US/Israeli Interests Diverge as Palestinians seek UN agency membership

The implications of Palestine seeking membership in UN and international organizations are seismic for Israel, Palestine and the US.  The divergent interests of the US and Israel will come to a head in Congress as members will have to choose between US interests and the Israeli interests. For Palestine, it is now more at parity with Israel as the threat of seeking justice within these UN agencies makes Israelis shiver as the threats of international sanctions, economic boycott and international criminal trials for its current and former leaders loom in the horizon.

For the Palestinians, the decision to seek membership in UN agencies is a win-win move which was precipitated by Israel’s breach of its commitment to release the last of the 104 Palestinian prisoners it was holding before the Oslo Agreement.  Palestinians were enticed by Secretary of State John Kerry to restart peace talks with Israel in July, 2013 on condition that 104 Palestinians will be released and that final status discussions would be addressed. The Palestinians agreed not to seek membership in UN agencies.

When Israel breached its part of the agreement, the Palestinians, seeing no progress on the final status issues, applied to 15 UN agencies for membership.  Israel wanted Palestine to recommit to the talks beyond the April 29, 2014 deadline set out when the “talks” began but the Palestinians stated that the release of the prisoners was already agreed to and would not commit to extend the talks for the same agreement. The US then tried to sweeten the deal by considering releasing the notorious Navy spy Jonathan Pollard in exchange for the release of 400 Palestinian women and children prisoners held by Israel. (The reader should note very clearly that this is an admission by Israel that it is imprisoning Palestinian children.)

Additionally, Secretary Kerry elicited a show of “restraint” by Israel in new housing starts that did not include settlements in East Jerusalem and did not include housing starts already announced. On Tuesday, April 1, 2014, Israel, in what it thought was a cunning move before an agreement could be reached, announced over 700 new housing starts. This was the last straw for the Palestinians and the Palestinian Liberation Organization Action Committee unanimously voted to seek UN agency membership.

The divergence of US and Israeli interests was evident when Palestine was granted membership in the UN agency UNESCO in 2012.  The US had to stop paying its membership dues in UNESCO as two US laws, over 20 years old, compel the US to de-fund any UN organizations which approves Palestine’s membership. The laws were intended to keep Palestine out of these organizations as a way to protect Israel. The law, however, was ill conceived for it has and will hurt the United States while protecting Israeli interests.  Congress attempted to influence member nations of these organizations to vote against the acceptance of Palestine for fear of losing significant US funding.  Members of UNESCO were not easily bribed.

For two years the Obama administration sought a waiver from Congress without success, and last November the U.S. lost its voting rights at UNESCO as a result of being two years in arrears.  US Ambassador to the UN Samantha Powers urged Congress on April 2, 2014 to repeal or waive the law in its application to Palestine stating that defunding UN agencies that admit Palestine is not in the interests of the US. She stated that defunding these agencies would be a “double win” for the Palestinians. With US influence in these agencies diminished through losing its voting rights, Russia, China and even Cuba would take the lead.

UNESCO’s purpose is to contribute to peace and security by promoting international collaboration through education, science, and culture in order to further universal respect for justice, the rule of law, and human rights along with fundamental freedom proclaimed in the UN Charter.  Some UNESCO sponsored projects include literacy, technical, and teacher-training programs; international science programs; the promotion of independent media and freedom of the press; regional and cultural history projects; the promotion of cultural diversity; translations of world literature; international cooperation agreements to secure the world cultural and natural heritage and to preserve human rights, and attempts to bridge the worldwide digital divide. These are all within the interests of the US but with the loss of its voting rights, that influence has been negated—all because Congress has put Israel’s interests ahead of the interests of the US.

A pro-Israeli Congress would be reluctant to allow Congressional members to vote their conscience to grant a waiver or repeal these laws. The Israeli lobby, true to its history of championing Israeli interests over US interests, will not allow Israel interests to be hurt and therefore, its considerable power over Congress will restrain Congressional members from voting for US interests and against Israeli interests. The Israeli lobby has demonstrated on numerous occasions that it champions Israel’s interest over the US interests; most recently over President’s policy visa vie Syria and Iran. The lobby in both cases wanted the US to attack these countries over a reluctant American public’s weariness over two unfunded wars.

With the Israeli lobby ever threatening each member’s election over their loyalty to Israel, members of Congress will be in a quagmire trying to decide whether they should act in the best interest of the US or Israel—or more accurately whether they are willing to put their own re-election interests at the mercy of the Israeli lobby or whether they will do the very thing they were elected—protecting US interests.

Secretary of State John Kerry was perceptive in January, 2014 when he stated that if a peace agreement is not reached, Israel will be further isolated.  He must have foreseen that the US must now act in its own self-interest and cannot therefore base its international relations based on the interests of Israel.

The US cannot allow other nations’ political agenda to drive the US out of the UN and its agencies. The decision whether to fund these agencies must be based on the totality of US security, political, and economic interests served by the agencies. Congress will have to stand up for American interests and tell Israel that the divergence of US and Israeli interests is at hand. US foreign policy cannot be based on the interests of another nation.

U.S. diplomats have warned Israel that the United States cannot stop further Palestinian moves at the United Nations, especially if the current negotiations collapse—which they have despite the statement by Secretary Kerry to not write off the “talks”.

