http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/oct/13/palestinians-israel-obama-abbas
Palestinian faith in Obama 'evaporates'
Leaked memo from President Mahmoud Abbas accuses White House of buckling
under pressure from Israel
Rory McCarthy Jerusalem
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 13 October 2009 18.37 BST
Palestinian political leaders have expressed acute disappointment in the
Obama administration, saying their hopes that it could bring peace to the
Middle East have "evaporated" and accusing the White House of giving in to
Israeli pressure.
The unusually frank comments come in an internal memo from the Fatah party,
led by the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, but reflect a broader
frustration among Palestinian politicians that Washington's very public push
for peace in the Middle East has yet to produce even a restarting of peace
talks between Israelis and Palestinians.
"All hopes placed in the new US administration and President Obama have
evaporated," said the document, which was leaked to the Associated Press
news agency.
It said Barack Obama "couldn't withstand the pressure of the Zionist lobby,
which led to a retreat from his previous positions on halting settlement
construction and defining an agenda for the negotiations and peace".
The document, dated Monday, came from an office led by Mohammed Ghneim, a
Fatah hardliner and the party's number two, who returned to the West Bank
only this year after many years in exile. He was long a critic of the Oslo
accords of the mid-1990s, arguing they gave too much to the Israelis.
Other Palestinian figures share the frustrations. Mohammad Dahlan was
reported as saying this week that he felt "very disappointed and worried by
the US administration retreat".
For many months now, the Palestinians have kept to their position that talks
cannot restart without an end to construction in Israeli settlements and a
guarantee that a full agreement is on the table, based on the borders before
the 1967 war, in which Israel captured east Jerusalem, the West Bank and
Gaza.
"The Israelis need to acknowledge that the 1967 borders are the borders
between the two states, and this is the foundation of any negotiations,"
said Yasser Abed Rabbo, a senior aide to Abbas.
George Mitchell, the US envoy to the Middle East, was in Jerusalem again at
the weekend for another round of apparently fruitless talks between the two
sides.
After Obama met with Abbas and Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime
minister, in New York last month he said he wanted negotiations to restart
soon. But even with the president's newlyawarded Noble peace prize, that
still seems harder than first expected.
Washington has notably toned down its language on Israeli
settlement-building, and no longer calls for a full freeze to construction,
talking instead of "restraint."
But this Palestinian disenchantment also comes at a time when Abbas has seen
his personal credibility badly damaged among his own people, and it may be
partly an effort to deflect criticism. There was disquiet when he agreed at
the last minute to go to New York last month for the Netanyahu meeting, even
though the Israelis had not agreed to the full halt to settlement building
that Abbas had demanded.
The criticism worsened dramatically when 10 days ago he decided against
supporting a vote at the UN human rights council to endorse a critical UN
report on the Gaza war, written by the South African judge Richard
Goldstone.
The report, hailed by human rights groups, accused both Israel and Hamas of
war crimes and recommended that international prosecutions be considered.
Although it appeared that the Palestinians had enough support at the council
to endorse the report, Abbas backed away at the last minute, apparently
under intense US diplomatic pressure. He faced bitter criticism from his
political rival, Hamas. It said he was unfit to lead and pulled out of a
crucial reconciliation agreement due to have been signed later this month.
Abbas has since reversed his decision. Now the report will once again be
considered at the human rights council in Geneva at a special session
starting on Thursday. In New York tomorrow the UN security council will hold
a debate on the Middle East, brought forward after Libya, a current council
member, said the Goldstone report should be discussed.
It is not only the Palestinians who see little chance of peace: last week,
Israel's often outspoken foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, said there was
no chance of a full peace deal with the Palestinians until a "much later
stage."
"There are many conflicts in the world that haven't reached a comprehensive
solution, and people learned to live with it," he said.
***
Palestinian faith in Obama 'evaporates'
Leaked memo from President Mahmoud Abbas accuses White House of buckling
under pressure from Israel
Rory McCarthy Jerusalem
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 13 October 2009 18.37 BST
Palestinian political leaders have expressed acute disappointment in the
Obama administration, saying their hopes that it could bring peace to the
Middle East have "evaporated" and accusing the White House of giving in to
Israeli pressure.
The unusually frank comments come in an internal memo from the Fatah party,
led by the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, but reflect a broader
frustration among Palestinian politicians that Washington's very public push
for peace in the Middle East has yet to produce even a restarting of peace
talks between Israelis and Palestinians.
"All hopes placed in the new US administration and President Obama have
evaporated," said the document, which was leaked to the Associated Press
news agency.
It said Barack Obama "couldn't withstand the pressure of the Zionist lobby,
which led to a retreat from his previous positions on halting settlement
construction and defining an agenda for the negotiations and peace".
The document, dated Monday, came from an office led by Mohammed Ghneim, a
Fatah hardliner and the party's number two, who returned to the West Bank
only this year after many years in exile. He was long a critic of the Oslo
accords of the mid-1990s, arguing they gave too much to the Israelis.
Other Palestinian figures share the frustrations. Mohammad Dahlan was
reported as saying this week that he felt "very disappointed and worried by
the US administration retreat".
For many months now, the Palestinians have kept to their position that talks
cannot restart without an end to construction in Israeli settlements and a
guarantee that a full agreement is on the table, based on the borders before
the 1967 war, in which Israel captured east Jerusalem, the West Bank and
Gaza.
"The Israelis need to acknowledge that the 1967 borders are the borders
between the two states, and this is the foundation of any negotiations,"
said Yasser Abed Rabbo, a senior aide to Abbas.
