MCC Palestine Update #118

MCC Palestine Update #118

1 February 2006

Greetings to you all. The style of this update is a little different as it follows the recent Palestinian Legislative Council elections and will be focused exclusively on their impact on the people here, lifting up of their voices to speak to some of the misperceptions in North America regarding the whole process. In addition to the following stories, please find the attachments for further reading at the end of the update.

***

Looking out of the window of our Bethlehem apartment, I had been seeing people walking up and down our street since early morning. Walking down that street with my neighbor Bashir, we could see the crowd that had been gathered in front of what most days is a school but that day served as a polling station.

Banners, flags, posters, and robust conversations filled the streets. After scanning a list of the names of registered voters posted outside, Bashir and I entered the building together. After he had cast his ballots, he showed me his finger that was dipped in purple ink to designate his having voted. “Mabruuk,” I told him. “Allah ybaarak fiik, Tim,” he responded, “but why congratulations, congratulations for what?”

“Congratulations for your democracy,” I said.

Democracy?

The elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) that occurred on the 25th of January were the first of their kind since 1996. The PLC is the legislative branch of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) and is made up of 132 members from across the occupied West Bank and Gaza. The fact that only 6000 Palestinians in Jerusalem were “allowed” to vote along with the voting difficulties experienced in the rest of the occupied territories due to the Israeli military’s presence at checkpoints and the imposition of closures, making movement even more difficult than it already is for Palestinians belies the claims of the state of Israel to uphold the virtues of democracy in the Middle East.

“Do you see,” one man who noticed that I was a foreigner sparked up a conversation while I was waiting for Bashir, “Do you see, we have democracy, but we do not have freedom. We want peace, we want freedom.”

Freedom?

What this man was referring to was the context in which these elections were taking place, a context of dispossession and occupation that has gone mostly unspoken in the English-speaking media over the past weeks. Despite the optimism that surround such processes as this, the concretization of Israeli domination over Palestinian life and land shows no sign of letting up.

Whether it is more land being expropriated for the construction of the 430-mile or 700-km “separation barrier” (that cuts deeply into the West Bank, deviating from the internationally recognized border known as the “Green Line”), the expansion of illegal settlements and creation of a de-Palestinized “Greater Jerusalem,” checkpoints that obstruct mobility, the demolition of homes and other forms of collective punishment, or the “one big prison” status of Gaza, Palestinian livelihoods continued to be devastated under this occupation and their experience of dispossession unabated.

The virtues of “democracy” can hardly be comforting in such a context.

Indeed many Palestinians point out how dangerous this process can be as it gives the appearance of a “democratized” occupation. They lift up the dangers of an international perspective of “Palestine” as an independent state with a president and a parliament, when in fact it is far from it.

Unfortunately, the trajectory of dispossession points to the completion of the “separation barrier,” becoming the de facto border of a “Palestinian State” composed of several isolated islands of land on roughly 40 to 50 percent of the West Bank. Palestinians will be confined to these “reservations,” which will be rendered “contiguous” by a network of tunnels. Absent a viable, contiguous Palestinians state, what remains will be a reservation life for Palestinians parallel to the Native North American experience in the United States.

Later that evening, I sat around with friends as they discussed the day’s events. The organization and the civility with which this election proceeded could not be criticized by anybody, especially considering the lack of civility with which the Palestinian people here are often treated. Perhaps this gives me hope for whatever does happen next. Knowing that the dignity and the humanity of the people here will persist, despite all attempts to strip them of it by the Israeli occupation or by Western media, provides a sense of hope in the midst of the uncertainty and insecurity that Palestinians are faced with on a daily basis.

***

On our way to a morning meeting in Bethlehem the other day, we decided to pick up some bread often eaten for breakfast called ka’ik from Jerusalem. The ka’ik from Jerusalem is famous and quite a treat, especially for those Palestinians like our colleagues in Bethlehem who are not able to travel the short 6-mile or 10-km distance to Jerusalem due to the system of checkpoints and closures that the Israeli military imposes on them.