The move to seek membership in UN agencies is yet another step toward legitimacy for the Palestinian State after having won “non-member observer state” status in 2012 from the UN General Assembly.  Legitimacy for the Palestinian Authority is also achieved from the Palestinian people who have been exasperated by yet another round of “talks” with Israel that are endless and lead to no end. A great majority of Palestinians, most of which are moderate and who were supporters of the Oslo Accords, have become frustrated with an endless state of talks that never end, that are always conditioned upon an agreement to agree on something else in the future.  They were also frustrated that as the Palestinian Authority was conducting “talks” with Israel, Israel killed over 60 and wounded over 900 Palestinians; Israel kept building and building more Israeli settlement housing; and the illegal Israeli settlers were cutting down more and more Palestinian olive groves. Thus, taking the step to seek membership in UN agencies is very much favored by the Palestinian people in Palestine and around the globe.

Once Palestine is a member of UN agencies, it can seek to address the Israeli violations. For example, Article 2 of the Fourth Geneva Convention states that signatories are bound by the convention both in war, armed conflicts where war has not been declared, and in an occupation of another country's territory. In addition, the United Nations Security Council, in 1993, adopted a report that concluded that the Geneva Conventions had passed into the body of customary international law, thus making them binding on non-signatories to the Conventions whenever they engage in armed conflicts. 

The Fourth Geneva Convention clearly states the illegality of an occupying power moving its people to occupied areas. The International Court of Justice has given an advisory statement regarding the Israeli wall built deep on Palestinian land. The advisory ruling in 2007 states clearly that as an occupying power, Israel is forbidden to settle in Arab areas captured during the 1967 war.  Thus the status of the Israeli colonization (settlements as the press calls them) will be legally challenged through legal means once Palestine is granted membership in the Fourth Geneva Convention and the International Court of Justice.

Palestine will be in position not only to bring war crimes against Israeli officials but against countries and corporations who support or benefit from the occupation of Palestine. Tzipi Livni, Israel's foreign minister during the War on Gaza in 2008-2009, was cautioned by legal experts not to leave Israel if the Palestinians resorted to the “nuclear option”, i.e. seeking membership in UN agencies. Corporations worldwide, like Caterpillar, can be sued for aiding in the Israeli practice of demolishing Palestinian homes, 27,000 since 1967. Legal precedents have been set by the case against former Yugoslavia President Slobodan Milošević and against Shell Oil--which had to make a hefty settlement to Nigerian farmers after being indicted for human rights violations in its efforts to extract oil. The tide is turning towards justice for the Palestinian people.

By applying for membership in UN agencies, the Palestinians are on the road to achieving parity with Israel. Parity is much needed. The latest action by the Palestinian Authority may be the action that achieves parity. Parity has been thwarted by the diplomatic shield that the US has been giving Israel for more than 6 decades. That shield is evaporating as Palestine’s admission into these agencies has caused a diversion of US and Israeli interests.

Why Can't We Live Together

I have not written about Middle East affairs for several months.  I have been tending to the needs of my brother Munther who has since succumbed to the cancer that invaded his body.  His death certificate came in today and the place of birth that was inscribed therein stated “Israel.”  I was offended as I am sure my brother would also have been.  Even in death, the Palestinian identity is being eliminated. I'm having the death certificate changed.

When asked by the Funeral Director where my brother was born, I informed her that Munther, known as Mike, was born in Jerusalem.  That information was translated to being Israel.  Jerusalem is not part of Israel under international law and is subject to final status negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis.  Negotiations have been unfruitful and the circumstances indicates that one day soon, all of the land now known as Israel and Palestinian Territories will be one state encompassing all Palestinians and Israelis.   Perception however has been painted in public opinion that Jerusalem is Israeli.  Nothing can be further from the truth.  Palestinians have not and will not give up its claim to Jerusalem. 

Israelis are doing everything they can to ethnically cleanse Jerusalem by not only excluding Palestinians from returning to the place of their birth but also by making it difficult for Palestinian residence in ethe Holy City to remain.   This brings me back to my brother Mike and his perceptive insight on this matter.

My brother Mike did not discuss politics much.  In fact he had a convoluted logic and unreasonable thinking when it came to the Middle East.  Mike was a jokester and when he offered a solution to the Middle East conflict which was unreasonable and contained convoluted logic, it at first made me laugh. However, when I thought about it while preparing his eulogy, I realized his point.  First let me tell explain his solution.

He stated, several months before his passing, that an Arab man and woman and a Jewish man and woman should be selected and placed on an island.  Then he said, America should “nuke” the entire Middle East.  After the nuclear dust settles, he stated, “ Take the Arab man and Jewish woman and have them mate; likewise for the Jewish man and the Arab woman. And then start all over!”

Unreasonable?  Yes.   Convoluted logic? Yes.  But if you really think about it, I think my brother Mike was trying to tell us that we should all just live together.

            By the year 2016, it is predicated that Palestinians will outnumber Israelis in Israel and the Palestinian territories, i.e. West Bank and Gaza.  Israel cannot continue to govern as a minority entity for regardless of the Israeli position that the Palestinian Authority governs Areas  A & B in the West Bank and Hamas governs Gaza, the fact is Israel controls all the territory west of the Jordan River.   The apartheid practices of Israel will catch up with reality.  And then we will be faced with the reality that my brother Mike was trying to convey: Why can’t we all live together.  

(© 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.) 

