The Germans Wouldn't Meet

Seems the flap with Germany's Foreign Minister had a truly bizarre aspect, which, as the Süddeutsche Zeitung reports (ht JW) as does Der Spiegel had Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accusing Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel of 

instinctual instability (or better, extremely insensitive)

The paper continues (original German below*) that 

Gabriel had also denied [Netanyahu's] clarifying discussion after the altercation. "I wanted to call on Foreign Minister Gabriel to explain my point of view and to clean up the matter, but he declined a telephone call."

What was the official German Foreign Office explanation?  They contradicted it

According to Gabriel, Netanyahu had already offered a telephone call instead of a meeting before his cancellation, but only under two conditions: Gabriel should not participate in the meeting with the government-critical peace activists themselves, but send a representative. In addition, a formal representative of a Jewish settlement in the Palestinian territories should attend the meeting. The German side did not want to agree to this. The Jewish settlements in the Palestinian territories are, from a German perspective, illegal.

Just because you presume we are "illegal" we are outside the sphere of diplomacy?  German diplomats never met illegal groups or persons? There were no "secret contacts" in the 1970s? In 1989, PLO spokesman Bassam Abu Sharif met on Oct. 16 German Foreign Ministry officials, even if Arafat was too high profile to be received then.

Let's not forget Menachem Begin's run-in with the thinking in circles of policy that Hitler’s persecution of the Jews was responsible for the creation of Israel, specifically advanced by former Chancellor Helmut Schmidt, who said Germany has a special responsibility toward the Palestinians because of the consequences of the Nazi era.

But that Netanyahu pushed for a meeting with a Yesha community representative is good news.


______________________

P.S.  I know see here that Gabriel said that he

rejected the cancellation of the meeting on domestic policy motives. "I think that we can not now become the game of domestic politics in Israel," he said in Jerusalem. 

Whoa.

Who was playing a game of domestic politics if not Germany which funds domestice NGOs that act as agents of change to please foreign state donors?



============

* Der israelische Regierungschef Benjamin Netanjahu hat Außenminister Sigmar Gabriel Instinktlosigkeit vorgeworfen. 

...Gabriel habe zudem ein klärendes Gespräch nach dem Eklat verweigert. "Ich wollte Außenminister Gabriel anrufen, um meinen Standpunkt zu erläutern und die Sache zu bereinigen, aber er lehnte ein Telefonat ab."  Das Auswärtige Amt widerspricht dieser Darstellung. Nach Angaben aus Gabriels Umfeld hatte Netanjahu bereits vor seiner Absage ein Telefonat statt eines Treffens angeboten, aber nur unter zwei Bedingungen: Gabriel sollte an dem Treffen mit den regierungskritischen Friedensaktivisten nicht selbst teilnehmen, sondern einen Vertreter schicken. Außerdem sollte ein förmlicher Vertreter einer jüdischen Siedlung in den Palästinensergebieten an dem Treffen teilnehmen. Darauf wollte sich die deutsche Seite nicht einlassen. Die jüdischen Siedlungen in den palästinensischen Gebieten sind aus deutscher Sicht völkerrechtswidrig.

^

An American Stain

Do we all remember the song "America the Beautiful", words by Katharine Lee Bates?

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

There are a lot of verses but if you look, you'll find these words, too:

America! America! God mend thine every flaw......America! America! God shed his grace on thee Till selfish gain no longer stain The banner of the free!......America! America! God shed his grace on thee Till nobler men keep once again Thy whiter jubilee! 

I searched for those words after reading this:

Joint Statement From the U.S.-Palestinian Political DialogueMedia NoteOffice of the SpokespersonWashington, DCDecember 12, 2016

Delegations headed by Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Executive Committee Secretary General Saeb Erakat and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Stuart E. Jones met today in Washington for the U.S.-Palestinian Political Dialogue. The Dialogue offered an opportunity for the Delegations to discuss a range of issues of concern at a senior level, including regional matters.

Both delegations strongly condemned terrorism and its supporters in the region and worldwide. The delegations agreed on the threat presented by ISIL, sharing the deep concern that ISIL has dramatically undermined regional stability, particularly in Iraq and Syria, and continues to commit gross, systemic abuses of human rights and violations of international humanitarian law.