As I set the bag down on a chair next to me in our colleague’s office, it accidentally fell to the floor. “I am so sorry,” I said. “Don’t worry,” our Palestinian friend replied, “it was probably Hamas’ fault anyway.” We all burst out laughing.

Here in the occupied Palestinian territories, it is easy to understand why people are cracking jokes like this one. Since the result of the Palestinian Legislative elections last week, whatever congratulatory remarks Palestinians have heard from the rest of the world for being “democratic” has been drowned out by condemnations and demands that Hamas leadership must meet in order to be recognized. In a portrayal devoid of context, Hamas and the Palestinian people are to blame. And unfortunately, this is the story that often gets told in the English-speaking media.

But there are voices like those of Palestinian Christian Samia Khoury that point out that “Before the results were out, we kept hearing official voices from the USA and Israel announcing that there will be no peace process if Hamas wins, and that there is no chance for the Road Map under Hamas. The Europeans sounded worried as well, realizing that a Hamas government in Palestine would force them to face serious change. Yet none of those official voices had the courage to admit that the peace process was already on hold due to the Israeli intransigence.”

“The Road Map that Israeli spokesmen said would not be possible to implement under Hamas was never fully accepted by Israel, which has consistently blocked its implementation and the establishment of a Palestinian State through means such as building an illegal concrete wall eight meters tall to divide the Palestinian territories. So let us not pretend that peace was around the corner before Hamas’ electoral victory, which at most heightened the already astronomical odds against peace barring a major shift in Israeli policy.” (see the link to this article below)

Categorizing Hamas absolutely as a terrorist organization not only ignores that role they have played in providing greatly needed social services to Palestinians, especially in the Gaza Strip (one of the most densely populated areas in the world), but it now alienates the entire Palestinian people by attaching the same label to them as well. It is dismantling this dehumanization first and foremost that Palestinians want to see. And Palestinians feel that making demands of them or of Hamas at this point is not going to help in that process.

Our attempts at naming violence must be consistent. As one Palestinian friend has told me, we need to be more inclusive with our condemnation of violence in all its forms—whether direct or indirect, personal or structural, suicide-bombings, extra judicial assassinations, home demolitions, or military occupations. Though Hamas has had its role in the violence here, it is not Hamas that stops our friends in Bethlehem from enjoying there own breakfast in Jerusalem, but the structural violence of this occupation that has existed long before Hamas ever did.

Of course there are those voices—both Christian and Muslim—that are more concerned by the turn away from a secular political environment. Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb, pastor of the Christmas Lutheran Church in Bethlehem recognizes those fears that some may be having over “the possibility of the society’s islamization, or potential clash between Hamas and Fatah, or the likelihood of isolating Palestine internationally.” But he urges us to think beyond such observations, to see “the other side of the coin.”

“This is the only time in the Middle East that a one party rule has ended peacefully by democratic elections. We cannot but accept this as the best way to rotate political power. The people decided that enough is enough with Fatah and its rule. They opted for change. This change has not only to do with the power of Hamas but also with a process that is necessary for our society.”

Rev. Raheb goes on to say that as Palestinian Christians “we are called not to be afraid; neither to panic nor to withdraw from the public sphere. We are called not to feel as if we are just spectators but rather to participate with many in this quest for a new Palestinian identity. We are called to replace old and ineffective structures by engaging in this process of building a new political system that is modern, meaningful, and accountable. In a context of commercializing religion, we are called to provide a new sense of deep spirituality. And in a context of disorientation, our vocation is to offer the vision of a new promise and of dynamic identity. This is not only a challenge, but an honor and a privilege to be able to participate. It is at times like these that we are most needed.” (see the link to this article below)

In the end, it is not about Hamas or Fatah but about the Palestinian people, about their freedom and their future. Change is what Palestinians want and perhaps what these elections communicate more than anything else. Indeed, Hamas ran under the name of the party for “change and reform.” And the response that the North has offered seems to reveal a fear regarding any notion of change. But fear of what? Fear of more violence? Fear of an ongoing conflict? Or fear that the status quo that maintains U.S.-backed Israeli control over Palestinian life may be disrupted?


