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Below is a translation from the Arabic article published by Alquds Newspaper on Tuesday 17th of August 2010 Click here for the Arabic

By:Aziz Abu Sarah

A year ago, the Palestinians encountered unprecedented change in the U.S. and international community toward the Palestinian issue, as the international community noticeably increased pressure on the Israeli government to freeze settlements and accept the principle of a two-state solution for final settlement. However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was able to evade the pressure by throwing the ball into the Palestinian court, demanding that the Palestinians return to direct negotiations.

The Palestinian side rejected the demand for direct negotiations, citing a lack of progress in indirect negotiations and the absence of any trust building with the Israeli side. This decision led the international community to exercise pressure on the Palestinians, and interpret their decision as a lack of interest in negotiations. Netanyahu took this opportunity to present himself as a peace seeker and renew his allegations that there is no partner for peace on the Palestinian side.

The Palestinians’ fear of direct negotiations with Netanyahu comes from painful memories and experiences that Palestinian negotiators have repeatedly gone through. Such negotiations normally began with never ending talks, and ended with the Palestinians being blamed after every round of unsuccessful negotiations.

The Palestinians also have not forgotten the results of direct negotiations with Netanyahu in his first premiership in the nineties.

However, the international community has gone through many changes and is different today, and therefore we must be aware of how these changes may affect Palestinian-Israeli negotiations.

There are voices in the Palestinian community which insist that engaging in direct talks would weaken the Palestinian position, and therefore we should reject the demand for negotiations. However, the opposite is true. Nothing weakens the Palestinians more than appearing to oppose negotiations, leaving them open to be labeled obstructionists of the peace process.

On the other hand, entering into direct negotiations with the Israelis could strengthen the Palestinian position. Last year Palestinians succeeded in winning the confidence and trust of the international community by demonstrating their ability to build infrastructure and institutions for the future Palestinian state. The Palestinians have also been able to foster strong international support for the establishment of a Palestinian state in the near future by highlighting the deteriorating conditions on the ground that could lead to the death of the unborn Palestinian state.

Moreover, the current U.S. administration is more sympathetic to Palestinian suffering and more attentive to their hopes than any other U.S. administration in the past.  President Obama announced that he would like to see a Palestinian state before the end of his term, which expires in two and a half years. He demonstrated his commitment by choosing George Mitchell to serve as the U.S. envoy to the Middle East, a former U.S. senator known for fairness and directness in facilitating negotiations and for his experience in dealing with complicated negotiations, such as those in Northern Ireland.

Perhaps one of the most important changes in the current U.S. administration is their willingness to confront the Israeli government publicly. Several times over the past year, the administration has challenged Israel on the construction of settlements, which the former U.S. administration avoided.

For the first time ever, the Palestinians have a possible advantage over their Israeli counterparts in negotiations. While the current Israeli government has been unable to provide any serious offers for a final settlement, it seems that the Palestinians are ready to offer a comprehensive settlement for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

As result, the Palestinians must initiate by presenting their offer, rather than waiting for an Israeli offer. This will throw the ball back in the Israeli court and put Netanyahu in a position to reveal whether he is serious about reaching an agreement. Also, engaging in direct negotiations before the end of the partial settlement freeze may give Palestinians leverage to pressure Israel to continue the freeze. Rejecting the direct negations, however, would give Netanyahu an excuse to resume building settlements.

That said, the return to direct negotiations must avoid past mistakes. It is important that negotiations be tied to a clear framework and timetable. The passage of time without any progress in the peace process will only kill a two state solution. We can take Netanyahu’s recent statement about the possibility of achieving a peace agreement within one year as a timetable for the declaration of a Palestinian state.

The Palestinian decision to return to direct negotiations with Israeli should not happen as a result of international pressure. Instead, the Palestinian side should make a diplomatic and strategic decision to enter direct negotiations, with the knowledge that it is in the best interest of the Palestinian people.

The struggle for civil rights, freedom and independence is not unique to the Palestinian people. Many nations have travelled the same road. Palestinians today have the advantage of looking back and learning from those who succeeded in their struggles.

