Subj: The Key Miftah's newsletter {01}
Date: 12/5/2001 1:59:00 AM Pacific Standard Time
From: miftah@miftah.org
To: LabibKobti@aol.com
Sent from the Internet (Details)
The Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and
Democracy (MIFTAH)
The Key!
MIFTAH’s E-Bulletin
News, Views, and Events
November 30th, 2001
(Issue: No. 3)
News Headlines: November 16th – 30th
16th Washington
denies describing the Intifada as “terrorism” and affirms that it will
compel Palestinians and Israelis to implement any agreement they reach.
17th Arafat meets with the
EU delegation in Ramallah and appeals for EU assistance to stop Israeli
aggression. Tel Aviv opposes a more active EU role and accuses EU of siding
with Arabs.
18th Israeli soldiers execute two injured Palestinian
security officers in Gaza.
19th Powell calls for a Palestinian state,
a freeze on settlements and an end to Israeli occupation. UNICEF condemns
Israel for torturing Palestinian child-prisoners.
20th Israeli special military unit kidnaps
Abed Rabbo Abu Husa from Gaza.
Israel tightens siege on Palestinian cities.
21st New Israeli settlements in occupied east
Jerusalem and Hebron. Israeli tanks roll into Rafah in the Gaza Strip,
demolish 18 Palestinian homes and injure several civilians. Amnesty International
condemns increasing Israeli torture of detainees.
22nd Palestinian
patient Sami Basala dies on checkpoint after Israeli soldiers barred ambulance
from proceeding to hospital.
23rd Five Palestinian children killed in Israeli
land mine explosion in Gaza. Israel steps up aggression against Palestinians
and shells several areas in the West Bank and Gaza.
24th Israel assassinates 3 Palestinian activists
including Hamas military wing leader Mahmoud Abu Hanoud, kills 4 more.
Erekat: The Israeli occupation turns Jerusalem into a ‘military zone’ barring
thousands of worshippers from Al-Aqsa Mosque.
25th Israeli incursions into several Palestinian areas. Israel escalates
aggression against Palestinians. Israel responsible of planting explosive
device that kills 5 Palestinian children.
26th Israeli assault on Palestinian areas leaves
Palestinian child, Kifah Obeid (13 years old), dead in Duheisheh, several
homes and offices demolished in Gaza. Abu Ala'a: Israeli massacres and
crimes against the Palestinian people will be at the top of the agenda
in discussions with the US envoys.
27th Israel launches aggressive incitement
campaign against Arafat and PA. Peres: New head of Israeli negotiating
team, Dagan, is an “extremist”. Burns and Zinni arrive in Israel amid escalating
Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people.
28th 3 Israelis killed in two separate attacks in
Afula and Gaza. Official Spokesman: Israel launching aggressive propaganda
campaign to split Palestinians and PA.
29th Lawsuit against Sharon for war crimes he committed
against Palestinians is delayed. Israeli soldiers murder kidnapped Palestinian
in cold blood. Settler kills Ibrahim Hanani (88 years old).
30th 3 Israelis killed in bomb attack in Wadi Ara.
2 Palestinians killed by Israeli army on checkpoint.
In Depth:
Sharon is not serious about ending the current crisis
In recent days, Ariel Sharon, Israel’s hawkish Prime Minister, has
been ‘caught between a rock and a hard place.’ On the one hand, he views
the arrival of US envoys, Zinni and Burns, as a threat that would push
Israel into the ill-favored realm of direct negotiations with the Palestinians.
On the other, he sees that negotiations with the Palestinians must
ultimately lead to the inevitable creation of an independent Palestinian
state.
To get out of this predicament, Sharon resorted to two highly effective
methods to hamper the efforts of Zinni and Burns.
First, on the Military level, Sharon has unleashed the hands of the
army which in turn killed over 170 Palestinians since October, demolished
tens of homes, expanded settlements and carried out several assassinations
of leading Palestinian political activists. Thus, hustling the Palestinians
into retaliation and breaking the ceasefire.
In addition he reiterated his demand for a seven-day “quiet” which
was repudiated as “stupidity” and impractical in light of the latest escalation
of Israeli provocations and military escalation.
Second, on the political level, he restructured the negotiating team
replacing veteran negotiator and Foreign Minister Shimon Peres with extreme
militant Meir Dagan as top negotiator with the US envoys and the Palestinians.
