Palestine

Fatah, Hamas, and the Future of Palestine

by mgopin on May 24, 2011 · 0 comments

(This article was written in collaboration with Aziz Abu Sarah, Co-Executive Director of The Center for World Religions Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution.)

Ever since the disastrous split in Palestinian leadership of several years ago into Fatah and Hamas it has become clear that disunity has been a critical factor standing in the way of Palestinian statehood. Many reconciliation efforts, with several third parties, were attempted and aborted. This time it seems that things are different, despite the enormous ideological divisions and outstanding grievances between Fatah and Hamas.

Why is this happening now? Clearly, the historic impact of the “Arab Spring” on Egypt and Syria, and across the region, is an enormous game changer. The increasing instability of Syria suggests that there is a strong possibility that A) Hamas may no longer have a stable home in Syria, but, on the other hand, Palestinians now have a much more sympathetic ear in Egypt which has been critical as a peace broker. B) Syria has long prevented its own Palestinian population from any kind of political activism, preferring to keep them as a bargaining chip to get back the Golan. But events of Naqba Day 2011 suggest that there are elements in Syria who are ready to unleash the power of the Palestinian masses against Israel if they see their internal situation increasingly destabilized by what they say are “outside agitators”. In other words, if the spirit of the Arab Spring brings them down then these elements are threatening to take Israel with them. All of this is new and is due to the unprecedented power and effects of Arab nonviolent resistance.

Aziz Abu Sarah is Co-Executive Director of CRDC, a leading Palestinian peacebuilder, architect of CRDC citizen diplomacy interventions in Palestine and Israel, and an important analyst featured in numerous Middle Eastern outlets. He explains Hamas’ and Fatah’s evolving strategies this way:

“Hamas has been following the changes in the Middle East with growing interest and anxiety. The centers of power are changing, and some of their allies in the region are facing internal challenges and uprisings that they might not survive. They learned from watching the Arab revolutions that there is the potential for unrest in Gaza due to frustration with the status quo. At one point Gazans will ask Hamas’ leaders what are they doing to make a difference, and the people will not be satisfied with just blaming Israel. They want to see a difference in their lives and they expect their leaders to have a strategy that would lead them to freedom, dignity and security. A unity government will legitimize Hamas, especially in the Arab world. Both Khaled Mashal and Ismail Hanniyeh have spoken publicly about accepting a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders. Many believe that Hamas was waiting for President Abbas to negotiate an agreement before jumping onboard.”

In other words, the Arab Spring of the young has already come to Gaza, and it is re-structuring the strategy of Hamas. The same can be said of Fatah, who were facing a restive youthful population in recent months, ready and eager to join the Arab Spring. Aziz explains:

“The Palestinian leadership decided that they must choose a different avenue if they want to shake the political stalemate. This new path includes the internationalization of the Palestinian case and putting Israel under pressure by countries sympathetic to the Palestinian cause. ”

The Arab revolutions are making all power brokers re-calculate their strategic interests in terms of the power, voice and interests of the young masses. The fear among the elites, whether or not the young protestors achieve all of their aims, is palpable, and most recently exposed in the creation of a Colombian mercenary army for the UAE by the scandalous founder of Blackwater.

I am concerned, however, about the possibility of ‘throwing the baby out with the bath water’. Many a noble Palestinian and Israeli hammered out a livable two state solution based on the ’67 borders, and it is not clear that the youth–nor Hamas–are in the mood to move all this energy of resistance back to a two-state solution. It is not clear to me how Hamas could ever be integrated not only into a peaceful relationship with Israel but also with a secular Palestine. Nevertheless, I agree with Aziz that Mashal and Hanniyeh sent clear signals in recent years for what a viable peace deal with Israel would look like, good signals.

It is true that Hamas will not recognize Israel’s right to exist as a starting point for negotiations, especially negotiations that turned during the Oslo years into an endless pretext for successive Israeli political coalitions to take more land. Hamas, despite its abhorrent use of violence against innocents, may have been right to not want to give away recognition of Israel until there is a real deal, and that this was Arafat’s fateful error. They may have legitimate reasons to consider the Quartet’s demands on them regarding recognition as unreasonable.

Hamas, however, should listen to the masses across the region and write a new page in their history, as did the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, and that is the new page of nonviolence and democracy. Hamas therefore should play its part in nonviolent resistance and state building by enforcing a hudna, a long-term ceasefire with Israel without recognizing Israel, in order to test Israel’s intentions and behavior, and in order to create the space for a viable two-state solution to be realized.