Both delegations also discussed the significance of the PLO’s long-standing commitment to non-violence and reiterated their commitment to a negotiated two-state outcome, which is the only way to achieve an enduring peace that meets Israeli and Palestinian security needs and Palestinian aspirations for statehood and sovereignty, end the occupation that began in 1967, and resolve all permanent status issues. They also agreed on the crucial role of civil society, and the need to create economic and political opportunity for the next generation of Palestinians...

There is a stain in those words of summation.

The Palestinian Authority supports terrorism through its payments to terrorists and its incitement campaign and its glorification actions. 

The Palestinian Authority abuses human rights, of its own residents as well as Israelis and violates international law.

The Palestinian Authority violates its own civil society through embezzlement, oppression, lack of freedoms and not governmental transparency.

Woe this America.

Woe these American officials.

^

...And I Have a Bridge to Sell to You

Anyone believe in this?

The liberation of Palestine, from a spiritual point of view, will provide the Holy Land with an atmosphere of safety and tranquility, which in turn will safeguard the country's religious sanctuaries and guarantee freedom of worship and of visit to all, without discrimination of race, color, language, or religion. Accordingly, the people of Palestine look to all spiritual forces in the world for support.

PLO Charter, 1968 version.  Article 16.

^

PLO: We Are Partly To Blame

The Executive of the PLO (the Palestine-before-1967 Liberation Organization) decided, among other matters, to declare that (thanks to IMRA)

 ثانيا: تؤكد منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية أن التعثر في العملية السياسية الراهنة يعود اساسا الى استمرار مواقف وممارسات حكومة نتنياهو في التوسع الاستيطاني غير المسبوق، وفي السعي الى الغاء مرجعيات عملية السلام المقرة دوليا واستبدالها بمرجعية تكرس ضم القدس والسيطرة المطلقة على اجزاء واسعة من الضفة الغربية بحجة الامن تارة او الكتل الاستيطانية تارة اخرى.

And that reads, in Google Translate:

Second, confirms that the stumbling in the current political process is due mainly to the continuation of the attitudes and practices of the Netanyahu Government's unprecedented settlement expansion and in its seeking to cancel the internationally approved terms of reference of the peace process and to replace them with the annexation of Jerusalem and absolute control over large parts of the West Bank under the pretext of either security or at other times, the settlement blocs.

If the blame is "mainly" Israel's fault, then part is that of the Palestinian Authority, at least part.

That is the logical reading comprehension.

Which recalls the punchline of the Lord Beaverbrook tale:

Madam, now we're just trying to determine the degree

^

J Street - Can You Trust Them?

J Street claimed that its move on sabotaging a Senate amendment that would affect the PLO Mission in the US was successful.

Earlier this week, we asked you to help us stop the Senate from kicking the Palestinian Diplomatic Mission out of Washington, DC in retaliation for last week's United Nations vote.
You responded, sending 14,500 emails and making almost 1,000 calls telling Senators the US should not take such a counterproductive step.
And, as ThinkProgress,¹ JTA² and The Forward³ have all made crystal clear: YOU DID IT. The Senate held back, and the amendment to expel the Palestinian Mission was dropped.
This was the first salvo in J Street's new "Our Time to Lead" campaign. Through this campaign, we'll be pressing the President for bold diplomatic action to achieve a two-state solution, and we'll be fighting efforts to set back that cause - like closing the Palestinian Mission.

[1] - Senate Bill Penalizing Palestinians Does Not Pass, ThinkProgress, 12/05/12
[2] - Amendment targeting Palestinian funding disappears, JTA, 12/04/12
[3] - J Street Wins as Senate Omits Statehood Slap, The Forward, 12/05/12

A report:

A law that could have cut off U.S. assistance to the Palestinian Authority failed to advance in the Senate on Wednesday, effectively killing it. The defeat of the proposal, an amendment attached to the National Defense Authorization Act that would have cut off aid if the Palestinians brought a case to the International Criminal Court and expelled a Palestinian diplomatic mission in the U.S., is seen as a victory for the pro-Israel group J Street, which lobbied against its passage. An American aid cutoff would have damaged prospects for a two-state solution and hurt ordinary Palestinians, as Palestine’s economy is heavily dependent on foreign aid.