Timothy Seidel
Co-Peace Development Worker
Mennonite Central Committee – Palestine


Attachments and Links:

· Chris McGreal, “Israel's shooting of young girl highlights international hypocrisy, say Palestinians,” The Guardian, 30 January 2006
· Mousa Abu Marzook, “What Hamas Is Seeking,” Washington Post, 31 January 2006
· Ian Fisher, “Palestinians Debate Shades of Islamic Law,” New York Times, 1 February 2006
· Khalid Mish'al, “We will not sell our people or principles for foreign aid,” The Guardian, 31 January 2006
· Arnon Regular, “Abbas says will meet Hamas in two weeks to discuss forming government,” Haaretz, 30 January 2006
· Saed Bannoura, “Hamas says it's holding secret talks with the US,” International Middle East Media Center, 30 January 2006
· Robert Fisk, “The problem with democracy,” The Independent, 28 January 2006
· Samia Khoury, “Are You Surprised?: A Reflection on the Palestinian Elections,” The Witness, 29 January 2006
· Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb, “The other side of the coin: A reading in the Palestinian Elections,” Bethlehem Media Net, 27 January 2006
· Ali Abunimah, “Hamas Election Victory: A Vote for Clarity,” The Electronic Intifada, 26 January 2006
· Saree Makdisi, “Illusion of democracy: The Palestinian Elections,” The Electronic Intifada, 23 January 2006
· Gideon Levy, “Only the right can,” Haaretz, 29 January 2006
· Amira Hass, “The obligation of the occupied,” Haaretz, 25 January 2006
· Chris McGreal, “Hamas drops call for destruction of Israel from manifesto,” The Guardian, 12 January 2006

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The Guardian
Israel's shooting of young girl highlights international hypocrisy, say Palestinians
Chris McGreal

30 January 2006

As the votes were counted in the Palestinian election and the scale of Hamas's landslide became apparent to the world, Aya al-Astal drifted away from her home and wandered towards the fence along the border between the Gaza strip and Israel.

The nine-year-old girl's parents realised she was gone as they watched the election results on television. They do not know precisely what happened, but the Israeli army later said Aya was behaving in a suspicious manner reminiscent of a terrorist - she got too close to the border fence - and so a soldier fired several bullets into the child, hitting her in the neck and blowing open her stomach.

Aya was the second child killed by the Israeli army last week. Soldiers near Ramallah shot 13-year-old Munadel Abu Aaalia in the back as he walked along a road reserved for Jewish settlers with two friends. The army said the boys planned to throw rocks at Israeli cars, which the military defines as terrorism.

The two killings went unnoticed by the outside world amid the political drama, but they made their impact among Palestinians angered by demands from western leaders for Hamas to recognise Israel and renounce its armed struggle.

Some Palestinians see the demands as a rejection of a democratic election and as siding with Israel. Others see hypocrisy. They say Israeli soldiers killed twice as many Palestinians last week alone - both of them children - as the number of Israelis killed by Hamas all last year.

Please read more at http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,,1697825,00.html

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Washington Post
What Hamas Is Seeking
Mousa Abu Marzook

31 January 2006

DAMASCUS, Syria -- A new era in the struggle for Palestinian liberation is upon us. Through historic fair and free elections, the Palestinian people have spoken.

Accordingly, America's long-standing tradition of supporting the oppressed's rights to self-determination should not waver. The United States, the European Union and the rest of the world should welcome the unfolding of the democratic process, and the commitment to aid should not falter. Last week's victory of the Change and Reform Party in the Palestinian legislative elections signals a new hope for an occupied people.

