The Shimon Peres Palestinians Can’t Forget
The bulk of his career actually undermined the peace he claimed to be seeking.
https://www.thenation.com/article/the-shimon-peres-palestinians-cant-forget/
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Friday, September 30, 2016
The Shimon Peres Palestinians Can’t Forget
https://www.thenation.com/article/the-shimon-peres-palestinians-cant-forget/
Russia-Baiting and Risks of Nuclear War
Russia-Baiting and Risks of Nuclear War
By Ray McGovern
As U.S. and Russian officials trade barbed threats and as diplomacy on Syria is “on the verge” of extinction, it is tempting to view the ongoing propaganda exchange over who shot down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in July 2014 as a side-show. That would be a huge mistake – easily made by President Obama’s wet-behind-the-ears sophomoric advisers who seem to know very little of the history of U.S.-Russia relations and appear smug in their ignorance.https://consortiumnews.com/2016/09/30/russia-baiting-and-risks-of-nuclear-war/
Israel's $38 Billion Scam
Israel's $38 Billion Scam
Bibi wants more and Congress might deliver
Philip Giraldi
• September 27, 2016 | http://www.unz.com/article/
Taking Jesus at His Word: Forgiveness
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WPR Articles Sept. 23 — Sept. 30
WPR Articles Sept. 23 — Sept. 30
Who Will Save the Yazidis?
By: Mark S. Smith | Briefing
Earlier
this month, the U.N. for the first time named a victim of human
trafficking as a goodwill ambassador for the dignity of survivors of
such atrocities. Nadia Murad Basee Taha, who survived captivity as a sex
slave of ISIS, gives an international voice to brutalized young Yazidi
women and children.
How the EU Can Use Russia Energy Ties to Keep Ukraine Tensions in Check
By: Nikolas Gvosdev | Briefing
Geopolitical
strategies to keep the peace appear to be breaking down in Ukraine, but
Europe has a geo-economic approach for managing the conflict: energy.
Ukraine and Russia are bound together in a mutual web of dependence on
transiting Russian gas that acts as a brake on escalation.
Maori Remain Marginalized in New Zealand Society and Government
By: The Editors | Trend Lines
A
new report shows that white New Zealanders are more likely to be given a
warning by police for minor crimes than indigenous Maori, who are more
likely to be charged, confirming what advocates say is the bias of the
justice system. In an email interview, Margaret Mutu discusses Maori
rights in New Zealand.
Can the Center Hold? State Fragility Comes to the U.S. and France
By: Judah Grunstein | Column
In
the jargon of the foreign policy community, the key to preventing
instability and restoring order is good governance. Yet in the U.S. and
France, political legitimacy has been eroded not by the lack of good
governance, but by policies pursued through institutions that seem to
meet all the criteria for it.
Constitutional Rights Do Little to Ensure Gender Equality in Senegal
By: The Editors | Trend Lines
A
group of grandmothers on the outskirts of Senegal’s capital, Dakar, are
using their influence to promote modern health care and medicine in a
bid to improve women’s health, a plan that many hope can be replicated
across the country. In an email interview, Hawa Ba discusses women’s
rights in Senegal.
Can the U.S. Pursue Consensus in Latin America and Still Support Democracy?
By: The Editors | Trend Lines
In
this week’s Trend Lines podcast, WPR’s editor-in-chief, Judah Grunstein,
and host Peter Dörrie discuss Central America’s “other” migrant crisis,
U.S. military engagement in Africa, and reforming WHO funding. For the
Report, Eric Farnsworth joins us to explore Obama’s approach to Latin
America.
Facing the Effects of Climate Change, the Caribbean Focuses on Adaptation
By: The Editors | Trend Lines
According
to a recent U.N. report, climate change will cause more frequent and
severe droughts in the Caribbean and its seven water-stressed countries.
That will affect agriculture, with the risk of food shortages. In an
email interview, Carlos Fuller discusses the region’s climate change
policy.
How Far Can the U.S. Military Go to Building a Technology-Enhanced ‘Super Soldier’?
By: Steven Metz | Column
Technology
that will have a profound impact on the U.S. military is on the way.
