A biweekly feature of news and opinion pieces from the Israeli and Palestinian press.
1.) Writing in Prospect magazine, Israeli journalist Gershom Gorenberg calls for the creation of a more mainstream pro-Israel lobby. Contrary to popular belief, he suggests, the actions of the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) do not represent the views of most American Jews. In fact, while American Jews generally support the two-state solution and an end to occupation, AIPAC’s positions are extremely hawkish and often dovetail with those of the hard-line Likud Party.
Now, efforts to build a more moderate pro-Israel lobby may finally be coming together. As Gorenberg notes, “for over a year, there have been reports that a ‘liberal Israel lobby’ is on the verge of forming. Plans are now apparently well under way for the launch, sources close to the project have told me.”
2.) Israel is pushing forward on a $3.6 billion dollar effort to dramatically increase development in the Negev desert. Unfortunately, some 80,000 Bedouin live in the territory, and many have already been forced to relocate. As a McClatchy article notes, “Israel has pushed about half the Bedouin into sterile, depressed new desert towns, demolished thousands of illegal shanties and transformed their sheep-grazing pastures into dangerous military zones.” Meanwhile, a recent report from Human Rights Watch argues that Israel’s policy in the Negev is “discriminatory, exclusionary and punitive” towards the Bedouin residents.
3.) In 2005, newly-appointed Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice brokered a much-touted agreement with Israel to remove roadblocks in the West Bank and spur Palestinian economic development. The deal, however, fell through and was never implemented. Now, as Rice again visited Israel this week, her announcement that Olmert’s government had decided to remove 50 roadblocks in Palestinian territory was tinged with irony. As noted by Dion Nissenbaum, the Jerusalem bureau chief for McClatchy Newspapers, the latest agreement “will not even reduce the number of West Bank road blocks to the level it was at in 2005 when Rice announced the [original] deal. According to United Nations figures, Israel has added more than 60 new West Bank road blocks and obstacles since the deal was announced. The figure now stands at 580.”
4.) Joshua Landis, an expert on Syrian politics, writes that Israel is not serious about pursuing a peace agreement with Syria, despite the recent rumors. “My understanding from various Israeli Defense department people I have talked to is that they see Syria as being too weak and [too] unwilling” to make the big concessions necessary for establishing a peace deal. Furthermore, Landis argues, the Olmert government is constrained by hawks within the Bush administration who would rather see Syria isolated than negotiated with.
5.) In an article published online, Palestinian analyst Ali Abunimah worries that “anti-Arab racism and incitement are persistent and growing problems in Israel.” He lists a number of recent examples: the public call by prominent rabbis for revenge against Palestinian militants, the increasingly hostile rhetoric towards Arab members of the Knesset, the inaction of Israeli police in the face of anti-Palestinian riots, and polls indicating a rise in the number of Israelis who “hate” their Arab neighbors. In order to combat this trend, Abunimah argues, the international community must put pressure on Israel “to curb and punish racist incitement and to launch broad public initiatives, particularly in schools, to combat hateful stereotypes of Arabs.”
6.) In response to an Israeli-authorized Russian plan to supply the government of Mahmoud Abbas with armored vehicles, an influential rabbi plans to release a religious ruling stating that “the transfer of armored vehicles and weaponry to the Palestinian Authority is collaboration with the enemy.”
7.) Haaretz has published a blazing editorial condemning what they see as the Israeli government’s deceptive settlement policy.
Had Peace Now not published reports from time to time, it is doubtful anyone would have been aware of the continuing construction in the settlements. One might have assumed from the declarations by Ehud Olmert’s government that construction had been suspended and that efforts were being made to reach a peace agreement to include withdrawal from most of the West Bank. From the complaints by the settlers’ leadership as well, one might have concluded that there was a freeze on building and that the settler youth were really and truly homeless.
But quite different things are happening in the territories….The provocative construction in the Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem is continuing full speed ahead, under the fraudulent heading of strengthening Jerusalem. Barak and Olmert are retreating from the line formulated as far back as 2000, to the effect that Arab Jerusalem will be for the Palestinians and Jewish Jerusalem for the Jews. The impression has emerged that it is no coincidence that the same Barak who failed in those talks is the one causing these talks to fail.
The same Ze’ev “Zambish” Hever, who along with Ariel Sharon brought the settlements disaster down on the State of Israel, is continuing to push for construction in the West Bank under the auspices of a government that had declared a different path. It appears there is no point at all in electing a government and formulating coalition guidelines because whether it is a government of the right or left, building in the settlements continues.
(Cross-posted from Foreign Policy Watch)