Pressure Upon Israel Could Resolve Iranian Nuclear Issue

             The crisis over the Iranian nuclear aspirations is really quite simple to resolve if there is political will to resolve it. The issue is not the threat of whether Iran will use a nuclear bomb against Israel but rather whether Israel will continue its hegemony over the Middle East, especially over the Palestinians.   Additionally, the hypocrisy that the West adopts visa via Israel and every other Middle Eastern country is overwhelming to the people of the region.  Putting a little pressure upon Apartheid Israel can solve many of the Middle East problems.

           

The belief that Iran will use a nuclear weapon against Israel as an offensive strategy is foolish.  It is inconceivable that any country will use a nuclear bomb against another in an offensive manner. President Harry S. Truman used the nuclear bomb against Japan because he perceived that an invasion of Japan will result in an excessive amount of US casualties. Additionally, President Truman used the atomic bomb knowing full well that there would be no retaliation as no other country had the capability to retaliate with nuclear power. This is not the case today.

            It is highly unlikely that Iran would strike Israel for several reasons.  First, Iran would be committing suicide as Israel has an enormous nuclear capability to strike Iran back with much more devastation. Thus it would be suicidal for Iran to strike the first blow.  Second, the proximity of millions of Muslims around Israel, including Iran, would cause such devastation from the atomic burst that Iran will not benefit strategically within the Muslim world.  Third, the proximity of Jerusalem, a holy site for Muslims, to any potential target within Israel makes striking Israel with nuclear weapons theologically impractical. 

            The hyperbole rhetoric emitting from Apartheid Israeli leaders against Iran is aimed to deflect news coverage about its apartheid practices against the Palestinians.  To seek the sympathies of the West, Apartheid Israel falsely portrays itself as a goldfish in a sea of piranhas. The real fact is that Apartheid Israel is the great white shark in a small pound of fat cat fishes.   As the only nuclear power in the Middle East, Israel continues its hegemony over the Middle East with unchecked arrogance.  In 1981 and 2007, Apartheid Israel attacked Iraq and Syria, respectively, in an unprovoked attempt to prevent them from developing nuclear capabilities.  Additionally, while the US and the West demand inspections of North Korea and Iran’s nuclear facilities, nothing is said about Israel’s nuclear power plants which, according to exports, have produced hundreds of nuclear weapon warheads.

            Apartheid Israel would like the West and Russia and China, as they are UN Security Council permanent members, to believe that Iran will use nuclear weapon to “wipe Israel off the face of the earth.”  In fact, Iranian President Ahmadinejad never said this statement and this translation is completely wrong.  But Israel knows that perception is reality and putting this perception into minds makes it the “perceived truth”—but this is not always the “truth”.

            President Ahmadinejad, during the speech in which he is accused of wanting to “wipe Israel off the face of the earth,” used the words words “rezhim-e ishghalgar-e qods” which mean “regime occupying Jerusalem.”[1] Ahmadinejad was advocating a regime change in Israel.  But Apartheid Israel does not want the world to know this and the American press does not want to investigate Israel in fear of retaliation from the powerful Israeli lobby.  To be fair, this wrong interpretation came not from Israel but from Iran itself.  However, when Iran tried to correct the wrong terminology, the quote spiraled out of control.  Of course, Apartheid Israel made this wrongly translated term the center of its propaganda campaign to deflect coverage of its apartheid practices.

            The West’s domination over the Middle East through its proxy Apartheid Israel and the support of Arab dictators and kings who repress the people’s human spirit to be free and democratic continues to make the region unstable.  Further, the discrepancy in policy towards Arab countries and Apartheid Israel leads many in the region to wonder how America and the West could be so hypocritical.  Apartheid Israel can occupy Palestine for over 40 years and no military force is sent to remove the occupier.  Yet, Iraq’s occupation of Kuwait could not be tolerated for one day as the US and Britain rallied the world around Operation Desert Storm in 1990. Apartheid Israel has imprisoned over 1.6 million Palestinians in Gaza and bombed the population relentlessly in the 2008-2009 onslaught without a whisper from the US and the West.  Yet, the world comes to the aid of the Libyans during their Arab Spring revolution to oust Muammar Gaddafi.  The 1.5 billion Muslims cannot understand why they are treated different than the 15 million Jews.

            What further perplexes many Arabs is that Israel is a nuclear power that has never signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). While Pakistan and India have also not signed the Treaty, they have both publicly stated that they do have nuclear warheads.  Israel, on the other hand, has been purposely deceptive as to its nuclear capability.

India has pledged a no first use policy unless it is attacked by an adversary using nuclear weapons.  Additionally, India has expressed its commitment to non-proliferation but stated that it considers the “NPT as a flawed treaty and it did not recognise [sic] the need for universal, non-discriminatory verification and treatment."[2]  India has cooperated with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) by entering into agreements to inspect its facilities.

Israel will not cooperate with the IAEA. When called upon to open its nuclear facilities in September, 2009, Israel’s chief delegate to the IAEA conference responded “Israel will not co-operate in any matter with this resolution."[3]  Why haven’t Western countries called upon the UN to impose sanctions against Israel for its refusal to have its nuclear facilities inspected?  Why is this double standard for Israel tolerated?