Some innovations will simply make military hardware more effective. But
others have the potential to change humans themselves. As this
technology matures, it will face mounting political opposition, for good
reason.
New Drug Routes Through Lawless Libya Raise Questions About ISIS’ Role
By: Frederick Deknatel | Trend Lines
The
New York Times recently reported on new routes for smuggling hashish
from Morocco to Europe via Libya that raise suspicions about whether
ISIS is profiting off the drug trade. While Libya’s criminal economy has
flourished, there are risks in overstating the links between drug
smuggling and terrorism.
U.S. Military Assistance to Africa Is Growing. But Is It Succeeding?
By: Nathaniel D.F. Allen | Briefing
U.S.
Africa Command, or AFRICOM, has turned into an integral player in
responding to African security challenges. But its expanding mandate is
dogged by the reality that the relationship between combating terrorism,
safeguarding national interests and fostering political stability is
not always clear.
Could the U.N. Survive a Trump Presidency Intact?
By: Richard Gowan | Column
It
is time for a serious assessment of what a Donald Trump presidency would
mean for the U.N. For most of this year, this prospect has seemed
little more than a topic for passing drollery. With the U.S. elections
just over 40 days away and opinion polls suggesting a tight race, it
seems less funny.
Will Obama Be America’s Last Free-Trade President?
By: Erik Brattberg | Briefing
As
president, Barack Obama has adopted the traditional bipartisan orthodoxy
in Washington on free trade. But as his administration draws to a
close, free trade has become a poisonous issue in the current American
presidential campaign, making the future of Obama’s trade legacy
increasingly uncertain.
Can U.S. Intelligence Restore Public Trust on Balancing Secrecy and Openness?
By: Ellen Laipson | Column
Last
week, CIA Director John Brennan expressed his commitment to regaining
the trust of the American public. The intelligence community’s efforts
deserve recognition, even if striking the balance between secrecy and
openness remains a subjective call, one ultimately made by those who
hold the secrets.
Discontent Is Rising as Suriname Tries to Fix Its Flailing Economy
By: The Editors | Associated Press
Corruption
and falling commodities prices have many worried that Suriname is
turning into the next Venezuela. Businesses are closing; inflation is
rising; and the economy is predicted to contract by 2 percent this year.
In an email interview, Robert Looney discusses the economic crisis in
Suriname.
Many Syrian Refugees Aren’t Going Anywhere. They Need the Right to Work
By: Saskia van Genugten, Lorraine Charles | Briefing
The
world has begun to sense the permanence of Syria’s refugee crisis. Those
who have fled violence are unlikely to return home anytime soon. Host
countries and donors are now focusing on how to provide sustainable
livelihoods and integrate Syrians, in particular by bringing them into
the workforce.
Why Africa’s Young Entrepreneurs Are the Key to Diversified Growth
By: Ernest Nti Acheampong | Feature
Africa’s
youth-heavy population can transform the continent’s economy,
insulating itself from the perils of a resource-driven approach. Some
governments, notably Ghana and Kenya, are taking the lead. But hurdles
remain, from poor funding to corruption, slowing the pace of bottom-up
entrepreneurship.
Tunisia’s Democratic Gains Have Done Nothing for Its LGBT Community
By: Karina Piser | Trend Lines
Last
week, five Tunisian civil society groups submitted a report to the
United Nations, decrying systemic attacks on members of Tunisia’s LGBT
community. Despite progress since the overthrow of Zine el-Abidine Ben
Ali in 2011, many say that discrimination has worsened over the past
five years.
Don’t Count Iran’s Nascent Space Capabilities Out
By: The Editors | Trend Lines
The
head of Iran’s space agency announced plans to launch three satellites
into orbit within the next year: the Doutsi earth-observation satellite,
the Tolou remote sensing satellite and the Aat Sat telecommunications
satellite. In an email interview, John B. Sheldon discusses Iran’s space
program.
New European Border Agency a Rare Show of Unity for a Fractured EU
By: Maria Savel | Trend Lines
The
new European Border and Coast Guard was formally approved this month and
is due to enter into force in a few weeks. EU member states have shown
increasingly rare unity over the need to protect Europe’s borders, even
though divisions over how to handle the migrant crisis are as prevalent
as ever.
