Obama Plays Hardball with Israel?

Obama's sane policies needs to be understood, he is good for Israel and good for America and Palestine.  He needs to scream it out loud so the Netanyahu ass-kissers know that Netanyahu is not Israel.

Mike Ghouse

*Obama Plays Hardball with Israel?
By Mark H. Gaffney

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article40994.htm

Finally. After many years of official hypocrisy, a US president appears
to be playing hardball with Israel. The other day, the US government
declassified a 1987 report

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article40986.htm>documenting
Israel's secret nuclear weapons program.

http://www.courthousenews.com/2015/02/12/nuc%20report.pdf
http://www.courthousenews.com/2015/02/12/nuc%20report.pdf>

I have been a critic of President Obama, but one has to admire the
timing of the release which I suspect was ordered by the White House.
Next month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to
speak before Congress, at the behest of House speaker Boehner, and the
topic of Netanyahu's address reportedly will be Iran's alleged nuclear
weapons program. The fact that neither Speaker Boehner nor the Israeli
government first cleared the speech with the White House has become
controversial, and for good reason. Several prominent members of
Congress, among them Senator Leahy, have already indicated they will
boycott the speech, which will be a transparent attempt at an end run
around the president.

Israeli PM Netanyahu is a smooth talker, but he is in no position to
lecture Iran or any other state about nuclear weapons. The
just-declassified report shows up Netanyahu for what he is, a liar.

All sixteen US intelligence agencies agree there is no hard evidence
that Iran is attempting to develop nuclear weapons. As a signatory of
the nuclear non proliferation treaty, Iran's nuclear power program is
fully safeguarded by IAEA inspections. Israel by contrast is a rogue
state that secretly developed nukes while thumbing its nose at the
world. Israel has long refused to sign the NPT.
The declassified 1987 report indicates that from the 1980s on the US was
well-informed about Israel's hidden nuclear agenda. Israel's nuke
program is evidently a carbon copy of the US program.
We know that Israel smuggled nuclear technology (triggers, known as
krytrons) out of the US, highjacked a ship on the high seas loaded with
uranium ore, deceived US inspectors, and much more, all the while lying
about its true intentions.

It also appears that Israel provided the IAEA with phony documents about
Iran's nuclear program.
http://www.iranreview.org/content/Documents/Israel-Provided-IAEA-with-Fake-Documents-on-Iran-s-Nuclear-Program.htm

Timing is everything in politics. With the report now public, Obama will
be in a stronger position to apply pressure on Israel to sign the NPT
and open its nuclear sites to IAEA inspectors; or face the prospect of
losing US economic and military aid. 

Why? 

Because a US law (the Symington amendment of the 1961 Foreign Assistance Act) bars the US from giving aid to nations that engage in clandestine nuclear weapons proliferation. For many years, the US chose to ignore the law. But now that Netanyahu plainly intends to stir up trouble for Obama in Congress
over Iran, the president has apparently decided to take off the kid gloves.

If Obama follows through, and I hope he does, it will the
smartest policy move of his presidency. The president deserves all the
support that we the people can give him on this issue.

The timing of the 1987 report was no coincidence either. No doubt it was
occasioned by a three-page expose that appeared in the London Sunday
Times in 1986, based on evidence provided by an Israeli whistleblower
named Mordechai Vanunu. The stunning Times expose featured inside photos
and details about Israel's top-secret plutonium separation plant buried
80 feet below the Negev desert. For years, Israel had claimed that its
Dimona nuclear plant was peacefully generating electricity. But Vanunu
showed this was a deception.

For his courage Vanunu suffered a fate worse than death. Kidnapped by
Israeli agents, he was taken back to Israel in chains and convicted of
treason in a kangaroo court. The man of conscience spent 18 years in
Ashkelon prison, 11 of them in solitary confinement, during which time
he endured terrible abuse by his Israeli handlers. Though Vanunu was
released in 2004, he remains under house arrest in Israel to this day; a
shocking example of double jeopardy.

I want to personally thank Mordechai Vanunu for the incredible courage
he has shown over many years, which now finally appears on the verge of
bearing positive fruit. Never doubt that one brave man can change the
world. Vanunu did. He will be remembered for his strength in the service
of truth, while Netanyahu may well become notorious as the dissembler
who destroyed Israel's credibility.

Mark H. Gaffney is the author of Dimona: the Third Temple (1989), a
pioneering study of Israel's nuclear weapons program.

Not good for Israel - Obama, Netanyahu and Clinton

URL - http://israel-palestine-dialogue.blogspot.com/2012/11/not-good-for-israel-obama-netanyahu-and.html

They and Netanyahu are not good for Israel's long term security. They are messing with Israel's long term security, faking to secure it. The sane and wise but silent majority of Jews will not agree with them and I wish they speak up. I wish I can make the time to write about it. 

This was written on 11/22/12 - Unintended consequences and source for anti-Semitism.
http://israel-palestine-dialogue.blogspot.com/2012/11/how-to-achieve-security-for-israel-and.html

If the United Nations were to place “Cease fire” for vote today, more than likely, 178 nations will vote yes, and five will go against it including the United States, Israel and a few dependent nations. Do you think the people of the 178 nations feel resentment and bitterness toward the powerful? This is not good for Jews or Israel and the world in the long haul.

The retaliatory actions taken by Netanyahu, and endorsed by Obama are detrimental to Israel’s security in the long run. Their actions do not mitigate conflicts, but flare up and prolong the eternal dream of Jews to live in peace and security. Not only that, they massively contribute to the growing  Antisemitism which has been the very reason for the suffering of Jews for over 3000 years. 

