Bruce Wolman writes:
Like a man who just survived his third near-death experience, Mahmoud Abbas headed back from his meeting with President Obama in Washington renewed in spirit. Ready to sew "In Obama We Trust" on the Palestinian national flag, a feisty Abbas announced Saturday, "The Palestinian security forces will strike an iron fist against anyone harming the interests of the Palestinian people." " He forgot to add, "as long as that anyone is a fellow Palestinian."
In the most violent clash since Abbas launched a crackdown on Hamas two years ago, two Hamas militants, a Hamas sympathizer and three Palestinian policemen died early Sunday after Palestinian police attempted to arrest two top Hamas operatives in Qalqiliya. The targets resisted arrest, hurling grenades which killed the three policemen. The Palestinian police then responded with an hours-long gun battle that ended with the two militants dead along with the owner of the house in which they were hiding.
According to the AP wire report from Ali Daraghmeh,
"The arrest raid underscored Abbas' determination to rein in militants as part of his obligations under the US-backed 'road map' peace plan.
The shootout came just three days after Abbas met at the White House with President Barack Obama and renewed a pledge to honor these commitments. The US has been training Abbas' elite forces to help him affirm his control of the West Bank and prepare for eventual statehood."
The situation in Qalqiliya is described as tense. "Women gathered near the scene heaped insults on policeman. Sporadic gunfire erupted in other areas of town, and police said the shots came from Hamas loyalists targeting officers, though there were no reports of injuries." Abbas aide Nabil Abu Rdeneh said going after militants is key to one day securing a Palestinian state. "To build our country and our state, we need to have one authority, one gun, one law."
While many Mideast analysts have observed that reconciliation between Hamas and Abbas' Fatah is a necessary condition for the realization of a Palestinian state, President Obama went out of his way in their joint press conference to remark that Abbas "has been under enormous pressure to bring about some sort of unity government and to negotiate with Hamas. And I am very impressed and appreciative of President Abbas' willingness to steadfastly insist that any unity government would have to recognize the principles that have been laid by the Quartet." This line could have been lifted directly from a Bush press conference. Is Obama also appreciative of Palestinian Authority attacks on Hamas this weekend?
Even before Sunday's events, Hamas had "accused Abbas' security forces of arresting 22 of its supporters in the West Bank over the weekend as part of a US-backed scheme designed to prevent the movement from extending its control beyond the Gaza strip."
Jerusalem Post correspondent Khaled Abu Toameh reported that a Hamas spokesman claimed Abbas presented Obama with a "detailed plan" for overthrowing the Hamas government in Gaza. The supposed plan calls for pressure on the Europeans and Russia to boycott Hamas, drawing to an end their recent meetings with Hamas representatives. Further, the Abbas plan argues "for tightening the Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip with the hope that such a move would prompt Palestinians there to revolt against the Hamas government." So far, there is no independent verification of Hamas' claims, although it was reported Abbas came to Washington with a 5-page plan for Obama.
It's hard to believe that Abbas would so blatantly go against the interests of his own people, but it would be consistent with his behavior during the Israeli invasion of Gaza earlier this year. The Hamas spokesman said the plan proposed a deployment of UN troops in Gaza upon the collapse of the Hamas regime. Later Gaza would be handed back to Abbas' security forces.
Hamas also insisted that the Abbas plan "calls for waging a relentless war against Hamas' financial resources by closing down organizations that fund the movement and imprisoning individuals who carry out fund-raising on its behalf."
Toameh asked the PA about the Hamas allegations, and a PA official replied that "he did not know of any plan to topple the movement's regime…. These charges are in the context of Hamas' campaign of lies and fabrications."
If Hamas is right about Abbas' intentions, we should find out soon enough. If Obama follows this path, it will be seen on the Arab street as just another American attempt to divide-and-conquer the Middle East. It's unlikely the Palestinian people will willingly go along.
Hamas Killing Civilians During And After IDF's Operation "Cast Lead" World is silent Evidence is emerging of a wave of reprisal attacks and killings inside Gaza that have left dozens dead and more wounded in the wake of Israel's war. Among the dead are Palestinians suspected of collaborating with the Israeli military. Others include criminals who were among the 600 prisoners to escape from Gaza City's main jail when it was bombed as the war began. Their attackers are thought to be their victims' relatives During and after the war, there have also been attacks on security officials from Fatah, the bitter rival of Hamas, the Islamist movement in control of the Gaza Strip. One witness told the Guardian how her brother, a Fatah military intelligence officer, was shot three times in the legs in an apparent punishment attack by gunmen from Hamas's armed wing.[...] http://mypetjawa.mu.nu/archives/196124.php
Why do you Phil, disapprove of the rule of law in the West Bank. If the INDIVIDUALS broke the law, then they should be held accountable through due process. If their response to arrest was to throw grenades, that doesn't strike me as progressive. Are you a Hamas-nik as a result of your travels? You really feel that their approach has been successful in any way to realize the greater good for the Palestinian community? I think they picked fights with bigger opponents, and lost, exposing Gazan civilians to a warzone where it was UNNECESSARY on their part. I assume you got my e-mail?
