister Moshe Dayan said we were on the verge of the destruction of the Third Temple. This possibility has never been put on the agenda realistically.

When Iraqi Scuds were falling here in the Gulf War and as revenge for the Israel Air Force's destruction of the Osirak nuclear reactor under Begin's orders, a panicky public was revealed, which fled daily in the tens of thousands from Tel Aviv. During the course of the war, media representatives met several times for conversations with Chief of Staff Dan Shomron. On one occasion, suddenly there was a warning siren. The chief of staff immediately went down to the security bunker and as we started to make our way out one of the commentators, who is now one of the most popular on television, whispered: "I fear that without an atom bomb this isn't going to end." It ended without an atom bomb and with one fatality in Tel Aviv. Saddam Hussein was also finished off much later by the Americans.

Obama Scrambles to Avoid Embarrassment Over UN Palestine Vote

NewsMax
Jim Meyers

The Obama administration is making a last-ditch effort to head off a major diplomatic embarrassment over the looming Palestinian request for recognition of its statehood at the United Nations.

The U.S. is applying diplomatic pressure on Israeli and Palestinian leaders to persuade them to reopen negotiations before the United Nations can take action.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has said he will take the request for full recognition as a state to the U.N. Security Council in the coming week.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has sent special envoys David Hale and Dennis Ross to the region to hold talks with Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Guardian reported.

And State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said on Tuesday that Washington would “leave no stone unturned” to avoid a U.N. vote and get the Israelis back into peace talks, according to The Telegraph.

“Washington is keen to avoid carrying out a threat to veto a Palestinian request for full membership of the U.N., a move likely to further damage America’s already battered reputation in the Middle East, particularly following its strong backing for moves toward self-determination in the region this year,” the Guardian observed.

Two of the other four Security Council members with veto power, Russia and China, back the Palestinian effort. But some European and Arab nations are urging Abbas to take his request to the U.S. General Assembly, which can offer only observer status to the Palestinians, to save the U.S. the embarrassment of having to wield its veto.

The Palestinians insist that their U.N. effort does not preclude resuming negotiations later.

The Financial Times reported on Thursday that Netanyahu plans to address the U.N. General Assembly on the same day that Abbas delivers a speech calling for Palestinian statehood.

“The General Assembly is not a place where Israel usually receives a fair hearing,” Netanyahu said. “But I still decided to tell the truth before anyone who would like to hear it.”

According to the Times, “the announcement suggests that the Israeli government now has little faith in the last-ditch effort by U.S. and European negotiators to stop the Palestinian drive for statehood at the U.N.”

But hardline Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman warned on Wednesday that there would be “harsh and grave” consequences if the Palestinians go ahead with their plan to seek statehood, although he did not specify what those consequences might be.

In the past he has called for Israel to cut off all relations with the Abbas administration if it goes forward with its U.N. bid, according to The Telegraph.

Some Israeli ministers are calling for Israel to annex parts of the West Bank if the Palestinians proceed with their statehood request. Other threats include abandoning the Oslo accords, under which the Palestinian Authority was given control of parts of the West Bank and Gaza, and withholding tax revenues that Israel collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority, the Guardian disclosed.

And the U.S. Congress has threatened to cut off financial aid to the Palestinians.

Israel looking into revoking Oslo Accords in response to Palestinian UN bid

Haaretz
Barak Ravid

Prime Minister's Bureau confirmed that the National Security Council is discussing alternatives ahead of September, and would present them to the political echelon for a decision when it is done.

Ya'akov Amidror

A team headed by National Security Adviser Ya'akov Amidror is looking into calling off the Oslo Accords in response to the Palestinian Authority's unilateral plan to gain United Nations recognition for an independent state.

The Prime Minister's Bureau confirmed yesterday only that the NSC was discussing many alternatives ahead of September, and would be presenting them to the political echelon for a decision when it was done.

Israeli officials did confirm that recent discussions held by Amidror had mentioned the option of voiding the Oslo Accords. However, this is not considered a leading alternative, they said.


"It is one of the options that will be presented to the political echelon," a source said.