George Mitchell, the US envoy to the Middle East, was in Jerusalem again at
the weekend for another round of apparently fruitless talks between the two
sides.
After Obama met with Abbas and Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime
minister, in New York last month he said he wanted negotiations to restart
soon. But even with the president's newlyawarded Noble peace prize, that
still seems harder than first expected.
Washington has notably toned down its language on Israeli
settlement-building, and no longer calls for a full freeze to construction,
talking instead of "restraint."
But this Palestinian disenchantment also comes at a time when Abbas has seen
his personal credibility badly damaged among his own people, and it may be
partly an effort to deflect criticism. There was disquiet when he agreed at
the last minute to go to New York last month for the Netanyahu meeting, even
though the Israelis had not agreed to the full halt to settlement building
that Abbas had demanded.
The criticism worsened dramatically when 10 days ago he decided against
supporting a vote at the UN human rights council to endorse a critical UN
report on the Gaza war, written by the South African judge Richard
Goldstone.
The report, hailed by human rights groups, accused both Israel and Hamas of
war crimes and recommended that international prosecutions be considered.
Although it appeared that the Palestinians had enough support at the council
to endorse the report, Abbas backed away at the last minute, apparently
under intense US diplomatic pressure. He faced bitter criticism from his
political rival, Hamas. It said he was unfit to lead and pulled out of a
crucial reconciliation agreement due to have been signed later this month.
Abbas has since reversed his decision. Now the report will once again be
considered at the human rights council in Geneva at a special session
starting on Thursday. In New York tomorrow the UN security council will hold
a debate on the Middle East, brought forward after Libya, a current council
member, said the Goldstone report should be discussed.
It is not only the Palestinians who see little chance of peace: last week,
Israel's often outspoken foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, said there was
no chance of a full peace deal with the Palestinians until a "much later
stage."
"There are many conflicts in the world that haven't reached a comprehensive
solution, and people learned to live with it," he said.
***
From: Dick Platkin
For those interested in the general topic of the Israel-Palestine conflict and the specific topic of joint Israeli-Palestinian grass-roots peace activism.
ICAHD was founded by Israeli anthropology professor, Jeff Halper, who originally comes from Hibbing, Minnesota. ICAHD works to bring Israelis, Palestinians, and foreign volunteers together to rebuild Palestinian homes. As part of the program, Jeff Halper will speak (via phone), and both Rev. Darrely Meyers and Prof. Chuck O'Connell will make brief presentations, including the historical antecdedents of ICAHD: Arab-Jewish labor cooperation during the British Mandate.
What: Fund raising benefit for the Israeli Committee Against House
Demolitions (ICAHD) and its director Jeff Halper
When: Sunday afternoon, October 18, 2009; 1 -3 PM
Location and Parking: 4th Floor Penthouse on Venice Beach at 8 Brooks
Avenue, Venice, CA. $3 parking with shuttle busses to fundraiser from
nearby beach parking lot.
Featuring: Brief presentations by Rev. Darryl Meyers and Prof. Chuck
O'Connell.
o Screening of Homes and Homeland, a 30-minute film by Ed Gaffney and
Alicia Dwyer that features Jeff Halper and the ICAHD story. Filmmaker Ed
Gaffney will be present to discuss his film and the work of the ICAHD.
o Music, refreshments, and catered food
o Premiums based on level of contributions beginning at $50 level.
Sponsors: LA Jews for Peace, Friends of Sabeel, and Jews for Peace between
Israel & Palestine
Endorsed by: Progressive Democrats of Los Angeles
***
From: C Kaffen
Demolitions (ICAHD) and its director Jeff Halper
When: Sunday afternoon, October 18, 2009; 1 -3 PM
Location and Parking: 4th Floor Penthouse on Venice Beach at 8 Brooks
Avenue, Venice, CA. $3 parking with shuttle busses to fundraiser from
nearby beach parking lot.
Featuring: Brief presentations by Rev. Darryl Meyers and Prof. Chuck
O'Connell.
o Screening of Homes and Homeland, a 30-minute film by Ed Gaffney and
Alicia Dwyer that features Jeff Halper and the ICAHD story. Filmmaker Ed
Gaffney will be present to discuss his film and the work of the ICAHD.
o Music, refreshments, and catered food
o Premiums based on level of contributions beginning at $50 level.
Sponsors: LA Jews for Peace, Friends of Sabeel, and Jews for Peace between
Israel & Palestine
Endorsed by: Progressive Democrats of Los Angeles
***
From: C Kaffen
Sent: Thursday, October 15, 2009 10:23 AM
Subject: Eyewitness Gaza: Reportback from Occupied Palestine
Please forward...
Thanks,
Cindy
Eyewitness Gaza: Reportback from Occupied Palestine
Wednesday, October 21, 7pm
University of Southern California
Leavey Library Auditorium
651 W. 35th St.
Los Angeles, CA 90007
Israel's January 2009 war on Gaza killed 1,400 people and laid waste to much of Gaza's infrastructure, damaging or destroying schools, hospitals, government buildings, UN facilities and thousands of homes.
A recent UN fact-finding mission led by Judge Richard Goldstone called the Israeli assault "a deliberately disproportionate attack designed to punish, humiliate and terrorize a civilian population." Both before and after the war,
But the war also sparked an international wave of protest calling for boycott, divestment and sanctions of
Come hear and eyewitness account of the destruction in
Featured Speakers:
Laura Durkay
Participant in CODEPINK's May/June delegation to Gaza
Professor David Lloyd
USC Department of English
Founding Member, US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel
Sponsored by the International Socialist Organization
For more info contact lacityiso@yahoo. com or visit http://socialistwor ker.org
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