Sorry, I saw that that post was authored by Bruce Wolman, but Phil merely included it in his web "publication", his editorial choice. Maybe the choice of articles to publish is more anarchic than to be reviewed by an editor.
CSPAN Washington Journal just had some Obama foreign policy guest on that responded to a call-in saying we should get tough with Israel and force it to give up its settlements by telling the caller and viewing public that Israel is "tantamount to being the 51st state of the USA and therefore no USA congress would ever tell Israel it needs to give up its settlements in the OT. " Essentially "tantamount" means equivalent in value, significance, or effect. I don't remember seeing any US flag flying on Memorial Day with a 51st star, and certainly none with more than five star points. Who are the state of Israel's two senators? Who are its House reps? Can any US state in our federation thumb its nose at our federal government? Is the IDF part of our military or National Guard? Do all Israel's boys have a duty to register for the US Military Selective Service System? Does the USA Constitution and Bill Of Rights apply to all 51 states in this new configuration? How do the limits of the Tenth Amendment apply to Israel? Does the USA public really know that Israel is considered one of our United States? As a tantamount US state, does Israel have all the obligations under our laws as its fellow member states? Does it have more rights than any of the other 50 states, more privileges?
The rule of law in the West Bank should equally apply to Fatah, the Israeli settlers, and the Israeli Occupation forces, otherwise the rule of law is a joke Richard….
I guess Israel is the 51st state only when it wants to be: CBNNews.com – JERUSALEM, Israel – Responding to U.S. President Barack Obama's remarks to the Turkish parliament on Monday, demanding adherence to a two-state solution, one government minister said Israel is not America's 51st state. "Israel does not take orders from Obama," Minister of Environmental Protection Gilad Erdan (Likud) said. "In voting for [Binyamin] Netanyahu, the Israeli public has decided not to become the U.S.'s 51st state," he said. Erdan's statements were greeted with a resounding yes by many Israelis. Didn't we fight a civil war proving that a US state cannot do whatever it wants? And don't rights and benefits come with duties and obligations? Or is that correlation too old school for the legal jurisprudence scholars of today? It's just my rights and privileges and your duties? Or in this case, respectively, Israel's rights and privileges and your duties?
Does it sound like someone broke the law, Richard? Do you read anything about even allegations of crime? Nothing except being fugitives from Israel. To me it plays like one of the uglier of the Soprano's extended story lines – plain mob warfare, with control of territory laid out just as clearly. And who picked the fight, the people attacked? "Initially, about two dozen officers stormed the house, breaking down the door…" Go listen to Nadia Matar again – you and she mean the same thing – kill them all, they are living on our HOLY LAND and because of that, they deserve to die. Your willful blindness is contemptible. "Abbas' security forces have detained hundreds of Hamas supporters in the West Bank and closed the group's institutions and charities." Holy Land must have been doing too good a job helping the people of Gaza. Israel took out the police and civic institutions; Abbas will take care of the rest. "Security officials seized the bodies of the Hamas militants…" Achilles regretted his act of impiety; I am sure Abbas will also. It is so obvious that everything possible is being done to make HAMAS react with violence: mass arrests, political assassination, lethal assault. And you think that is in keeping with the rule of law, Richard? Yeah, like PineywoodSlim said, law in the form of might. You lot, and & Nadia and Abbas, smugly approving of wanton death and discrying HAMAS are so f*cking hypocritical. Perhaps Israel expects this will start a conflagration, finish off the clearing out of Gaza and leave it free for redevelopment for all the loving Israeli, once the nuisance of other bodies are disposed of. Abbas can then retire to Dubai and live high on the hog off the dead; may he be haunted day and night by their memory. Perhaps you have money already invested, and are just waiting for the day you can join him. There is not one word in the International article about HAMAS being elected; they "seized Gaza." Rule of law, bullshit. The people who say Obama sold out may just be right, or he may not have the political power to prevent this. If the US and Israel want anarchy, they surely shall get it, with such tactics. This is so typical of the US – go in, foment civil war, and then make out like f*cking bandits. Kill for profit, Richard – is that your idea of law? What despicable behavior.
33 Senate seats. If they go to hard-line Israeli supporters, I'm going to join the far right. I hear rumors they have the still-living, still-breathing, still-killing neo-cons scared.