The Forward is more cautious:

It’s not clear why it was not approved.

The State Department Spokesperson said:

QUESTION: The Senate just dropped the amendment that they pursued to expel the Palestinian mission from town. Did you play any role in that?

MR. TONER: If we did or we – we constantly consult with Congress on this issue, as we do on any important issue, a foreign policy issue. You’ll have to ask Congress about why this was dropped.

Alana Goodman provides some clarity - and truth:

Did the amendment “mysteriously” disappear...? No — well, at least not to anybody who bothered to pick up a phone and ask. The amendment was dropped from the bill because of a technicality in Senate procedure, according to Senator Lindsey Graham’s office, which sponsored it.

“Once cloture was invoked, the amendment was not eligible for a vote because it was not technically germane to the legislation,” said Graham spokesperson Kevin Bishop.

Bishop added that Graham “will continue to explore opportunities for passing the legislation.”

More than 400 amendments were filed on the defense authorization bill and debated for days. More than half of them were dropped, either because they were considered technically non-germane (like the amendment to close the PLO mission) or overly contentious (the Obama administration threatened to veto the bill if certain provisions were included). Typically, there is a lot of conflict over the defense authorization bill, but this year it passed easily through unanimous consent, largely because amendments that may have raised objections were taken out. Senators were eager to rush this thing out the door and focus on the fiscal cliff debate.

Was this because of J Street? I’m sure that’s what J Street would like people to believe. In fact, the amendment was one of hundreds that disappeared because of a procedural technicality or administration objection. “Mystery” solved.

And this from Haviv Gur:

 "According to Capitol Hill observers familiar with the amendments, they were removed due to pressure from the White House. While the Obama administration actively opposed PA President Mahmoud Abbas’s UN General Assembly move — which saw a vote of 138-9 last Thursday in favor of upgrading “Palestine” to a nonmember observer state — it was concerned that the proposed amendments would limit its options when dealing with the Israeli-Palestinian issue going forward"

Someone knowledgeable noted:

From what I understand the amendment was never attached, which means that it's categorically false to say it was stripped. Cloture was invoked, the amendment wasn't germane and so it stayed off.  While it is correct that there was a WH objection, that didn't lead to the amendment being removed as WH objections would not have been enough to get the Senate to strip it. But it was enough to get at least one Dem to withhold UC, which prevented the amendment from being added in the few hours left before the vote happened.

So,

a. was J Street the prime mover?
b. is J Street a White House running dog?
c. can you trust J Street for accurate information?

^

Remember the PLO?

The Palestine Liberation Organization.

They haven't forgotton:

Establishment of the Palestine Liberation Organization (1964) تأسيس منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية م,ت.ف

Thursday, 02 June 2011

What's there to remember?

This:

...in 1964 the Palestine National Council convened in Jerusalem mainly at the behest of Arab leaders and moved to establish the Palestine Liberation Organization. The mandate given the PLO by the PNC, a Palestinian parliamentary body), was to mobilize the Palestinian people for the eventual liberation of the land of Palestine. So, whereas the PLO received official Arab backing, Fatah’s relations with Arab governments remained on the whole antagonistic and its operations had to be clandestinely carried out.

As a result of the Arab official stamp conferred on the PLO, two divergent and often competing political efforts crystallized in the 1960’s. The first consisted of the PLO, which moved above ground and coordinated closely with Arab regimes; the second was populist and secretive, operating mostly underground in a more activist and radical fashion. Despite the lack of support from the underground nationalist movement, the PLO was nevertheless gaining legitimacy in the eyes of many Palestinians. While the radical underground current known collectively as the Palestinian Resistance movement, or simply the Resistance, operated independently of the PLO, the latter was now cultivating Palestinian support through more conventional means in the form of occupational, social, and health service organizations...

