MODERATE PALESTINIANS SORELY DISAPPOINTED

I have always been an optimist. I have always advocated peace. I was one of the first Palestinians to call for the recognition of Israel. I did so in 1980 on the University of Illinois - Chicago campus (although I attended Loyola University) and was ostracized by Fatah, Jabha and other Palestinian student groups.  I held my ground and was one of the few Palestinians in the Chicago area that could go to any group’s events.

I welcomed the Oslo Accords and attended the White House signing ceremony on September 13, 1993.  I witnessed the famous handshake between Arafat and Rabin and felt a sense of relief that the long hard nightmare for my people might soon be over. 

Since Oslo, however, I and many moderate Palestinians have been sorely disappointed.  

• We have seen the settlement expansion in the West Bank more than quadruple.  
• We have seen thousands of Palestinian agriculture acres (olive groves) destroyed. 
• We have seen a separation wall built around our towns and villages leaving isolated enclaves that basically imprison Palestinians especially men between the ages of 18 and 40. 
• We have seen a voluminous number of humiliating military check points that disgrace and dehumanize Palestinians. 
• We have seen democratic Palestinian elections whose results were not accepted by Israel and an American President who told us that one of the results of the Iraqi invasion of 2003 was a democratization of the Middle East. 
• We have also seen since Oslo, (unfortunately) the introduction of the Palestinian suicide bomber and the assassination of an Israeli Prime Minister (by an Israeli terrorist) which, in essence, killed the peace process.  
• We have also seen the right wing religious fanatic groups who have increased their power and because they have been and are part of the past and current coalition governments in Israel, in my opinion, hold the entire Middle East hostage.  
• We also see the continued marginalization of the Palestinians 
• because of inter-fighting; 
• because the world cannot accept that the Palestinian people have elected one party over another party that is repeat with corruption and that has not produced the liberation it has said it will deliver; and 
• because the power of the purse is used to blackmail the Palestinian West Bank leadership to accept what the people will not allow them to accept. 
• We have also witnessed in 2008-2009 and now again the barbarity of the Israeli devastating and disproportionate onslaught against our brothers and sisters and our children in Gaza as the continued Israeli blockade causes severe economic conditions of food, water and medical shortages for which, we are told, the Palestinians cannot repel and for which the world flotilla aid campaign cannot break.

Because we have seen all these demoralizing aspects of the conflict, I, as well as many moderate (if not all) Palestinians, have abandoned the two state solution.  

• It is inconceivable that the 600,000 settlers in the West Bank will get up and leave.  This is not the Gaza Strip where 21 settlements illegally inhabited by 21,000 extreme Zionist settlers can be disbanded and the settlers removed.  
• It is inconceivable that the right wing ultra-conservative/orthodox parties within Israel will agree to give up Areas C especially since their power is increasing and especially since the recent poll in Israel tells us that the majority of Israelis have no problem living in an Apartheid like state.  
• It is inconceivable that Israel will abandon its policy to allow a Palestinian limited state within Area A and parts of Area B, on the one hand and another Palestinian entity in Gaza, as the Liberman Plan has so stated for Gaza. 

Inconceivability is only in the political realm.  In realty however, the numbers (population growth of the Palestinians visa via the Israelis) will force Israel to rethink its position.  My doubts are in succeeding Israel requests to endlessly talk to no end. The Israeli policy is "let us agree to agree in the future" but the future never comes because Israel always finds ways to interpret agreements by defining terms as it defines them. My pessimism is in endless talks that attempt to fill the glass with water but the glass is always half empty.

For Palestinians, the concept of a two state solution is illusionary. Since Oslo, succeeding Israeli governments have allowed the ever expanding settlements on illegally confiscated Palestinian land, thus creating “facts on the ground.” Israel has played its hand too long. Israeli leaders thought they could exhaust us into submission; that as long as they continued to build illegal settlements and continued to appease the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank while driving a wedge between West Bank and Gaza leaders, they could frustrate the Palestinians into accepting two Palestinian entities, one in the West Bank with Area A and part of Area B; and the other in Gaza.  Thus in essence, Israel has been trying for a three state solution.  Palestinians cannot and will not accept this.