The American civil rights movement in particular has important lessons for those working to forge peace between Israelis and Palestinians. It succeeded in using non-violent strategies to bring about the end of legally sanctioned segregation in the United States. What principles can the Palestinians learn from the movement?

The civil rights movement in the United States based its struggle on messages that were hard to disagree with, even for those who did not identify with its aims and objectives. Prominent civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., for instance, reminded the American people of one of the most basic principles in their constitution: “all men are created equal”. He highlighted the law of humanity and lifted it above man-made laws. He called any law or practice that denigrates human dignity or limits freedom unnatural and immoral, and said these laws shouldn’t be obeyed because they inspire a false sense of superiority in one race against another. He touched people’s hearts by reasoning with them and speaking their own language.

Dr. King appealed to the deepest consciousness of the American people. He invoked the highest standard of American values: the constitution and the writings of the founding fathers. Thus, his appeals reached millions of American people and resonated within their hearts and minds.

In the same way, Palestinians can reach the hearts and minds of the Jewish citizens of Israel by appealing to their hopes and fears, ideals and principles. But as Israel has no constitution, this means calling on the Hebrew Scriptures and Jewish traditions.

By presenting Jewish morals, standards and beliefs in a new light, Palestinians can make their arguments more salient to Israelis. For example, the words of the prophet Isaiah are particularly resonant, especially as they are read during the Yom Kippur service: “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?”

Moses’ cry to Pharaoh is also powerful: “Let my people go”. Moses was asking for freedom, and his words are sharper than any sword. It is a phrase that can reach the hearts of the Jewish community far more effectively than any angry slogan or threat.

Palestinians should also appeal to Israel’s democratic ideals. As Israel maintains a belief in liberty and self-determination, so should Palestinians insist that Israel live up to its own ideals. This means highlighting that true democracy cannot allow for the occupation and oppression of others.

In recent years, many Palestinians have chosen non-violence as a form of resistance, from weekly demonstrations against the Israeli separation barrier to economic and cultural boycotts. However the majority of activities have been unilateral or have failed to reach the mainstream Israeli public.

In America, the civil rights movement geared its campaign toward the large silent majority of white Christians. It is time for Palestinians and Jews who support freedom to do something similar, and call on Israel to uphold the principles it claims to espouse. This appeal should not just be made with words, but through non-violent actions aimed at evoking symbols that will reach every Israeli and Jew, from the soldiers at the checkpoints and the settlers in the West Bank to the businesspeople in Tel Aviv.

The Palestinian struggle shares many similarities with Jewish history. From its fight for existence to the Diaspora experience, Jews and Palestinians have both desired a secure and free homeland.

These struggles have been burdened by disappointment. Here we can also learn from the American Civil Rights Movement. Martin Luther King wrote in his letter from Birmingham Jail about his own disappointment, but he did not let his frustration distract him from his ultimate goal. Instead, he kept building bridges between people who were divided by walls of fear, racism and even hatred. He was sustained by a belief that he was not fighting a war that would be won or lost by conventional weapons, but a struggle for the triumph of humanity over extremism.

Palestinians, like King, should fight not only for freedom, but also for humanity to defeat separation and prejudice.

* * *

Aziz Abu Sarah is the Director of Middle East Projects at Center for World Religions, Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution at George Mason University at George Mason University. His blog can be found at http://azizabusarah.wordpress.com. Email: azizabusarah@gmail.com. This article was written for the Common Ground News Service (CGNews).

Dear friends,

I am proud to announce the formation of my new business, MEJDI LLC along with my wonderful partners, veteran Palestinian peacebuilder Aziz Abu Sarah and experienced banker Mr. Scott Cooper.

MEJDI LLC is a socially responsible corporation that supports economic justice and equality through wealth creation as an effective response to violence and war.

Our mission at MEJDI is to innovate conflict-sensitive approaches to wealth creation in the Middle East, in order that opportunities for peace and economic justice may flourish.

MEJDI’s Products and Services include:

1. MEJDI’s unique mix of business and conflict resolution experts creates professional tours to Palestine, Israel, and other regional destinations, in full collaboration with our clients. MEJDI then conducts only the tour that fits the specific needs and interests of each client and group. Clients can include interfaith groups, churches, synagogues, mosques, corporations, NGO’s, or universities.