Injustice against the weak will not go un-reacted to, the only thing the people around the world will feel is build resentment towards the United States and certainly events like this will contribute to  Antisemitism.
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VIDEO APPEAL 09/17/2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WA2NlDU-LM

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PRESIDENT OBAMA - SAY YES - 09/19/11
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNYmI6MlhZw&feature=related

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Mike Ghouse

Obama can bring resolution to Israel Palestine conflict

Please note that this issue is mother of most of the conflicts in the world, and I am committed to finding solutions and have written over 50 pieces on the topic, and many have been published, that is a lot of time! The blog www.IsraelPalestineDialouge.com  has got most of the stuff... there is very little in it that does not contribute towards finding solutions. Why am I passionate about this? Check out the series of three articles published at Huffington post or even the note "About" at this site, to understand my Passion. I want both these people to live without the fear of the other and it is doable.

Obama can bring resolution to Israel and Palestine Conflict

URL: http://israel-palestine-dialogue.blogspot.com/2012/11/obama-can-bring-resolution-to-israel.html

1. The first step is to call in Fatah, Hamas* and Netanyahu to the Rose Garden with no conditions.
2. Have each one place all his cards on the table, "What is that you want?"
3. Obama** (and his team, I hope I am on that team) to offer a proposal based on Security for Israel and Justice to the Palestinians.
4. Ask the parties to work towards that goal and come up with a viable proposal.
5. Call in the Arab Nations and Jewry around the world to ponder over this.
6. Develop a proposal with consensus, and offer to the publics in both nations, almost as referendum.
7. Call in Arab Nations to recognize Israel, which means ending hostilities, let the publics in those nations be a part of the campaign, after all monarchs and dictators come and go, the deal should be between the peoples of Arab Nations and Israel - the heads are merely there to carry out the will of the people. No treaty should  dependent on individuals.
8. Iran's original beef was the Palestinian issue, if we move towards solutions, Iran will be easy to work with, they may feel that they issue is addressed.
9. The mother of most problems in the world is this conflict. We blame religion, terrorism and other things in vain instead of focussing on the issue.

 

* The right wing Christians, Jews and Muslims will scream bloody murder, Obama needs to win them as well, indeed, that should be the first step, and they need to be our allies in bringing an end to this endless conflict. The other approaches have not worked before and we need them to give this approach a chance.

** Obama is the second President after Carter, who is genuine in finding a solution, unaffected by the pressures from the right. Obama has the (newly acquired) balls to tell the parties like it is. No one in the past had that, neither were they neutral. In the past the Arab Nations and we (Americans) have screwed the process by siding with each side and strengthening their stance, rather than getting them to sit and talk. We have that right, we have nothing to gain, but they do. Peace dividends are innumerable.

 

When God created Animals, he gave them horns and animal teeth to bloody each other to resolve conflicts. Did he do that with humans? No, instead he gave us a tongue to dialogue and find solutions. Do we need to use it? Heck yes!

 

MikeGhouse is a speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, politics, peace making, foreign policy, Israel,  Islam, interfaith, and cohesion at work place or social settings. He is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day at www.TheGhousediary.com. Mike has a strong presence on national local TV, Radio and Print Media, and is a frequent guest on Sean Hannity show on Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he contributes weekly to the Texas Faith Column at Dallas Morning News, fortnightly at Huffington post, and several other periodicals across the world. His personal site www.MikeGhouse.net indexes everything you want to know about him.

Robert Fisk: Why the Middle East will never be the same again - Fisk

A good paragraph to read, “But it had been the UN, which met to decide the fate of Palestine on 29 November 1947, which gave Israel its legitimacy, the Americans being the first to vote for its creation. Now – by a supreme irony of history – it is Israel which wishes to prevent the UN from giving Palestinian Arabs their legitimacy – and it is America which will be the first to veto such a legitimacy.”

Robert Fisk: Why the Middle East will never be the same again

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-why-the-middle-east-will-never-be-the-same-again-2357514.html

The Palestinians won't achieve statehood, but they will consign the 'peace process' to history.

Tuesday, 20 September 2011

The Palestinians won't get a state this week. But they will prove – if they get enough votes in the General Assembly and if Mahmoud Abbas does not succumb to his characteristic grovelling in the face of US-Israeli power – that they are worthy of statehood. And they will establish for the Arabs what Israel likes to call – when it is enlarging its colonies on stolen land – "facts on the ground": never again can the United States and Israel snap their fingers and expect the Arabs to click their heels. The US has lost its purchase on the Middle East. It's over: the "peace process", the "road map", the "Oslo agreement"; the whole fandango is history.

Personally, I think "Palestine" is a fantasy state, impossible to create now that the Israelis have stolen so much of the Arabs' land for their colonial projects. Go take a look at the West Bank, if you don't believe me. Israel's massive Jewish colonies, its pernicious building restrictions on Palestinian homes of more than one storey and its closure even of sewage systems as punishment, the "cordons sanitaires" beside the Jordanian frontier, the Israeli-only settlers' roads have turned the map of the West Bank into the smashed windscreen of a crashed car. Sometimes, I suspect that the only thing that prevents the existence of "Greater Israel" is the obstinacy of those pesky Palestinians.

But we are now talking of much greater matters. This vote at the UN – General Assembly or Security Council, in one sense it hardly matters – is going to divide the West – Americans from Europeans and scores of other nations – and it is going to divide the Arabs from the Americans. It is going to crack open the divisions in the European Union; between eastern and western Europeans, between Germany and France (the former supporting Israel for all the usual historical reasons, the latter sickened by the suffering of the Palestinians) and, of course, between Israel and the EU.