Meanwhile, the PA is continuing its preparations ahead of the UN General Assembly meeting in September. Palestinian ambassadors who met in Istanbul over the past two days were informed that a meeting on the final draft of the UN resolution would be held in Doha, Qatar, with representatives of the PA, Qatar, Egypt and Saudi Arabia on August 4.

The resolution will call on the United Nations to recognize a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders as a full UN member.

The Palestinian diplomats were instructed to launch a public relations campaign among international Jewish communities, in an attempt to explain the significance of the move.

Meanwhile, Israel is working to rally support from states to oppose the UN move. It is also making preparations for the "day after."

A senior Israeli official said that three weeks ago, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Amidror to start drafting day-after plans with other government bodies. These include recommending a potential Israeli political response.


Skirting the Security Council 
 
Israeli officials believe the Palestinians will skirt the Security Council and will appeal directly to the General Assembly, in order to avoid a potential American veto. The Palestinian proposal is expected to receive the backing of more than 140 UN members.

Another senior Israel official noted that Amidror has started initial discussions at the NSC with representatives from the foreign, defense, finance, industry and trade, and justice ministries, as well as from the Israel Defense Forces Planning Bureau and the Military Advocate General's Department of International Law.

The NSC asked the various government offices to consider the implications of Israel announcing that it considers the Oslo Accords void due to the unilateral Palestinian move, should the General Assembly approve the bid.

Lieberman accuses Norway of promoting anti-Semitism

Haaretz

Amid escalating tensions between Israel and Sweden, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Sunday accused another Scandinavian country - Norway this time - of promoting anti-Semitism.

Israel and Sweden have been embroiled in diplomatic crisis this week, after a Swedish daily printed an article alleging that Israel Defense Forces soldiers harvested organs of Palestinians.

On Sunday, Lieberman moved his criticism on to Norway for marking the birthday of an early 20th century "pro-Nazi" author.

"I was amazed at the Norwegian government's decision to celebrate the 150th birthday of Knut Hamsun, who admired the Nazis," Lieberman told students at the Ariel University Center. "He gave the literary award he won in 1943 to Josef Goebbels, and praised Hitler in an obituary as a warrior for mankind."

But the foreign minister's criticism of the Scandinavian country did not end there.

"I remember that in the Durban-II conference," Lieberman said, referring to last April's UN anti-racism summit which was criticized as allegedly biased against Israel. "The Norwegian representatives were among the few who didn't walk out, and today I realize it's not a coincidence. How low can you go?"

In regard to the controversy over the Swedish article, Lieberman said that "the most annoying thing" was the fact that the Swedish embassy in Israel was reprimanded by the Stockholm government for condemning the allegations made in the article.

French Ship Carries Freedom Flotilla's "Dignity" to Gaza

Uruknet
Begoña Astigarraga

ATHENS, July 12, 2011 (IPS) - The French vessel Dignité-Al Karama is the only boat from the Freedom Flotilla II actually sailing for Gaza in an attempt to break the Israeli blockade imposed in 2006. At the same time, six Spanish members of the humanitarian aid mission went on hunger strike in the Greek capital.

The hunger strikers, who have occupied the Spanish embassy in Athens since Jul. 5, were travelling on the Spanish ship Gernika (Guernica) that was part of the flotilla carrying 500 activists from 45 different countries, and 5,000 tonnes of aid, bound for the Gaza Strip.

Nearly all the ships have been confined to port in Greece for the last 10 days, except for the Dignité-Al Karama which sailed from the French island of Corsica Jun. 25, evaded the Greek blockade on more than one occasion and remains the only vessel of the flotilla still sailing freely.

With 10 representatives of several delegations of the humanitarian coalition on board, the Dignité received permission Jul. 9 to sail for the island of Rhodes, Manolis Plionis, a member of the Greek delegation of the Freedom Flotilla II - "Stay Human", confirmed to IPS.

From on board the Dignité, French Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Nicole Kiil-Nielsen told IPS that after having been stopped last week in Ormos Kouremenos, in Crete, they were taken to Sitia by the Greek coast guard and eventually allowed to sail from there.