Certainly. Apply it consistently, and review it against the concept of "equal due process under the law".
You're hysterical in both meanings of the term. "Make Hamas respond in anger". Hamas is made up of adults that should CHOOSE their response. Or, are they uncontrollable children in your mind?
Richard, I wrote this posting, not Phil. Are you now telling us that what happened over the weekend was "the rule of law" in the West Bank? Whose rule and whose law? Was it also the rule of law when Israel and the PA arrested most of the West Bank Hamas legislators, preventing the legislature from meeting further? By the way, when are their trials coming up? And on what charges? Are you suggesting that what is best for the Palestinian community is a civil war between Hamas and Fatah? And what response do you consider justifiable in response to an economic embargo and physical imprisonment? You indicate that if you are the smaller party, you should just keep tightening your belt buckles and suck it up.
If the INDIVIDUALS broke the law, then they should be held accountable through due process. Rule of law? What a joke. 'President' Abbas' term expired long ago. He illegally dissolve a fairly and openly elected government and illegally dismissed the properly appointed Prime Minister. He is a strongman whose legitimacy rests solely on the guns of his thugs and his distribution of the loot, err, I mean foreign aid, he receives from the self-appointed 'Quartet'. It is a simmering civil war. Just because armed Fatah are wearing police uniforms doesn't mean that their gang has 'sovereignty'. You support Fatah because they are bought and paid for collaborators with the Occupation. Their weak support amongst Palestinians is underlain by fear of Hamas fundamentalism. One reason Israelis restrict Palestinian political activity is to prevent a secular alternative to Fatah from arising. I think it is their single greatest fear: a secular government with both the support of the Palestinian people AND the international community. When the Palestinian people have only corrupt collaborators and religious fundamentalists to choose from, only the Israelis win. If Israel and Fatah permit basic political freedom in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, alternatives will arise, which is exactly why they won't permit it unless they are forced to. There must be more free and open elections to cultivate the stability and legitimacy in Palestinian self-governance necessary for any peace agreement to last. This is a vital interest for the United States because we are suffering blowback from our subsidization of Israeli ethnic cleansing and colonization. You really feel that [Hamas'] approach has been successful in any way to realize the greater good for the Palestinian community? What do you mean by 'greater good'? What is your metric for 'success'? There are no more Israeli colonies in Gaza. There are more in the West Bank every day. I think they picked fights with bigger opponents, and lost, exposing Gazan civilians to a warzone where it was UNNECESSARY on their part. Down the memory hole goes Israel's 4 November violation of the successful ceasefire! {sound of paper shredder} Hamas arrests Gaza rocket squad after two Qassams hit Negev http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/05/israe... Gaza truce broken as Israeli raid kills six Hamas gunmen http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/05/israe...
Would you call Israel's choice in it's last War on Gaza, a proper adult choice in response to Hamas's reaction to Israel's violation of their mutual truce, a reasonable adult decision or more like the response of uncontrollable children Richard? How about their response to Hezbollah's operation in 2006, which was planned to take Israeli soldiers hostage in order to swap in a prisoner and corpse exchange for those Israel has been holding for years, which eventually did take place about a year after the Israeli General Dan Halutz decided to take Lebanon back a number of decades supposedly in the attempt to get these soldiers back and defeat Hezbollah in the process…Yet neither goal was achieved at the time was it? The only thing that was achieved by Israel's childish reaction was that Zionist Israel managed to accumulate even more enemies….LOL!,
Richard, if the military came and arrested 40 people in your neighborhood, murdered a member of your community and then assaulted a house, initiating a gun battle that continued for several hours, because you had voted for an unpopular political party, what would your response be? If there were a house in your neighborhood where someone was cooking meth, and the police blew up the neighborhood, would you consider that a just enforcement of law? Truly warped reasoning. And you consider them in a position where they have choices? Willful blindness, which undoubtedly has some perceived reward.
NEVER FORGET ISRAEL = INFAMY
If the rule of law were to be honored there would be no Israelis, no IDF and no settlers, in the West Bank. The occupation of the West Bank by Israel is unlawful. Although the conflict between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority is odious, it does not compare to the military aid the US provides Israel.
"What do you mean by 'greater good'?" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hff2p705cUI
Yes, Palestinian law. Hopefully, undertaking or even actively planning to harm civilians in a neighboring state, IS a crime in Palestine. Wouldn't the INDIVIDUALS charged get their day in court? Or, are you judge and jury first, reader of evidence second? I immediately acknowledged that you wrote that posting, Bruce. Read down. I think what is best for Palestinian society is for Hamas to declare that the PA government's laws and treaties, supercede its own agenda and power-plays, so that it can be part of a unity government that can make assertive, but responsible choices and commitments to its own people and to others. Hamas is not a victim relative to Fatah. It is at war, sometimes active, sometimes deferred, by its OWN actions. Something always came first. The question is of the present. You don't like the road map? You think that only Israel should be held accountable for international agreements? How about both?
