issue no 62

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Issue No : 62 23rd September, 2013

Palestinian Cultural Organization Malaysia | 1


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Palestinian Cultural Organization Malaysia

Palestinian Cultural

Organization Malaysia

Read In This Report

P 5Senior Israeli official: New Egypt does not view Israel as an enemy

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P11P7

P 10

Are the Palestinianshead-ing towards a new Oslo?

By: Majed Kayali

Public health sector in Gazafaces disaster under tightened

siege

P6

Negotiations expose differences between Netanyahu and Livni

Settlers escalate their assaults against Al-Aqsa Mosque

Israel kills a Palestin-ian in a raid on Jenin

camp

An Israeli soldier killed in WB as Palestinians rise for Al-Aqsa

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CONTENTS

News of Palestine

Articles & Analyses

Are the Palestiniansheading towards a new Oslo? 11

Settlers escalate their assaults against Al-Aqsa Mosque 4

Senior Israeli official: New Egypt does not view Israel as an enemy 5

Public health sector in Gaza faces disaster under tightened siege 6

Israel kills a Palestinian in a raid on Jenin camp 7

A Palestinian kidnaps and kills an Israeli soldier in West Bank 8

Israeli official warns Prawer plan will displace 100,000 Bedouin 8

Israel Tells Palestinian to demolish Own House near Wall 9

European diplomats delivering aid roughed up by Israeli soldiers 9

Negotiations expose differences between Netanyahu and Livni 10

Israel Insider

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News of Palestine

21/09/2013Hundreds of Israeli settlers have stormed the com-pound of Al-Aqsa Mosque during the last week amid loud calls by Israeli official to divide the Mosque. Dozens of Jewish settlers entered the Al-Aq-sa Mosque on Monday morning through the Maghareba gate under heavy police protection. On Tuesday, 40 settlers broke into the holy site since the early morning hours in groups and listened to explanations from the rabbis on the alleged temple. While on Wednesday morning, dozens of Palestinian worshipers at the Aqsa Mosque suffered injuries and tear gas suffoca-tion when the Israeli occupation police forces suddenly stormed the courtyard and started to attack them.The Al-Aqsa Mosque was stormed again on Thursday by a group of Jewish settlers, while other groups of settlers gathered along the roads leading to the Mosque and performed Talmudic rituals on its gates.These raids come in light of repeated calls by settler groups to organize mass incursions into the Aqsa Mosque on the occasion of Jewish holi-days.

In a step that could trigger a third intifada against Israel, the Knesset interior committee confirmed during a meeting on Monday afternoon that the Jews have the right to freely enter the Aqsa Mosque and perform their rituals while carry-ing the Torah book under police protection. The committee also discussed the mechanisms for enabling the Jews to visit what it described as the temple mount without any restrictions.The Aqsa foundation for endowment and heri-tage, in turn, appealed to Muslims all over the world to rise to save their Mosque from the clutches of the occupation, especially since the Jews recently escalated their violations against it.Meanwhile, an Israeli soldier was killed near the Ibrahimi mosque in Al-Khalil when his army patrol came under resistance fire on Sun-day evening, Hebrew sources reported.Shortly before the shooting, there were clashes in the city centre between Israeli forces and stone-throwers who took to street to express their anger over the recent escalation against Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Source: Agencies

Settlers escalate their assaults against Al-Aqsa Mosque

An Israeli soldier killed in WB as Palestinians rise for Al-Aqsa

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16/09/2013Director of the Political-Mil-itary Affairs Bureau at the Is-raeli Defence Ministry Amos Gilad has praised the Egyptian military coup and described the new Egypt as a part of the «Sunni bloc that does not view Israel as a sworn enemy.»

During the international sum-mit of the Israeli Institute for Counter-Terrorism, held in Is-rael last week, Gilad described the axis composed of Saudi Arabia, UAE, the other Gulf States, Jordan and Egypt as a «powerful Middle Eastern axis of Sunni states that controls the region.»

Speaking to Israeli newspaper the Jerusalem Post, he stressed that, «this axis is very heavy-

Senior Israeli official: New Egypt does not view Israel as an enemy

weight,» and recommended that Egypt should be the leader of the Arab world. «I disagree with those who do not see it this way,» he said. «There is a mass of 87 million Egyptians who are one nation with a 5,000-year his-tory,» he added.