Striking a balance between Iran and Israel can be one way to make Iran more cooperative and to abandon any military component with its nuclear ambitions. Having Israel submit to inspections of its nuclear capabilities and to make it pledge a no first use policy similar to India will give assurance to Iran and all Middle East countries that the West is willing to deal fairly with the people of the region. Additionally, the West needs to exert pressure on Israel to resolve Palestinian statehood aspirations by ending decades of occupation. Failing diplomatic pressure, sanctions upon Israel should be on the table.

Fair dealing in the Middle East is the only thing Arabs want to see. They do not want the West to adopt a pro-Arab policy.  Arabs want a fair policy in the Middle East that treats every country and every religion equally and with dignity.  If this was the policy, the issue with the Iranian nuclear ambitions would not be an issue.  The lack of fairness in Western Middle East policy, however, is driving the region into another major war.  Pressuring Israel to act the way the West demands Iran to act would solve the Middle East problems.

            The question is whether there  is a political will to pressure Israel?


2/25/2012 update:  I just read this article by Allan Hart, author, and found this statement quite interesting to this article: 


"From recently de-classified documents we now know that in a memorandum dated 19 July 1969, Henry Kissinger, then national security adviser, warned President Nixon that the Israelis “are probably more likely than any other country to actually use their nuclear weapons.” And as I mentioned in my post of 30 January with the headline Is Israel on the road to “self-destruction”?, Golda Meir said in an interview I did with her for the BBC’s Panorama programme when she was prime minster that in a doomsday situation Israel “would be prepared to take the region and the world down with it.”"

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

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[1][1] ‘Wiped Off The Face of the Earth’ The Rumor of the Century, Arash Norouzi, May 26, 2007 http://antiwar.com/orig/norouzi.php?articleid=11025

[2] India seeks Japan's support, calls NPT 'flawed' By IANS, Sat, Mar 24, 2007

http://www.whereincity.com/news/3/15197

[3] Israel pressured on nuclear sites, Aljazeera, September 18, 2009, http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2009/09/2009918173136830771.html

The Arrogance of the UN Veto

            Arrogance is just one more word to describe the Apartheid Israeli government.  This time it involves the United Nations Security Council veto power which is granted to the five permanent members (United States, Great Britain, France, China and Russia). 

            This week China and Russia vetoed a UN Security Council Resolution against Syria for the second time in four months.  The reaction from the US and Apartheid Israel was typical.  U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called the veto a "travesty". Members of Apartheid-in-Chief Benjamin Natanyahu’s cabinet were disappointed by the veto and Knesset members were appalled by Russia's behavior.

            This arrogant reaction by the US and Apartheid Israel comes after a February, 2011 US veto of a UN Security Council Resolution which would have condemned the settlements as “illegal” and after the US threatened to veto a proposed UN Security Resolution on Palestinian Statehood in September, 2011.

            Apartheid Israeli supporters point to the Russian naval base in Syria and to the sale of jet fighters to the Assad regime to state that Russia has some sort of culpability in the Syrian murderous crackdown of the Arab Spring in Syria. This position would suggest to any logical person that the US, which is working closely with Apartheid Israel on military exercises and sells (gives is a better word) jet fighters to Israel, is then complicit with Israel in the occupation of Palestine.

            The problem with the US foreign policy is that it does what it will not allow others to do. The US can support the illegal settlement of Palestine by Apartheid Israel but Russia and China cannot support the brutal Syrian murderous actions against its own people.  Apartheid-in-Chief Netanyahu is conspicuously silent on the Russian and Chinese veto. However, he did state recently before a cabinet meeting:

At the end of last week we received a reminder about the environment we're living in. We heard Iran's ruler talk about Israel's destruction, we saw the Syrian army massacring its own people. Some leaders have no compunctions about harming their people or their neighbors.[i]

Zvi Bar’el, the writer of the Haaretz opinion article in which this quote was taken, then stated:

True, it's a lousy environment. Only one sentence is needed to complete the picture: "And there are governments that don't mind continuing to occupy other nations for nearly 50 years.

            This arrogance of expressing moral outrage at the atrocities of other countries while committing atrocities yourself is typical of how repugnant the world political stage has succumbed.  This indignation comes down to the use of the UN veto by the five permanent nations.  The US cannot use the veto to allow Israel to continue its apartheid occupation of Palestine and its obnoxious suppression of the Palestinian human spirit to be free; and then condemn the Russians and Chinese for vetoing the condemnation of the Syrian brutal suppression of the Syrian people’s human spirit to also be free.  One cannot support the condemnation of one human suppression and veto the condemnation of another human suppression.  It just is not morally right.

            While the veto in the UN Security Council is a power that will not be so easily given up by the five permanent members, it is time to rethink this awesome power. At this juncture, however, it would be better if the five permanent members of the UN Security Council would rethink their use of the veto.  Instead of using the veto to advance one’s self-interest, they should use the veto on a consistent basis that will advance the human spirit to be free.   I understand that this may be asking too much from China, but the US, as the sole super power, needs to lead with a moral conviction.  The US needs to be consistent in its foreign policy.

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

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[i] Veto Morality, Zvi Bar'el, February 8, 2012, http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/veto-morality-1.411637

غطرسة للامم المتحدة النقض

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

            غطرسة واحد فقط أكثر كلمة لوصف حكومة الفصل العنصري الإسرائيلي. هذه المرة أنها تنطوي على الأمم المتحدة حق النقض في مجلس الأمن السلطة التي تمنح إلى الدول الخمس الدائمة العضوية (الولايات المتحدة وبريطانيا وفرنسا والصين وروسيا).