It is nonviolence that is the key here to the future, it is the key to the heart of Westerners and Americans who ultimately must get behind a Palestinian state, and it is the key to moving the mostly liberal Jewish masses in America into a clear coalition for Palestinian statehood. Many polls suggest that there is a majority in Israel and especially among American Jews for Palestinian statehood if nonviolence is the method and goal of its achievement. Now that Hamas is not as encumbered by Syria and Egypt it should seize the opportunity to present a new, defiant but peaceful face to the world.

The Palestinian Authority is already putting all its efforts into a nonviolent strategy of unprecedented proportions. Quietly there is support for the nonviolent resistance movements in the village, and publicly there is a massive and successful campaign for the unilateral declaration of statehood. Palestinian leadership is engaged in a high-stakes nonviolent resistance strategy, using their assets-global fatigue with Netanyahu’s government and over forty years of occupation. This may also press the United States to go where President Obama was incapable of moving it, certainly in his first term given the power of the Lobby and the weakness of his political party. But considering the sweeping changes across the Middle East and the rising din of the popular voice of nonviolent resistance, the United States may be forced to confront the Israeli government with a stark choice; accept the Clintonian parameters of a two-state solution based on the ’67 borders, or face a Middle East marching with Palestinians toward Jerusalem.

Aziz Abu Sarah concludes:

“Palestinians are changing the rules of the game. They are two steps ahead of Netanyahu and Obama in their strategic planning. The Palestinian strategy has been for too long emotional, filled with reactionary responses to Israeli actions, and consequently unproductive. It is a breath of fresh air for Palestinians to see their leaders making a giant shift in their behavior. The reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah and the clear strategy for achieving independence is inspiring Palestinians to believe once again in their leaders.”

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Imagining Peace: The Practical Advantages of an Israeli/Palestinian Final Settlement

by mgopin on October 13, 2010 · 1 comment

Recent sputterings of a peace process between Israel and Palestine, the termination of Israel’s settlement building freeze causing a demise of said peace process — again — has produced a loud, global yawn. What else is new in this endless conflict? Negotiations cannot succeed without a vision, and there is no widely shared vision of peace among these people that could truly spur their politicians forward.

The hardest part of building peace for the future is freeing oneself from the wounds of the past that create brutal behavior in the present. One way forward may be to suspend skepticism for just a moment, to free the mind to build a world of practical possibilities should peace be achieved. Armed with this imaginative exercise it might become easier to lobby for practical ways forward.

Let’s imagine the following: official creation of a state of Palestine on the West Bank and Gaza with East Jerusalem as its capital, West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, a shared civil regime for the quarter mile of the Holy Basin in the Old City of Jerusalem, Palestinian refugees awarded citizenship and compensation in a variety of countries including Palestine itself, and normalized relations between all Arab states and Israel.

The first thing to occur would be an explosion of religious tourism, venturing beyond boundaries to forbidden and exotic lands, places only grandparents saw with their own eyes. This would be true of Jews, Christians and Muslims, but especially of Middle Eastern families, Palestinian and Jewish, torn apart by decades of conflict. From the rest of the world there would be Muslim pilgrimages to the holiest and most ancient places in Syria, Iraq, Israel, Palestine, and many other countries. Arab Jews from many of the 22 Arab states would be pilgrims in the opposite direction. They would visit the cemeteries of their grandparents and their saints, visit hundreds of villages that still exist, with their massive Israeli, French and American Jewish families in tow.

Dozens of companies will provide routes for Muslims to travel from places as far as Malaysia and China to Jerusalem and then on to Mecca, following in the footsteps of their prophet, and other companies will specialize in Jewish tours across the region. Highways, trains, and hotels will multiply dramatically on the roads between Cairo, Gaza, Jerusalem, Haifa, Beirut and Damascus. Tourism is the most democratic of all wealth producing industries, and millions of jobs will be created spanning all the religious communities, minorities and majorities alike.

With Jewish and Palestinian identities on more secure foundations the search for the ancient Middle East beneath ground will be less politicized, and reach new and more sophisticated levels of collaboration in the Holy Land, leading to a vast expansion of archeological and academic research, also translating into many more jobs.

Business partnerships, already secretly there, will surface overnight between the Gulf States and Israelis, between Israel’s high tech firms and a youthful Middle Eastern population eager for work. All these communities will rediscover only recently suppressed traditions of Arab Jews, Christians, and Muslims trading and working together across the Middle East for centuries.