• Our unique approach concentrates on undoing the damage of the past by empowering only honest business people and socially responsible change makers on both sides of the Green Line, featuring them in seminars, promoting their work, and paying them properly.
• Uniquely, we have a network in place of honest vendors for every aspect of our business in Israel and Palestine. Our business then pours back a percentage of our profits into cutting-edge Middle East peacebuilding ventures through the Center for World Religions, Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution (CRDC) at George Mason University’s Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution.

2. MEJDI imports, promotes and sells products made by Palestinians at Fair Wages, or products made in equal collaboration between Palestinians and Israelis or Jews.

3. MEJDI provides consultancy services to connect investors together with socially responsible businesses in Israel and Palestine.

How can you get involved?

• Work with us to initiate a tour to the Middle East from your area or for your network.
• Sponsor a MEJDI fair wage trade show in your community. Ask us how to use this as a fundraising tool for your favorite non-profit or charity.
• Do good by doing well! Become a MEJDI Account Executive. Market MEJDI tours and products.
• Schedule an investment consultation. Modest investment inquiries are welcome!

Contact us at mejdi.net@gmail.com

Here’s an excerpt from Richard Lloyd Parry’s article in the Times Online, titled “North Korean envoys in talks with South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak”:

“If the South and the North genuinely try to resolve problems through dialogue, there will be no problems that cannot be resolved,” [South Korean President] Lee was quoted as having told his visitors, who flew back to Pyongyang soon after the meeting and did not attend the funeral itself. “[The North Korean delegation] expressed its gratitude for allowing the meeting and suggested both sides can co-operate and resolve [problems],” Mr Lee’s spokesman said.

It was the first time that North Korea had sent official mourners for a South Korean president, reflecting the importance of the late Kim Dae Jung in the history of relations between the two states. Mr Kim was the architect of the so-called “Sunshine Policy” which, in contrast to that of the current Government, sought to engage the North with joint projects, direct negotiation and aid.

Read the rest of the article here.

I continue to be intrigued by the context of mourning and shared mourning as the basis for conversations between enemies. I argued in Holy War, Holy Peace and also in Between Eden and Armageddon that shared mourning is an important path of peacebuilding based on the evidence on the ground of the Jewish/Arab conflict. But the evidence is that mourning brings some people together, like the Parents Circle, and drives others to revenge. Why is still a mystery to me.

Paths to Positive Change in the Holy Land -
Early Registration Aug-19th

We are s proud to announce an upcoming Citizen Diplomacy tour
to Israel-Palestine, to be led by Rabbi Marc Gopin and Aziz Abu Sarah!
The tour will take place between October 27th and November 5th.
This trip will be unique in that participants will have the opportunity not
only to learn about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but also to participate
in local peace initiatives. 

The tour is being hosted by George Mason University’s Center for World Religions, Diplomacy and
Conflict Resolution, Sulha Peace Project, and Al-Tariq (the Palestinian Institute for Devolpment and Democracy).

For More information “Click Here”

President Obama and President Abbas

Iran threat pushing Arabs closer to normalization with Israel
By Akiva Eldar

…Sheikh Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa notes that peace is not a light bulb easily switched on, but admits that the Arabs have made public-relations blunders. “An Israeli might be forgiven for thinking that every Muslim voice is raised in hatred,” he writes, “because that is usually the only one he hears. Just as an Arab might be forgiven for thinking every Israeli wants the destruction of every Palestinian.” Khalifa urges the Arabs to communicate directly with the Israelis and tell them their story.

If Olmert’s defense of the settlements was grist for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s mill, the Bahraini prince’s call for normalization made Obama’s weekend. The start of normalization between the nations is a key item on the president’s agenda. It’s the undertone intended to ease the creation of a blueprint for a final-status agreement.

LINK: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1102824.html

There is no question about the Arab push toward normalization for years now. Saudi Arabia, the most reactionary country of all,  has been offering normalization for most of this decade, very publicly, and successive Israeli governments have ignored the offer of something that Israelis used to fantasize about back in the ’60′s. There is no broad strong constituency in Israel to say yes, and therefore there is no government that will say yes. Worse still, we may soon see a strike in Lebanon that will heighten the focus on Iran and distract from the United States and the Quartet’s pressure to freeze settlements and begin a process toward two states.