The results of these elections reflect a need for change from the corruption and intransigence of the past government. Since its creation 10 years ago, the Palestinian Legislative Council has been unsuccessful in addressing the needs of the people. As the occupation solidified its grip under the auspices of "peace agreements," quality of life deteriorated for Palestinians in the occupied territories. Poverty levels soared, unemployment rates reached uncharted heights and the lack of basic security approached unbearable depths. A grass-roots alternative grew out of the urgency of this situation. Through its legacy of social work and involvement in the needs of the Palestinian people, the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) flourished as a positive social force striving for the welfare of all Palestinians. Alleviating the debilitative conditions of occupation, and not an Islamic state, is at the heart of our mandate (with reform and change as its lifeblood)…

We appeal to the American people's sense of fairness to judge this conflict in light of the great thoughts, principles and ideals you hold dear in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the democracy you have built. It is not unreasonable to expect America to practice abroad what it preaches at home. We can but sincerely hope that you use your honest judgment and the blessings of ascendancy God has given you to demand an end to the occupation. Meaningful democracy cannot flourish as long as an external force maintains the balance of power. It is the right of all people to pursue their own destiny.

Please read more at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/30/AR2006013001209_pf.html

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New York Times
Palestinians Debate Shades of Islamic Law
Ian Fisher

1 February 2006

TAYBEH, West Bank, Jan. 30 — This is a village of three churches, a brewer of very good beer, and no small fear — if not yet full panic — about what it means now that Hamas, the radical Islamic party, is in control of Palestinian politics.

"If the whole world and our president are afraid, do you think that we are not?" asked Nima Samaan, 62, a Christian Arab, referring to the current, and secular, Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas.

There is no certain answer to the question asked apprehensively around the West Bank and Gaza since Hamas swept the parliamentary elections last week: To what extent — by law or by social pressure — will Hamas impose its strong religious beliefs?

So far Hamas leaders, seeking to calm both Palestinians and an anxious outside world, have projected moderation. They say they will not impose on the Palestinians' diverse society any form of Islamic rule.

"You cannot force people to do what they do not want to do," said Sheik Fadil Saleh, 53, a former imam who won a seat in Ramallah for Hamas. "In the Koran it is said: No force in religion."

Please read more at http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/01/international/middleeast/
01hamas.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

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The Guardian
We will not sell our people or principles for foreign aid
Khalid Mish'al

Palestinians voted for Hamas because of our refusal to give up their rights. But we are ready to make a just peace

31 January 2006

It is widely recognised that the Palestinians are among the most politicised and educated peoples in the world. When they went to the polls last Wednesday they were well aware of what was on offer and those who voted for Hamas knew what it stood for. They chose Hamas because of its pledge never to give up the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people and its promise to embark on a programme of reform. There were voices warning them, locally and internationally, not to vote for an organisation branded by the US and EU as terrorist because such a democratically exercised right would cost them the financial aid provided by foreign donors.

The day Hamas won the Palestinian democratic elections the world's leading democracies failed the test of democracy. Rather than recognise the legitimacy of Hamas as a freely elected representative of the Palestinian people, seize the opportunity created by the result to support the development of good governance in Palestine and search for a means of ending the bloodshed, the US and EU threatened the Palestinian people with collective punishment for exercising their right to choose their parliamentary representatives.

We are being punished simply for resisting oppression and striving for justice. Those who threaten to impose sanctions on our people are the same powers that initiated our suffering and continue to support our oppressors almost unconditionally. We, the victims, are being penalised while our oppressors are pampered. The US and EU could have used the success of Hamas to open a new chapter in their relations with the Palestinians, the Arabs and the Muslims and to understand better a movement that has so far been seen largely through the eyes of the Zionist occupiers of our land…

We shall never recognise the right of any power to rob us of our land and deny us our national rights. We shall never recognise the legitimacy of a Zionist state created on our soil in order to atone for somebody else's sins or solve somebody else's problem. But if you are willing to accept the principle of a long-term truce, we are prepared to negotiate the terms. Hamas is extending a hand of peace to those who are truly interested in a peace based on justice.