To cite an example of emerging patterns of cooperation, I am a co-founder of a Palestinian/Jewish social enterprise called MEJDI, Middle East Justice and Development Initiative. We are pioneering both tours and academic seminars to the Middle East and beyond, where we specialize in patronizing small businesses with a reputation for fair wages. Profits are also re-invested in lecturers and tour guides who are reputable activists for positive social change.

This is just a small example of the intersection of small business empowerment and social change that cuts across enemy lines. But serious attention to fair wages and social justice should start now, and financial support for social change activists must occur now as a model for the future.

Imagination provides an exploration of what could be but it is not the road there. The road requires step by step increments of trust building, ways to convince more and more of these wounded peoples to reach out to neighbors and thereby to bring their politicians to honest negotiations, not devious games.

Generations, even centuries, of Arabs, Muslims, Christians, and Jews, did build prosperous relationships; it is time to recover their legacy. The key to the future is imagination with a conscience, and then all obstacles become smaller.

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THE PRACTICAL ADVANTAGES FOR MUSLIMS, JEWS AND CHRISTIANS OF PEACE FOR PALESTINE AND ISRAEL

by mgopin on October 10, 2010 · 0 comments

The hardest part of building peace for the future is freeing oneself from the wounds of war, the mutual recriminations of the present, the painful memories of a lost past, and the unreasonable fantasies of a world where one’s enemies magically disappear. Sometimes the way forward is to free the mind to build a different world, a world of practical possibilities should peace be achieved.

Let’s imagine the following: a full peace treaty between Israel and Palestine, official creation of a state of Palestine on the West Bank and Gaza, with East Jerusalem as its capital, a shared civil regime for the quarter mile of the Holy Basin in the Old City of Jerusalem that is overseen by Israeli and Palestinian Jews, Muslims and Christians, and a way for every Palestinian refugee camp’s residents to be awarded citizenship and compensation in a variety of countries including Palestine itself.

The first thing to occur would be a massive explosion of religious tourism, a venturing beyond boundaries to forbidden and exotic lands, places only grandparents saw with their own eyes. This would be true of Jews, Christians and Muslims. There would be pilgrimages to the holiest and most ancient places in Syria, Iraq, Israel, Palestine, and many other countries. Muslims from all over the world will converge on the Haram al Sharif in Jerusalem. Dozens of companies will provide routes from all over the world for Muslims to travel from places as far as Malaysia and China to Jerusalem and Mecca. This will result in an explosion of Asian and Middle Eastern new joint business ventures.

Highways and hotels will multiply dramatically on the roads between Cairo, Gaza, Jerusalem, Haifa, Beirut and Damascus. The few brave souls who have tried recently to connect all these routes to Mesopotamia and the birthplace of Abraham in Iraq even in wartime will be followed by millions more people in a time of peace. Tourism is the most democratic of all wealth producing industries, and millions of jobs will be created in many sectors across religious worlds.

Without the severe contest of Jewish and Palestinian identities, the search for the ancient Middle East beneath ground will reach new and more sophisticated levels of collaboration leading to a vast expansion of archeological and academic research, also translating into many more jobs. There will also be an explosion of inter-religious and inter-ethnic business. We will begin to see business partnerships emerge overnight between the Gulf States and Israelis. Some of this infrastructure already exists, but quietly. But it will emerge in the full light of day.

Corrupt and unfair businesses will no doubt increase, as they always do, but the absence of inter-religious conflict over Palestine and Israel will encourage Jews, Muslims and Christians to cooperate at a deeper level of cultural values. Let me explain.

To cite an example of emerging patterns of cooperation, I am a co-founder of a Palestinian/Jewish business partnership called MEJDI, Middle East Justice and Development Initiative (www.mejdi.net). It is a social enterprise, meaning that we are for-profit, but our profits are made only in cooperation with clients who pay their workers fair wages, and everything we do is geared toward supporting peace and social justice. We are pioneering both tours and academic seminars to the Middle East, and beyond, where most dollars spent support and patronize businesses with a clear reputation for fair wages. Profits are also re-invested in lecturers and tour guides who are reputable activists for positive social change. We thus offer a good product, tours and seminars, but with direct investment in change makers and honest businesses.

This is just one example of the intersection of small business empowerment and social change that cuts across the lines of Muslim, Jew, and Christian. I have learned after 27 years of peace activism in the Middle East that ignoring inequality and poverty is disastrous, and it violates every tenet of the region’s religious traditions and values. Serious attention to fair wages, however, and financial support for social change activists will be a game changer in the region. Imagine how many of these cooperative venture would flower if peace comes.

