Palestinian Exasperation - Israeli Desperation

In July, 2013 United States Secretary of State John Kerry brought the Palestinian and Israeli parties to the negotiating table to discuss peace yet again. The deadline for those talks was set as April 29, 2014. To entice the parties to the table, certain agreements were made by both sides.  But the alluring factor for many Palestinians was that final status issues would also be discussed.  With less than a month before that deadline, we are entrenched in a dispute not over those core issues but about whether side issues will be met or whether the Palestinians will seek justice at international forums.  Another 9 months have been wasted and the status quo has gone from exasperation to desperation.

There was a great reluctance among the majority of Palestinians to begin yet another chapter of talks with the Israelis. Many Palestinians felt and continue to feel that they do not need to endlessly talk to no real end and that talking to Israel served Israel’s interest to perpetuate the decades old cruel military occupation of their land and their people and preventing the Palestinians from seeking justice through international forums.  Israel, instead of agreeing to stop all settlement building activities, agreed to release 104 pre-Oslo prisoners in four installments, the latest of which has been breached. The Palestinians agreed not to go to United Nations forums to seek international justice against the Israelis—and Palestinians have thus far kept their end of the bargain.

Now the talks are at a juncture which is not aimed at resolving the issues of the status of Jerusalem, the right of return for Palestinian refugees, the border issues or even water rights—a fundamental issue to any peace agreement but which has not been given much consideration by the parties and the media.  Instead the topic of discussion is whether the Israelis will release the last batch of Palestinian prisoners and who will decide which prisoners will be released but only for extending the talks.  

During the last 9 months of “talks” Palestinians have witnessed

•          over 60 Palestinians being killed and over 900 wounded by Israeli soldiers.
•          an increase in housing starts in the illegal settlements

o   August 12, 2013."Israel approves 900 additional homes in East Jerusalem". http://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-approves-900-additional-homes-in-east-jerusalem/

o   On 10 January 2014. Israel approved plans for 1,400 settler homes. http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/01/10/us-palestinians-israel-settlements-idUSBREA090KW20140110

o   January 21, 2014. Peace hopes fade as Israel plans 381 more settler homes http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/afp/140121/peace-hopes-fade-israel-plans-381-more-settler-homes-0

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•       reports of olive trees being cut down are rampant in the media. Here is but a sampling:

o   March 27, 2014 Settlers cut down 50 olive trees near Nablus http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=685271

o   October 5, 2013 Palestinian farmer: West Bank settlers destroyed 129 olive trees http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/1.550637

o   October 21, 2013 Israeli Settlers Chop down more Palestinian Olive Trees (having destroyed 800,000 since 1967) http://www.juancole.com/2013/10/settlers-palestinian-destroyed.html

o   October 19,  2013 ISRAELI SETTLERS ACCUSED OF DESTROYING PALESTINIAN OLIVE TREES http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2013/10/19/israeli-settlerschopdown100treesinwestbankvillage.html

o   March 3, 2014  Israeli settlers destroy olive trees in West Bank http://www.presstv.com/detail/2014/03/03/352980/israelis-destroy-olive-trees-in-wb/

The results of the talks have been a step forward for Palestinians, not in terms of achieving a State anytime soon, but in terms of positioning in negotiations.  While it is the Palestinians who were and continue to be exasperated, it is the Israelis who are desperate. The Palestinians have been exasperated by 20+ years of endless talks that have led to no end. Palestinians are no closer to a State then in 1993 or the last 9 months. The Israelis are desperate to prevent the Palestinians from seeking justice at UN forums, especially at the Human Rights Commission and at the International Criminal Court. Additionally, Israelis are deathly afraid of the Boycott, Divest and Sanctions Movement which is growing by leaps and bounds.  Secretary of State Kerry has warned Israel of a third Intifada and further isolation.

Continuing the “talks” without any real progress to date is an exercise in futility for Palestinians and will only serve Israel’s interests.  By agreeing to the continuation of the talks, Palestinians will allow Israel to buy additional time to continue building more settlements; continue building the apartheid wall; continue to murder, wound and imprison more Palestinians; and continue to uproot more and more Palestinian olive trees.  Additionally, the abusive Israeli military checkpoints will not be eased and Israeli dominance over Palestinian lives will go unabated.