A great anger has been created in the world by decades of Israeli power and military brutality and colonisation; millions of Europeans, while conscious of their own historical responsibility for the Jewish Holocaust and well aware of the violence of Muslim nations, are no longer cowed in their criticism for fear of being abused as anti-Semites. There is racism in the West – and always will be, I fear – against Muslims and Africans, as well as Jews. But what are the Israeli settlements on the West Bank, in which no Arab Muslim Palestinian can live, but an expression of racism?

Israel shares in this tragedy, of course. Its insane government has led its people on this road to perdition, adequately summed up by its sullen fear of democracy in Tunisia and Egypt – how typical that its principle ally in this nonsense should be the awful Saudi Arabia – and its cruel refusal to apologise for the killing of nine Turks in the Gaza flotilla last year and its equal refusal to apologise to Egypt for the killing of five of its policemen during a Palestinian incursion into Israel.

So goodbye to its only regional allies, Turkey and Egypt, in the space of scarcely 12 months. Israel's cabinet is composed both of intelligent, potentially balanced people such as Ehud Barak, and fools such as Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, the Ahmadinejad of Israeli politics. Sarcasm aside, Israelis deserve better than this.

The State of Israel may have been created unjustly – the Palestinian Diaspora is proof of this – but it was created legally. And its founders were perfectly capable of doing a deal with King Abdullah of Jordan after the 1948-49 war to divide Palestine between Jews and Arabs. But it had been the UN, which met to decide the fate of Palestine on 29 November 1947, which gave Israel its legitimacy, the Americans being the first to vote for its creation. Now – by a supreme irony of history – it is Israel which wishes to prevent the UN from giving Palestinian Arabs their legitimacy – and it is America which will be the first to veto such a legitimacy.

Does Israel have a right to exist? The question is a tired trap, regularly and stupidly trotted out by Israel's so-called supporters; to me, too, on regular though increasingly fewer occasions. States – not humans – give other states the right to exist. For individuals to do so, they have to see a map. For where exactly, geographically, is Israel? It is the only nation on earth which does not know and will not declare where its eastern frontier is. Is it the old UN armistice line, the 1967 border so beloved of Abbas and so hated by Netanyahu, or the Palestinian West Bank minus settlements, or the whole of the West Bank?

Show me a map of the United Kingdom which includes England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and it has the right to exist. But show me a map of the UK which claims to include the 26 counties of independent Ireland in the UK and shows Dublin to be a British rather than an Irish city, and I will say no, this nation does not have the right to exist within these expanded frontiers. Which is why, in the case of Israel, almost every Western embassy, including the US and British embassies, are in Tel Aviv, not in Jerusalem.

In the new Middle East, amid the Arab Awakening and the revolt of free peoples for dignity and freedom, this UN vote – passed in the General Assembly, vetoed by America if it goes to the Security Council – constitutes a kind of hinge; not just a page turning, but the failure of empire. So locked into Israel has US foreign policy become, so fearful of Israel have almost all its Congressmen and Congresswomen become – to the extent of loving Israel more than America – that America will this week stand out not as the nation that produced Woodrow Wilson and his 14 principles of self-determination, not as the country which fought Nazism and Fascism and Japanese militarism, not as the beacon of freedom which, we are told, its Founding Fathers represented – but as a curmudgeonly, selfish, frightened state whose President, after promising a new affection for the Muslim world, is forced to support an occupying power against a people who only ask for statehood.

Should we say "poor old Obama", as I have done in the past? I don't think so. Big on rhetoric, vain, handing out false love in Istanbul and Cairo within months of his election, he will this week prove that his re-election is more important than the future of the Middle East, that his personal ambition to stay in power must take first place over the sufferings of an occupied people. In this context alone, it is bizarre that a man of such supposed high principle should show himself so cowardly. In the new Middle East, in which Arabs are claiming the very same rights and freedoms that Israel and America say they champion, this is a profound tragedy.

US failures to stand up to Israel and to insist on a fair peace in "Palestine", abetted by the hero of the Iraq war, Blair, are responsible. Arabs too, for allowing their dictators to last so long and thus to clog the sand with false frontiers and old dogmas and oil (and let's not believe that a "new" "Palestine" would be a paradise for its own people). Israel, too, when it should be welcoming the Palestinian demand for statehood at the UN with all its obligations of security and peace and recognition of other UN members. But no. The game is lost. America's political power in the Middle East will this week be neutered on behalf of Israel. Quite a sacrifice in the name of liberty...

Palestine exists and Israel exists, just say it they do.

Palestinians talk about Israelis and Israelis talk about Palestinians, yet the dumb idiotic leadership has difficulty in saying it out loud. Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Abbas, quit playing the damn games and simply acknowledge and move on. May God bless you guys with a single mouth each. There are nearly 30 articles on the topic at the site www.IsraelPalestineDialouge.com, I have selected a few:

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You might find this video intriguing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WA2NlDU-LM

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The one time President can do some good before he is out, have the guts to recognize Palestine, it is good for Israel, good for Palestine, good for the Middle East and good for the United States.
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Mr. President, you must vote for Palestine now

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNYmI6MlhZw

....Mike Ghouse - President Obama, have the balls to do the right thing. http://israel-palestine-dialogue.blogspot.com/2011/09/president-obama-you-must-vote-for_18.html

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Dr. Hanan Ashrawi - A good documentary on history of the conflictshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWODGWlpcIQ

Any normal human will not be able to see the attrocities of occupation. The Jewish people need to be free from their own bondage of hate.