Generations, even centuries, of Arabs, Muslims, Christians, and Jews, built mutually prosperous relationships; it is time to recover their legacy. The key to the future is imagination with a conscience. Then all obstacles seem smaller, more of a nuisance. But without imagination, all one ever sees are roadblocks. I prefer the view of an open road.

Originally posted at: http://www.muslimsdebate.com/n.php?nid=4984

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A Practical Path to Justice and an Independent Palestine

by mgopin on August 22, 2010 · 0 comments

Folks, I published this with Common Ground News Service. Here is a version of it from the Bali Times.

A Practical Path to Justice and an Independent PalestineAugust 16, 2010

By Rabbi Marc Gopin

The creation of an independent Palestine has been a dream dashed many times, but there may be a practical path forward emerging from a surprising place. I often heard the phrase “business is business” growing up in the 1960s among gritty American Jewish immigrants; my father said it all the time. It reflected old Jewish instincts to do whatever it takes to survive and feed “the family,” even when it meant dealing with people who disliked you – a lot.

What floored me is when my Palestinian partner, Aziz Abu Sarah, with whom I recently founded MEJDI, a social enterprise (business designed for a social goal), told me exactly the same words from his father! Aziz’s family and mine are not involved in our new business venture, but every innovation has implications for the political situation in Palestine, and we seek advice and reactions. I have been shocked by the positive reception in my right wing family to the idea of honest business as a bridge. And every time I asked Aziz, “Are you sure your family is ok with Jews and Arabs doing business given their terrible troubles? They know how Jewish I am?” The answer came, “Business is business.”

I feel very much at home with people who love their families, who see the virtue of work, who when facing an unjust situation recognise that practical and ethical people sometimes prevail. Sometimes honest work eases the way to a sane political vision that overwhelms self-destructive patterns of enemy systems and wounded peoples.

There is a lot of good news on the business front. There is a Palestinian prime minister, increasingly popular, who is revolutionising the infrastructure of Palestine, preparing for prosperity and statehood. Saudi Arabia, the most conservative state in the region, has just announced a US$400-million project for Ramallah. Many Western countries are pouring in huge funds for the private sector.

Will these investments benefit most Palestinians? We are all haunted by “the last time,” by the Oslo years of large funds – and large corruption. But thankfully a recent economic conference in Palestine, which included an American presidential delegation headed by Senator George Mitchell, slated $950 million for small- and medium-sized businesses.

My partners and I at MEJDI want more, however. We argue that more is needed to place justice at the centre of Palestine’s future, and to discourage an investor tendency to make a few wealthy and most miserable. All the incoming funds are good but we should explicitly support socially responsible business in Palestine.

Although there is no ultimate solution for Palestine without an end to the Occupation, small businesses are needed to form the backbone of a viable state. Small businesses generate a middle class that depends on the rule of law and democratic values, whereas countries supported only through large corporations and government control rarely emerge as democracies. Palestinians deserve a democracy at the end of their long struggle.

Here is an example of what we are doing as a social enterprise. We are pioneering both tours and academic seminars where almost every dollar spent is going to support and patronize businesses with a clear reputation for fair wages. Profits are also re-invested in lecturers and tour guides who are well known activists for positive social change.

This is just one example of the intersection of small business empowerment and social change. Our other major innovation is the distribution in the West of products made by poor but innovative Palestinian small businesses paying only fair wages. I have learned after 27 years of peace activism that ignoring inequality and poverty is disastrous and it violates every tenet of the region’s religious traditions and values. The un-sustainability of the average Palestinian family makes old ways of coexistence work inadequate. Serious attention to fair wages, however, and financial support for Palestine’s social change activists help engender support for Palestine’s nascent non-violent struggle.

Generations, even centuries, of Muslims and Jews, built mutually prosperous and equal relationships; we are merely recovering their legacy. There have been many times of misery in the long history of the Christian, Jewish, Muslim relationship, but there were also many good times, golden ages. Honest business based on good wages and equal relationships may be one glue that has bonded Middle Eastern cultures before, and may help make inevitable the political path forward towards a just and equal two-state solution.

Rabbi Dr. Marc Gopin, author of To Make the Earth Whole, is a principal of MEJDI LLC (www.mejdi.net).

via A Practical Path to Justice and an Independent Palestine.