Exasperated by another Israeli demand to recognize Israel as a Jewish State, Palestinians obtained the support of the Arab League in rejecting this demand.  This demand was not imposed upon the Jordanians or the Egyptians when Israel negotiated peace treaties with these countries. Additionally, this was not addressed in the Oslo Accords or any of its ancillary agreements. It is yet another demand creatively concocted by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not for any altruistic purpose but for Israel’s selfish purpose—to kill the peace process. This is not Nethanyahu’s first attempt to redefine terms or impose new wordings in order to kill the peace process. In 1996 during his first stint as Prime Minister, he changed the Madrid Conference formula from “land for peace” to “land for security” which inevitably destroyed the Oslo movement towards a comprehensive peace.

Today, Netanyahu is concocting all sorts of schemes to maintain the status quo for as long as possible and to preventing the Palestinians from seeking justice at international forums. All the following proposals are aimed at eliciting a rejection so as to blame someone other than Israel for the failure of the “talks”:

·         Besides, the Jewish State recognition demand, Netayahu wants to maintain a military presence in the Jordanian valley thus eliminating a border between Palestine and Jordan.

·         March 2, 2014. Israel: Stop nuclear Iran and we’ll agree to Palestinian state http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/world_news/Middle_East/article1381901.ece

·         March 23, 2014 Swap proposed over release of Palestinian prisoners and spy (Jonathan Pollard) http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/850216.shtml#.UzAZsPldWSo  Israel’s yet another attempt to have the notorious Israeli spy released from an American prison.

·         Netanyahu earlier tried to tie the Wye River Agreement to the release of Jonathan Pollard in October, 1998. http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4461414.html

The one proposal that will win over hearts and minds for peace is not even suggested by Netanyahu—freezing settlement activity. While Netanyahu does not want peace, he wants the peace talks to endlessly go on to no real end. This duplicity in political posturing has caught up with him as the world understands his witty proposals are not aimed at furthering peace but at perpetuating the Israeli hegemony over the Palestinian people and land.

After nine months of “talks” there is a complete perpetuation of everything negative about the occupation. Palestinians are positioned at this time with a stronger negotiating power. They should use this power effectively.

The “talks” can go on for another 6 months but only if the Palestinians extract certain conditions from the Israelis. Palestinians should demand the following in exchange for not pursuing unilateral diplomatic actions in international forums, such as taking Israel to the International Criminal Court:

•         Demand that any further Palestinian deaths at the hands of Israeli soldiers be investigated by a trilateral Palestinian/Israeli/US tribunal.
•          Demand that all Israeli settlement building activity in the West Bank and Jerusalem be frozen, including but not limited to “natural growth.”
•          Release of additional Palestinian prisoners including Marwan Bargouti
•          Demand that a joint tribunal of Israelis and Palestinians will investigate and prosecute those responsible for destroying the Palestinian olive trees.
•          Demand that Israel arrests and tries Israeli settlers who commit crimes against Palestinians.

Should Israel not agree to these demands, Palestinians should walk away from the “talks”. There is no need to discuss anything with Israel while Palestinian rights, land and dignity are continually trampled upon.  

Should the Talks Collapse, Palestinians should then then employ the following (from my article Should the Talks Collapse—What Then?  http://fadizanayed.blogspot.com/2013/09/if-talks-collapse-what-then.html)  

•         Palestinians should demand that Fatah and Hamas reconcile.
•          The Palestinian police should be ordered to take their guns and give them to the Israeli soldiers at the checkpoints. We need to be David using a rock against the military might of the Big Israeli Army.  We do not need the guns that are not effective against the Mighty Israel Army.  We should confront Israel with our stones from Mother Earth against the tanks and helicopter gunships.
•          The Palestinian Authority should no longer accept money from donor nations.  We cannot afford to be bribed into complacency and to accept the status quo of a continued brutal military occupation.
•        Palestinians should use their cameras, camcorders and cell phones to inundate Facebook, Twitter, blogs and all forms of social media with images of the atrocities of the Israeli army.
•        Support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel
•        Palestinians need to organize a coherent message of non-violence that needs to be shared by thousands on these social media outlets.  Throwing stones against the military occupier is within the international right of Palestinians to resist the Israeli occupation of Palestine.
•        Palestinian youth need to understand the power of the land and use it against the military occupation forces.  This is not a call to arms but a call to repel the occupation. 

Additionally, Palestinians should do what the Israelis fear most—go directly to the International Criminal Court and hold Israeli officials accountable for its human rights abuses toward Palestinians. 