"We had to stop in Crete to refuel, as we did not have enough fuel to reach Gaza," Kiil-Nielsen said. "Now, the Dignité is free and we are organising another group of passengers, probably international, to go on to Gaza."

Manuel Tapial, coordinator of Rumbo a Gaza (Sailing to Gaza) Spain, told IPS that "the Dignité-Al Karama is heading for Gaza on its own, representing the dignity of the flotilla, and carrying representatives of the international coalition delegations."

In addition to the crew and MEP Kiil-Nielsen, passengers include Vangelis Pissias, the coordinator of the Greek delegation, Swedish-Israeli musician Dror Feiler and actor Guillermo "Willy" Toledo, representing the Spanish delegation.

Meanwhile, six Rumbo a Gaza activists began a hunger strike at the Spanish embassy in Greece Monday Jul. 11, after medical checks. Two other members of the group participated in the protest from Madrid.

In a communiqué released Monday, the activists said they would fast until "the Spanish government shows some sign that it will intercede (with the Greek authorities) so that the Gernika may sail freely across the Mediterranean."

The six hunger strikers are among a score of activists who occupied the Spanish embassy in Athens with the declared intent of remaining there until their country's Foreign Ministry responded to their demands, and until their ship, held by the Greek authorities in Kolymbari, Crete, was released and allowed to go to a safe port or return to Spain.

However, the activists say they have only received an official statement from the Foreign Ministry announcing its decision "not to make any public commitment to the release of the Gernika," which prompted them to take stronger measures in pursuit of their demands.

In an open letter sent Monday, Tapial upbraided the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party's (PSOE) prime ministerial candidate Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba: "The government you represent has forsaken us, and our only remaining option is protest action to rescue the Gernika, by right and with dignity.

"Mister Rubalcaba, as leader and candidate of the PSOE, speak out and call for the release of the Gernika, a ship bought with the money of thousands of people throughout Spain who believe that a project like this one is necessary to show effective support for the besieged people of Gaza.

"Listen, commit yourself and take action," the Rumbo a Gaza coordinator demanded.

Israel threatens 'arsenal of measures' in wake of Fatah Hamas pact

Mahmoud Abbas insisted that the inclusion of Hamas
made no difference to the Palestinian Authority's determination
to seek a peace deal with Israel

Telegraph
Adrian Bloomfield

Israel has threatened to use an "arsenal of measures" against the Palestinian territories, including withholding £480 million of taxes and subjecting leaders to humiliating border checks in retaliation for the Fatah Hamas pact.

Mahmoud Abbas, the pro-western president of the Palestinian Authority, was accused of siding with terrorists after his secular Fatah party agreed on Wednesday to end a long-running schism with its arch-rival Hamas, the Islamist overlords of the Gaza Strip.

Avigdor Lieberman, Israel's foreign minister, said the deal made it "inevitable" that Hamas would take over the West Bank leaving the Jewish state to confront an enemy bent on its destruction on two fronts.

Under the terms of the unexpected deal, reached after weeks of secret talks in the Egyptian capital Cairo, Hamas and Fatah, which fought a brief civil war in 2007, will form a provisional government that will oversee the preparation of presidential and parliamentary elections within a year.

While the deal has been hailed in the Arab world and among ordinary Palestinians, Israel has said it will have nothing to do with a government that comprises a significant terrorist element.

Mr Lieberman gave warning that Israel would show its displeasure by directly punishing Mr Abbas and his Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, who enjoys strong western support.

"With this accord, a red line has been crossed," Mr Lieberman said. "We have always made clear that we will not negotiate with a terror organisation. We have to make clear that our words were not empty threats.

"We have at our disposal a vast arsenal of measures including the lifting of VIP status for Abu Mazen [Mr Abbas] and Salam Fayyad, which will not allow them to move freely."

If Mr Lieberman were to make good his threat, the ability of both men to travel outside the Palestinian Territories would be heavily circumscribed and they would be subject to the frequently humiliating security checks that ordinary Palestinians face on a regular basis.

Even more damagingly, Mr Lieberman threatened to withhold Palestinian customs levies, which are collected by Israel as the occupying power, a step that could deprive the Palestinian Authority of up to a third of its revenues. Israel took the same measure after Hamas won a parliamentary majority following legislative elections in 2006.