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Jew Settlers Stoning Palestine Children walking to school
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1ovdA1VZ-c&NR=1

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A Video Israel didn't Want Published from CBC

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=4pJDR_AALE0

THE BASICS - MORE VIDEOS AT THE END

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Mike Ghouse - Basic Solutionshttp://israel-palestine-dialogue.blogspot.com/2009/09/solutions-for-israel-and-palestine.html

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MJ Rosenberg - Israel shooting its own foothttp://israel-palestine-dialogue.blogspot.com/2011/09/israel-shooting-in-its-own-foot-mj.html

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Uri Avnery on the Votehttp://israel-palestine-dialogue.blogspot.com/2011/09/uri-avnery-on-palestinian-vote.html

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Gideon Levy - Obama's Unique opportunityhttp://israel-palestine-dialogue.blogspot.com/2011/09/obamas-unique-opportunity-by-gideon.html

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Eric Morgolis - September Madnesshttp://israel-palestine-dialogue.blogspot.com/2011/09/september-madness-eric-margolis.html

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Adam Lebor - Israel should be the first to recognize Palestinehttp://israel-palestine-dialogue.blogspot.com/2011/09/israel-should-be-first-to-recognise.html

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Reza Aslan - Yes to Palestinehttp://israel-palestine-dialogue.blogspot.com/2011/09/yes-to-palestine-reza-aslan.html

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Rabbi Lerner - Recognize Israel

http://israel-palestine-dialogue.blogspot.com/2011/09/recognize-palestine-rabbi-lerner.html

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Jewish teenager violently arrested for speaking truth about Palestine

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDNMVYjAilY&feature=player_embedded

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Mike Ghouse is committed to building a cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day to the media and the public. He is a speaker thinker and a writer on the topics of pluralism, cohesive societies, Politics, Islam, interfaith, India and Peace. Over a thousand articles have been published on the topics and two of his books are poised to be released on Pluralism and Islam. Mike's work is reflected in 4 website's and 27 Blogs indexed at http://www.mikeghouse.net/ and you can find all of his current articles at www.TheGhousediary.com

Obama, Netanyahu to meet at U.N. in New York

JERUSALEM (JTA) -- President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are set to meet on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meeting.

Netanyahu is scheduled to arrive Wednesday in New York for the General Assembly meeting. He told his Cabinet Sunday that he will meet with Obama, as well as other world leaders, upon his arrival.

White House National Security Council spokesman Ben Rhodes confirmed the scheduled meeting to reporters over the weekend. Obama is not scheduled to meet with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, according to the White House.

Netanyahu and Abbas are both scheduled to address the General Assembly on Sept. 23, after which Abbas said he will submit a bid for full membership for the state of Palestine in the U.N. Security Council.

The truth is Israelis want peace, Israel wants peace - but the actions of Netanyahu don't. What's your problem Obama and Netanyahu? You are acting like villians of the peace process,  if you are not willing to acknoweldge what you say from the other mouth, what good is your word? Netanyahu will dupe Obama or scare the crap out of him.

Mike Ghouse
# # #

"The U.N. is not a place where Israel wins praise, but I think that it is important that I go there in order to represent both the State of Israel and the truth -- and the truth is that Israel wants peace and the truth is that the Palestinians are doing everything to torpedo direct peace negotiations," Netanyahu said Sunday.

Netanyahu reiterated that the only way for Israel and the Palestinians to achieve a peace agreement is through direct negotiations. He said that Abbas a year ago had declared a year ago that the Palestinians' goal was to be accepted as a U.N. member and its attempt "will fail."

"It will fail because it must go through the U.N. Security Council. Decisions that are binding on U.N. members pass through the Security Council," the Israeli leader said. "I am convinced that the activity of the U.S., which is deeply cooperating with us, as well as the activity of other governments with which we are also cooperating will result in the failure of this attempt."

The Israel Project presents a very different perspective

Reponse to President Abbas Statement on UN Actions

Washington, Sept. 17

- Last night, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said that when he comes to the U.N. next week, he is not just going to ask countries to vote for a Palestinian state; he is going to ask them to vote for the exact physical boundaries of that state.

He said: "We are trying to get a full membership in the U.N., on the 67 borders, so we will be able, afterwards, to go back to negotiations…during which we will discuss final status issues, Jerusalem, refugees, borders, water, security, settlements and the issue of our prisoners, that by that stage will be prisoners of war, not terrorists or criminals. Even if this won't be the case, they will be our top priority."

At that point, what would be left for the Palestinians to negotiate? And then later, how can Abbas go to his people and tell them to take less than what the U.N. promised them? He’d once again be up a tree without a ladder.

If such a resolution passes, the entire idea of peace talks under the "land for peace" concept will be destroyed because the U.N. already will have given the land to the Palestinians, but Israel won’t have received peace.

Israel would be left with zero leverage in any peace talks.

Additionally, Abbas told his people that the resolution will call for the Palestinian state to be established on the "1967 borders" – not the 1967 lines with mutually agreed upon swaps that President Obama recently called for. This would reduce the width of Israel just north of Tel Aviv to about nine miles (15 km) at its highest population areas of Tel Aviv, Netanya and Herzliya, leaving Israelis and their international airport just beneath the hills from which Palestinian terrorists could shoot rockets at Israeli civilians.