Why Hamas is not the issue Gaza: History Matters By ELAINE C. HAGOPIAN http://www.counterpunch.org/hagopian01092009.html
"There are no more Israeli colonies in Gaza. There are more in the West Bank every day." Israel left of its own accord, to support a peace effort. Hamas confused compromise for "victory". You do too. On November 4, my memory is wonderful. There were claims of a Hamas tunnel that were asserted were for offensive purposes (maybe yes, maybe no in fact). But, it is a fact that both Israel and Hamas confirmed their agreement to return to the cease-fire following November 18, with minor exceptions. That contrasted with the daily exceptions for the first 1 1/2 months of the cease-fire in which Hamas continued to and allowed other militias to shell Israeli civilians. They corrected their opportunistic mistake, thankfully. Now, they have mostly voluntarily continued a cease-fire status. Do you oppose terror as a means, or do you apologize for it?
I considered the Israeli reponse to have gotten excessive. I thought A response, and more than a token one, was appropriate.
The majority of targets in Gaza, the vast majority initially, were sites of missile and other weapons manufacture. It had nothing to do with who the Gazans voted for, but entirely Hamas' actions. If Hamas had not adopted terror as a means of dissent, and continued applying it, there would have been nothing for Israel to do.
The rule of law is CURRENT, not 3 generations prior.
I have to point out that Mondoweiss is reaching a journalistic crescendo of effectiveness. Wolman's journalism of late has been particularly impressive, but really, the entire crew is hitting on all cylinders right now. It's impressive to watch, almost the activist journalistic equivalent of seeing a fine-tuned Roman column marching through town. Very impressive. No wonder the Zionists are worried. The pen is indeed mightier than the sword when its wielded honestly and effectively.
Try Americans in the settlements under current laws for being enemy combatants.
If Israel had not adopted terror as a means of expansion, and continued applying it with US gifted weapons, there would have been nothing for the Palestinians, or Hamas, to do.
So since Israel's response was "excessive", then Palestinians should launch a military strike against them. Or maybe we should put all of Israel under sanctions, though of course, being humane, we should let in enough food to prevent acute malnutrition. There's nothing wrong with sanctions, in your view of things, so it's long past time Israel be made to feel pressure for what it does. They are adults, after all, but they act like spoiled children.
If the Israeli targets were primarily sites of Hamas and other factions' manufacture of rockets or other military infrastructure, then they did not comprise terror. If the targets weren't primarily military, then that might be describable as state terror. You err in holding Hamas innocent. It is NOT innocent. And, civilians (not occupation) bore the pain of it.
Hamas is innocent of using US gifted weapons to terrorize civilians, unlike Israel's leadership, which used US gifted weapons illegally to bomb Lebanon in 2006 and to terrorize Gaza in 2008, not to mention hundreds of other incidents. The US cannot hold Hamas accountable for the illegal US of military aid; the US does not defend Palestinians with the same generosity and willful ignorance with which it arms Israelis.
Do Obama and Kerry really get it? The problem is at least as much here in the USA as it is in the ME. See Followup: Daniel Maldonado.
There are times when a person has to admit they are wrong. This is one of the times. I was wrong to say that an acceptable alternative would be joining the far right. I was wrong to use the term "far right," as if that is a cohesive and coherent group to join. What else I was wrong about I am still considering.
If Israel had not used terror as state policy, which it continues to use, although becoming more sophisticated as it reacts to world opinion, we wouldn't be here discussing these issues.
There are times when a person has to admit they are wrong. This is one of the times. I was wrong to say that an acceptable alternative would be joining the far right.
Thank you, Marion.
When has a supporter of Israeli aggression ever admitted making a mistake?
I think your wrong in that. I believe that Hamas' agenda is to remove Israel from the map, and to willingly murder its civilians towards that ultimate end. And, that Israel's response to Hamas' actual and attempted murders is mostly rational and appropriate. I oppose the expansion. I do not oppose their defense to the extent that it is defense.
An even greater mistake was my statement that Israel = Infamy. That conclusion lacks apparent logic and was condemnatory of a group of people which includes many who do not support the policies of the State of Israel. I do regret my reaction and my words. Condemnation is best reserved for actions. The citizens of Israel need to be able to trust the President and people of the US, and to believe that disagreement over policy will not result in greater danger to the inhabitants of Israel and Palestine. Most particularly do I regret any harm to trust that may have resulted from my words.