What is tragic is that Israelis are being hoodwinked by a government controlled by a settler minority into believing that there are no peace partners. For those of us deeply immersed in the Arab world it is a deep shock to see the Israeli community so terrified of peace offers. There will come a time that solutions will be imposed from without, or there will come a time for a one state solution. This may not be a bad thing if it happens slowly and nonviolently. Belgium tolerates an uncomfortable split right down the middle and no group has swallowed the other alive. But we all know that this has been much more bloody.

In the meantime, the tried and true and frustrating simple path is the arithmetic of equal cooperation and collaboration between peoples. This does not sit well wtih the Arab governments or Fatah or Hamas; and states in general do not trust at all their own people, or people to people work. Laws in Israel and Palestine and Syria, and many other countries are designed to keep their peoples apart.

But, in my opinion, the stubborness of Israeli Jews on these matters is born of a level of fear, insecurity, frustrated dreams, politician-driven manipulations, inherited wounds and paranoia that can only be healed–that i have only witnessed to be healed thousands of times–by authentic, profound relationships and cooperation. It is the only way that the full truth of the past and present emerges. It is painstaking work but there may be no way around it. The only way for Palestinians and Jews to face the worst in each of their communities is to develop enough collaboration based on honesty, equality and mutual prosperity, to develop a united front. This has worked the world over and it can work in the less than Holy Land as well.

U.S. Pressure on Arab States Grows
By Kim Ghattas

Photo Credit: BBC

The Obama administration has been frustrated by the lack of movement on all sides but has reportedly been particularly disappointed by how little Arab countries have been willing to do or even promise.

Wary from past experience of negotiating with the Israelis, the official Arab position has been one of “show us the goods, then we will talk”.

Link to BBC Article.

This just about sums about what I have seen and heard in the region. No one is in the mood for more talk of rapprochement with Israel. With the United States, definitely. There is still a hope that the United States will provide the leadership to move governments in the region toward a new direction of engagement with their people. But the war on Gaza was far more of a watershed than anyone understands in Western capitals, especially in Israel, where the government continues to produce reports about a just war fought justly. I have never seen such an amazing gap between the psychology of Israeli Jews and just about everyone else. No one trusts a word from Israel, and on the contrary expect only tricks now. At the same time, the situation of Arab and Palestinian politics is moribund. Sharon really did succeed brilliantly in dividing and conquering.

What will be? My hopes are placed on the young, on those who understand the power of actions over words, and the non-negotiable reality of the future of the whole planet riding on absolute equality of citizens, of human beings, that is wedded to a respect for all life. The more young people, from Iran to North Africa,  jump on that bandwagon, and work together across enemy lines for mutual prosperity, the more that the sick ideologies of the past will die away. Death to ideology, long live the young.

In a December 31, 2008 conference call with Brit Tzedek v’Shalom, an American grassroots Jewish organization dedicated to promoting a negotiated two-state resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Marc shared his “on-the-ground perspective of the…violence in Gaza and southern Israel and the need for U.S. Leadership.”

Listen to the call here or read a transcript of the interview here.

Marc reflects  now:

I stand by much of what I concluded in that interview. I remember vividly the circumstances of that interview. I was on the floor of a very cold apartment at night, unsure if i would be heard because my only connection was skype (as usual no budget for my work), and my computer only worked with skype on the floor.

I was impressed with the questions I received, and it was rather a relief to reflect on the issues instead of living it. In the first days we had no idea what the repercussions would be in Jerusalem, or whether the Gaza War would cause an all out war with the Palestinians. There were small riots in some nearby villages, and I was amazed at how much Israeli society is designed to make the ongoing tragedy rather nonchalant. I remember taking a cab and roads being blocked on the south side of Jerusalem where I was staying. I asked the soldier why it was blocked. He looked away, not wanting to bother answering, and then just said, “Just a little bit of trouble”. Yes, a little bit of trouble. My Palestinian friends were crying their eyes out, the bitterness and worry for family was all around us, and yes, some teenagers in various small villages were burning tires.