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“Business is business”: A practical path to justice and an independent Palestine

by mgopin on August 12, 2010 · 0 comments

The creation of an independent Palestine has been a dream dashed many times, but there may be a practical path forward emerging from a surprising place. I often heard the phrase ‘business is business’ growing up in the 1960s among gritty American Jewish immigrants; my father said it all the time. It reflected old Jewish instincts to do whatever it takes to survive and feed ‘the family’, even when it meant dealing with people who disliked you – a lot.

What floored me is when my Palestinian partner, Aziz Abu Sarah, with whom I recently founded MEJDI, a social enterprise (business designed for a social goal), told me exactly the same words from his father! Aziz’s family and mine are not involved in our new business venture, but every innovation has implications for the political situation in Palestine, and we seek advice and reactions. I have been shocked by the positive reception in my right wing family to the idea of honest business as a bridge. And every time I asked Aziz, “Are you sure your family is ok with Jews and Arabs doing business given their terrible troubles? They know how Jewish I am?” The answer came, “Business is business.”

I feel very much at home with people who love their families, who see the virtue of work, who when facing an unjust situation recognise that practical and ethical people sometimes prevail. Sometimes honest work eases the way to a sane political vision that overwhelms self-destructive patterns of enemy systems and wounded peoples.

There is a lot of good news on the business front. There is a Palestinian prime minister, increasingly popular, who is revolutionising the infrastructure of Palestine, preparing for prosperity and statehood. Saudi Arabia, the most conservative state in the region, has just announced a 400 million dollar project for Ramallah. Many Western countries are pouring in huge funds for the private sector.

Will these investments benefit most Palestinians? We are all haunted by ‘the last time’, by the Oslo years of large funds – and large corruption. But thankfully a recent economic conference in Palestine, which included an American presidential delegation headed by Senator George Mitchell, slated $950 million for small and medium sized businesses.

My partners and I at MEJDI want more, however. We argue that more is needed to place justice at the centre of Palestine’s future, and to discourage an investor tendency to make a few wealthy and most miserable. All the incoming funds are good but we should explicitly support socially responsible business in Palestine.

Although there is no ultimate solution for Palestine without an end to the Occupation, small businesses are needed to form the backbone of a viable state. Small businesses generate a middle class that depends on the rule of law and democratic values, whereas countries supported only through large corporations and government control rarely emerge as democracies. Palestinians deserve a democracy at the end of their long struggle.

Here is an example of what we are doing as a social enterprise. We are pioneering both tours and academic seminars where almost every dollar spent is going to support and patronize businesses with a clear reputation for fair wages. Profits are also re-invested in lecturers and tour guides who are well known activists for positive social change.

This is just one example of the intersection of small business empowerment and social change. Our other major innovation is the distribution in the West of products made by poor but innovative Palestinian small businesses paying only fair wages. I have learned after 27 years of peace activism that ignoring inequality and poverty is disastrous and it violates every tenet of the region’s religious traditions and values. The un-sustainability of the average Palestinian family makes old ways of coexistence work inadequate. Serious attention to fair wages, however, and financial support for Palestine’s social change activists help engender support for Palestine’s nascent non-violent struggle.

Generations, even centuries, of Muslims and Jews, built mutually prosperous and equal relationships; we are merely recovering their legacy. There have been many times of misery in the long history of the Christian, Jewish, Muslim relationship, but there were also many good times, golden ages. Honest business based on good wages and equal relationships may be one glue that has bonded Middle Eastern cultures before, and may help make inevitable the political path forward toward a just and equal two-state solution.
Published in Common Ground News Service, http://www.commongroundnews.org/article.php?id=28228&lan=en&sid=0&sp=0&isNew=1

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Palestine is open for business! by Ziad Asali

by mgopin on July 23, 2010 · 0 comments

This is an important piece on what pragmatically can and should be supported right now to prepare for and achieve Palestinian independence.

WASHINGTON, DC – Almost everything about the second Palestine Investment Conference held in Bethlehem in early June, which I had the honour of attending as a member of President Barack Obama’s official delegation, was encouraging.

The Conference, which was designed to promote private sector development, was held at the elegant and modern Convention Center facility in Bethlehem from 2-3 June. President Mahmoud Abbas welcomed around 2,000 participants including Palestinian and Arab business people from around the world, impressive entrepreneurs from Gaza, and many international institutional representatives and investors. The message, summed up by the Quartet Envoy Tony Blair was simple: Palestine is open for business!

While the first Investment Conference in 2008 focused on large development and public-private partnership initiatives, this Conference focused properly on small to medium-sized businesses, which account for about 90% of Palestinian businesses.