We already saw what happened in Gaza when Israel withdrew: Palestinian terrorists used the area as a launching pad to fire thousands of rockets at Israeli civilians. Those attacks have continued as recently as last week. People are still dying but still Abbas has been unwilling to come to the negotiating table. Even now the Palestinian people answer to two leaders: Abbas and Iran-backed Hamas. Hamas is recognized by the United States, the European Union and other entities as a terrorist organization whose very charter calls for the destruction of Israel and to "kill the Jews." Polls shows that the vast majority of Palestinians who support a two-state solution see it merely as a step toward doing away with Israel.

The "1967 borders" formula that Abbas spoke of last night, in addition to his calling for East Jerusalem as their capital, implies Israel ceding control of the Old City including the Jewish Quarter and the Western Wall to Palestinian control. This is unacceptable. Every peace negotiation has recognized the need for the city to remain united with some form of shared sovereignty, with holy sites administered by each separate religion.

All peace plans have recognized the need to adjust these borders. Leaving out key phrases such as "mutually agreed-upon swaps" or "1967 lines with demographic adjustments" renders the Palestinian resolution totally unacceptable. In previous peace talks, Israel has offered all of Gaza plus 94% of the pre-1967 lines, the West Bank AND other land swaps. But the Palestinians rejected these offers.

Again, in the Abbas plan announced last night, the Western Wall and key Christian sites would be out of Israeli control, and 500,000 Jews would be left in "Palestine." And we still won’t know who will lead this new Palestinian country a few months later - Abbas or Hamas. So we need to ask:

• Will a future Palestinian state be a peaceful neighbor that will work with Israel, or will Israel continue to face daily rocket attacks on Israeli citizens – this time with rockets coming from the Judean Hills onto Tel Aviv, Netanya and Herzliya?
• Will it be controlled by the Palestinian Authority or Iran-backed Hamas?
• Will it be a durable and democratic state that will contribute to peace in the Middle East or be controlled by Iran?

Israel wants a Palestinian state, and so should the rest of the world. But lasting peace can only be achieved through negotiations that settle all outstanding issues to the satisfaction of both sides with mutual respect and security. Israeli and Palestinian relations are very complicated, with shared power, water and security issues affecting both sides. Borders and refugee issues need to be resolved through mutual agreements. Peace cannot be imposed, it can only be negotiated. By definition, peace is an agreement, and it takes two to reach such an agreement.

The only way to get answers is to vote against the U.N. resolution and get the parties back to the table so there can be a real two-state solution with enduring homelands for the Jewish and Palestinian people - not a state of endless war. The Palestinian resolution, if passed, will provide the world a dangerous illustration that the U.N. stands for terror, not for peace.

-Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi

Founder & President

The Israel Project

www.theisraelproject.org

Israel shooting in its own foot - MJ Rosenberg

This is beginning to look like one of the worst periods in Israel's history. (Read this from the New York Times.) The Turkish government has essentially broken relations with Israel over Netanyahu's refusal to apologize for storming the Mavi Marmara relief ship and killing nine Turkish nationals in the process. Ordinary Egyptians (not the government) attacked the Israeli embassy in Cairo, forcing all of its personnel to return home to Israel. And the Palestinians, having despaired of achieving anything in negotiations with Israel under current conditions, are taking their case to the United Nations, where an overwhelming majority of the General Assembly will endorse Palestinian statehood, even though Israel will still control the territory of the new state. Each of these events, standing alone, would be catastrophic for Israel. In combination, they create a perfect storm, one whose force can only be kept at bay by the U.S. government. But our government is unwilling to do what will ultimately help Israel if it means publicly opposing Netanyahu in an election year. That sounds counter-intuitive. Politicians always want to give Israel whatever it wants in an election year. But this time around, standing with Israel's leader does not mean supporting Israel simply because it is he who, more than anyone else, is responsible for the tsunami heading towards his county's shores. He is the one who ended negotiations with the Palestinians by refusing to accede to Obama's request for a settlement freeze. (Palestinians rightly refuse to negotiate while the land they are negotiating over is being gobbled up by settlers.) He is the one who refused to apologize to Turkey for killing its nationals, even after the United States devised a formula that both sides seemed happy with. (Netanyahu backed down out of fear of his thuggish foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman.) As for the Egyptians, they identify Netanyahu with the Mubarak regime, which barely raised a word of protest against the occupation of the West Bank or the strangulation of Gaza. Now the Israel-Egypt peace treaty, the most critical component of Israel's security, is itself in jeopardy. None of this happened overnight and all of it can be traced to the continuation of the 44-year-old occupation. Obama understands all of this, but when he tried to push the Israelis to start negotiations to end it once and for all, Israel's 'supporters' in America went ballistic. When Netanyahu told them to get Obama to back down "to save Israel," they did. AIPAC made sure that every member of Congress knew that they were being "scored" on the level of their support for Netanyahu. A low score meant closed checkbooks. Our president surrendered. In that spirit, the U.S. is opposing Palestinian statehood on Netanyahu's behalf. But not Israel's. Israel is in big trouble and it needs allies who will help it prevail over this sea of misfortunes. It doesn't have those allies. It just has self-proclaimed supporters in the habit of telling the Israeli government whatever it wants to hear. Accordingly, there is no one who is telling Israel — from a position of strength — that it needs to end the occupation. The United States is, once again, playing the role of Israel's enabler. But there is another way. Media reports indicate that the Obama administration is desperate to avoid the Palestinian statehood resolution from coming up for a vote at the U.N. later this month. What that really means is that the United States is desperate to avoid jeopardizing U.S. interests throughout the Arab and Muslim world (including our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan) by voting against the measure. So why not vote "yes"? The resolution simply codifies the U.S. policy favoring a two-state solution. Because it will change nothing on the ground (the Israelis will still control all the territory), bilateral Israeli-Palestinian negotiations will still be necessary to achieve a final status agreement. The U.N. resolution does not substitute unilateralism for negotiation. It simply levels the playing field so that negotiations will be between two states, not one powerful state and one occupied supplicant. Any real change on the ground requires mutual agreement by both sides on all the issues: borders, security arrangements, Jerusalem, water resources, settlements, refugees. Nothing would be rammed down either side's throat because, as provided for in every significant proposal for negotiations (including all U.N. resolutions and the Arab League Initiative), every change in the status quo must be mutually agreed upon. So what's the problem? The problem is that the United States has promised Netanyahu to veto the resolution in the Security Council. (The Palestinians might opt for the General Assembly, where they are likely to prevail, but actual recognition as a state can only be conferred by the Security Council.) But how about this? The administration tells Israel and the Palestinians that we will vote "yes" in the Security Council (enabling passage) if the resolution includes language recognizing Israel as a Jewish state. This is a new and superfluous condition that the Israeli right has come up with recently that threatens to destroy any possibility of an agreement. Palestinians see this demand for what it is: moving the goal post. For the Israeli right, however, demanding recognition not just as Israel but "as a Jewish state," represents their last-ditch condition to block peace if agreement is reached on everything else. In fact, it is no big deal. Israel is going to be a Jewish state (unless, of course, the two-state solution is replaced by the one-state solution) no matter what it's called. Palestinians know that. Any Palestinian fear that "Jewish state" language will jeopardize the rights of Palestinian Israelis can itself be addressed within the U.N. resolution. It can include language echoing the Balfour Declaration, which called for a Jewish state with the caveat that it be "clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine." If the Palestinians agreed to the "Jewish state" formulation, the United States would not only be free to vote for the resolution but might be able to convince Israel to vote for it as well. And we would be well on the way to implementation of the two-state solution. Netanyahu, for his part, owes Obama big time. How about, for once, giving the United States a break? Not to mention Israel.