            هذا الأسبوع حق النقض ضد الصين وروسيا على قرار مجلس الأمن الدولي ضد سوريا للمرة الثانية في اربعة اشهر. كان رد الفعل من جانب الولايات المتحدة وإسرائيل الفصل العنصري نموذجي. دعت وزيرة الخارجية الاميركية هيلاري كلينتون في ذلك حق النقض على "مهزلة". أصيبوا بخيبة أمل من أعضاء مجلس الوزراء بنيامين نتنياهو الفصل العنصري في ورئيس من قبل أعضاء الكنيست، واستخدام حق النقض قد هالهم سلوك روسيا.

            هذا رد فعل متعجرف من قبل الولايات المتحدة وإسرائيل الفصل العنصري يأتي بعد فبراير، 2011 الولايات المتحدة حق النقض لقرار مجلس الامن الدولي الذي من شأنه أن يدين المستوطنات بأنها "غير قانونية" وبعد الولايات المتحدة هددت باستخدام الفيتو ضد القرار المقترح الامن الدولي بشأن اقامة دولة فلسطينية في سبتمبر ، 2011.

            أنصار الفصل العنصري الإسرائيلي تشير إلى القاعدة البحرية الروسية في سوريا، وعلى بيع طائرات مقاتلة لنظام الأسد أن أذكر أن روسيا لديها نوعا من اللوم في حملة القمع التي شنتها القاتل السوري من الربيع العربي في سوريا. هذا الموقف أن أقترح على أي شخص منطقي أن الولايات المتحدة، والتي تعمل بشكل وثيق مع إسرائيل الفصل العنصري في مناورات عسكرية وتبيع (يعطي هو أفضل كلمة) طائرات مقاتلة إلى إسرائيل، ومن ثم متواطئة مع إسرائيل في احتلال فلسطين.

            المشكلة مع السياسة الخارجية الأميركية هو أن يفعل ما لن تسمح للآخرين للقيام به. يمكن للولايات المتحدة يمكن أن تدعم الاستيطان غير الشرعية في فلسطين من قبل إسرائيل الفصل العنصري لكن روسيا والصين لا تؤيد وحشية الإجراءات القاتل السوري ضد شعبه. الفصل العنصري في ورئيس نتنياهو الصمت بشكل واضح على الفيتو الروسي والصيني. بيد أنه في الآونة الأخيرة دولة قبل اجتماع مجلس الوزراء:رأينا في نهاية الأسبوع الماضي تلقينا تذكيرا حول البيئة الذي نعيشه. سمعنا الكلام الإيراني الحاكم حول تدمير اسرائيل، الجيش السوري ذبح شعبه. بعض القادة ليس لديهم الندم عن إيذاء الناس، أو جيرانهم. [أنا]تسفي Bar'el، وكاتب المقال في صحيفة هآرتس الرأي الذي اتخذ هذا الاقتباس، وقال بعد ذلك:صحيح، انها بيئة رديء. وهناك حاجة فقط جملة واحدة لاستكمال الصورة: "وهناك حكومات التي لا تمانع في استمرار لاحتلال دول أخرى منذ ما يقرب من 50 عاما.

            هذه الغطرسة للتعبير عن الغضب الأخلاقي في الفظائع التي ارتكبت في دول أخرى، وارتكاب الفظائع نفسك نموذجا للكيفية بغيض الساحة العالمية السياسية واستسلمت. هذا السخط ينزل إلى استخدام حق النقض من قبل الأمم المتحدة والدول الخمس دائمة. لا تستطيع الولايات المتحدة استخدام حق النقض للسماح اسرائيل لمواصلة احتلالها الفصل العنصري في فلسطين، وقمعها البغيض من روح الإنسان الفلسطيني في التحرر، ومن ثم إدانة الروس والصينيين عن الاعتراض على إدانة القمع الوحشي السوري من الإنسان للشعب السوري روح ليكون أيضا مجانا. يمكن للمرء أن لا يعتمد على إدانة واحدة قمع الإنسان ونقض إدانة آخر قمع الإنسان. انها ليست مجرد حق من الناحية الأخلاقية.

            في حين أن حق النقض في مجلس الامن الدولي هو القوة التي لن يتم بسهولة لذلك تخلت من قبل الدول الخمس الدائمة العضوية، فقد حان الوقت لإعادة النظر في هذه القوة الهائلة. في هذه المرحلة، ومع ذلك، سيكون من الأفضل إذا كانت الدول الخمس الدائمة العضوية في مجلس الامن الدولي وإعادة التفكير في استخدامها حق النقض. بدلا من استخدام حق النقض لدفع الفرد للمصلحة الذاتية، ينبغي لها استخدام حق النقض على أساس ثابت من شأنها أن تقدم الروح البشرية أن يكون حرا. وأنا أفهم أن هذا يمكن أن يطلب الكثير من الصين، ولكن الولايات المتحدة، باعتبارها القوة العظمى الوحيدة، يجب أن تؤدي مع الإدانة الأخلاقية. الولايات المتحدة تحتاج إلى أن تكون متسقة في سياستها الخارجية.