The former Mossad chief does not think that the Gulf States are facing any danger. He con-siders the Muslim Brotherhood to be the most dangerous body in the Arab region. «All of the kingdoms, from Saudi Arabia to Bahrain, are surviving,» he said, stressing that, «not one faces an existential danger.»

Gilad affirmed that that while Israel will never «be accepted as a formal member» of the Sunni

axis, the states that comprise the axis all view the US as the sole superpower and their re-gional policies are indirectly beneficial for Israel.

«This has a huge importance... and gives us many opportuni-ties,» he said at the conference.

As a result of his war against the Muslim Brotherhood, the Israeli official views Abdul-Fattah Al-Sisi as the «leader who history will remember.» Gilad believes the danger of the Muslim Brotherhood is rooted in their long-term ideology, which calls to destroy Israel, thus ending the Israeli occupa-tion of Palestine.

Source: MEMO

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Palestinian Cultural

Organization Malaysia

Public health sector in Gazafaces disaster under tightened siege

21/09/2013The Minister of Health in Gaza has urged the international community to put pressure on Israel and Egypt to lift the siege and allow medicines, medical supplies and basic construc-tion material to be allowed into the beleaguered territory. Dr Mofeed Mokhalalati said that the health sector in the Gaza Strip faces a real disaster under the tightened siege following the closure of the Rafah border crossing by the Egyptian gov-ernment.

«Of the medicines on the es-sential drugs list,» said Dr

Mokhalalati, «145 items have completely run out.» The Rafah closure, he added, also means that there are around 1,000 pa-tients who are unable to be sent for specialist treatment in Egypt, in addition to 300 more who have been referred there by the health ministry.

On the other hand, the European campaign to raise awareness about the siege on Gaza has announced that it will make a presentation on the blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip, which affects more than 1,800,000 people on daily basis, on the sidelines of the upcoming UN Human Rights Council meet-

ing in Geneva.

In a statement, the campaign said «There will be an impor-tant debate on the sidelines of the meeting which will take place on Monday, 23rd Sep-tember.» According to the statement, the campaign’s move comes while «the Egyp-tian authorities [regularly] close the Rafah border cross-ing and destroy tunnels and the Israeli occupation authori-ties tighten the siege that has now been imposed on the Gaza Strip for the seventh year.»

Source: Agencies

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18/09/2013

Israeli soldiers in armoured and military vehicles stormed a house in the Jenin refugee camp and killed the Palestinian youth Islam Hossam Tobasi, aged 19, last Tuesday.

Thousands of Palestinians marched in the funeral procession of Tobasi in Jenin city, amid chants demanding the Pal-estinian Authority to give the Palestin-ian resistance a free hand to defend its people in the West Bank. The body of Tobasi was then buried at Al-Shuhada cemetery in Jenin refugee camp.

For its part, Hamas movement con-demned the raid on Jenin refugee camp,

Israel kills a Palestinian in a raid on Jenin camp

and the killing of Tobasi by the Israeli occupation forces.

Ezzat Resheq, member of the political bureau of Hamas movement, said in a press statement on Tuesday, «This is a new crime to be added to the series of the Israeli on-going crimes against the Palestinian people. The crime is committed regardless of the negotiations and security coordination between the (Palestinian) Authority and the occupation.»

He stressed that Israel is using the futile negotiations, to cover its abuses and attacks on the unarmed civilians.

The Hamas official called on the Palestinian Authority and all the Palestinian forces and factions to take bold steps vis-à-vis the Israeli continued crimes in the occupied West Bank, and urged the PA to halt the negotiations and all forms of security coordination with the occupation.

Source: Agencies

Hamas condemned the crime and urged PA to halt the negotiations

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A Palestinian kidnaps and kills an Israeli soldier in West Bank

In an attempt to release his brother from Israeli jail

21/09/2013A Palestinian man kidnapped and killed an Israeli soldier whose body was found in the north of the occupied West Bank, in the hope that he could trade the body in exchange for the release of his jailed brother, who has been in Israeli jails since 2003.

The search led the Israeli troops to “Nidal Amar”, a 42-year-old Palestinian from Beit Amin, a village near the city of Qalqiliya in the northern West Bank.

The Israeli forces raided the village of Beit Amin early on Sat-urday and sealed all of its entrances while raiding several properties. Six people were detained in the raid, witnesses said.