Please read more at http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,,1698702,00.html

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Haaretz
Abbas says will meet Hamas in two weeks to discuss forming government
Arnon Regular

30 January 2006

Meanwhile, Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar told CNN on Monday that a long-term truce (hudna) with Israel is possible if Israel retreats to its pre-1967 borders and releases Palestinian prisoners.

"We can expect to establish our independent state on the area before '67 and we can give a long-term hudna," Zahar told CNN's Wolf Blitzer.

Zahar laid out a series of conditions that he said could lead to years of co-existence alongside Israel. He said that if Israel "is ready to give us the national demand to withdraw from the occupied area [in] '67; to release our detainees; to stop their aggression; to make geographic link between Gaza Strip and West Bank, at that time, with assurance from other sides, we are going to accept to establish our independent state at that time, and give us one or two, 10, 15 years time in order to see what is the real intention of Israel after that."

Asked about Hamas' call for Israel's destruction, Zahar would not say whether that remains the goal. "We are not speaking about the future, we are speaking now," he said.

Zahar argued that Israel has no true intention of accepting a Palestinian state, despite international agreements including the Road Map for Middle East peace.

Until Israel says what its final borders will be, Hamas will not say whether it will ever recognize Israel, Zahar said. "If Israel is ready to tell the people what is the official border, after that we are going to answer this question."

Please read more at http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/676190.html

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International Middle East Media Center
Hamas says it's holding secret talks with the US
Saed Bannoura

30 January 2006

Mousa Abu Marzouq, assistant of the head of Hamas' political bureau reported, on Monday, that the movement has been holding secret talks, in recent period, with the United States on several issues, adding that Hamas prefers direct and formal talks.

Abu Marzouq told an Algerian newspaper that Washington replaced the direct talks with secret ones which were formal in some cases and informal in others.

"Hamas prefers direct talks with the United States in the coming period", Abu Marzouq said, "We will deal with every party in accordance to our strategy".

Also, Abu Marzouq added that as long as there is occupation, Hamas will not recognize Israel and will continue its resistance activities.

"As long as there is occupation, we will resist and regain our rights", Abu Marzouq stated, "In this period, we do not intend to recognize Israel, because it’s a state which expelled our people, and is occupying our land".

Referring to the Israeli decision not to negotiate with any Palestinian government that includes Hamas, Abu Marzouq said that if Israel rejects to negotiate it will "isolate itself".

He added that there is a positive development in the statements of the US president George Bush, who said that he will hold talks with Hamas if its drops its calls to destruct Israel.

Please read more at http://www.imemc.org/content/view/16383/1/

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The Independent
The problem with democracy
Robert Fisk

And now, horror of horrors, the Palestinians have elected the wrong party to power

28 January 2006

Oh no, not more democracy again! Didn't we award this to those Algerians in 1990? And didn't they reward us with that nice gift of an Islamist government - and then they so benevolently cancelled the second round of elections? Thank goodness for that!

True, the Afghans elected a round of representatives, albeit that they included some warlords and murderers. But then the Iraqis last year elected the Dawa party to power in Baghdad, which was responsible - let us not speak this in Washington - for most of the kidnappings of Westerners in Beirut in the 1980s, the car bombing of the (late) Emir and the US and French embassies in Kuwait.

And now, horror of horrors, the Palestinians have elected the wrong party to power. They were supposed to have given their support to the friendly, pro-Western, corrupt, absolutely pro-American Fatah, which had promised to "control" them, rather than to Hamas, which said they would represent them. And, bingo, they have chosen the wrong party again.