(Zanayed فادي © حقوق الطبع والنشر،. يتم السماح نشر أو توزيع هذه المواد شريطة أن لا تغيير محتواها وأشار المصدر وصاحبه.)[ط] الأخلاق حق النقض، تسفي Bar'el، 8 شباط 2012، http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/veto-morality-1.411637

Communicating With Catholics

                I just realized that by putting the word Catholic on my Facebook status, my status gets posted to the Catholic Facebook friend’s activity page where there are 411,000 members.  As a member of the Catholic Facebook page, I, a Christian, now have the ability to communicate my Palestinian message to other Christians.  I suppose that there are many other Facebook pages that I can do the same to.

                Such out of the box thinking needs to be part of the Palestinian agenda to expose the Apartheid State of Israel.  We need to find different ways to inform the world that Israel is daily inflicting a brutal campaign of fear to rid Palestine of Palestinians.  So I turn to my fellow Christians to say the following.

Apartheid Israel has imprisoned the 4.5 million Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza with an Apartheid Wall or electronic barbed wires.   Palestinian towns are imprisoned in enclaves with only one entrance and exit point controlled by apartheid Israeli soldiers. The gate is open for short periods of time during the morning, afternoon and evening.  Some days, in the apartheid Israeli soldier forgets to open the gate for the afternoon opening and children coming back from school have to wait outside the town gates until the evening opening.

                Many Catholics may not realize that a Catholic synod, a special council of church members that holds regular meetings to discuss religious issues, stated in October, 2010 that Israel is the root cause of all the Middle East woes.  The final statement of the synod listed the occupation, the apartheid wall, the numerous military checkpoints, the huge number of political prisoners, and the Israeli policy of fear which disrupts everyday Palestinian life as the main reasons behind the exodus of Palestinian Christians.  It also stated that these continuing Israeli aggravations are the cause for attacks on Israel.

                The Catholic synod even stated that Christ nullified God’s promise to the Jews.  While the purpose of this blog is political rather than religious, the implication of this statement is both political and religious.  The religious and political cover Apartheid Israel uses to retain, occupy and plunder Palestinian land can be negated if Catholics grasped the concept that Christ’s New Covenant made Christians the inheritors of God’s   promise. Instead the Christian religious right misunderstands Jesus’s teachings when it supports Israel’s domination of Palestinian land. This in turn is a direct contradiction of Jesus’s teachings when such policy strengthens Israel and contributes to the exodus of Christians from the Holy Land.

                But my purpose in writing this blog is not to get too deep into a religious dissertation but rather to call upon Catholics to understand what is happening in the Palestinian Occupied Territories. I want Catholics reading this message to understand that Israel is not the democracy it says it is. I want Catholics to understand that Israel is an Apartheid State.  I say this because Apartheid Israel has laws that allow Jewish communities to screen new applicants, a legal way to exclude Palestinians from mixing with Jews. Apartheid Israel has roads that are for the exclusive use of Jews. Does this sound like the Whites Only bathrooms and drinking fountains of the American Southern States?  Palestinians have to have a different colored license plate to distinguish them from Jews.  Is this not racism? Is this not an Apartheid system?

                The percentage of Christians is dwindling tremendously in Jerusalem and in Palestine.  Christians are losing a presence in the Holy Land for which it will take decades if not a century to build back up. Can Catholics sit idly by and close their eyes to what is happening in the Holy Land?  Can Catholics allow Israeli atrocities and policy of fear to drive Christians completely out of the Holy Land?

                Communicating to the Catholics and other groups in this way needs to be part of the Palestinian agenda.  We have a just cause that needs to be communicated.  

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

التواصل مع الكاثوليك

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

أدركت ذلك تماما من خلال وضع كلمة الكاثوليكية على الفيسبوك وضعي ، ويحصل على نشر وضعي إلى صفحة الفيسبوك نشاط الكاثوليكية الأصدقاء حيث هناك 411000 عضوا. كعضو في صفحة الفيسبوك الكاثوليكية ، وأنا ، وهو مسيحي ، والآن لدينا القدرة على التواصل رسالتي الفلسطينية لمسيحيين آخرين. أفترض أن هناك العديد من صفحات الفيسبوك أستطيع أن تفعل الشيء نفسه ل.

                من مثل هذا النوع من التفكير يحتاج إلى مربع تكون جزءا من جدول الأعمال الفلسطيني لفضح دولة الفصل العنصري في إسرائيل. نحن بحاجة إلى إيجاد طرق مختلفة لتعريف العالم بأن إسرائيل هي إلحاق اليومية حملة وحشية من الخوف لتخليص فلسطين من الفلسطينيين. لذا فإنني أنتقل إلى المسيحيين زملائي أن أقول ما يلي.وقد سجنت اسرائيل الفصل العنصري الفلسطينيين 4.5 مليون نسمة في الضفة الغربية وقطاع غزة مع جدار الفصل العنصري أو الأسلاك الشائكة الإلكترونية.مسجونون المدن الفلسطينية في جيوب مع مدخل واحد فقط ونقطة الخروج التي يسيطر عليها الجنود الاسرائيليون الفصل العنصري. البوابة مفتوحة لفترات قصيرة من الوقت خلال فترة ما بعد الظهر ، صباحا ومساء. بعض الأيام ، والجندي الإسرائيلي ينسى الفصل العنصري لفتح بوابة للفتح بعد ظهر اليوم والأطفال يعودون من المدرسة إلى الانتظار خارج أبواب المدينة حتى افتتاح المساء.