The World Needs a Peace Treaty Between Men and Women
By: Valerie M. Hudson | Briefing
The
world must find a way to end violence and discrimination against women.
In any other context, the violence committed by men against women would
be considered warfare. When the two halves of the population do not live
in peace with one another, how is it possible to eliminate other forms
of instability?
Will Anti-Trade Sentiment in the U.S. and Europe Lead to Reform or Catastrophe?
By: Frida Ghitis | Column
At Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton’s first presidential debate Monday
evening, there was one topic on which their positions were not
diametrically opposed: trade. Skepticism about the benefits of free
trade has changed the tone of the discussion about a matter many
economists believed had been settled.
Deal to End Guinea-Bissau’s Deadlock Instead Stokes Risk of Another Coup
By: Charles Pembroke | Briefing
Earlier
this month, Guinea-Bissau’s political factions agreed to a six-point
roadmap to form a consensus government and end more than a year of
deadlock. But the ambitious deal is unlikely to overcome the deep
divisions within Guinea-Bissau’s parliament or address the fundamental
drivers of instability.
How Innovation and Youth Can Transform African Economies
By: The Editors | Trend Lines
In
this week’s Trend Lines podcast, WPR’s editor-in-chief, Judah Grunstein,
and host Peter Dörrie discuss discrimination against women, politics in
Guinea-Bissau, and Syrian refugees’ right to work. For the Report,
Ernest Nti Acheampong joins us to talk about young entrepreneurs in
Africa.
To Prevail Against Violent Extremism, the U.S. Needs Universal National Service
By: Steven Metz | Column
America’s
conflict with violent Islamic extremism will require a
multigenerational effort. One initiative could help steel national will
for that fight, reinforce a sense of shared national purpose, and shrink
the pool of young Americans willing to become terrorists: universal
national service.
Why are we threatening millions of U.S. jobs without debating the facts?
Why are we threatening millions of U.S. jobs without debating the facts?
http://www.forbes.com/sites/themexicoinstitute/2016/09/30/why-are-we-threatening-millions-of-u-s-jobs-without-debating-the-facts/#12a7c66d5c4e
The Week with IPS
2016/9/30
Click here for the online version of this IPS newsletter
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Take a Deep Breath? But 9 in 10 People Worldwide Live with Excessive Air Pollution!
Baher Kamal
The warning is sharp and the facts, alarming: 92 per cent of the world’s
population live in places where levels exceed recommended limits. And
6.5 million people die annually from air pollution.
And the warning comes from the leading United Nations agency dealing
with health, which rolled out ...
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Making the Goals: Why Sustainable Development Must Be Integrated Development
Roger-Mark De Souza and Sono Aibe
By recognising how closely connected the different aspects of
sustainable development are, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
create an important opportunity - and challenge - for a more coordinated
approach to implementing development policies.
The multi-faceted, interlinked nature of ...
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Uncertainty Mars Potential for Peace in South Sudan
Jonathan Rozen
Nearly one month after UN Security Council members visited troubled
South Sudan, disagreement reigns over even the limited outside measures
proposed to try to bring the security situation in the world's newest
country under control.
“To fix South Sudan you will need 250,000 soldiers, you ...
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Colombia Referendum - First Acid Test for Peace
Constanza Vieira
It was like a huge party in Colombia. “Congratulations!” people said to
each other, before hugging. “Only 20 minutes to go!” one office worker
said, hurrying on her way to BolÃvar square, in the heart of Bogotá. And
everyone knew what she was talking about, and hurried along too.
Complete strangers ...
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Two years on, Peña Nieto cannot brush off Ayotzinapa stain
Erika Guevara-Rosas
There are certain events that mark a turning point in a country. The way
a government decides to handle them defines the way they will go down
in the history books.
This week marks two years since 43 students from a rural school in
southern Mexico were forcibly disappeared after a brutal ...