By playing its hand too long, Israel has lost the moderate Palestinians. 

Moderate Palestinians are seeking other means to assert Palestinian fundamental rights. Moderate Palestinians wholeheartedly support the Palestinian request to join the United Nations General Assembly with pre-1967 borders but understand that this is only a prelude to a one state solution to the conflict. We also support the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against the Israeli occupation. We welcome the emergency of a new generation of Palestinians who will pick up their stone and fight for the dignity and well-being of future Palestinian generations.  We also call upon the Palestinian factions to reconcile their differences and believe that the Palestinian house needs to be united immediately.  

(© Copyright 2012, Fadi Zanayed.  Publication or distribution of this material is allowed provided its content is not altered and the source and its author are cited.) 

Will Areas A & B become Palestine?

                There is a deliberate diabolical policy in Apartheid Israel to make Areas A & B in Palestine the permanent borders of the future State of Palestine.  This policy will allow Apartheid Israel to keep the illegal settlements without a peace agreement and will continue the status quo of the occupation.  Palestinians must resist this conniving and unacceptable manipulation of Palestine’s future.

                The Oslo Agreement, which was signed on September 13, 1993 at the White House, and subsequent agreements between Apartheid Israel and Palestine divided the West Bank into Areas A, B and C.   Area A is controlled by the Palestinian Authority and includes security-related and civilian issues in Palestinian urban areas.  Area B only allows Palestinian control over civilian matters but leaves security to the apartheid soldiers.  Area C is exclusively controlled by Apartheid Israeli authorities and includes the illegal settlements, the Jordan valley region, borders and by-pass roads between Palestinian towns.  This in effect created a Swiss cheese omelet except the egg whites and yoke have been separated.  Does this remind anyone of Apartheid South Africa?

                Final status negotiations on the issues of East Jerusalem, borders and the right of return were to be address by May, 1996 and concluded by May, 1999 according to the Oslo Agreement.  Here we are in 2012 and these issues have never been formally addressed.   Apartheid Israel has made excuses throughout the 19 years since the Oslo Agreement to delay final status talks.

                It is apparent that all along that the carving of the West Bank into Areas was a diabolical attempt by Apartheid Israel to only give limited authority to the Palestinians in Areas A & B.   Apartheid-in-Chief Benjamin Natanyahu is now considering giving the Palestinian Authority more control over Area B to carry out this plan.  But this is strategically done at this time to accomplish two other goals.

                The first is to keep the Palestinians talking about how to start the peace talks.  In January, 2012 the Palestinians and Israelis have been discussing how to start up the stalled peace talks in Amman, Jordan at the invitation of King Abdullah.   By keeping the Palestinians talking, the Apartheid-in-Chief can appease the Quartet of the European Union, Russia, United Nations and the United States—especially President Barack Obama.   By giving the Palestinians more control over Area B, the Apartheid-in-Chief is not giving anything more than what has been in the diabolical plans of Apartheid Israel.

                The second goal of the Apartheid-in-Chief Netanyahu is to keep Fatah and Hamas from reconciling.  By giving President Abbas and Fatah more control in the West Bank as a way to lure him into continuing to talk, Apartheid-in-Chief Netanyahu drives a wedge between Fatah and Hamas.   Hamas has called upon the Palestinian Authority to withdraw from any talks with the Israelis because talks are useless.  I agree.  See my article: “No Negotiations with Apartheid Israel - Let it Self-Destruct!”  http://fadizanayed.blogspot.com/2012/01/no-negotiations-with-apartheid-israel.html.