Accusations of betrayal were also levelled against Mr Abbas by Ehud Barak, defence minister, who spoke in menacing terms of Israel's future relationship with the new Palestinian government.
Mr Abbas insisted that the inclusion of Hamas made no difference to the Palestinian Authority's determination to seek a peace deal with Israel, saying the transitional government's remit was restricted to preparations for elections and did not extend to negotiations.

He also expressed optimism that Hamas would now meet international demands by recognising Israel's right to exist and disavowing violence.

In private, some Israeli officials have been cautiously welcoming of the deal, saying it removed a major obstacle to any Arab-Israeli peace deal.

Until now, Israel has frequently argued that Mr Abbas did not have a mandate to reach a peace deal with Israel or to seek international recognition for Palestinian statehood because he did not represent the people of Gaza.

Israeli FM to suggest toppling Hamas

People's Daily Online

File photo of Israel's Foreign Minister
Avigdor Lieberman, February 23, 2011.

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who takes a hard-line stance on Hamas, is slated to demand the government topple the Islamic movement's rule in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, a foreign ministry official told Xinhua.

Lieberman is expected to present this demand in a speech Wednesday evening at his Yisrael Beiteinu Party's quadrennial convention in Jerusalem, the official confirmed earlier this week.

"Lieberman is not the only one calling for Hamas' downfall. It is also part of the road map proposed by the Quartet, which calls for the dismantlement of all terrorist organizations," the official said.

The bid comes in light of the recent escalation in violence along the Gaza border region, after Palestinian militants fired an anti-tank missile at an Israeli school bus last Thursday, critically wounding a 16-year-old. Israel retaliated with some 50 air strikes that killed at least 18 Palestinians.

An informal truce brokered Sunday by Egyptian and UN mediators was followed by a lull in hostilities.

But Lieberman persistently maintains that the solution to the periodic violence is the ouster of Hamas, which wrestled control of the coastal enclave in 2007.

Another issue expected to be voted on at Wednesday's convention concerns the Palestinian efforts to unilaterally obtain recognition of an independent state at the UN General Assembly in September.

Israeli National Infrastructure Minister Uzi Landau will propose Yisrael Beiteinu demand the government to announce that a UN vote in favor of a Palestinian state will be followed by an immediate, unilateral Israeli annexation of the Jordan Valley and West Bank settlements, a government source told Xinhua Wednesday.

Lieberman, in the meanwhile, anxiously awaits an announcement by State Attorney Yehuda Weinstein of the intention to file an indictment against him on charges of fraud, money laundering and breach of trust.

The foreign minister will be given the chance to challenge the allegations in a subsequent hearing. His failure to appear would deal a blow to his political career and rattle Netanyahu's Likud-led coalition.

Israel's Crisis of Democracy: Institutional Racism & Rights

Jerusalem Post

by Ramzy Baroud

Palestinian citizens of Israel must have been proud of the fact that their collective tenacity always proved stronger than any Israeli attempt at dislocating them from their rightful historical narrative. Now, they are being told to cease and desist from commemorating al-Nakba, the Catastrophe of 1948, which saw the brutal seizure and depopulation of most of Palestine in order to construct the Israeli ‘miracle’.

Currently estimated at a fifth of the population of today’s Israel, Palestinians with Israeli citizenship have endured appalling treatment for decades. As Muslims and Christians, they have been regarded as an anomaly in what was meant to be a perfect Jewish utopia governed by the laws of democracy.

This is the quandary that Israel has never mastered, as the non-Jewish citizens of Israel have represented a major obstacle to that vision.

The question of what to do with Palestinian citizens of Israel has long haunted Israeli politicians. Discriminatory laws, unlawful seizure of land and even violence have all failed to deter Palestinians from demanding equality and exposing the moral inconsistency of Israel’s selective democracy and dubious history. More, all attempts at fragmenting Palestinian national identity – through different sets of laws for Palestinians in Israel, East Jerusalem, the West Bank, Gaza and millions in Diaspora – were hardly enough to disfigure the innate sense of solidarity and belonging that Palestinian communities felt towards one another. When Palestinian activists gather in Jerusalem, Algiers or London, one fails to trace borderlines, the details of identity cards, or any other desperate forms of classification used by Israel. When Palestinians meet, Israel’s divisive laws prove frivolous.