Over $950 million was slated for a variety of projects that should have a significant impact in developing the Palestinian economy and society. Panel discussions, business-to-business interactions and corporate displays filled the two days of meetings.

The Conference itself is becoming an institution and work is already underway for a third investment conference in May 2011, this time focusing on health and education.

I was deeply struck by the extent to which security is now taken for granted in the areas under Palestinian Authority control such as Bethlehem. This is an extraordinary transformation from recent years in which lawlessness often prevailed and when constricting Israeli controls would have rendered such an event both unthinkable and practically impossible.

Israel, though clearly present at the Bethlehem checkpoint, was cooperative. It allowed around 100 Gaza business persons to attend the conference and facilitated the participation of Arab financiers and entrepreneurs from states that do not have diplomatic relations with Israel.

I was impressed and proud, after our delegation met with US Consulate officials, of the extent of our government’s involvement in the conference and its workings, far beyond our Presidential delegation. The United States has clearly committed major effort and resources to the programme of state and institution building undertaken by the government of Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. Supporting the PIC was an important and visible expression of the administration’s commitment. Our six-member Presidential Delegation of very senior-level officials and private individuals was led by Special Envoy George Mitchell, which underlined the seriousness with which our government takes both negotiations and the state building process. Read more here.

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“Proximity talks”: an element in a change strategy.

by Neri Bar-On on April 19, 2010 · 0 comments

“Proximity talks”: an element in a change strategy.
By Neri Bar-On

In this article I wish to point out a systemic-perspective suggesting the “proximity talks” as a tactical move through which Israeli, Palestinian and American leadership can work within one strategy to reduce the power of the radical elements in their society. While many question the content-value of the “Proximity talks,” many neglect the power structure it creates as an opportunity to put pressure on the radical elements within these societies and open the gate to agreement between Israel and Palestine.
The concern should be the drift of the moderate elements in these societies toward radical reaction that will block opportunity for change. The inner conflicts within Israel and Palestine are blocking the progress and need to be contained for the establishment of a Palestinian state in near future.

“Proximity talks”:
“Proximity talks” are neither negotiations nor “talks”. In the current situation, “Proximity talks” can be a useful element in a change strategy. They can be used by Palestinians and Israelis as a method to defuse the radicals’ influence within each of their societies. “Proximity talks” are a signal of commitment to end this conflict beyond negotiation rituals: Natanyahu, Abbas and Obama can open a gate for change by maintaining these “proximity talks,” regardless of the reactive violence that erupted lately, as this violence actually shows what a great potential hides behind this gesture.

What we see:
Since Netanyahu’s return from the US, the tension between Israel and the US is more visible. The visit also exposed the internal tensions within Israel, where Pro-settlement agents in the Israeli governance organizations and government manage to sabotage the opportunity to start the “Proximity talks”; the announcement of new Jewish building in east Jerusalem provided justification for Palestinian radicalization calling for “rage day”. Qassams from Gaza strengthen the Israeli radicalization fear that this will be repeated when a Palestinian state will be established and Israeli armed reactions prove to the Palestinians how violent occupation is.
There is a natural collaboration between Israelis and Palestinian radicals. These reactions already claimed death in an effort to block change that may close the options for the radical’s view of the future.

Radicals:
Radicals usually advocate that their ideas of the future and of reality are the only valid ones and act to make them politically dominant. The Settlers will push announcements of building in disputed east Jerusalem in the Obama administration’s face, forcing the internal Israeli politicians to claim again that building in Jerusalem is unquestionable. In parallel, Palestinian radical factions flame aggression and fire Qassams into Israel that lead automatically to Israeli armed reaction that force the Palestinian leaders to avoid any talks.

Naturally, we have radical elements in any society; “radical factions” are normal social elements strengthening through the continuation of conflict. These people clearly become dominant actors and manage to block progress in the development of the relationship between Jews and Arabs. Their target is to be recognized as the “voice of the whole” in each society and they are pointed to as the “voice of the whole” by the other side’s radicals.
The radicals may succeed as they succeeded in the past unless we replace “negotiation” that pushes each side to the extreme with “proximity talks” that force Israel to halt the settlements and push the Palestinians to end their political divide.