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Global South Address Sustainable Development Challenges
Tharanga Yakupitiyage
On Friday, a group of 134 developing nations, known as the Group of 77
(G77), came together for a meeting to address challenges and solutions
in achieving sustainable development. In attendance were G-77 Foreign
Ministers, the President of the General Assembly, the UN
Secretary-General and other UN ...
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Governments Band Together to Address Antibiotic Resistance
Lyndal Rowlands
The looming threat of a world where even minor infections are deadly has
led governments to commit to collective action against antibiotic
resistance at the UN General Assembly earlier this week.
However for many developing countries addressing this growing problem
will also involve tackling ...
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Mexico City’s Expansion Creates Tension between Residents and Authorities
Emilio Godoy
People living in neighborhoods affected by the expansion of urban
construction suffer a “double displacement”, with changes in their
habitat and the driving up of prices in the area, in a process in
which “we are not taken into account,” said Natalia Lara, a member of an
assembly of local residents ...
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Bernie Sanders’s Rosh Hashanah Sermon — and Its Radical Lesson for All Liberals
Bernie Sanders’s Rosh Hashanah Sermon — and Its Radical Lesson for All Liberals
http://forward.com/opinion/351129/bernie-sanderss-rosh-hashanah-sermon-and-its-radical-lesson-for-all-liberal/?utm_content=daily_Newsletter_MainList_Title_Position-1&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=New%20Weekly%202016-09-30&utm_term=Weekly%20%2B%20Daily
Medea Benjamin: If Americans Can Sue Saudis Over 9/11, Drone Victims Should Be Able to Sue the US
Amy Goodman and Juan González, Democracy Now!: "Finally,
we have an example of the US Congress putting US citizens above the
relationship with the Saudi government," says CODEPINK's Medea Benjamin
in response to the vote by Congress to allow Americans to sue Saudi
Arabia over the 9/11 attacks, overriding President Obama's veto of the
bill.
The Super-Rich Are Cruising the Arctic's New Passageway as the World Burns
Dahr Jamail, Truthout: This
summer, a luxury cruise ship was able to sail across the Arctic for the
first time -- a feat made possible by planetary warming. As Arctic
summer sea ice melts away, corporations are taking advantage of the
opportunity to launch cruises in the extremely fragile, once-pristine
Arctic ecosystem.
Thoughts on relief for atomic bomb survivors since Obama's visit to Hiroshima
Thoughts on relief for atomic bomb survivors since Obama's visit to Hiroshima
Attached is a Lancet article "Thoughts on relief for atomic bomb survivors since Obama's visit to Hiroshima" that proposes aid to Hiroshima/Nagasaki survivors for "...relief provided for atomic bomb sufferers has only been for health damage caused by the radiation from the atomic bomb and not for the health damage caused by the physical explosion of the bomb... every successful legal trial aimed at obtaining relief for survivors used health damage caused by radiation as the main justification. Therefore, damage due to radiation could be misunderstood as representing the entire damage caused by atomic bombs and this misunderstanding could be the cause of the excessive fear of radiation that started in Japan and spread across the globe."
http://www.thelancet.com/
A Video That Made Me Understand What It Feels Like to Be Elderly and Alone
A Video That Made Me Understand What It Feels Like to Be Elderly and Alone
http://catholic-link.org/2016/09/30/a-video-that-shows-what-it-feels-like-to-be-elderly-and-alone/?utm_source=Catholic-Link+English&utm_campaign=6839b2789f-Catholic-Link+English+%28Daily%29&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_aa5ba3e9fa-6839b2789f-70952393&mc_cid=6839b2789f&mc_eid=e64eeb87b8Trump Courts Adelson, Flip-Flops on Israel-Palestine
Trump Courts Adelson, Flip-Flops on Israel-Palestine
http://lobelog.com/trump-courts-adelson-flip-flops-on-israel-palestine/
Russian-Syrian Push on Aleppo in Full Swing. US Deciding Whether to Ramp up Support for Terrorist Child Beheaders or Start WW3
Russian-Syrian Push on Aleppo in Full Swing. US Deciding Whether to Ramp up Support for Terrorist Child Beheaders or Start WW3
US officials are discussing air raids against Syrian government and army
http://russia-insider.com/en/russian-syrian-push-aleppo-full-swing-us-deciding-whether-ramp-support-terrorist-child-beheaders-or
Don’t Believe the Claims That the U.S. Is Giving Away the Internet
Don’t Believe the Claims That the U.S. Is Giving Away the Internet
Tech companies and Internet policy experts urge Congress not to give in to erroneous arguments about Internet oversight.