No Talking Endlessly

A Facebook member contacted me with the following message: hello---can you say something about achieving peace both for Israel/Palestinians and over all area -- or are you just anti-Israel? I see you are educated…. so you should be working for a solution

My reply:

I am not anti-Israel.  I was one of the first Palestinians to call for the recognition of Israel.  In1980 I championed the recognition of Israel at college campuses and within the Palestinian community in Chicago. I attended the White House Rose Garden peace signing ceremony on September 13, 1993 and witnessed the famous handshake between Rabin and Arafat. 

I have always been and continue to be an advocate for peace.  Yet, I like many peace-loving Palestinians have become disillusioned by Israel's constant talking but not really talking.  They want to talk but never conclude the "talks" and all the while they want to illegally confiscate more Palestinian land and build more illegal settlements and transfer more hard core machine gun taunting settlers into these settlements.  Their justification for this is that the Palestinians have given up Area C in the Oslo Agreement.  This is hogwash. 

They cut down our olive groves and then Israeli supporters justify this by saying that "terrorists" hide in the trees.  This is hogwash. 

When I ask Israeli's to explain the discrepancy between laws that differently effect Palestinians and Israelis and how they cannot call Israel an apartheid state, they have no explanations. They have no explanation for Jewish only roads; no explanation for colored license plates for Palestinians; no explanation for a wall that divides farmers from their farm land; no explanation for surrounding towns with barred wires and checkpoints out of those towns that allow residence ingress and egress at only certain times of the day.  In one such town, an elementary school is outside the wall and the guards at the 3pm crossing when children are released from their school purposefully choose to not open the gates leaving the children alone to wait until the evening crossing before they can return to their families and homes. This is a direct policy that builds frustration and hatred and ultimately aims to continue the status quo--occupation.

No one can explain to me that why Israel always asks the Palestinians to return to the "negotiating table" when Israeli soldiers carry out a direct and humiliating policy to destroy the human will of the Palestinians.  No one asks the Israelis why their leaders continue to frustrate and subjugate Palestinians into complacency.  No one asks Israel to stop its policy to dehumanize Palestinians and establish a policy to build an atmosphere of confidence in the future.

The future is in numbers. Peace will be established when Israel realizes that the will of the Palestinians people cannot be destroyed; that they cannot continue their apartheid practices especially when in 2016 it is expected that the population in Palestine and Israel will be such that Israelis are the minority.

The problem with a lack of peace is that the Israeli political system gives too much power to its minority parties.  In all the 64 year history of Israel, there has been only one Israeli government that had a majority in its Knesset.  All the other Israeli governments have been run by coalition governments that are beholden to right wing minority parties that do not want peace because these parties wield the ongoing threat to switch their allegiance in the Knesset in a no confidence vote thus bringing down the ruling party.  (See my article Soul Searching Leads to Peace http://fadizanayed.blogspot.com/2011/12/soul-searching-leads-to-peace.html  which explains how the Israeli political system is a hindrance to peace. ) 


The only way for peace to be achieved is through a One State Solution.  It is not an impossibility.  South Africa has proven that. Despite the decades of White Rule in South Africa the Black population, through the heroic efforts of Nelson Mandela, reconciliation between the people of South Africa, thought to be unattainable, was achieved successfully. Recompilation can be achieved in the Holy Land.  

I still have hope for peace. I will always have hope for peace.  I want to live with Jews, Muslims and Christians in prosperity in the Holy Land.  I want to work for a solution but I cannot and will not talk for the sake of talk if it will lead to a never ending talks.  


A One State Solution is the only thing to "talk" about. 

هل الروح البشرية اطاحة نظام الفصل العنصري الإسرائيلي

(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.)

