The Elections are Coming!

It is a sad commentary on the state of the Palestinians and their struggle for freedom that articles written more than thirty-five years ago are just as relevant and applicable to their plight today as they were the day they were written. In the November/December 1983 issue of Palestine Perspectives, Muhammad Hallaj wrote the following commentary:

It is often said that the presidential election season is a time of paralysis for American foreign policy. This may be true in some areas of U.S. foreign policy, but certainly not in the Middle East. American policy toward the Arab-Israeli conflict does not suffer from paralysis, but instead becomes gripped with a fit of epilepsy.

This pathetic seasonal phenomenon has already made its appearance in preparation for the coming elections. The various contestants, whether they are guarding their jobs or grabbing for them, have already begun to pay homage to Greater Israel. Although we have become somewhat accustomed to this irresponsible ritual, occasionally we are still shocked by how far some candidates go in sacrificing America's interests and integrity in their chase after votes and campaign money. 

This piece was written in response to a speech by Senator John Glenn to the Foreign Policy Association in New York. Dr Hallaj summarized the main thrust of the speech as "an attack on the concept of 'evenhandedness' in U.S. Middle East Policy. He [Senator Glenn] charged that evenhandedness means a 'tilt away from Israel,' as if that were a self-evident evil."

Those words were penned as the nation prepared for the 1984 elections. Today we are preparing for the 2020 elections. Decades have passed, yet in the midst of it all, American policy toward the Arab-Israeli conflict suffers another seizure. The new Middle East Peace Plan is introduced by none other than Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel. It is a plan tilted so far toward Israel that even The New York Times cannot ignore the tilt.

Mr. Trump vowed at the start of his presidency that he would negotiate a “bigger and better deal” to broker peace than anyone could imagine. Three years later, experts say that the plan, developed under the supervision of Jared Kushner, Mr. Trump’s son-in-law, falls remarkably short of that goal and is unlikely ever to become the basis for a peace agreement. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/29/world/middleeast/trump-peace-plan-explained.html 

 What is that saying? The more things change, the more they remain the same.

The phrase was coined by French writer Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr, “plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.

Travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem isn't what it used to be

Picture from Facebook - Neil Le Roux

Joseph traveled from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Bethlehem, the town of David. He made the trip of about 65 miles with Mary. The trip was probably long and arduous, but they reached their destination.

Luckily, they lived before the modern state of Israel decided that Palestinians cannot move freely in their own land. Today that journey would be very different.

Even the three kings would not be able to present their gifts today. Where are today's wise men? Why can't they bring the gift of peace to the Holy Land?

Picture from Facebook - Irfan Iqbal

Palestine Wins World Recognition as a State

On November 29, 2012 Palestine asked to be admitted to the United Nations as the 194^th nation.  In this age of self-determination, where nations go to war under the banner of making the world safe for democracy, Palestine continues to be denied independence. 

In a vote that showed overwhelming support by the nations of the world.  Palestine was granted “non-member observer status.” It was an admission that Palestine is indeed a state.  (All pictures from: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/welcometopalestine)

On the floor of the UN General Assembly, a Palestinian flag was unfurled as the vote showed on the electronic board.  Although this shot does not show it, there were 41 abstentions.  I watched as UN Web TV streamed the proceedings, and picked up a couple of quotes I’d like to share.

         “Palestine is an open wound in the

               conscience of the world.”

                              --Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs

After the vote, the American ambassador to the UN said, “Tomorrow Palestinians will wake up and find that nothing has really changed.”  Almost true.  One of the intangible benefits is being able to stand just a little taller, knowing that most people in the world recognize the injustice that has been done to them.  Celebrations throughout the West Bank were more a sense of satisfaction, and they were even more subdued in Gaza, where thousands have not yet recovered from the latest violent attacks.

This photo by Ryan Rodrick Beiler/Activestills.org taken from The State of Palestine 194 facebook page, along with another picture showing a young man daring to scale the wall to plant the flag above the picture, shows a crowd in Bethlehem, watching the proceedings projected on the apartheid wall—right next to one of the watchtowers.  At least they found one use for the wall.  As one person commented, "In an honest world...this would be on the front page of every newspaper."

Speaking of the Apartheid Wall, several years ago the UN General Assembly, at the request of [non-state] Palestine, asked for an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice concerning the Wall.  The Court condemned it, but it was only an advisory opinion.  Now that the United Nations recognizes Palestine as a state, it can bring suit in the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court. 

Watch this space as more develops on this front.

Other articles of interest:  http://www.france24.com/en/20121128-palestinians-face-intense-pressure-not-sue-israel

http://www.palestinestate194.com/index.php/en/