Result: 76 out of 132 seats. That just about does it. God damn that democracy. What are we to do with people who don't vote the way they should?

Please read more at http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11694.htm or http://news.independent.co.uk/world/fisk/article341462.ece

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The Witness
Are You Surprised?: A Reflection on the Palestinian Elections
Samia Khoury

29 January 2006

Before the results were out, we kept hearing official voices from the USA and Israel announcing that there will be no peace process if Hamas wins, and that there is no chance for the Road Map under Hamas. The Europeans sounded worried as well, realizing that a Hamas government in Palestine would force them to face serious change. Yet none of those official voices had the courage to admit that the peace process was already on hold due to the Israeli intransigence.

How ironic that Mr. Shimon Peres has joined the chorus of those expressing grave concern about making peace with Hamas. We all recall how as prime minister he dismally failed to carry out the legacy of peace for which he, the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, and the late President Arafat got the Nobel Peace Prize. Peres and his woeful chorus pretend not to understand the source of the Palestinian people's frstration, but they have been witnessing Israel violating U.N. resolutions and international law as well as using sophisticated and extensive weaponry to wage a relentless war on the Palestinian civilian population, and they share the blame for Fateh's failure, as they stood by passively or offered resources and encouragement to Israel's attempts to erode Fateh's authority.

The Road Map that Israeli spokesmen said would not be possible to implement under Hamas was never fully accepted by Israel, which has consistently blocked its implementation and the establishment of a Palestinian State through means such as building an illegal concrete wall eight meters tall to divide the Palestinian territories. So let us not pretend that peace was around the corner before Hamas' electoral victory, which at most heightened the already astronomical odds against peace barring a major shift in Israeli policy.

Please read more at http://www.thewitness.org/article.php?id=1016

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Bethlehem Media Net
The other side of the coin: A reading in the Palestinian Elections
Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb

27 January 2006

A friend asked me yesterday saying: “You have been always good in talking about the endless opportunities behind the tremendous challenges, can you still see this here too?” My answer to my friend was “Definitely!” My answer does not mean that I am minimizing the threat and danger behind this “green revolution.” Neither do I dismiss the possibility of the society’s islamization, or potential clash between Hamas and Fatah, or the likelihood of isolating Palestine internationally. Yet, one must see the other side of the coin. This is the only time in the Middle East that a one party rule has ended peacefully by democratic elections. We cannot but accept this as the best way to rotate political power. The people decided that enough is enough with Fatah and its rule. They opted for change. This change has not only to do with the power of Hamas but also with a process that is necessary for our society. In reality, this change means the end of the PLO as we know it, since its parties and structures do not relate anymore to the issues of Palestinian society. A new political landscape has to emerge now. This brings with it endless possibilities. The identity of Fatah after Arafat has to be shaped. The leftist parties in Palestine have to wake up from their sweet dreams and ideologies, to unite, restructure and to develop a new vision. Hamas is now obliged to show their capability of delivering what they were promising, and to learn how to build a government rather than being in the “lazy chair” of the opposition. The people of Palestine have to get used to regularly call their representatives to accountability through this medium of democratic elections.

Finally, what about us Palestinian Christians? My answer is that we are called not to be afraid; neither to panic nor to withdraw from the public sphere. We are called not to feel as if we are just spectators but rather to participate with many in this quest for a new Palestinian identity. We are called to replace old and ineffective structures by engaging in this process of building a new political system that is modern, meaningful, and accountable. In a context of commercializing religion, we are called to provide a new sense of deep spirituality. And in a context of disorientation, our vocation is to offer the vision of a new promise and of dynamic identity. This is not only a challenge, but an honor and a privilege to be able to participate. It is at times like these that we are most needed.

Please read more at http://www.bethlehemmedia.net/feat214.htm

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The Electronic Intifada
Hamas Election Victory: A Vote for Clarity
Ali Abunimah

26 January 2006

Hamas' victory in the Palestinian Authority legislative elections has everyone asking "what next"? The answer, and whether the result should be seen as a good or bad thing, depends very much on who is asking the question.