AND MORE FROM MJ ROSENBERG:

Shooting Ourselves In The Foot At The U.N. It is amusing watching the usual suspects — including those in the Obama administration — announce their opposition to the United Nations resolution that would grant the Palestinians their long-sought state. Some of the opposition comes from the lobby and its congressional cutouts who are dedicated to preserving the status quo (i.e., the occupation). The Obama administration surely has a far more nuanced position but is terrified at the prospect of challenging the lobby as it faces a tough re-election campaign. In any case, the United States looks utterly helpless. The Palestinians no longer view President Obama as an honest broker. Having watched him back down after every attempt to bring Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to the peace table, they view Obama as no different from his most recent predecessor. As for the Israeli leadership, it openly disrespects the president. Netanyahu, like most bullies, is only impressed by those who bully him right back. Obama's repeated capitulations win him no points with Netanyahu, who believed from day one that Obama could be rolled. He has been proven right while his many dovish critics at home — who insisted that there would be a price to be paid for disrespecting the United States — look like Nervous Nellies. It is the United States that is paying the price, not Israel. Look at how the Obama administration is handling the upcoming U.N. vote. This week, in a last ditch attempt to avert a U.N. vote, the administration dispatched Dennis Ross, the National Security Council official in charge of Arab-Israeli affairs, to the region, along with David Hill, who is filling in as Special Envoy to the region following the resignation (in disgust) of George Mitchell. Hill is a respected foreign policy professional, but both Palestinians and Israelis know that Ross is the guy who matters. He is also the official responsible for the administration's failure to make any headway on Israel-Palestinian issues since coming to office. That is not because Ross is inept; he isn't. But he is a true-blue supporter of right-wing Israeli policies, best known for, between government jobs, having led AIPAC's own think tank, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. More than any administration official since Elliot Abrams — in the George W. Bush administration — Ross believes that the United States must never publicly differ with the Israeli government about anything. (Apparently it was Ross who devised Vice President Biden's pledge that there must be "no daylight, no daylight" between Israeli and U.S. policies.) Dispatching Ross to talk to Palestinians and Israelis about the U.N. vote demonstrates that the administration is just going through the motions on Israeli-Palestinian diplomacy. After all, the Palestinians don't trust Ross at all and the Israelis know that he is fully on their side. Ross brings nothing new to the table and certainly nothing to induce the Palestinians to forego their statehood initiative. If the United States was dedicated to advancing diplomacy rather than reassuring the lobby, it would pressure Netanyahu to return to negotiations based on the '67 lines (as has been the case with all previous negotiations), with a settlement freeze as a form of earnest money. In return, the Palestinians would drop its U.N. initiative. Unfortunately, that won't happen because the lobby (and its friend, Dennis Ross) will not permit pressure on Israel, just on the Palestinians — who have been warned that if they go ahead with the vote, they will lose U.S. aid. So it looks like there will be a U.N. vote and the United States will be among the few nations in the world to vote "no." Not even Mahmoud Abbas' repeated assurance that his first act following the vote will be to open negotiations with Israel will have an impact on the U.S. position. No, we will stand with Netanyahu even though internationally the perception that the U.S. and Israel are joined at the hip is the last thing any president wants. But let's not give up hope. This weekend is the 10th anniversary of 9/11, a particularly inauspicious time for the Obama administration to look like Netanyahu's puppet. This is not to say that the terrorists who would love to strike America again are seriously concerned about the Palestinians. They aren't. But America's seeming hostility to the Palestinians and our "no daylight" alliance with Israel gives them a convenient pretense to commit terrorism. And it gives the vast majority of the people in the Middle East, who are fighting against both Al-Qaeda and their Western-backed dictators, further reason to question our motivations in the region. The Palestinian issue is the one issue on which all Muslims are united. No matter whether they are Saudis or Iranians, Indonesians or Afghans, the one issue that brings Muslim together is the belief that the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and the blockade of Gaza are terrible wrongs, supported by the United States. (Muslims aren't the only ones who feel this way, as will be demonstrated by the overwhelming vote for the Palestinian statehood resolution that the U.S. and Israel will stand virtually alone in opposing.) The Obama administration should keep that in mind when it decides how it will handle the vote. Promoting the two-state solution, starting with a vote FOR a Palestinian state at the U.N., is not only the moral thing to do — just as it was when the U.S. supported Israel's statehood at the U.N. in 1947 — but it is also the right thing to do from the standpoint of America's security. For Israel's sake, for the Palestinians', and for our own, the President should tell the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. to vote "yes."