                قد لا يدرك الكثير من الكاثوليك ان المجمع الكنسي الكاثوليكي ، ومجلس خاص لأعضاء الكنيسة التي تعقد اجتماعات منتظمة لمناقشة القضايا الدينية ، صرح في تشرين الاول ، 2010 ان اسرائيل هي السبب الجذري لجميع مشاكل الشرق الأوسط. البيان الختامي لسينودس سرد الاحتلال ، وجدار الفصل العنصري ، والعديد من نقاط التفتيش العسكرية ، وعدد كبير من السجناء السياسيين ، والسياسة الإسرائيلية من الخوف الذي يعطل الحياة الفلسطينية اليومية حيث أن الأسباب الرئيسية وراء هجرة المسيحيين الفلسطينيين. وذكرت أيضا أن هذه مفاقمة الاوضاع الاسرائيلية المستمرة هي السبب لشن هجمات على اسرائيل.



                المجمع الكنسي الكاثوليكي وذكر ان المسيح حتى يبطل وعد الله لليهود. في حين أن الغرض من هذا بلوق هو سياسي وليس ديني ، والآثار المترتبة على هذا البيان على حد سواء السياسية والدينية. والفصل العنصري بغطاء ديني وسياسي يستخدم للاحتفاظ اسرائيل ، احتلال ، ويمكن أن تبطل نهب الأراضي الفلسطينية اذا الكاثوليك اغتنامها المفهوم القائل بأن المسيح العهد الجديد جعل المسيحيين ورثة وعد الله. بدلا من ذلك اليمين المسيحي الدينية يسيء فهم تعاليم يسوع عندما كانت تدعم هيمنة اسرائيل للاراضي الفلسطينية.هذا بدوره يشكل تناقضا مباشرا من تعاليم يسوع عند هذه السياسة يقوي اسرائيل ويساهم في هجرة المسيحيين من الأراضي المقدسة.



                ولكن هدفي في كتابة هذا بلوق هو عدم الحصول على عميق جدا في أطروحة دينية بل ندعو الكاثوليك لفهم ما يحدث في الأراضي الفلسطينية المحتلة. أريد الكاثوليك قراءة هذه الرسالة إلى أن يفهموا أن إسرائيل ليست هي الديمقراطية تقول انها هي. أريد الكاثوليك أن نفهم أن إسرائيل هي دولة الفصل العنصري. أقول هذا لأن الفصل العنصري اسرائيل القوانين التي تسمح للجاليات اليهودية الشاشة المتقدمين الجدد ، وسيلة قانونية لاستبعاد الفلسطينيين من الاختلاط مع اليهود. الفصل العنصري الإسرائيلي والطرق التي هي للاستخدام الحصري لليهود. هل هذا الصوت مثل الحمامات البيض فقط ونوافير مياه الشرب في الولايات الجنوبية الأمريكية؟ الفلسطينيون ان يكون لديك مختلفة وحات ملونة لتمييزهم عن اليهود. أليس هذا عنصرية؟ هذا هو نظام الفصل العنصري لا؟



                نسبة المسيحيين تتضاءل بشكل كبير في القدس وفي فلسطين.المسيحيون يفقدون وجودها في الأراضي المقدسة والتي ستستغرق عدة عقود إن لم يكن من قرن من أجل بناء احتياطيا. ويمكن أن نقف موقف المتفرج الكاثوليك وإغلاق أعينهم على ما يحدث في الأرض المقدسة؟ يمكن أن تسمح الكاثوليك الفظائع الإسرائيلية وسياسة الخوف لدفع المسيحيين خارجا تماما عن الأرض المقدسة؟



                التواصل للكاثوليك والجماعات الأخرى في هذا الطريق يجب أن يكون جزءا من جدول الأعمال الفلسطيني. لدينا قضية عادلة لا بد من إبلاغها.


(Zanayed © ، فادي يسمح نشر أو توزيع هذه المواد شريطة أن لا تغيير محتواها وأشار المصدر وصاحبه).

وينبغي أن الروح البشرية محرك السياسة الخارجية الأميركية

(قمت بترجمة هذه المقالة على Google. كما هو محدود لغتي العربية لقراءةالكلام والقليل جدا، لا أستطيع أن يشهدوا على دقة              الترجمة، وأنا لا تقدم سوىأنها على سكن لقرائي.)

            السياسة الخارجية الأميركية هو النفاق. انها تحتاج الى تغيير.

            وقد استند السياسة الخارجية الأميركية على افتراض أن أمريكا لن تفعل أي شيء طالما أنه يصب في مصلحة الأمن القومي الأمريكية. هذه هي سياسة خاطئة وسوء المعاملة الأجنبية التي لا يؤدي إلا إلى النفاق.