"Radical"?  Try this elaboration:-

...in 1959, [Arafat] and some friends founded al-Fatah, a cluster of secret cells that would carry out attacks on the enemies of Palestine, and began to publish a magazine advocating an armed conflict with Israel. Fatah forged a two-part battle plan: establishment of an independent Palestine and destruction of the state of Israel.  By 1964, cells were established in Jordan and had launched raids into Israel. It was at that time that Arafat established the PLO and included other groups of Arabs willing to support his effort.

The first target of Fatah, in 1965, was an Israeli water pump station. The attempt to blow it up was unsuccessful.

Let's get more specific on the timeline:-

1964

Jan. 13: First Arab Summit Conference held in Cairo.
March 17: First Palestinian delegation, Yasser Arafat and Khalil el-Wazir to China, confers with Premier Chou-En-Lai.
May 28: The First Palestinian National Council (PNC) meets in Jerusalem.
June 2: Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) founded.
Aug. 9: The first Executive Committee of the PLO formed of 14 members.
Sept. 5-11: The second Arab Summit meets in Cairo and "Welcomed the establishment of the PLO as the basis of the Palestinian entity and as a pioneer in the collective Arab struggle for the Liberation of Filastin."

1965
Jan. 1: First military operation of Fatah in Palestine.

Terror?  In January 1965?  Here:-

The PLO was founded in Kuwait in October 1959 by five young Palestinians, headed by Yasser Arafat (Abu Amar), 30; his deputy Khalil al Wazir (Abu Jihad), 24; Salah Khalaf (Abu Iyad), 24; Farouk al Kaddoumi (Abu al-Lutf), 28 and Khaled el Hassan (Abu Said), 31.  Afterwards, more young Palestinians from Qatar joined the PLO; the most notorious of whom were Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen), Abu Yussef el- Najar and Kamal Adwan...The PLO was in control of the Palestinian arena and most importantly, it represented Palestinian people in the international community for 47 years...

...The PLO’s first military terror operation took place on January 1, 1965. An employee of Mekorot, Israel’s National Water Corporation detected a small explosive device hidden in an open canal of to the National Water Carrier of Israel. The plan was to blow up the Nehusha Water Institute near the city of Beit Shemesh. This first act marks PLO Day ever since, even though a much more horrific act was carried out six days later by a squad of six men, among them Mahmoud Hijazi. Subsequently, Hijazi was wounded, caught and sentenced to death by a military court, but was returned to Lebanon in a POW swap.

And on July 5, 1965:

A Fatah cell plants explosives at Mitzpe Massua, near Beit Guvrin; and on the railroad tracks to Jerusalem near Kafr Battir

 

Some other pre-1967 terror PLO acts:
 

May 31, 1965 - Terrorists fired on the neighborhood of Musrara in Jerusalem, killing two civilians and wounding four.

Jun 01, 1965 - Terrorists attack a house in Kibbutz Yiftach.

Jul 05, 1965 - A Fatah terrorism cell planted explosives at Mitzpe Massua, near Beit Guvrin; and on the railroad tracks to Jerusalem near Kafr Battir.

Aug 26, 1965 - A waterline was sabotaged by terrorists at Kibbutz Manara, in the Upper Galilee.

Sep 29, 1965 - A terrorist was killed as he attempted to attack Moshav Amatzia.

Nov 7, 1965 - A Fatah terrorist cell that infiltrated from Jordan blew up a house in Moshav Givat Yeshayahu, south of Beit Shemesh. The house was destroyed, but the inhabitants were miraculously unhurt.

Apr 25, 1966 - Explosions placed by terrorists wounded two civilians and damaged three houses in Moshav Beit Yosef, in the Beit Shean Valley.

May 16, 1966 - Two Israelis were killed when their jeep hit a terrorist landmine, north of the Sea of Galilee and south of Almagor. Tracks led into Syria.

Jul 13, 1966 - Two soldiers and a civilian were killed near Almagor, when their truck struck a terrorist landmine.

Jul 14, 1966 - Terrorists attacked a house in Kfar Yuval, in the North.

Jul 19, 1966 - Terrorists infiltrated into Moshav Margaliot on the northern border and planted nine explosive charges.

Oct 27, 1966 - A civilian was wounded by a terrorist bomb on the railroad tracks to Jerusalem.