روح الإنسان لديه قدرة كبيرة على البر والتفاهم. ترى من خلال يوم غائم. فإنه يرى من خلال أحلك الليل. انها تقطع من إهانات من الظلم. أنه يعطي الأمل للذهول.روح الإنسان يعرف أن الفصل العنصري إسرائيل ليست مستعدة للسلام بغض النظر عمن هو رئيس الوزراء. هيكل نظام الفصل العنصري الإسرائيلي من هذه الحكومة هو أنه لحكم حكومة ائتلافية. وبذلك الحلقة الأضعف داخل هذا التحالف لديه كل السلطة داخل الحكومة لأنه إذا لم يتم الالتزام بها من السياسات الرامية إلى سيتم إسقاط الحكومة.هناك الآن ما لا يقل عن 6 الأطراف الرئيسية التي ستشارك في أي انتخابات في المستقبل بالنسبة للمقاعد الكنيست الفصل العنصري تلقي كل حوالي 15 مقعدا في المتوسط ​​، مع بقية تسيطر عليها الأحزاب السياسية الصغيرة. ومن المتوقع أن الحزب وفقا لأعلى المقاعد المطلوب ليكود ب 24 فقط ، وبعيدة كل البعد عن ال 61 اللازمة للحكم بمفرده. وبالتالي فإن أي حكومة أن تستمر إسرائيل أن يكون لديك أمثال حزب شاس ، الذي يريد الزعيم الروحي لإبادة الفلسطينيين ، ناهيك عن صنع السلام معهم ، أو مع حزب اسرائيل بيتنا ، الذي هو زعيم المتعصبين كما أنها تأتي.فمن المستحيل سياسيا بالنسبة لاسرائيل تريد اتفاق سلام نهائي مع أمثال هذه الأحزاب المتطرفة داخل أي حكومة ، سواء التي من المرجح أن تكون جزءا من أي حكومة ائتلافية. مع حزب كاديما والحزب الجديد لم يكشف عن اسمه من المرجح أن يتم تشكيلها من قبل سياسي تحولت في الآونة الأخيرة ، مذيع القناة 2 يائير لابيد ، وليس من المرجح التوصل الى اتفاق مع نظام الفصل العنصري في رئيس ونتنياهو ، وحزب الليكود أن تتحول مرة أخرى إلى واحد أو على حد سواء شاس وحزب اسرائيل Beteinu للانضمام الى حكومته الائتلافية مرة أخرى.ويمكن للأطراف في الوسط أو اليسار الايديولوجيات السياسية الإسرائيلية لا الفصل العنصري في تشكيل حكومة ائتلافية كما شاس وحزب اسرائيل لا تزال بعيدة جدا Beteinu الحق في أيديولوجياتها للانضمام إلى أمثال كديما والعمل. ولكن حتى لو كنت مخطئا ويفعلون الانضمام الى حكومة بقيادة كاديما أو حزب العمل ، فإن مشاركتها في أي حكومة مشروطة على الالتزام السياسي ، استمرار إيديولوجيات التوسع الاستيطاني حول القدس وفي الضفة الغربية التي هي في الواقع الموت إلى أي حل الدولتين.ولكن هذا لا يجلب سوى الأمل وروح الإنسان لا يمكن أن يعرف أن يستمر الفصل العنصري. الانقسامات في اسرائيل الفصل العنصري يمكن أن يؤدي فقط الى تدمير الحكومة الإسرائيلية للشكل ، أي نظام الفصل العنصري الإسرائيلي ، والحل في نهاية المطاف دولة واحدة.
 اسمحوا لي أن أشرح.