No, Mr. Netanyahu!

Dear Mike,

 

Please tell the media: “No,  Mr. Netanyahu! Americans Don’t Support Your Intransigence and Rejection of a Plausible Path to Peace. We stand with President Obama on Peace Negotiations.”

Below, I’ll give you some of the relevant addresses and some sample letters you might send (though your own words would be even better). Please let me know to whom you’ve written and their response if any (but even when they don’t respond, there is an impact in hearing a voice other than that of the political Right).  We at Tikkun/Network of Spiritual Progressives are the pro-Israel & pro-Palestine voice of those seeking peace and justice for both sides, and a world of generosity, kindness and love for everyone, seeing everyone on the planet as equally valuable!!! Sound utopian? Less so than the strategies currently being pursued by Israel, Palestine and the U.S.

 

Here's the immediate situation and why YOU should take action now:

 

 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has come to the U.S. to speak over the head of President Obama to strengthen the voice of the most reactionary pro-Israel forces in the U.S. His basic message is that Israel will never accept a viable Palestinian state, and prefers occupation and expansion of its borders to peace with the Palestinian people. One need only read some of the articles from the Israeli press which we’ve assembled at www.tikkun.org in the section of our online magazine called “Recommended from the web” to see how Israeli progressives realize that Netanyahu’s position is a disaster for Israel.  If you feel like you need more information, you’ll find it there!(Incidentally, we hope you’ll read that Recommended From the Web section everyday—because we give you the voices on American politics, culture, the Mideast conflict, and much else that are essential, and save you the time of surfing the web). 

 

Actually, what Netanyahu is doing is precisely what Obama should be doing in reverse--he should go to Israel and Palestine and present to the Israeli population and to the Palestinian people a worked out peace agreement that will require sacrifice from both sides but which will be just to both sides and provide security to both sides. The Tikkun Peace Plan is on our website www.tikkun.org !

 

 

 

At this moment, it makes sense for YOU, Mike, to write a letter to the media and to your elected Congressperson and Senators and to the President, letting them know that YOU don’t agree with Netanyahu. The media has been giving him a free ride, in part because they are subservient to the most reactionary pro-Israel forces in the U.S. (not only AIPAC and the Christian Zionists, but their stooges in both Republican and Democratic parties, from Eric Cantor, the Republican majority leaders in the House of Representatives to Steny Hoyer who held the same position last session when the Dems were the majority). The love-fest we are about to see between Congress and Netanyahu is meant to snuff out the last bit of hope that the Obama Administration will use any power to push Israel toward a serious attempt at negotiations. Already, Obama has been wrongly warning the Palestinians not to seek U.N. recognition this coming September for a Palestinian state, and assuring Netanyahu that the U.S. is not going to lessen in any ways its military blank check to Israel and its subservience to Israel at the U.N.

 

 

 

Mike, please don’t be a passive witness to all this. At the very least, and without even leaving your home, you can challenge all this. Take the time each day to write one letter to the media and one letter to your elected representatives to let them know that you are not part of the Netanyahu cheerleading squad and you don’t want them to be, either, and that you’d like them to at least represent the voice of groups like Tikkun, the Network of Spiritual Progressives, Rabbis for Human Rights in Israel, Gush Shalom in Israel, J Street, Jewish Voices for Peace, the Board of Church and Society of the United Methodists of America, Presbyterian Church USA, the United Church of Christ, the Unitarian Universalist Association, the Catholic Church in Israel, the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), the Shalom Center, Peace Now in Israel, and other groups that seek peace and reconciliation rather than endless occupation by Israel of the Palestinian people.

 

 

 

The most effective way to do this is to write a handwritten or computer typed letter and send it as hard copy in snail mail. Second best is to call their office. Third best is through an email letter.  Below, I’ll give you some of the relevant addresses, but for others you may have to do an online search. And to make this easier for you,  I’m including some sample letters you might send.  It would also be helpful if you could send a tax-deductible contribution to Tikkun/NSP to help us in this campaign:  www.tikkun.org/donate or Tikkun, 2342 Shattuck Ave, #1200, Berkeley, Ca. 94704.

 

Any amount would be helpful!!!

 

 

 

Warm regards, blessings, and thanks for taking a public stand for Israel/Palestine peace.