                The ultimate goal of Apartheid Israel is to call Areas A & B a Palestinian State and call the conflict over.  Already, the military checkpoints are being called “terminals” or “crossings” which is an obvious reference to a border.   The goal is reinforced when Apartheid Israel refuses to even freeze settlement building in occupied Palestine.   The illegal settlements are in Area C and under the control of Apartheid Israel.   Israel does not have and never had the intention of relinquishing control over Area C.

                President Abbas must remain steadfast and not succumb to Israeli bribes.  He must not accept any further control over Area B so as enticement to remain in endless talks that lead to an endless occupation of Palestinian land.  Apartheid-in-Chief Netanyahu cannot give the Palestinians what they are by right entitled to.  If Palestinians hold out long enough, the demographics will be such that Palestinians will be in the majority in Israel, West Bank and Gaza by 2016.  Apartheid Israel cannot sustain a political system as a minority governing another people who hold a majority.   Just as the South Afrikaans could not maintain the apartheid system in South Africa, Israel will not be able to maintain its apartheid system in Israel and in Palestine.  

((c) Fadi Zanayed.  This article may be republished or sited as long as the author and site are included as the reference.) 

مناطق أ و ب لتصبح فلسطين؟

(قمت بترجمة هذه المقالة على Google. محدودة كما هو قدرتي على قراءة اللغة العربية،أنا لا يمكن أن تضمن دقة الترجمة)


               هناك سياسة متعمدة الشيطانية الفصل العنصري في إسرائيل لجعل المناطق A و B في فلسطين الحدود الدائمة للدولة الفلسطينية المستقبلية. وهذه السياسة تسمح اسرائيل للحفاظ على الفصل العنصري والمستوطنات غير الشرعية من دون اتفاق سلام ، وسوف يستمر الوضع الراهن للاحتلال. ويجب على الفلسطينيين مقاومة هذا التلاعب تواطؤها وغير مقبول لمستقبل فلسطين.


                اتفاق أوسلو ، الذي تم التوقيع عليه في 13 سبتمبر 1993 في البيت الأبيض ، والاتفاقات اللاحقة بين اسرائيل وفلسطين الفصل العنصري يقسم الضفة الغربية إلى مناطق ألف وباء وجيم منطقة يسيطر على السلطة الفلسطينية ويشمل الأمن ذات الصلة والقضايا المدنية في المناطق الحضرية الفلسطينية. منطقة B يسمح فقط للسيطرة الفلسطينية في المسائل المدنية ، وإنما يترك للجنود الأمن الفصل العنصري. وتسيطر منطقة C حصرا من قبل السلطات الإسرائيلية ، ويتضمن الفصل العنصري والمستوطنات غير الشرعية ، ومنطقة وادي الأردن والحدود والطرق الالتفافية بين المدن الفلسطينية. هذا في الواقع خلق أومليت الجبن السويسري باستثناء بياض البيض ونير انفصلوا. لا أذكر أي شخص من هذا الفصل العنصري في جنوب أفريقيا؟


                مفاوضات الوضع النهائي حول قضايا القدس الشرقية ، والحدود وحق العودة ليكون عنوان بحلول شهر مايو ، 1996 والتي أبرمتها مايو ، 1999 وفقا لاتفاق أوسلو. نحن هنا في عام 2012 ولم يتم معالجة هذه القضايا بشكل رسمي. جعلت الفصل العنصري في جميع أنحاء إسرائيل الذرائع 19 عاما منذ التوقيع على اتفاق أوسلو على تأجيل محادثات الوضع النهائي.


                فمن الواضح أن كل جانب أن ينحت من الضفة الغربية الى مناطق كان محاولة من جانب اسرائيل الشيطانية الفصل العنصري لإعطاء سلطة محدودة فقط للفلسطينيين في المناطق أ و ب. الفصل العنصري في ورئيس بنيامين نتنياهو تدرس حاليا منح السلطة الفلسطينية مزيد من السيطرة على المنطقة باء لتنفيذ هذه الخطة. الاان هذه الاستراتيجية في هذا الوقت لتحقيق هدفين آخرين.