 يمكن الفصل العنصري اسرائيل لن تستمر في العمل كما يفعل.وهو بيت منقسم. قراءة مقالتي بعنوان الفصل العنصري إسرائيل هي بيت منقسم (http://fadizanayed.blogspot.com/2012/01/apartheid-israel-is-house-divided-it.html). انها انقسامات واضحة كثيرة جدا داخل بتركيبته السياسية التي لا يمكن أن تعمل لفترة أطول من ذلك بكثير.لفترة وجيزة ، والانقسامات داخل النظام السياسي ، والانقسامات ما بين اليهود والعرب داخل الضباب والخمسين ؛ حكمها الاحتلال العسكري أكثر من 4.5 الفلسطينيين في حين أنه في مختلف القواعد 500000 مستوطن الفصل العنصري غير القانوني في الضفة الغربية ؛ قسمها الثقافات : اليهود فقط الطرق الالتفافية ، لوحات مختلفة لليهود والفلسطينيين ، وجدار الفصل العنصري ، والأسوار في السجون عقد الالكترونية حول المدن الفلسطينية ، دخول المقيدة وجود نقطة تنتشر في الضفة الغربية المدن الفلسطينية ، وتدمير الزراعة الفلسطينية ، ونقاط التفتيش المذلة والمسيئة التي هي تذكرة يومية ان الروح الفلسطينية ليست حرة.هذه الانقسامات أن إسرائيل منقسمة سياسيا يديم الفصل العنصري في كل مرة يكون لديه الانتخابات لن تؤدي إلا إلى طريق تدمير الذات التي سوف تستسلم في نهاية المطاف إلى.نظرا إلى أن نظام الحكم في إسرائيل الفصل العنصري لا يمكن أن يؤدي ربما إلى تسوية سلمية نهائية ، أي التفاوض معها هو مضيعة للوقت والفصل العنصري اسرائيل لا تريد سوى تأخير ما لا مفر منه ، روح الإنسان الفلسطينية والرغبة في أن يكون حرا والذي يؤدي الفصل العنصري تدمير إسرائيل في نهاية المطاف وحل الدولة الواحدة.لقد انهار يزال قادة الفلسطينيين في رام الله في لضغوط من العاهل الأردني الملك عبدالله وإلى أعضاء اللجنة الرباعية من الولايات المتحدة والاتحاد الاوروبي والاتحاد السوفياتي والأمم المتحدة ، واجتمع مرتين مع المفاوضين الاسرائيليين في عمان ، الأردن هذه الماضيين أسابيع.لمزيد من إغراء الفلسطينيين على مواصلة التفاوض ، ورئيس الفصل العنصري نتنياهو على وشك أن يعطي بقيادة فتح في الضفة الغربية للسيطرة على مزيد من الأراضي. هذه العقلية التهدئة تكتيك آخر هو التأخير الذي يهدف الى الاستمرار في ممارسات الفصل العنصري الإسرائيلي. ليس هناك إشارة إلى أن الفصل العنصري اسرائيل ستوقف التوسع الاستيطاني ، وأنه سيبدأ محادثات الوضع النهائي حول القدس ، وحق العودة ، والحدود ، أو أن السلام سيأتي حتما في وقت محدد بعض الحقيقي. بدلا من ذلك ، ان اسرائيل تريد الفصل العنصري التأخير والتأخير والتأخير.كذلك ، فإن المقصود تدابير التهدئة من جانب نتنياهو رئيس الفصل العنصري لتدمير محاولات المصالحة بين حركتي فتح وحماس ، ومنع الفلسطينيين من السعي إلى اعتراف دولي في الأمم المتحدة. فمن المحتمل جدا أن المقصود الضغط على الرئيس الفلسطيني محمود عباس ، زعيم حزب حركة فتح ، ليجتمع مع المفاوضين الإسرائيليين الفصل العنصري لقيادة حماس الى الانسحاب من المصالحة مع فتح. وينبغي أن فتح لن تشارك في مخططات إسرائيل بالفصل العنصري وسندها الرئيسي في الولايات المتحدة.بينما أنا أفهم أن الحوافز النقدية بأن الغرب يوفر حكومة فتح التي يتزعمها في الضفة الغربية وتحقيق الاستقرار في الاقتصاد والحماسة السياسية للفلسطينيين ، والمفاوضات مع اسرائيل هو مثل دفن نفسه في الأرض مع ما يكفي من الماء والهواء والغذاء في جوهر قتل روح الإنسان أن يكون حرا.تغلبت روح الإنسان أن يكون حرا ملك مستعمر البريطاني الأميركي أعلن استقلالها في 4 يوليو 1776 مع عبارة : "كل الناس خلقوا متساوين ، وأن وهبوا من قبل خالقهم حقوق معينة قابلة للتصرف ، أنه من بين هذه هي الحياة ، الحرية والسعي وراء السعادة ".ثورة في الروح البشرية فرنسا في عام 1789 إلى فك القيود والتقاليد والمفاهيم التسلسل الهرمي للسلطة الملكية والارستقراطية والدينية وتؤدي مبادئ التنوير جديد من المساواة في الحقوق والمواطنة وغير القابلة للتصرف.جلبت روح الإنسان باستمرار نظام الفصل العنصري في جنوب افريقيا.أطاح روح الإنسان الإمبراطورية البريطانية من الهند الاقوياء.الروح البشرية تدميرا كاملا عقلية العبودية في أميركا فقط لتنشيط نفسها وتؤدي المساواة لجميع الرجال والنساء والأطفال.وسوف تدمر روح الإنسان في نهاية المطاف ممارسات الفصل العنصري في إسرائيل. انه أمر لا مفر منه. حل الدولة الواحدة هو الخيار الوحيد لإسرائيل الفصل العنصري.


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

The Human Spirit Will Overthrow Apartheid Israel

The human spirit has a great capacity for righteousness and understanding.  It sees through the cloudiest day. It sees through the darkest night. It breaks off the indignities of injustice. It gives hope to the distraught.

The human spirit knows that Apartheid Israel is not ready for peace no matter who is Prime Minister.  The structure of the Apartheid Israeli system of government is such that it has to rule by a coalition government. Thus the weakest link within that coalition has all the power within that government for if its policies are not adhered to than the government will be toppled.