Source: Aljazeera + Ma’an News Agency

18/09/2013Former Deputy Director of the Bedouin administration Eli Atzmon has warned that the implementation of the Prawer-Begin bill will lead to the eviction of 100,000 Bed-ouin from their homes in the Negev in southern Israel.During a conference orga-nized by Jewish-Arab co-alition Shutafut Sharakah, Atzmon said that the circu-lated displacement figures for the plan are misleading. According to Atzmon, «since the seventies, 30 per cent of Arab Bedouin do not live there and live in ‹unrecog-nized› Arab Bedouin villag-es.» He continued, «therefore the implementation of the plan, which passed during the first reading in the Knes-

Israeli official warns Prawer plan will displace 100,000 Bedouin

set last June, and is scheduled to pass for the second read-ing, means that almost 100,000 Bedouin will be displaced from their villages and not the 40,000 as published.»The official, who worked for years to displace Arab Bedouin from their lands and from their «unrecognized» villages, con-cluded that, «the chances that the plan will be implemented are slim. It is not even possible to reach a cooperation agree-ment on the dispute over the land ownership between the state and the Bedouin citizens.»The conference discussed the legal dimensions of the plan and revealed a new media campaign strategy.Chairman of the «unrecognized» villages in the Negev Atteieh El-Asam explained at the confer-

ence that the Bedouin citizens are collectively refusing the law. According to El-Asam, they intend to take all neces-sary measures to prevent the implementation of the plan. «Even if the Knesset passed the law during the second reading, the plan does not have any chance to be imple-mented in reality. The Bed-ouin citizens do not want to live in a democracy where the state tramples minority rights,» he declared.The Nili Baruch of human rights organization Bim-kom - Planners for Planning Rights announced that an al-ternative plan has been pre-pared with the local citizens who suggest recognizing the «unrecognized» villages. Source: MEMO

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18/09/2013

The Israeli military authorities Wednes-day ordered a Palestinian to demolish his own two-story house in the town of Abu Dis, southeast of Jerusalem, under the pretext it was built too close to the segregation wall, according to the house owner Mutaz Badr.

He said an army force informed him that he has one week to demolish his house or the army will demolish it and force him to pay all costs.

The house is around 25 meters behind the 9-meter high concrete wall Israel has built in the 1990s to separate occupied East Jerusalem from its neighbouring towns and villages.

Source: WAFA

20/09/2013

Israeli soldiers have manhandled a group of European dip-lomats and seized trucks carrying tents in the West Bank.

The convoy was delivering the temporary shelter to a Bedouin community whose homes had been destroyed by the Israelis earlier this week.

The IDF say they were acting in accordance with a court order forbidding delivery of the aid.

Afer Daraghmeh, a local councillor said the IDF knew exactly what it was doing: “What happened here is Is-raeli policy to evacuate residents from their homes and build an Israeli settlement and military camps. This is land owned by people, they have deeds, they have been on the land for years.”

Diplomats from Britain, France, Spain, Ireland, Austra-lia and the EU were travelling with the aid.

Source: EuroNews

Israel Tells Palestinian

to demolish Own House near Wall

European diplomats delivering aid roughed up

by Israeli soldiers

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Israel Insider

17/09/2013Differences are about to emerge between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Justice Minister Tzipi Liv-ni, according to Israeli newspa-per Maariv. Livni is currently leading the negotiations with Palestinian officials, and her approach has reportedly «devi-ated from the official line» dur-ing the past two sessions.

US-sponsored negotiations between the Palestinian and Israeli sides resumed in mid August after a freeze that had lasted for years.

On Monday, the Hebrew paper reported that Netanyahu›s dis-

Negotiations expose differences between Netanyahu and Livni

satisfaction has grown after it was revealed that Livni offered con-cessions and gave up land during unofficial meetings with Pales-tinian negotiators and American mediators away from the official sessions.

It added that the gap has also grown wider between Livni and Netanyahu›s envoy to the negotiations Yitzhak Molcho. Whereas Livni prefers working with a large team toward reaching a final settlement, Molcho still sees this as unrealistic and instead prefers reaching «an agreement on principles» over key issues first, and then applying these to an official agreement at a later stage, thus going through a number of phases before adopting a final settle-ment.

However Maariv›s analyst sees the problem between Livni and Molcho as deeper than this: the problem is the extent to which Netanyahu trusts Livni and her ability to manage a team of nego-tiators.