                الأول ، هو ابقاء الفلسطينيين يتحدث عن كيفية بدء محادثات السلام. في كانون الثاني ، 2012 وقد تم الفلسطينيين والإسرائيليين مناقشة كيفية بدء محادثات السلام المتوقفة في العاصمة الأردنية عمان بدعوة من الملك عبد الله. عن طريق الحفاظ على الفلسطينيين الحديث ، لا يمكن للنظام الفصل العنصري في واسترضاء رئيس اللجنة الرباعية المكونة من الاتحاد الاوروبي وروسيا والامم المتحدة والولايات المتحدة ، خصوصا الرئيس باراك أوباما. من خلال منح الفلسطينيين المزيد من السيطرة على المنطقة باء ، والفصل العنصري في والرئيس هو عدم اعطاء أي شيء أكثر من ما تم في الخطط الشيطانية لإسرائيل الفصل العنصري.


                الهدف الثاني من الفصل العنصري نتنياهو في والرئيس هو الحفاظ على حركة فتح وحماس من المصالحة. من خلال إعطاء الرئيس عباس وفتح المزيد من السيطرة في الضفة الغربية كوسيلة لاستدراجه الى مواصلة الحديث ، والفصل العنصري في ونتنياهو رئيس محركات اسفين بين فتح وحماس. ودعت حماس السلطة الفلسطينية على الانسحاب من أي محادثات مع الاسرائيليين لان المحادثات عديمة الفائدة. وأنا أتفق. انظر مقالتي : "لا مفاوضات مع إسرائيل الفصل العنصري -- ليكن التدمير الذاتي!" http://fadizanayed.blogspot.com/2012/01/no-negotiations-with-apartheid-israel.html.


                الهدف النهائي لإسرائيل الفصل العنصري هو الدعوة الى مناطق A و B و الدولة الفلسطينية ، وندعو للصراع انتهى. بالفعل ، يجري استدعاء الحواجز العسكرية "محطات" أو "المعابر" وهو إشارة واضحة إلى الحدود.ويتعزز هذا الهدف عندما الفصل العنصري وترفض اسرائيل حتى تجميد بناء المستوطنات في فلسطين المحتلة. المستوطنات غير القانونية في المنطقة (ج) والخاضعة لسيطرة إسرائيل الفصل العنصري. اسرائيل ليس لديها أبدا وكانت لديه النية للتنازل عن السيطرة على المنطقة (ج)


                ويتعين على الرئيس عباس الثبات وعدم الاستسلام للرشاوى الإسرائيلية. يجب عليه أن لا يقبل أي سيطرة على مزيد من المنطقة باء وذلك الاغراء بالبقاء في محادثات لا نهاية لها التي تؤدي إلى احتلال لا نهاية لها من الأراضي الفلسطينية. يمكن الفصل العنصري في ورئيس نتنياهو لن يعطي الفلسطينيين ما هي عليه من قبل بعنوان حق. إذا كان الفلسطينيون الصمود طويلا ، وسوف تكون هذه التركيبة السكانية بأن الفلسطينيين سوف تشكل أغلبية في اسرائيل الضفة الغربية وقطاع غزة بحلول عام 2016. يمكن الفصل العنصري اسرائيل لن تتمكن من تعزيز نظام سياسي كأقلية تحكم شعبا آخر الحاصلين على الأغلبية. تماما كما لا يمكن الأفريكانية جنوب الحفاظ على نظام الفصل العنصري في جنوب افريقيا ، ان اسرائيل لن تكون قادرة على الحفاظ على نظامها العنصري في إسرائيل وفلسطين.
(Zanayed © ، فادي يسمح نشر أو توزيع هذه المواد شريطة أن لا تغيير محتواها وأشار المصدر وصاحبه).