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/602411/dont-believe-the-claims-that-the-us-is-giving-away-the-internet/?utm_source=MIT+TR+Newsletters&utm_campaign=20405296de-The_Download_September_29_2016&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_997ed6f472-20405296de-153856085&goal=0_997ed6f472-20405296de-153856085&mc_cid=20405296de&mc_eid=e25735476a
Uri Avnery Guest Post: Abu-Mazen's Balance Sheet
Uri
Avnery
September 30,
2016
Abu-Mazen's Balance Sheet
MAHMOUD ABBAS was not present at my first meeting with Yasser
Arafat during the siege of Beirut in the First Lebanon War. That was, it
may be remembered, the first meeting ever between Arafat and an
Israeli.
Some
months later, in January 1983, a meeting was set up between Arafat and the
delegation of the Israeli Council for Israeli-Palestinian Peace,
consisting of (retired) General Matti Peled, former Director General of
the Treasury Yaakov Arnon and myself.
At
Tunis airport, a PLO official asked us to meet with Abbas before meeting
with Arafat himself. Abbas was in charge of relations with Israelis. Until
then I had heard about him only from the two senior PLO members with whom
I had conducted secret talks – Said Hamami (who was murdered) and Issam
Sartawi (who was murdered).
My
first impression of Abu Mazen (the nom-de-guerre of Abbas) was that he was
very different from Arafat, that he was indeed the total opposite. Arafat
was a warm person, flamboyant, extrovert, touching, hugging. Abbas is a
cool person, introvert, matter-of-fact. (Mazan, by the way, is Hebrew for
"balance sheet")
Arafat
was the perfect national liberation leader, and took care to look that
way. He always wore a uniform. Abbas looks like a high-school principal
and always wears a European suit.
WHEN
ARAFAT founded Fatah at the end of the 1950s in Kuwait, Abbas was one of
the first who joined. He is one of the "founders".
That
was not easy. Almost all the Arab governments disliked the new-born group,
which claimed to speak for the Palestinian people. At the time, each Arab
government claimed to represent the Palestinians itself and tried to
exploit the Palestinian cause for its own purposes. Arafat and his people
took that cause out of their hands, and were therefore persecuted all over
the Arab world.
After
that first meeting with Abbas, I met him on all my visits to Tunis. I
conferred first with Abbas, discussing plans for possible actions to
promote peace between our two peoples. When we had agreed on possible
initiatives, Abbas would say: "Now we shall submit this to the
Ra'is."
We
moved to Arafat's office and put forward the proposals we had devised.
When we had hardly finished, Arafat would say "Yes" or "No" without the
slightest hesitation. I was always impressed by his quickness of mind and
his capacity for making decisions. (One of his Palestinian opponents told
me once: "He is the leader because he is the only one courageous enough to
make decisions.")
In the
presence of Arafat, Abu-Mazen's place was clear: Arafat was the leader who
made the decisions, Abbas was an advisor and assistant, like all the other
"Abus" – Abu-Jihad (who was murdered), Abu-Iyad (who was murdered) and
Abu-Alaa (who is still alive).
On one
of my visits to Tunis, I was asked to do a personal favor: to bring Abbas
a book about the Kasztner trial. Abu-Mazen was writing a doctoral thesis
for a university in Moscow about the cooperation between Nazis and
Zionists – a theme very popular in Soviet times. (Israel Kasztner was a
Zionist functionary when the Nazis invaded Hungary. He tried to save Jews
by negotiating with Adolf Eichmann.)
ARAFAT
DID not send Abbas to Oslo, because Abbas was already too recognizable.