There are now at least 6 major parties that will compete in any future elections for the Apartheid Knesset seats each receiving about 15 seats on average, with the rest controlled by smaller political parties. The party with the highest seats is expected to be Likud with only 24, a far cry from the 61 needed to rule alone. Thus any government that will run Israel will have to have the likes of the Shas Party, whose spiritual leader wants to annihilate Palestinians, much less make peace with them; or with the Yisrael Beiteinu Party, whose leader is as fanatical as they come.

It is politically impossible for Israel to want a final peace agreement with the likes of these extremist parties within any government, either of which will most likely be a part of any coalition government. With the Kadima Party and the new unnamed Party likely to be formed by recently turned politician, Channel 2 anchorman Yair Lapid, not likely to strike a deal with Apartheid-in-Chief Netanyahu, Likud will have to turn once again to one or both the Shas and Yisrael Beteinu parties to join his coalition again.

The Parties to the center or left of Apartheid Israeli political ideologies cannot form a coalition government as the Shas and Yisrael Beteinu parties are too far right in their ideologies to join the likes of Kadima and Labor.  But even if I am wrong and they do join a government led by Labor or Kadima, then their participation in any government will conditioned on an adherence to their political ideologies—continuation of settlement expansion around Jerusalem and in the West Bank which is in effect death to any two state solution.

But this only brings hope as the human spirit knows that apartheid cannot be sustained.  The divisions in Apartheid Israel can only lead to the destruction of Israeli form of government, i.e. the Israeli apartheid system and to the eventual one state solution.  

 Let me explain.

 Apartheid Israel cannot continue to function as it does.  It is a house divided.  Read my article entitled Apartheid Israel is a House Divided (http://fadizanayed.blogspot.com/2012/01/apartheid-israel-is-house-divided-it.html).  It has too many obvious divisions within its political makeup that is cannot function for much longer.

Briefly, the divisions are within its political system, its divisions between Jews and Arabs within its mist; its military occupation rule over 4.5 Palestinians while it rules differently the five hundred thousand illegal apartheid settlers  in the West Bank; its division of cultures: Jews only by-pass roads, different license  plates for Jews and Palestinians, an apartheid separation wall, electronic prison holding fences around Palestinian towns, restricted entry and exist points dotting the West Bank Palestinian towns, destruction of Palestinian agriculture, and the humiliating and offensive checkpoints that are a daily reminder that the Palestinian soul is not free.

These divisions that a politically divided Apartheid Israel perpetuates each time it has an election only leads to the self-destructive path that it will eventually succumb to.  

Given that the system of government in Apartheid Israel cannot possibly lead to a final peace settlement, any negotiation with it is a complete waste of time as Apartheid Israel only wants to delay the inevitable—the Palestinian human spirit’s desire to be free which will cause Apartheid Israel’s destruction and the eventual one state solution.

Still Palestinian leaders in Ramallah have caved in to pressures from King Abdullah of Jordan and to the Quartet members of the United States, European Union, Soviet Union and the United Nations and have met twice with the chief Israeli negotiator in Amman, Jordan these past two weeks.

To further entice the Palestinians to continue to negotiate, Chief Apartheid Netanyahu is about to give the Fatah led West Bank more land to control.  This appeasement mentality is another delay tactic which is meant to continue the Israeli apartheid practices.  There is no hint that Apartheid Israel will stop settlement expansion; that it will begin final status talks on Jerusalem, right of return and borders; or that peace will definitely come at some real definite time. Rather, Apartheid Israel wants to delay, delay, delay.

Further, appeasement measures by Chief Apartheid Netanyahu are meant to destroy reconciliation attempts between Fatah and Hamas and to prevent Palestinians from seeking international recognition at the UN.  It is very likely that pressure upon President Mahmoud Abbas, leader of the Fatah Party, to meet with Apartheid Israeli negotiators is meant to lead Hamas to withdraw from reconciliation with Fatah.  Fatah should not participate in the schemes of Apartheid Israel and its chief supporter the US.

While I understand that the monetary incentives that the West provides the Fatah led government in the West Bank are stabilizing to the economy and political fervor of Palestinians, negotiations with Israel is like burying oneself in the ground with just enough air, water and food—in essence killing the human spirit to be free.

The human spirit to be free overcame a British King as American colonist declared its Independence on July 4, 1776 with the words: “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

The human spirit revolutionized France in 1789 to unshackle the traditions and hierarchy concepts of the monarchy, aristocracy and religious authority and bring forth new Enlightenment principles of equality, citizenship and inalienable rights.  

The human spirit brought down apartheid in South Africa.

The human spirit ousted the mighty British Empire from India.

The human spirit completely destroyed the slavery mentality in America only to revitalize itself and bring forth equality to all men, woman and children.