Shimon Peres and the so-called Israeli Peace Camp expressed dismay
over Sharon’s declarations and actions accusing the Hawkish Israeli Prime
Minister of overruling the authority of the Foreign Ministry which handled
the task of negotiations. Shimon Peres complained to Sharon: “You've set
up a second foreign ministry outside the foreign ministry, bypassing me
and leaving me out in the cold.”
Meretz MK Yossi Sarid referred to the new negotiating team as one of
“extremists”.
Sharon’s appointment of low profile military figures and his insistence
on seven days of quiet stand evidence to his lack of seriousness regarding
a ceasefire and his blatant unwillingness in jumpstarting the stalled peace
negotiations with the Palestinians who, in a serious attempt to end the
crisis and return to the negotiating table, have appointed veteran negotiators
of the highest political profile including Ahmad Qurei, Saeb Erekat and
Yasser Abed Rabbo.
Sharon expressed his lack of seriousness in ending the conflict by
repeatedly alluding to a prolonged interim agreement with the Palestinians,
escalating the Israeli military aggression against the Palestinians and
evading any possibility of direct final status negotiations with the PA.
The fact is that Ariel Sharon is a hard-line military figure in Israeli
politics. His recent remark that “Peace hurts almost as much as war” indicates
that he prefers war over a peace agreement, which would force him to abandon
the settlements, allow the creation of an independent Palestinian state
and thus, him forsaking the idea of “Greater Israel”.
Death and Mutilation on their Way to School:
On the morning of November 22nd, 2001 a violent explosion was heard
in the northern part of the Gaza Strip. This explosion was not an
unfamiliar noise since it has unfortunately become expected and accepted
as a norm. Yet, this time it was a little different. Yes it
was the Israeli army, and yes it was the US made weapons and once again
innocent Palestinians are the victims.
This incident was somewhat unprecedented; Israel’s use of landmines
in Palestinian urban territories reflects the alarming level of brutality
the Israeli army operates with in Palestinian areas. Such operations
also demonstrate the expendability of Palestinian life in Israel’s eyes.
Landmines are internationally banned and the use of such unconventional
methods is a blatant disregard of international law and recommendations,
these laws are publicly recognized and enforced.
Five more children have been added to the list of victims of cowardly
landmines. Akram El-Astal a seven year old, his brother Mohammed
a thirteen year old, Aneas El-Astal a nine year old and his brother Omar
a thirteen year old. Mohammed El-Astal was another cousin killed
in the incident (also a thirteen year old). These five children were blown
to pieces on their way to school. They did not commit a crime or
pose a threat to Israel’s “security,” they were simply carrying on with
their daily life, despite the hardship, the siege, the tanks and the very
difficult economic conditions experienced in Palestinian areas since the
September 2000.
The Israeli official reponse described the killing as “regrettable.”
They assigned an investigation committee to draft a report on the incident.
The report concluded that the explosion was an “error”, the landmine was
placed there with the aim to kill Palestinain ‘militants.’ Isarel
did not give any details as to why this “error” happened and resorted to
ignoring the issue. This flouting policy has sadly become a regularity
for Palestinains in Gaza and the West Bank including east Jerusalem.
The Israeli governemnt has announced many investigations, but only so few
Israeli murderers have been convicted, sentenced or even put on trial.
Was it not enough to steal the childrens’ inocence, through the harsh
measures of shelling, closure, humiliation and fear that they experience
and live with as a result of the Israeli tirant occupation? The number
of Palestinian children (under 18) killed over the last 14 months have
reached 186 and is still growing. With the holiday season for Muslims,
Christians and Jews around the corner, be thankful that your children are
unharmed, warm and safe, for the children of Palestine have been robbed
of their childhood and are being held accountable as adults.
MIFTAH is a Palestinian, Jerusalem-based, independent institution
committed to fostering the principles of democracy and effective dialogue
based on the free and candid exchange of information and ideas. Established
in January 1999, MIFTAH's underlying premise is the integration of several
processes: Palestinian nation-building and empowerment on the basis of
the principles of democracy, human rights, rule of law, and participatory
governance; international reconciliation and cooperation; the gathering
and dissemination of information and the active participation in the global
dialogue as an equal partner. www.miftah.org
For further information, please contact:
Public Information Department
Public Affairs Unit
MIFTAH
Tel: +972-2-585-1842
E-mail: miftah@miftah.org