Although a Hamas success was heavily trailed, the scale of the victory has been widely termed a "shock." Several factors explain the dramatic rise of Hamas, including disillusionment and disgust with the corruption, cynicism and lack of strategy of the Fatah faction which has dominated the Palestinian movement for decades and had arrogantly come to view itself as the natural and indisputable leader.

The election result is not entirely surprising, however, and has been foreshadowed by recent events. Take for example the city of Qalqilya in the north of the West Bank. Hemmed in by Israeli settlements and now completely surrounded by a concrete wall, the city's fifty thousand residents are prisoners in a Israeli-controlled giant ghetto. For years Qalqilya's city council was controlled by Fatah but after the completion of the wall, voters in last years' municipal elections awarded every single city council seat to Hamas. The Qalqilya effect has now spread across the occcupied territories, with Hamas reportedly winning virtually all of the seats elected on a geographic basis. Thus Hamas' success is as much an expression of the determination of Palestinians to resist Israel's efforts to force their surrender as it is a rejection of Fatah. It reduces the conflict to its most fundamental elements: there is occupation, and there is resistance…

The instant US demand that Hamas "recognize Israel" is like rewinding the clock twenty-five years to when this same demand was the pretext to ignore and exclude the PLO from peace negotiations. But as Hamas has observed, all the PLO's submission to these demands did not lead to any loosening of Israel's grip or any lessening of US support for Israel. Hamas is unlikely to do as the US demands, and even if it did, it would probably only give rise to new resistance groups responding to the worsening conditions on the ground generated by the occupation.

Please read more at http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article4425.shtml

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The Electronic Intifada
Illusion of democracy: The Palestinian Elections
Saree Makdisi

23 January 2006

All the talk of elections is part of an attempt to impose a sense of normalcy on a highly abnormal situation: not just the endless occupation, but the unresolved future of the Palestinian people, two-thirds of whom are excluded from the electoral process because they do not live in the occupied territories but rather in refugee camps or in the diaspora, or as second-class citizens of the state of Israel. And none of this will be changed by the elections.

Leaving aside the question of what it means to hold a "national" election when the majority of the nation doesn't have the right to vote, even the process of holding elections while living under military occupation is highly problematic for those who are eligible to vote.

The Israeli army denies Palestinians in the occupied territories the right to free movement, so access to campaign rallies and even voting booths can hardly be taken for granted. Right now, for example, 800,000 Palestinians living in the northern West Bank are banned from traveling outside of their home districts, and a large strand of Route 60, the main West Bank artery, has been off limits to Palestinian traffic since August…

Not only do Wednesday's elections maintain this deception, they also reinforce the sense that they are part of a wider process of Palestinian "reform" and "democratization," which are keys to the future of the so-called peace process.

After all, the United States has decreed that all progress toward peace depends on the behavior of the Palestinians, rather than on the Israelis. Placing that burden on those who never chose to live under military occupation -- while exempting the occupiers -- is hardly likely to yield real results.

But it's not meant to. This is why Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's senior adviser Dov Weisglass describes the situation as "a bottle of formaldehyde." According to Weisglass, maintaining the illusion of a political process guarantees that there will be no resolution of the conflict "until the Palestinians turn into Finns." And that, of course, suits Israel just fine, because as long as the illusion is maintained, it doesn't have to do anything but hang on to the territories it took by force in 1967.