                The human spirit will eventually destroy the apartheid practices of Israel.  It is inevitable. A one state solution is the only alternative to Apartheid Israel. 



(  © 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.) 

Searching “hearts and souls” for Peace

By: Fadi Zanayed                         

Hatred and a feeling of superiority are two core elements that prevent a solution to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.  After 62 years of mutually inflicted atrocities against each other, the parties are seething with hatred. During these decades of authoritative rule over the Palestinians, Israelis have acquired a feeling of superiority. Getting beyond these attributes will take time and much healing before there will be a feeling of trust and cooperation even after the ever eluding peace finally arrives.

Hatred is a very troubling attribute that is not easily dismissed.  While the Jewish experience is full of unfortunate history of hatred inflicted upon them, it seems that all the centuries of stored up vengeance has come out against the Palestinians. The Palestinians are paying the price for history’s anti-Semitism. All the hatred inflicted upon the Jewish people is being avenged in the form of hatred toward the Palestinians.

In 1948 the United Nations, a new world body formed after two devastating world wars that saw the ugly nature of hatred and self-righteous superiority of one race over all others, tried in an altruistic attempt to reverse the historical anti-Semitism crimes of present and past generations by creating the State of Israel upon a land that was predominately that of the Palestinians. While that attempt was noble and within the reasoning for the creation of the UN, to solve and prevent conflicts around the world, it fermented the present hatred between Israelis and Palestinians. 

While the UN tried to teach the world that Hitler’s German aspirations of racial superiority were absolutely abhorrent, that lesson did not sink into the Israeli mindset.  Israelis believe that they are superior to others, especially the Palestinians.  Whether it is the Torah that gives the Jewish people this feeling or they see themselves as more cultured and Westernized than the Palestinians, the Israelis have not learned from history and thus are repeating the negative history perpetrated against Jews upon the Palestinians.

Before and after the creation of Israel, one atrocity committed by one party was and is avenged by another atrocity.  Regardless of who committed the first assault, the perpetual cycle of an eye for an eye mentality has spiraled out of control. Entrenched in this vicious cycle is the Western colonization mindset that needs to exploit an “inferior” people for economic and political gain.  The centuries of the Jewish diaspora within Western societies in which the exploitation of the East by Western nations was the norm, i.e. Europeans domination of South Africa and India, developed into the Israeli psychic that encourages the unfounded belief in the morality of its domination of the Palestinians.   

Colonial dominance and mentality are antiquated ideologies of the twentieth century and earlier times. Yet, Israel is clinging onto to an apartheid system of control over the Palestinians that cannot be long endured. While the pre-technological revolution and Jewish domination of the press allowed Israel to hide its ever expanding colonization of Palestinian land, i.e. settlement expansions, the new age of the internet where anything anywhere can be broadcast to the world instantaneously has exposed Israel for what it truly is—an apartheid regime which is not unlike the “Grand Apartheid” scheme of the 1960’s executed by the Afrikaner minority in South Africa to emphasize territorial separation and military repression.

In the context of resolving the conflict, Palestinians must not allow the Israelis to feel superior.   When Israel negotiates for the release of one of its captured soldiers for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners the value of an Israeli is quantified greater than a Palestinian. This is wrong.   Similarly, when the Palestinians allow Israel to dissect their land into zones and allow Israel to give them limited powers and authority the equality between the two peoples is disturbed.  Palestinians are like children demanding “their own space” like a child demanding “his/her space” from a parent.   There is no parent/child relationship between Israelis and Palestinians and the Palestinians must stop acting like children.

This Israeli psychology of superiority is at the very heart of the conflict. Mohandas Gandhi’s statement that “A nation's culture resides in the hearts and in the soul of its people” describes the current feeling of superiority within the Israeli mindset.  When one culture feels superior to another, hatred develops.  Discrimination follows. Laws are implemented and interpreted differently between two classes of people in the same society.

Israelis need to understand that they need to come to terms with their feelings; with the  illegal occupation and domination of the Palestinians—just like the Southern American Whites came to terms with centuries of discrimination against African-Americans and just like the Afrikaners came to terms with the South African apartheid system.

Israelis must come to terms within their “hearts and their souls” to end the occupation of Palestine. 


(  © 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.)