Jan 14, 1967 - Terrorists laid a land mine that at a soccer game, which exploded killing 1 and injuring 2.

 
Yes, we remember.
 

We remember that at that time there was no "occupation" and no "settlements". So, what was the justification for these acts of death and damage?

Think about that.

^

Palestine vs. Syria - Over "Settlements"

Even Assad understands:

A Palestinian official rebuffed on Sunday Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's statements that the Palestinian-Israeli negotiations should not only focus on the Jewish settlements.

"Considering settlement freeze as a marginal issue that has no effect on the course of talks proves lack of knowledge about the situation in the Palestinian territories," Yasser Abed Rabbo, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)'s Executive Committee, told Voice of Palestine Radio.

...President Assad recently criticized the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) for "putting settlements at the center of peace talks," saying that the Palestinians have to talk about territorial restitution instead of the settlements.

That's a laugh.

^

And The "That's a Great Idea" Award Goes to...

David Goshen of Kiryat Ono.

His idea?


Obama should be working to organize new proximity talks between...the PA and Hamas.


Here is his JPOst letter:_

It’s the PA and Hamas, stupid

Sir, – Obama’s “new conceptual framework” should be to bring the PA and Hamas urgently to the negotiating table to end hostilities between them so that the long-suffering people of Gaza can start rebuilding their lives (“Obama tells Abbas Gaza situation is ‘unsustainable,’” June 10).

It is not supplies they are short of, but peace from the “unsustainable” situation.

How about some worldwide demonstrations demanding that the two warring sides finally sit down to break the deadlock between them?

DAVID GOSHEN
Kiryat Ono

I, of course, would expand the framework of these proximity talks to all relations throughout those groups and locations that consider themselves "Palestinian".

Only after these talks end could Israel then approach the negotiation table.

First the internal differences amongst Zionism's negators should be resolved. Questions of refugees, borders, Islam, etc.

Of course, problems could develop.

Remember the end of Enemy of the State?

What Does the Papal State Share with the PLO?

Read it here, comment #2.

Only Five?

Ma'an reports:

The fifth round of Palestinian unity talks is expected to kick off in Cairo Saturday in what many see as a final attempt to overcome the remaining obstacles preventing governmental unity between the West Bank and Gaza.

The Fatah and Hamas delegations are expected to arrive to Cairo on Friday with the task of finding a solution to the remaining government, elections system and the security apparatus files.

The four previous rounds, not all successful, were able to find acceptable solutions to two of the five central dividing points. Committees around the five points met during the third round of talks to discuss Transitional Government Formation, Issues in Reconciliation, Security Services, Elections Reform, and the role and make-up of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)...

I could've sworn there were more than five rounds.

Maybe just this most recent time.

This is the Man

This is the Man:-

Olmert's government was too weak and could not resolve the issues of Jerusalem and the borders of a future Palestinian state, even if the Palestinians agree to accept the right of return for refugees to the West Bank and Gaza only.

says Al-Quds (source)
but they'll do business with him anyway:

head of the Palestinian negotiating team, Ahmed Qureia (also known as Abu Allah), told Al-Ayam that there was no room for confusion regarding the key issues of an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement.

"It is vital that in the next few days we reach agreements on these issues, which include Jerusalem, refugees, borders, water, settlements and prisoners," he told the Bahrain daily.

Need a Laugh, As Painful and Rueful as it May Be?

Read the end of Afif Safieh's op-ed. Afif is head of the Palestine Liberation Organization Mission to the United States.

Both Fatah and Hamas are in favor of a cease-fire, for which they can now ensure disciplined Palestinian adherence — especially if it is reciprocated by the Israeli side and extended to the West Bank, where alas we have recently witnessed an escalation in assassinations and arrests. And in Mecca, Hamas and Fatah agreed that the Palestinian government will honor all agreements signed by the PLO, will abide by all the resolutions of previous Arab summits and will base its activity on international law.

The term “honor,” rest assured, has as much a ring of nobility to it in Arabic — if not more — as it does in any other language.

A territory that was occupied in 1967 in less than six days can also be evacuated in six days — so that Israelis can rest on the seventh, and we can all finally engage in the fascinating journey of nation-building and economic recovery.