June 6, 2011 -- Commentary

Middle East News: World Press Roundup

Mustafa Barghouthi says peace requires accepting that Palestinians are equal humans to Israelis. Ha’aretz says PM Netanyahu must accept the French invitation. David Horovitz looks at Israel’s battle to convince European states not to support a Palestinian UN statehood bid. Jacques Neriah says Israel has no idea how to deal with unarmed demonstrators. The Jerusalem Post says if critics of Dagan think he’s wrong, they must say why. Ronen Medzini says Israelis remain deeply concerned about possible diplomatic developments in September. The National says Israel’s isolation is growing. Adel Safty says Pres. Obama has shown his approach is different from former Pres. Bush in substance as well as style. Kieron Monks says discrimination against Palestinian citizens of Israel is growing. Alain Gresh looks at the Palestinian version of the “Arab Spring.” Tal Becker says Israelis urgently need to create a new discourse and strategy.

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Palestinians are people, too

Every June 5 for the past 44 years of my life has brought back memories of being a 13-year-old facing life under Israeli occupation. Forty-four years ago I saw Israelis for the first time. It took my generation a very long and difficult time to come to terms with accepting the need for peace and compromise with our occupier. That compromise was the two-state solution. Our goal was to end occupation and achieve freedom, dignity, and self-determination.

Netanyahu must accept French peace initiative

France has placed an offer on the desk of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: Begin direct negotiations with the Palestinians in September, on the basis of the Obama plan. The proposal does not define Israel's borders, draw a map of Jerusalem or determine which settlements Israel must remove. It even helps the Israeli position in that it speaks of "two states for two peoples," in other words it acknowledges that Israel is a Jewish state.

The battle for Europe

Warmth, supportive laughter and applause – from the first sentence to the last. More than two dozen standing ovations. Smiles and handshakes and embraces before and afterward.

A solitary heckler apart, the prime minister won the kind of adulatory reception in Congress 10 days ago that he could not dream of receiving in any sizable political forum in Israel. He wouldn’t feel that kind of love at a big gathering of his own Likud Party, never mind his parliament, where he is lucky if he can get through a few sentences without hostile interruption.

Unarmed demonstrators – the new threat?

Ignoring all the warnings that were readily available, Israel is finding itself facing new, dire challenges – challenges for which it has failed to prepare and for which it has yet to think of a response.

For years, the traditional Israeli reaction to provocation has been a show of force – firing tear gas, water cannons and, if needed, sending in the police cavalry.

Let Dagan speak

Outgoing Mossad chief Meir Dagan has been making headlines. A military strike on Iran would be a “stupid idea,” Dagan said a few weeks ago at a Hebrew University conference. At a Tel Aviv University conference last week he elaborated that such an attack “would mean regional war, and in that case you would have given Iran the best possible reason to continue the nuclear program.”

UN’s 193rd member: Palestine?

The United Nations has 192 member states at this time. For Israel, the most pessimistic scenario is to discover one morning that the Palestinians got the 193rd seat, via a unilateral move that circumvents negotiations. However the Ramallah leadership’s path to the sought-after seat at the General Assembly in Manhattan is not an easy one at all.

First and foremost, the Palestinians are facing the American obstacle. US President Barack Obama declared last week on no less than three separate occasions his objection to the Palestinian intention to seek UN recognition of statehood.

Israel's isolation grows as Gaza noose tightens

A year after Israel earned itself a public-relations disaster by killing nine civilians aboard the MV Mavi Marmara, another flotilla is fitting out in Turkey to sail to Gaza.

And three weeks after last month's Nakba ("catastrophe") marches, marking the 1948 creation of Israel, ended with Palestinian deaths at border points, more marches to Israel's frontiers have been planned for today. June 5 is set aside to mark the anniversary of the Naksa ("setback"), the 1967 war, in which Israel occupied the West Bank and Gaza.

Blueprint for future Palestinian state

Last week US President Barack Obama reiterated and clarified his earlier statement endorsing the 1967 borders as the basis for negotiated permanent borders between Israel and a future Palestinian state.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reacted furiously to the statement and promptly rejected the idea saying that the 1967 borders were indefensible, and vowed that a Palestinian state would not be founded “at Israel’s expense”.

Can equality exist in the Jewish state?

In 2005, following the arrest of several high profile Arab politicians and lobbyists living in Israel, the Shin Bet security agency made a statement justifying their actions: "The security service will thwart the activity of any group or individual seeking to harm the Jewish and democratic character of the State of Israel, even if such activity is sanctioned by the law."

Palestine’s own spring

The images of Palestinians massed at Israel’s borders on 15 May represented a dream for some, and a nightmare for others. On the 63rd anniversary of the declaration of the Jewish state and of the nakba (catastrophe) for the many thousands of Palestinians expelled from their homes, demonstrators from Syria (1), Lebanon, Jordan and Gaza converged on the promised land. They were only a few thousand but the world wondered what would happen if millions marched peacefully to the borders and walls next time.

Beyond Survival

For many years now, the conversation about Israel in the Jewish world has taken a familiar form. With rare exceptions, our sovereign project is spoken of in Jewish communities across the globe with pride about the past and anxiety about the future.

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