            إذا كان بلد واحد يمكن أن تغزو دولة أخرى على أساس مفهومها المتصورة للأمن الوطني ، ثم لماذا لا يستطيع كل بلد تستخدم نفس الحجة للأمن القومي للقيام بكل ما ينبغي أن يفكر في العالم؟
 في السنوات ال 40 الماضية غزت أمريكا بلد بعد. في عام 1983 ذهب إلى أميركا في غرناطة و؛ في عام 1989 في الولايات المتحدة ذهبت الى بنما للقبض على رئيسها مانويل نورييغا من منزله ، وفي عام 1990 غزت قوات التحالف بقيادة الولايات المتحدة العراق خلال حرب الخليج الأولى ، في عام 2001 قامت الولايات المتحدة بغزو أفغانستان بعد 11 / 9 ؛ ثم في عام 2003 reinvaded الولايات المتحدة العراق مرة أخرى. كل هذا ، كما قيل لنا ، وكان ذلك في مصلحة الأمن القومي للولايات المتحدة. قبل الغزو الأخير للعراق ، قال الرئيس الاميركي جورج بوش العالم في الأمم المتحدة أن العراق كان سهم تتراكم أسلحة الدمار الشامل -- والتي لم يعثر عليها قط.
 أيضا في السنوات ال 40 الماضية ، عارضت الولايات المتحدة غزو أفغانستان عام 1980 من قبل الاتحاد السوفياتي ، ويعارض عمليات التوغل الليبية في تشاد جارتها خلال 1980s ، وعام 1989 عارضت احتلال الكويت من قبل العراق.
 النفاق هو أن الولايات المتحدة تسمح لنفسها استخدام حجة الأمن القومي لتلبية الاحتياجات الخاصة بها لكنها تعارض هذه الحجة نفسها ليتم استخدامها من قبل أي دولة أخرى باستثناء إسرائيل الفصل العنصري. الخلل واضح في السياسة الخارجية التي تقوم على حجة الأمن القومي هو أن كل أمة أخرى يمكن أيضا استخدام نفس الحجة على حساب السلام العالمي. لماذا لم يستطع الاتحاد السوفياتي بغزو أفغانستان لحماية مصلحتها الأمن القومي؟ لماذا لا يمكن احتلال العراق للكويت مصلحتها الأمن القومي؟ لماذا لا يمكن أن تستمر إسرائيل في احتلال الأراضي الفلسطينية؟
 فمن الواضح أن هذه الأسئلة تقود إلى واحد إلى الاعتقاد بأن معارضة الولايات المتحدة الى "دول أخرى" مخاوف أمنية وطنية هي معيبة وانتقائية. ليس من حق العراق لاحتلال الكويت ، وإنما هو حق لإسرائيل الفصل العنصري باحتلال فلسطين. وينظر الى هذا التناقض من قبل الرأي العام العالمي والنفاق ونتيجة لقمع الروح البشرية. ثم يتساءل : لماذا الولايات المتحدة وشعوب الشرق الأوسط يعارضون السياسة الخارجية الامريكية.
 تمشيا مع سياستها الخارجية غير متناسقة ، فإن الولايات المتحدة لا يفهم ثورات الربيع العربية التي تجتاح العالم العربي. على مدى عقود ، دعمت أميركا الطغاة والقادة العسكريين وjuntas والرؤساء مدى الحياة ، لا يرحم الملوك والبلطجية الذين يحجزون روح الإنسان أن يكون حرا.
 دعمت أميركا فرديناند ماركوس حتى روح الإنسان للشعب الفلبين أطاح به.
 دعمت أميركا شو ايران حتى روح الإنسان للشعب الإيراني وأطاح به كل ما يرتبط بها مع الغرب والولايات المتحدة.
 أمريكا دعمت الديكتاتور حسني مبارك حتى روح الإنسان للشعب المصري أرغموه على الخروج من السلطة.
 بدت أمريكا في الاتجاه الآخر في الفظائع التي ارتكبت في ليبيا بعد معمر القذافي تخلى عن أسلحة طرابلس لبرامج أسلحة الدمار الشامل ورحب عمليات تفتيش دولية للتحقق من انه من خلال متابعة على الالتزام.
 أمريكا مستمرة في تجاهل روح الإنسان الذي يتوق إلى أن يكون حرا. قد نسي أميركا روحها الإنسان الخاصة خلال الثورة الأميركية. في حين أن الأمريكيين يعتنقون جوهر ما يعنيه أن يكون حرا ، انهم لا يفهمون أن هذه الروح البشرية في جميع البشر.
 الفلسطينيون أن روح الإنسان نفسه أن يكون حرا. حتى الآن على الرغم من تصريح الرئيس أوباما أنه في مصلحة الأمن القومي الأميركي لتحقيق السلام بين إسرائيل وفلسطين ، فإن الولايات المتحدة لا تستطيع الحصول على "حليف قوي" لوقف بناء المستوطنات التي تنجح الادارات الاميركية قد ذكرت هي "عقبات في طريق السلام".
 مرة أخرى ، هذا التضارب يؤذي المصالح الأميركية في الشرق الأوسط.
 وينبغي أن تستند السياسة الخارجية على روح الإنسان أن يكون حرا وليس على الأمن القومي. عندما أمريكا دعاة حق للروح البشرية لتكون حرة في أي مكان على الأرض ، والسياسة الخارجية الأميركية تصبح متناسقة. وبالتالي ، فإن روح الإنسان الحرة تسعى بطبيعة الحال الشكل الديمقراطي للحكومة. بعد أن الأشكال الديمقراطية للحكومات في الأمن القومي للولايات المتحدة.السياسة الخارجية الأميركية تحتاج إلى دعم روح الإنسان أن يكون حرا.(Zanayed © ، فادي يسمح نشر أو توزيع هذه المواد شريطة أن لا تغيير محتواها وأشار المصدر وصاحبه).