Source: MEMO

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By: Majed Kayali*Two decades after the Oslo Accords, and many violations of its terms and much delu-sion, the Palestinian Authority established as a result of the agreement appears to be facing a tough decision regarding ne-gotiations. In fact, it looks as if the PA is leaning towards sign-ing «Oslo 2» as per US Secre-tary of State John Kerry›s plan.

The leadership of the PA is sticking to the Oslo rules, which have created many prob-lems for the Palestinians and their cause. It is not insisting on its condition for the talks with Israel including an end to all settlement activity and Pales-tinian rights in East Jerusalem - or on using international reso-lutions as the basis for discus-sions. To make matters worse, it is making the same mistake of keeping the negotiations be-hind closed doors. This puts the fate of the Palestinians into the hands of a few individuals with no consultation or other democratic processes with the people who have paid a heavy price for Israel›s occupation.

Is the PA hiding something? Why won›t it be honest with

it being dismantled and de-stroyed? Is the position of the Palestinian cause a priority and stronger in the Arab world and internationally since the estab-lishment of the PA, or is it be-ing eroded?

Finally, are the Palestinians more or less able to influence Israeli public opinions and point out the contradictions and anomalies of their country›s occupation? Are they any near-er achieving their goals as set out in international resolutions or as far away as ever?

Of course, these questions have nothing to do with the rejection or acceptance of negotiations in principle; this is how the is-sue should be contextualised and dealt with accordingly. Why have negotiations and the establishment of a nation-

the people and tell them the truth about what is going on? Why won›t it reconsider its experienc-es with negotiations and subject its decisions to considerations of political feasibility as well as gains and losses?

Before plunging into negotia-tions again, the leadership needs to ask itself some big questions about the Palestinian situation before and after Oslo. For ex-ample, has the Israeli occupa-tion in the West Bank and Gaza weakened or has it become more established? Has the number of illegal settlements and settlers increased or decreased? Have the occupation army and settlers in the occupied territories become more or less safe? As for the Pal-estinians, are those living in the West Bank and Gaza Strip more free and secure or less so? Are they better able to continue their struggle, or have they become more restricted and less able? Are the Palestinians› conditions inside and outside the occupied territories better or worse? Is the condition of the PLO and other Palestinian groups better than be-fore? Is the Palestinian national identity more established or is

Articles & Analyses

Are the Palestiniansheading towards a new Oslo?

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al authority if they lead to the dismantlement of the Palestin-ian national movement before achieving independence? If the Palestinian cause is dissipated in this way, who will have won the struggle: the Israelis or the Palestinians?

It is easy to generalise, but look at the words of Saeb Erekat, a member of the PLO Executive Committee and the Fatah Cen-tral Committee, and the chief Palestinian negotiator, who noted «nine reasons that drove the Palestinian leadership to resume negotiations... first, we got handwritten confirmation that the reference for the peace process is the establishment of two states on the 1967 borders, in addition to agreed upon land exchanges. Second, the agenda includes all the issues of the final-status (Jerusalem, borders, settlements, refugees, water, security and prisoners). Third, the rejection of all interim and transitional solutions. Fourth, a 6-9 month timetable has been set for the negotiations. Fifth, the release of the prisoners ar-rested before the end of 1994. Sixth, the US administration has confirmed that it considers the settlements to be illegal and that it will work on reducing settlement activity as much as possible. Seventh, the issuance of (punitive) resolutions from the EU regarding Israeli settle-ments. Eighth, the unanimous support of the Arab countries to resume negotiations.

litical significance. This is evi-denced by Israel›s continued settlement activities. The only tangible matter is that of the prisoners, who Israel should have released long ago.

As such, there is nothing that proves that Israel will give up its approach of imposing a fait accompli, as there has been neither a change in the bal-ance of power nor are the Is-raelis more inclined to reach-ing a peace agreement with the Palestinians. Moreover, there is nothing in the international situation that suggests there is any more pressure being put on Israel than usual, whereas the Palestinian and Arab situation is not at all suitable for a new deal that is fairer to the Pales-tinians and more just for their rights.