Many focus on blame of Netanyahu, Ishay, Obama or Abbas for a hidden agenda to jeopardize “proximity talks” that play too into the radicalization – no solution – claims.
Sadly we see many practical moderates fall into this trap, attracted by the opportunity to blame their political opponents and try to convince us that Netanyahu, Abbas or Obama cannot partner for the peace so needed in our societies.
These activists are ignoring that Netanyhu, Abbas and even Obama are playing within a complex aggressive system of inner-politic, within their societies, and outer-politic, between nations. With that, confusing information is channeled to the public through a mass media driven by strong aversion to dramatize our reality. This brings many people to radicalization missing the opportunity that can be created by commitment to “proximity talks” to reduce the radicals’ influence and power.

How “Proximity talks” work:
What gives these radicals power? There is no majority for radical views, but they manage to shape the public sphere. Some criticize them for loud voices and harmful acts. I want to suggest that one very influential factor for their strength and influence comes today from the “moderate” belief in negotiation as a way to end the conflict.
Negotiations as zero sum games make each side try to get the maximum for itself; hence it usually ends with the radicalization in both sides and dissatisfaction of the weaker side. This is where the radicals get their power, as within each society the question of what we will get and how we get it translates into political claims in inner conflict.

“Proximity talks” as Talks are important for building trust, but they do not necessarily create the change, as they do not influence the social factions that do not take part in the talks. Some radical elements that are left out are using media, demonstrations and violence to claim their position.

When we step out from this paradigm and suggest “proximity talks” not as negotiation, we reflect that the Palestinians and the Israelis with the support of the US and EU know today where we are going. It is a two state solution where a Palestinian state with valid borders will emerge and enable the Palestinians to self govern and become a full member nation. Negotiation is the last thing we need. System wide planning is what we need and that cannot start till both societies engage their inner conflict: In Israel the conflict is about the settlements and in Palestine the conflict is about political cohesion.

In Israel, the inner conflict is about the settlements. One group within the Israeli society claims that Jews/Israel has a right to enlarge its territory for their historic/religious rights or for the opportunity that since a Palestinian national state never existed the international law is confusing. This group within the Israeli society has today the power to influence the governments and create Jewish settlements that blur the 1967 lines that planned to be used as a basis of the border for the Palestinian state.

Netanyahu, as an Israeli politician, cannot ignore these people as they are part of the Party electoral, but while we have these “Proximity talks,” Israel is forced to freeze the settlements. The longer we freeze the settlement the more we weaken this group and enable Israeli government to agree on valid borders for the Palestinian state and to find a solution for the settlements’ population.

In Palestine, the inner conflict is about the governance legitimacy, the group within the Palestinian society that thinks that Palestinian has a right to get back to the original pre-1948 condition. Their claim is that their historic/religious Arab rights are justified by international law. This group within the Palestinian society split itself from the Fatah agreement and is, in general, supporting Hamas factions or other radicals. This split created violent war within the Palestinian society. This is a Palestinian internal conflict for power domination; its outcome is the ability of Hamas group to hold Gaza and disable the Palestinians Authority as a representative of the whole Palestinians to sign any agreement.

Abbas cannot ignore these people as they use force and do not accept PA, but while we have these “Proximity talks” Palestinians can see freeze settlements and improvement in West Bank. The longer we freeze the settlements, the more we weaken this group and enable Palestinians to shape social agreement toward the Palestinian state and enable Fayyad to build Palestine governance, social, economic capacities.

Both internal challenges need to be resolved in order to enable progress toward the next stage of signing agreements and mapping and declaring Palestinian state.

This is why “proximity talks” serve us. They can lead to the entrance of Kadima to the Israeli coalition, creating a government that can make courageous decisions for Israel while Fayyad also creates major changes in the West Bank and the PA manages to provide more and more needed social services as education, improved economy and security that weaken the Hamas position.

So what we can get from “proximity talks”:
The more we hold “proximity talks” we will see settlements in Israel defused and Palestinian acceptance for Palestinian national unity agreement. This will come after some violent eruption; we cannot avoid it. The more potent the change is, the more it attracts reactions from radicals. For the long-term, this is what it takes for cooling down the flames that the radicals create. Cooling down the radicals will enable us, as one system of Palestinians and Israelis, to end the settlement activity, creating new political structure in Palestine. This internal transformation in our societies will open a new gate for a new era in Palestine, Israel and the Middle East.

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A VITAL EXCHANGE ON A ‘JEWISH’ STATE: ABU SARAH AND BEN YEHUDA

by mgopin on October 12, 2009 · 0 comments

This is a critical exchange and should by everyone grappling with this issue.