Until I sat with friends in tears over relatives in Gaza I never related to male teenagers burning tires in protest, a television scene that I have literally grown up with for forty years. But on that trip in those circumstances I somehow could just see inside the homes. People are screaming in anguish, mothers crying for cousins and relatives, and so the teenager goes out and burns a tire, not knowing what else to do with the rage.

And in the Jewish homes, it was all fireworks all the time, just a dazzling display on the television screen of modern Jewish fireworks, modern rockets, pouring into Gaza, in revenge for years of the humiliating Sderot and Ashkelon rockets.

Cycles of revenge, two eyes for an eye. I was sick to my stomach from this new Jew and new Judaism. When I grew up  in my traditional Orthodox environment I understood guns and weapons and police and militaries to be tragic necessities at best, mostly horrible realities for which one fast day after another were instituted. I was shaking walking around Jerusalem, always passing in between Jewish and Arab worlds, frankly afraid of all of them. But mostly realizing just how many people, how many Palestinians were truly innocent civilians, and how destructive and inconclusive this war would be.

But there is something I did not know then that I know now. Now I know that there were scores of influential Jews and non-Jews  at the highest levels of American politics, who knew full well that this Gaza war was a last hurrah of neoconservative faith in beatings and humiliation as diplomacy. And they were angry, much angrier than they ever told me. They were about to take over the reins of government in every branch, with a massive mandate for change. This war, they saw, as an attempt to etch in stone the impossibility of a settlement between Israel and Palestine, thus destroying the momentum of a new Middle East policy. And that is why I think that the Obama Administration, all of its Jews and its supportive senators and congressmen, embarked on such a resolute stance to Israeli policies.

Gaza broke the back of Israeli/American cooperation. I do not for one believe that it is only Bibi and Avigdor’s right wing universe. The camel’s back of American solidarity has been broken on Israeli military solutions, period. And what may frighten Jews is that there is such a massive split between American Jewish attitudes and Israeli Jewish attitudes to this very change. I think that in hindsight, the major era of Middle Eastern suicide bombing, from the 90′s in Jerusalem through 2003, including the bombings in the U.S. and Europe, solidly put much of the world behind Israel’s radical solutions, overwhelming punishment and imprisonment in Gaza and the West Bank, the Wall, the starving of Gaza.

But that started to ring hollow the more that the Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld nightmare in Iraq unraveled. And Israel’s war in Gaza was the last straw. Israelis really did not see this coming, but I knew in my heart that Mr. Obama must have been seething at the destruction in Gaza, and he planned real change with a very willing constituency. The so-called pro-Israel Lobby did not see it coming either because they had grown so used to gathering Congress to their imperial gatherings, always saying everything their donors want to hear, and then keeping inside every frustration they had with suicidal violent policies that were bad for America and bad for Israel. Some of us in Washington knew, because so many of these folks only expressed their anger in the most oblique and indirect ways so as not to be targeted. But now, in the last six months, we see the change, we see what was inside, spoken of only in bathrooms and private dinners, now emerge into a fundamental shift.

So, as I reflect on the last six months of change in policy, I keep having a vision of listening to Bogey Yaalon, now Deputy Prime Minister, coming to Washington time after time talking about how ‘they’ needed to teach the Palestinians and the Arabs ‘a lesson’. And so he did, as he has done decade after decade, a lesson that pain is the only thing the enemy understands.  But who got punished? Whose hands have been slapped? Who is not believed anymore when it really counts, like with Iran’s nuclear policy?