It is likely that the Palestin-ian leadership›s prime concern now is to strengthen its politi-cal entity in the West Bank and Gaza, even at the expense of the Palestinian cause and the unity of its people. The PA›s continued existence as a gov-erning authority instead of a national liberation movement depends on it accepting to be part of the negotiation process rather than considering other options. It is also dependent on donor countries and suffers from a lack of popular partici-pation, legitimacy and an insti-tutional framework.

The leaks regarding negotia-

The ninth reason is the sup-port of countries worldwide to resume negations… many countries have promised us that if Israel refuses to achieve the two-state solution on 1967 borders within the 6-9 month time frame, the countries will recognise a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital. It will also support our inclusion in in-ternational organisations, con-ventions and treaties, and will deal with the settlements in ac-cordance with international law and on the basis of considering them illegal.» (Al-Ayyam, 5 September).

It is quite clear that there is nothing tangible about what has been said, as Israel still insists on its own conditions as well as its own vision for an agreement with the Palestinians. The first of Erekat›s points isn›t even an Israeli promise; it is merely talk of giving the Palestinians the right to establish a state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. This manipulates the part about land exchanges, which were approved by the Palestinian leadership in the past with Arab cover in the form of the «Fol-low-up Committee for the Arab Peace Initiative», which ex-pressed its acceptance to Kerry in Washington earlier this year. As for the other statements, they were merely procedural issues and have no negotiation importance, as they are neither binding nor do they have po-

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tions suggest that at this point, the focus is on the issues of bor-ders, security arrangements and the improvement of the Pales-tinian economic situation in the occupied territories. Although the refugees› issue and the sta-tus of Jerusalem have been ta-bled it is worth noting that the Palestinian Authority accepted Clinton›s proposals at Taba in 2001 for a consensual solution for the refugees, in accordance with the «Arab Initiative», and the formation of an internation-al administration for Jerusalem.

It has become apparent that Is-rael has drawn its own idea of the borders based on the status quo which includes the large settlement blocs and the land enclosed by the apartheid wall. The only item for negotiation as far as the Israelis are concerned is which land will be exchanged for the parts of the West Bank which they have already colo-nised. While Israel aspires to annex larger areas, the Pal-estinian leadership is talking about smaller areas; whatever is agreed, the land annexed by Is-rael will include the settlements and water resources.

It can be and is argued, of course, that any area that Israel with-draws from or that is exchanged is originally Palestinian land in any case, so Israel can be said to be withdrawing from «my land, to my land» (in the words of Mahmoud Darwish).

As for the security arrange-

eration» or a «federation». The issue, though, is with the defi-nition of this in Israeli terms, as we are aware of Israel›s ef-forts to skirt around the Pales-tinians› right to determine their own fate. There is also another aspect that is no less interest-ing, which relates to giving this agreement an Arab dimension in «Oslo2», as well as declar-ing the end of the Arab-Israeli conflict, and the normalisation of relations with Israel.

Of course, there is a promise from the Palestinian leadership that any new agreement will be put to a referendum in order for the Palestinians (in the West Bank and Gaza only) to decide what they want. This will re-quire a political consensus first and foremost as well as some consideration of the views of the Palestinian Diaspora. Nev-ertheless, the frustration being felt by many citizens at the absence of a leadership which keeps their hopes of success alive may drive them to say yes to anything put in front of them. Some Palestinians have recently risked their lives on the open sea trying to find ref-uge elsewhere so anything is possible. The PA cannot ignore this just to keep itself in power.

* The author is a Palestinian writer.

This article is a translation of the

Arabic text which appeared in Al

Hayat Newspaper on 17 September,

2013

”

”

there is a promise from the Palestin-ian leadership that any new agreement will be put to a refer-endum in order for the Palestinians (in the West Bank and Gaza only) to de-cide what they want

ments and Israel›s insistence on the its military presence in the highlands of the West Bank and the Jordan Valley, the Palestinian Authority does not object to the presence of third party peace-keepers (from the United Na-tions, for example). As for the economic recovery projects and the improvement of living condi-tions, it depends on the support of donor countries, including the support of the oil-rich Gulf States.

What is most interesting about these negotiations is related to Jordan›s participation in the is-sues of the refugees, Jerusalem and the borders. Let it be said that from a Palestinian or Arab perspective there is no problem with the concept of a «confed-

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issue no 62

Documents

israeli settlers

alaqsa mosqueisrael

israeli soldiers

israeli ofcial

aqsa foundation

groups of settlers

senior israeli official

palestinian kidnaps