Ever since his June speech at Bar-Ilan University, Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu has made it clear that peace with the Palestinians is conditioned on the latter accepting Israel as a Jewish state.

During his much-lauded address at the United Nations, Netanyahu reiterated his position:

“We ask the Palestinians to finally do what they have refused to do for 62 years: Say yes to a Jewish state. As simple, as clear, as elementary as that. Just as we are asked to recognize a nation-state for the Palestinian people, the Palestinians must be asked to recognize the nation-state of the Jewish people.”

The Palestinians, for their part, have rejected Netanyahu’s position. Their claim rests on three assertions: It is not the business of Palestinians to recognize the Jewish nature of Israel. Such recognition would endanger the rights of Palestinian citizens of Israel. Acknowledging the Jewish state would negate the Palestinian right of return.

So, should the Palestinians accept a Jewish State? Israeli and Palestinian writers Roi Ben-Yehuda and Aziz Abu Sarah got together to explore the topic. The following is their exchange.

Ben-Yehuda: Aziz, I am happy to have the opportunity for this exchange with you. I will start off this discussion by stating that I think Netanyahu’s position (which was first articulated by Ehud Olmert and Tzipi Livni) is a good one.

I support this position because it provides the Palestinians a real opportunity to put their cards on the table: To state in an unequivocal fashion that they are ready to make peace with Israel, i.e. to renounce the right of return which is incompatible with a two-state solution.

I also support this position because recognizing Israel as a Jewish state will go a long way toward allaying some of the basic existential fears of the Israeli people. In so doing, it will enable the government to conduct negotiations without fearing that concessions will lead to loss of identity or security (not to mention loss of political power back home).

I say this as an unapologetic Zionist and peacenik – as someone who believes that both the Jews and the Palestinians by virtue of being a people with deep historic ties to the land have a right to a state in part of Israel/Palestine.

Abu Sarah: Roi, you are right that recognition is important to allay the fears of Israelis, but Netanyahu’s demand is not a fair request. Palestinians still don’t even have a state as a direct result of Israel’s creation and the subsequent occupation of the West Bank. Equal recognition means the Palestinian recognition of Israel’s right to existence and Israeli recognition of Palestinians’ right to a state.

Recognizing Israel as a Jewish state would require a change of the Palestinian narrative and identity and would affect the rights of Palestinians citizens of Israel. Furthermore, such recognition before a just solution to the Palestinian refugee problem would dishonor the suffering of these refugees. Palestinians would be accepting the right of return of Jews who never lived in the land over those who were expelled from it.

Israel has peace agreements with Jordan and Egypt, yet neither of them had to recognize Israel as a Jewish State. These agreements have been successful regardless.

See the full text here.

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Goldstone Gaza War Full Document: A Must Read

by mgopin on September 23, 2009 · 2 comments

This is the full Goldstone Report on the War in Gaza, including all aspects of the war, its aftermath, full documentation of Hamas’ violations, crimes by the IDF, recommendations, reparations, as well as a review of what happened inside Israel during the war. It is over 500 pages of documentation and represents a powerful statement of truth from a man who has been at the forefront of the most important truth commissions in modern times. This is a good place to start in terms of future documentation of all violence in this conflict, Jewish and Arab, and a good model to build upon in terms of what exactly needs to happen to prevent such tragedies in the future. It is the details that everyone should read and debate. Here is the link again:

http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/specialsession/9/docs/UNFFMGC_Report.pdf

South African Justice Richard Goldstone at Brandeis University

Gaza

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Planting Justice: A Spiritual Mission to Palestine and Israel from Progressive Jews Devoted to Israel

by mgopin on July 16, 2009 · 3 comments

Hello from Switzerland and Caux. I am curious what my readers think of this video.

{ 3 comments }

Palestine

Fatah, Hamas, and the Future of Palestine

Imagining Peace: The Practical Advantages of an Israeli/Palestinian Final Settlement

THE PRACTICAL ADVANTAGES FOR MUSLIMS, JEWS AND CHRISTIANS OF PEACE FOR PALESTINE AND ISRAEL

A Practical Path to Justice and an Independent Palestine

“Business is business”: A practical path to justice and an independent Palestine

Palestine is open for business! by Ziad Asali

“Proximity talks”: an element in a change strategy.

A VITAL EXCHANGE ON A ‘JEWISH’ STATE: ABU SARAH AND BEN YEHUDA

Goldstone Gaza War Full Document: A Must Read

Planting Justice: A Spiritual Mission to Palestine and Israel from Progressive Jews Devoted to Israel

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