Instead he sent Abu-Alaa, the unknown financial expert of the PLO. The
entire operation was initiated by Arafat, and I assume that Abbas had a
part in it. In Israel, there was a quarrel between Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon
Peres (who died this week) and Yossi Beilin about who deserved the glory,
but the Oslo initiative actually came from the Palestinian side. The
Palestinians initiated, the Israelis reacted. (That explains, by the way,
the sad story of the Oslo agreement.)
As I
have already pointed out in a previous article, the Nobel Prize committees
awarded the peace prize to Arafat and Rabin. Peres' friends around the
world raised hell, so the committee added Peres to the list. Justice
demanded that Abbas, too, should receive the prize, but the Nobel statutes
allow only for three laureates. So Abbas did not get the prize. That was a
glaring injustice, but Abbas kept quiet.
When
Arafat returned to Palestine, all the festivities were held for him. That
evening, when I made my way among the delirious crowds around Arafat’s
temporary HQ in Hotel Palestine, Abbas was nowhere to be
seen.
Afterwards Abbas remained in the shadows. Obviously, he got
other tasks and was no longer in charge of contacts with Israelis. I saw
Arafat many times, and twice I served as a "human shield" in his Ramallah
office, when Ariel Sharon threatened his life. I saw Abbas only two or
three times (I remember a picture: once, when Arafat insisted on taking
the hands of my wife Rachel and me and led us to the entrance of the
building, we came across Abbas. We shook hands, exchanged civilities, and
that was that.)
Rachel
and Abbas were of the same age and both had spent much of their childhood
in Safed. Her father had a clinic on Safed's Mount Canaan and once we
speculated if as a boy Abbas had been treated by him.
WHEN
ARAFAT DIED (murdered, I believe), Abbas was his natural successor. As a
founding member, he was acceptable to everyone. Farouk Kaddoumi, of equal
rank, is an adherent of the Baath regime in Damascus and rejected Oslo. He
did not return to Palestine.
I met
Abbas at Arafat's mourning ceremony at the Mukata'a. He sat next to the
chief of Egyptian intelligence. After we shook hands, I saw from the
corner of my eye that he tried to explain to the Egyptian who I
am.
Since
then, Abbas has served as the president of the "Palestinian National
Authority". This is one of the most difficult jobs on
earth.
A
national government under occupation is compelled to tread a very narrow
line. It can fall any minute on one side (collaboration with the enemy) or
on the other side (suppression by the occupation authorities).
At the
age of 17, when I was a member of the Irgun, my company held a mock trial
for Philippe Petain, the marshal put by the Nazis at the head of the Vichy
government functioning under Nazi rule in "unoccupied" Southern France.
My job
was to "defend" Petain. I said that he was a French patriot, who tried to
save what could be saved after the collapse of France and to ensure that
France would be still there at the hour of victory.
But
when victory came, Petain was condemned to death and saved only by the
wisdom of his enemy, Charles de Gaulle, the leader of Free
France.
There
is no possibility of safeguarding freedom under occupation. Anyone trying
to do so finds himself on a slippery slope, trying to satisfy the occupier
and to protect his people from harm. In the course of the years the Vichy
regime was compelled to collaborate with the Germans, step by step, from
the persecution of the underground to the expulsion of the Jews.
Moreover, where there is an authority, even under occupation,
interest groups spring up. Some people acquire an interest in the status
quo and support the occupation. Pierre Laval, an opportunist French
politician, rose to the top in Vichy, and quite a lot of French people
gathered around him. In the end, he was executed.
NOW
ABBAS finds himself in a similar situation. An impossible situation. He
plays poker with the occupation authorities, when they hold all the four
aces, and he has in his hand nothing but one minor
card.
He
sees his job as guarding the occupied Palestinian population until the day
of deliverance – until the day Israel is compelled to give up the
occupation in all its forms – the settlements, the stealing of the land,
the oppression.
Compelled to give up – but how?
Abbas
objects to the violent resistance ("terrorism"). I believe that he is
right in this. Israel has a huge army, the occupation has no moral brakes
(see: Elor Azaria). The acts of the "martyrs" may reinforce the national
pride of the Palestinian population, but they make the occupation worse
and lead nowhere.