Israeli politicians have “lost sight of a basic concept in democracy,” claimed the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) in a recent statement, as cited by the BBC. The statement was a response to the Israeli parliament’s approval of a bill that “allows courts to revoke the citizenship of anyone convicted of spying, treason or aiding its enemies.” Like scores of other bills introduced to the Knesset, many of which have been approved, the most recent amendment of the Citizenship Law of 1952 targets the Palestinian population of Israel.

The bill, passed on March 28, was sponsored by Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu party, the proud sponsor of nearly two dozen other discriminatory bills. Liberman’s 2009 campaign was largely based on the slogan: “no loyalty, no citizenship.” The latest bill is another manifestation of this idea.

But it was hardly the only bill targeting Palestinian citizens of Israel. Another had been passed only a few days earlier. The “Nakba Bill” passed its final reading on March 22 and was sponsored by Alex Miller (Yisrael Beiteinu). This bill can be understood as a war on the collective memory of Palestinians, as it targets those who mark and commemorate the Catastrophe of 1948.

“We are ready to go to jail,” was the response of MK Jamal Zahalka, of Balad party, who warned of “civil rebellion” against recent bills. “Nakba law won’t stop Arabs – we’ll just increase our protests.”

Haneen Zoabi, also of the Balad party, told The Electronic Intifada: “This is a kind of law to control our memory, to control our collective memory. It's a very stupid law which punishes our feelings. It seems that the history of the victim is threatening the Zionist state.”

A stupid law maybe, but one rooted in Israel’s historical fear of Palestinian memory. Indeed, the war on memory has its own convincing, albeit cruel logic. From Vladimir Jabotinsky's ‘Iron Wall’ of 1923 - aimed largely at sidelining the 'native population' from the ‘Zionist colonization’ of Palestine - to Uri Lubrani's desire to “reduce the Arab population to a community of woodcutters and waiters”, attempts at forcefully removing or reducing the Palestinian population is the cornerstone of Zionist reasoning. The reasoning, which was essentially predicated on presenting Palestine as a “land without people”, is often challenged by the fact that the Palestinian people are too stubborn to terminate their historical, intellectual and very personal relationship to their land. Their persistence has made a mockery of Israel’s first Prime Minister Ben Gurion’s faulty prediction in 1948 that “the old will die and the young will forget.”

Palestinian steadfastness cannot bend natural phenomena. Yes, the old will continue to die. But the young are far from forgetting. So how do you now exact forgetfulness from Palestinians? Israel has always enjoyed a broad definition of ‘democracy’, which purported to reconcile ethnic and religious exclusivity on the one hand, and the inclusive parameters of true democracy on the other. Outside Israel, those who dared question this wisdom were labeled anti-Semites. Palestinians in Israel, who fought against the iniquitous and dehumanizing definitions, were often labeled a ‘fifth column’ and were designated ‘enemies’ of the state. It is they who now risk losing their citizenship or being fined for the supposedly sinful act of remembering the tragedies that have befallen their people.

Although racist and discriminatory laws have defined the Israeli parliament for years, the unmistakably bigoted nature of these laws and the frequency at which they are being passed reflect the level of fear in the Zionist project. The major obstacle to this project remains a people who refuse to be defeated or to be relegated as “woodcutters or waiters.” Israel seems to be resolving its quandary of being a Jewish and democratic state, and it has decidedly chosen to be the former. There is nothing democratic about the most recent bills that have passed in the parliament. Israel is now officially an Apartheid state, and all the Hasbra in the world cannot resolve the moral crisis that is now at the core of Israeli politics.

Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported on March 2 that veteran diplomat Ilan Baruch had quit his post as he was no longer able to defend Israeli policy. It seems Mr Baruch made his decision in the nick of time, as it would be a truly arduous task now to try and justify Israel’s war on Palestinian memory.