Palestinians Must Establish Parity With Israelis

By: Fadi Zanayed

When my children were young, I wanted to instill in them the art of negotiating.  I used what I call a “fixed deescalating incentive” lesson.  For example, when my son wanted money I offered him $10 to cut the lawn. He would skillfully counter that he would do the chore for $20.  When I would then offer $9 then $8 and $7 for his services, after he respectively countered with $18, $15 and $13, I would finally yield to the $10 price I originally offered. My children learned very quickly how to navigate me away from my original offer—they developed a knowledge that the consequence of my firmness and perceived strength was that I would end up doing the chore myself if I continued to negotiate in bad faith.  The lesson taught was that they needed to attain a position of parity when negotiating in order to achieve their desired result.  

I offer this example of negotiating skills to illustrate the type of negotiations the Palestinians have been engaged in with the Israelis for the last 20 years.  I negotiated with my children out of power and then had to compromise when they established parity in those negotiations—when they convinced me that I will have to do the chore myself if I was not going to negotiate in good faith.

Palestinians have not reached parity with the Israelis and just like my children they had to accept Israeli demands or get nothing at all.  It is only until the Palestinians establish parity in peace talks with the Israelis that they will achieve success in those talks. 

In 1993 when I first learned of the Oslo Accords and then subsequently learned of the limited “authority” that was agreed upon, I said, then, that the Palestinians would have never entered into those talks had Yasser Arafat been a young man.  Yasser Arafat accepted limited “authority” because he was in his waning years.  He wanted to achieve something.  He wanted to be the “father of Palestine.” If he did not accept what limited “authority” the Israelis gave him, he would have received nothing at all. 

Arafat was not willing to fight anymore as he was in his early years and Israel sensed this.  Thus, Israel offered him the $10 that I offered my son—limited authority in limited areas.   And while Arafat gave the Israelis recognition, denounced violence and removed the “destruction of Israel” from the Palestine Liberation Charter, the Israelis did not budge at all.  In fact, Oslo Accords’ commitment to enter final status talks by 1999 was taken off the table.

Because Palestinians allow Israelis to feel superior, as I continuously have argued in earlier articles, Israel continues to behave in ways that perpetuates the immorality of the occupation of Palestinians and Palestinian land.  Israelis can continue the apartheid practices of checkpoints, the segregation mentality imbedded in the construction of a wall and the unlearned lessons of ethnic cleansing in its own people’s history because of this perceived superiority.   Only when the Palestinians gain a position of parity with the Israelis will they achieve their desired result. 

How do the Palestinians achieve a position of parity with the Israelis?

To start, the Palestinians must stop behaving like children.  

Israel, through its Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor, has floated the “bottom up” approach in which existing Palestinian Authority powers in the autonomous zones established in the 1990’s throughout the West Bank could be extended in various ways, with “other authorities, jurisdictions and powers.”  While more authority is nice, it is not the ultimate goal—ending the occupation, providing for a just solution to the Palestinian refugees and establishing one contiguous Palestinian State in the West Bank and Gaza with East Jerusalem as its capital.   Palestinians must resist the child like reactionary temperament and resist these overtures to make the Israel’s look good in the international realm but place a wedge in Palestinian solidarity.  Palestinians must stop accepting “limited authority in limited areas” and start demanding the end of the occupation now.

Second, Palestinians must unify.

Nothing signals the weakness of the Palestinians as does the disunity between Fatah and Hamas.   These two political parties within Palestinian society must come together and present a united front towards Israel.  The fact that Israel and the US will not talk to Hamas is not open to discussion because neither country can dictate as to who will represent the Palestinian people.   Unity of Fatah and Hamas must be of paramount importance to all Palestinians.

Third, Palestinians must show Israel the prosperity of peace.

Palestinians must convince Israelis that peace has economic and social benefits.  Normalization of relations with Arab countries, children on both sides do not have to live in a constant state of fear, increased tourism dollars and an Israel that is not isolated from the rest of the world can all become the by-products of peace.

Fourth, Palestinians must show Israelis the consequences of the status quo.

Israelis must come to understand that the Palestinians cannot continue to allow the status quo to endure.  There needs to be consequences to the perpetual peace talks that result in nothing while more and more Palestinian land is confiscated. Thus Palestinians have to step up and strengthen the boycott, disinvestment and sanctions movement (BDS) around the globe.  They have to continue the pressure of non-violent actions against Israel—boycotting Israeli products that come into the West Bank and bringing attention to Israeli immorality attributes of demolishing homes, uprooting olive groves, building illegal settlements and torturing Palestinian political prisoners.

In addition, Palestinians must keep the option of the stone as a consequence to failed talks.

By adhering to these four points, Palestinians will have the fortitude to negotiate with the Israelis on parity.  Palestinians can then demand that the occupation must end and end now.