Abbas
has adopted a strategy of international action. He is investing a large
part of his resources in achieving a pro-Palestinian UN resolution, a
resolution that will condemn the occupation and the settlements and
recognize Palestine as a full-fledged UN member. At this moment, Binyamin
Netanyahu is afraid that President Obama might use the two months of
irresponsibility - between election day and the end of his term of office
– to let such a resolution pass.
So
what? Will this reinforce in any way the world's struggle against the
Israeli occupation? Will this lower by one dollar the US aid to Israel? In
the past, successive Israeli governments have ignored dozens of UN
resolutions, and Israel's international position has only
improved.
The
Palestinians are not a stupid people. They know all these facts. A victory
in the UN will gladden their hearts, but they know that it will do very
little to help them in practice.
I DO
not give advice to the Palestinians. I have always believed that a member
of the occupying people has no right to give advice to the occupied
people.
But I
allow myself to think aloud, and these thoughts bring me to the conviction
that the only effective method for an occupied people is civil
disobedience – total non-violent popular opposition to the occupation,
total disobedience to the foreign conqueror.
This
method was refined by the Indian opposition to the British occupation. Its
leader, Mahatma Gandhi, was an unusual personality, a moral person with a
lot of practical political acumen. In India, some tens of thousands of
military and civilian British personnel faced more than a million Indians.
Civil disobedience put an end to the occupation.
In our
country, the balance of power is extremely different. But the principle is
the same: no government can function for long when faced by a population
that refuses to cooperate with it in any way.
In
such a struggle, violence is always implemented by the occupation. The
occupation is always violent. Therefore, in a non-violent struggle of
civil disobedience, many Palestinians will get killed, the general
suffering will increase a lot. But such a struggle will win. It always did
when applied anywhere.
The
world, which is expressing deep sympathy with the Palestinian people while
cooperating with the occupation regime, will be compelled to
intervene.
And,
most importantly, the Israeli public, which is now looking at what is
happening a few dozen miles from their homes as if it was happening in
Honolulu, will wake up. The best of our people will join the political
struggle. The weak peace camp will become strong
again.
THE
OCCUPATION regime is well aware of this danger. It tries to weaken Abbas
by any means. It accuses Abbas of "incitement" – meaning opposition to the
occupation – as if he were a brutal enemy. All this while the security
forces of Abbas openly cooperate with the occupation police and
army.
In
practice, the occupation strengthens the Hamas regime in the Gaza Strip,
which hates Abbas.
The
relations between Hamas and the Israeli government go back a long way. In
the first years of the occupation, when any kind of political activity in
the occupied territories was strictly forbidden, only Islamists were
allowed to be active. First, because it was impossible to close the
mosques, and second, because the occupation authorities believed that the
enmity of religious Muslims towards the secular PLO would weaken
Arafat.
This
illusion disappeared at the beginning of the first intifada, when
Hamas was founded and rapidly became the most militant resistance
organization. But even then the occupation authorities saw in Hamas a
positive element, because it divided the Palestinian struggle.
It
must be remembered that the separate Gaza Strip is an Israeli invention.
In the Oslo agreement, Israel undertook to open four "safe passages"
between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Under the influence of the army,
Rabin violated this obligation right from the beginning. As a result, the
West Bank was totally cut off from the Strip – and the present situation
is a direct result of that.
People
everywhere wonder why Netanyahu daily denounces Abbas as an "inciter" and
"sponsor of terror", while not mentioning Hamas. To solve this mystery,
one must understand that the Israeli Right does not fear war, but is
afraid of international pressure – and therefore the "moderate" Abbas is
much more dangerous than the "terrorist" Hamas.
CIVIL
RESISTANCE will not happen in the near future. The Palestinian public is
not yet ripe for it. Also, Abbas is not the suitable leader for such a
struggle. He is not a Palestinian Gandhi, nor a second
Mandela.
Abu-Mazen is the leader of a people trying to survive in impossible
circumstances – until the situation takes a turn.
Why It’s Safe to Scrap America’s ICBMs
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09
The New York Times | Op-Ed Contributor
Why It’s Safe to Scrap America’s ICBMs
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