Please read more at http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article4411.shtml

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Haaretz
Only the right can
Gideon Levy

29 January 2006

There's more good news. Only the right can do it? If that view is true, if only people of the right can bring peace, like Ariel Sharon on our side, then we are now facing a new chance that should not be missed. A peace deal with Hamas will be a lot more stable and viable than any agreement we sign with the PLO, if Hamas were to oppose it. Hamas can make concessions where Fatah would never dare. In any case, the Hamas that forms the government won't be the Hamas that sends suicide bombers. The comparison to international terror organizations is also nonsense: Hamas is a movement fighting for limited national goals. If Israel were to reach out to the extremists among its enemies, then maybe it can reach a real agreement that would put an end to the tumor of the occupation and the curse of terror…

Now is the time to reach out to Hamas, which is desperate for international, and particularly American, recognition, and knows that such recognition goes through Israel. If Israel were to be friendly toward Hamas, it could benefit. Not that Hamas will all at once give up its extremist demands and its unrealistic dreams, but it will know, as some of its leaders have already declared, to set them aside if it serves their interests. Israel, which in any case did not speak with Yasser Arafat or Mahmoud Abbas, now has an opportunity for surprise. Instead of wasting more years with rejectionism, at the end of which we'll sit down with Hamas in any case, let us reach out now to this extremist group, which was democratically elected. Israel has nothing to lose from such an approach. We've already seen the achievements of the hand that assassinates and demolishes, uproots and jails, we've already seen those policies fulfilled in front of our eyes: Hamas won the elections.

Please read more at http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/675837.html

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Haaretz
The obligation of the occupied
Amira Hass

25 January 2006

The elections taking place today in the Palestinian Authority are fluctuating between two poles: The Israeli occupation and its tremendous involvement in Palestinian lives, and the responsibility that the occupied have for their own lives. The world, led by Israel, loves to forget that the Palestinian parliament and government, despite their respectable name, are not state institutions, and that the PA enclaves are not independent.

The Palestinian parliament and government lack the authority and rights their counterparts have in sovereign states. They have no control over the external and internal borders that Israel draws between the various Palestinian districts, to the point where they are cut off from each other.

Sixty percent of West Bank land, the primary physical resource of the Palestinian people, are under total Israeli control, and no Palestinian government will be able to do with them what sovereign entities do in their territory: sow and plant, build, develop, maintain. Israel controls the water sources in Israel and in effect sets quotas for the Palestinians. Israel's control of the Palestinian population registry and freedom of movement means that it intervenes in personal decisions like family ties, place of residence, work and study. Through its control of the external and internal borders, Israel also determines how the Palestinian economy will look - the rate of unemployment, the salary cap, the types of economic activity, the location of the factories. And that is only a partial list…

Israelis must not deceive themselves: The Palestinians have not forgotten the occupation. They want to hope that the new candidates, who are supposed to be attentive to their people, will do better than their predecessors in taking advantage of the narrow maneuvering space that even the occupied have in their struggle for freedom. Days will tell whether the new parliament will indeed be able to find methods of struggle that will succeed where negotiations, rifles, explosive belts and unarmed popular activities have failed.

Please read more at http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/674639.html

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The Guardian
Hamas drops call for destruction of Israel from manifesto
Chris McGreal

· Shift comes in lead-up to Palestinian election
· Commitment to armed struggle remains

12 January 2006

Hamas has dropped its call for the destruction of Israel from its manifesto for the Palestinian parliamentary election in a fortnight, a move that brings the group closer to the mainstream Palestinian position of building a state within the boundaries of the occupied territories.

The Islamist faction, responsible for a long campaign of suicide bombings and other attacks on Israelis, still calls for the maintenance of the armed struggle against occupation. But it steps back from Hamas's 1988 charter demanding Israel's eradication and the establishment of a Palestinian state in its place.

The manifesto makes no mention of the destruction of the Jewish state and instead takes a more ambiguous position by saying that Hamas had decided to compete in the elections because it would contribute to "the establishment of an independent state whose capital is Jerusalem".

The shift in emphasis comes as Hamas finds itself under pressure from the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, and from foreign governments to accept Israel's right to exist and to end its violence if it wants to be accepted as a political partner in a future administration.

Please read more at http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,1684472,00.html

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