Those of you who know my writings and work know that I do not have a huge amount of faith in elite peace processes, nor in elite impositions of peace on unwilling populations. And to make peace here we must impose it on those who put Bibi into office. We will see what happens, but I believe that the overwhelming lesson of the 90′s and this present concluding decade is that force, Islamist or Jewish, does not work, it gets nowhere, and that the only relationships I see working are between very special Arabs and Jews who have deep friendships and equal partnerships. That is the only future without war. I wish President Obama well, and I support him every step of the way, but he stands atop an infrastructure of Western imperial selfishness that does not know or understand subtlety, respect, anti-corruption, listening, humility, equality and social justice. And there is no way that the Palestinian people will come to the table in massive numbers unless there is a profound change in their treatment by everyone. And, in turn, I know the Jewish people very well, and there is no way that the rank and file supporters of militarism will aquiesce unless they see a profound change in attitude of the Arab world to them. In other words, this is a very messy, damaged psychological situation, and I hope that President Obama and Senator Mitchell understand their limitations, no matter how excellent their skills and intentions. They need the rest of us to help, to gain far more ‘buy-in’ from these damaged peoples. I see it coming, but it is all so slow, so slow. We need more people to engage and show the policy makers the way forward.

©Aziz Abu Sarah and Marc Gopin

Two years ago, Aziz joined a panel of Palestinians speaking to Jewish rabbinical students about the Palestinian point of view. Among the speakers was a Palestinian-American businessman who moved to the West Bank after Oslo, hoping to invest in a developing area. He shared his experience working with the Palestinian telecommunications company Jawal, and his job with the new Al-Wataniyah Company that was to compete with Jawal in the mobile market.

Just recently Al-Wataniyah sent a letter to the Palestinian Authority, asking the government to pay back the company’s registration fees plus 200 million dollars in investment damages. The company is demanding these remunerations because Israel has not given them the airwaves to start the company, even though in 2007 the Israeli government agreed to allow the company to operate after long negotiations and the interference of former British Prime Minister Blair, the World Bank, and American officials.

The cost of this failure is hundreds of millions of dollars and over 3000 potential jobs in the West Bank. This is a lost opportunity for Palestinians, but it is just one example of the Palestinian Authority’s lack of control over its own air waves, water and other national resources. All projects must be approved by the Israeli Administration, which makes it look as though the Palestinian government is operating as an arm of the Israeli occupation. This lowers the credibility of the PA in the eyes of the Palestinian public.

After Mr. Netanyahu won the elections in February, he promised to work to improve the Palestinian economy. However, so far there are no indications that there will be any changes in Israel’s policy in the near future. This is crippling to the PA, as economic development is a critical aspect of national stability and is intertwined with the success of a viable Palestinian state. The lack of growth in the Palestinian private sector is quickly crushing Palestinians’ hope for the future. As a whole, this damages the PA’s effectiveness, since the Palestinian government will never be able to enforce the rule of law if there is no prospect of prosperity for its citizens.

These economic policies and the continuation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are mutually detrimental to both the Israeli and Palestinian communities, and are creating a perfect nest for future extremists. Unemployment in the Palestinian Territories is increasing and is often over 30%; the poverty rate is at 68%, according to the UNDP. Educated and successful Palestinians often find themselves forced to leave the Palestinian territories, leaving behind poorer and more frustrated communities.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict also stunts economic growth in Israel’s industries. Consider that Egypt had 12.8 million tourists last year, while Israel had only 3 million tourists. This is only one of many examples. In addition, Many investors are still hesitant to invest in Israel because of the political instability in the region.

Although economic hardship threatens to exacerbate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, economics can also speed the end of the conflict. Business cooperation on an equal and empowering basis, that focuses on businesses, such as tourism, that employ thousands of people, not just enriching a few, can be a catalyst for further collaboration between Israelis and Palestinians.

We propose to the Obama Administration that, in addition to pressuring the sides for rapid progress at the political level, they also strong encourage, even insist upon popular, people to people, business initiatives between the two sides. A synergy will be created that will naturally create grassroots pressure from private businesses in support of peace. Also, once a peace agreement is reached, economics will continue to play a large role in maintaining peace. Any peace agreement between Israeli Jews and Palestinians must maximize equal business cooperation between the two sides, and should not bring a total divorce between the two communities. We have witnessed business partnerships become the key to new friendships at a profound cultural level, in addition to creating prosperity for everyone.

An Israeli friend of Aziz used to be strongly right wing, and they often disagreed on politics. However one thing he always said, “If there is peace we will be eating with golden spoons as a sign of our prosperity.” The reality is business opportunities and financial growth speaks to everyone and presents an appealing future even to those currently opposing the peace process.