 

 

 

Michael

 

Rabbi Michael Lerner

 

  RabbiLerner.tikkun@gmail.com.   Tikkun office: 510 644 1200

 

 

 

Sample Media Letters: (AND ADDRESSES BELOW)-- (but even better if you write your own)

 

 

 

Dear X,

 

            Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has lots of chutzpah to come to our country and treat our president disrespectfully—which is precisely what he did when he rejected President Obama’s suggested idea last Thursday that negotiations between Israel and Palestine should begin (not end) from the point of the 1967 borders which Israel trampled when it captured and then retained the West Bank for  the last 44 years. He didn’t even bother to listen to Obama with whom he was meeting the next day (last Friday). I want the Jewish people to be secure, and I want a strong Israel. But I know that can only be achieved when Israel is perceived by the world and by the Palestinians as seeking a peaceful solution that is based on justice for the Palestinian people and security for both sides. That will never come if Israel insists on holding on to the occupied territories and placing troops in the tiny Palestinian state it envisions, nor will it come as long as the Palestinian people are treated disrespectfully and oppressively. Somebody has got to talk sense into the heads of the leaders of Israel, else I fear that the anger its current policies are engendering will explode once again and cause both sides yet even more suffering. So please support President Obama’s measure, weak  as they may be.  Personally, I wish he’d make American military cooperation dependent on Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank, or at least promise to support Palestinian statehood at the UN unless Netanyahu unconditionally stops building settlements in the West Bank and Jerusalem and starts negotiations aimed at creating an economically and politically viable Palestinian state in all of the West Bank and Gaza (except, as President Obama said, for some land where Israeli settlements exist traded for some land of equal quality that is now part of Israel).

 

            Sincerely,           

 

            (your name, address, phone and email)

 

 

 

Dear X,

 

            Although the media gives the impression that the American people are supportive of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and his stance against President Obama’s contention that an Israeli/Palestinian peace agreement has to start from the 1967 borders and then make swaps in territory which allow Israel to keep some of the settlements in exchange for equal amount of Israeli land being given to Palestinians, I and many of the people I know support President Obama’s stance. I’m writing to ask you to please represent the perspective of those Jews and Christians who recognize that Israel’s security will best be achieved not through endless occupation but rather through a strategy of generosity and caring for the Palestinian people.

 

 

 

 This perspective is presented by the largest circulation progressive Jewish magazine, Tikkun, and its Network of Spiritual Progressives, so I hope that as you cover this issue this week and in the coming years you will contact Tikkun editor Rabbi Michael Lerner at 5l0 644 1200  RabbiLerner.tikkun@gmail.com. Other organizations that share this perspective whom you might also consider quoting:  Rabbi Arthur Waskow at the Shalom Center 215 844 8494 awaskow@aol.com, and leaders of such groups as , Rabbis for Human Rights in Israel (Rabbi Arik Aschermann ravarik.ascherman@rhr.israel.net), Gush Shalom in Israel (Uri Avnery at avnery@actcom.co.il) and Washington based groups like J Street, Jewish Voices for Peace, the Board of Church and Society of the United Methodists of America, Presbyterian Church USA, the United Church of Christ, the Unitarian Universalist Association, the Catholic Church in Israel, the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC),  Peace Now in Israel, and other groups that seek peace and reconciliation rather than endless occupation by Israel of the Palestinian people.

 

 

 

Please give the voices of peace equal time to the voices of rejection of a plausible path to peace.

 

Sincerely,

 

X

 

(your phone number and your email and your address).

 

 

 

ANOTHER MEDIA LETTER:

 

Dear X,

 

            I’m a member of the interfaith Network of Spiritual Progressives (NSP, www.spiritualprogressives.org) and an advocate for Middle East peace. I’m greatly disturbed by the way that the media tends to ignore the many Americans who know that peace between Israel and Palestine is a vital American interest and therefore that the US must press Israel to end the Occupation of the West Bank and provide terms for an end to the conflict along lines that most of the peace movement has been suggesting for many years.  I urge you to read editor of Tikkun magazine Rabbi Lerner and his response to President Obama’s recent talks on this topic at:

 

http://www.tikkun.org/tikkundaily/2011/05/19/rabbi-lerners-response-to-president-obamas-middle-east-address/  and to cover his perspective and that of many other Americans who understand that it is generosity, not domination and occupation, that will provide a path to peace. Would you please look at our proposed Global Marshall Plan to give you a vision of what it might look like to shift America toward a more rational foreign policy? It’s at www.spiritualprogressives/GMP. And please start representing in the media our voices, and not just the voices of those Americans who continue to give Israel a blank check without realizing that in so doing they are actually empowering the right wing forces in Israel most likely to lead Israel toward its self-destruction in the long run, and to a rise in global anti-Israel feelings.

 

             Thank you.

 

            Sincerely

 

            (your name, address, email and phone number)

 

Sample Letter to your Congressional Rep and Senators:

 

 

 

Dear Senator (or Congressperson) X,

 

            Although the media gives the impression that the American people are supportive of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and his stance against President Obama’s contention that an Israeli/Palestinian peace agreement has to start from the 1967 borders and then make swaps in territory which allow Israel to keep some of the settlements in exchange for equal amount of Israeli land being given to Palestinians, I and many of the people I know support President Obama’s stance. I’m writing to ask you to please represent the perspective of those Jews and Christians who recognize that Israel’s security will best be achieved not through endless occupation but rather through a strategy of generosity and caring for the Palestinian people.

 

 

 

I need you to represent me and your many other constituents whom I know [including my neighbors, friends, and members  of my (fill in here your community organization, political party, social change organization, synagogue, church, mosque or ashram, college or university)] who share my view.

 

 

 

It is also a view shared by the largest circulation progressive Jewish magazine, Tikkun, and its Network of Spiritual Progressives, and I hope you might either call me to discuss this issue or meet with Tikkun editor Rabbi Michael Lerner at 5l0 644 1200  RabbiLerner.tikkun@gmail.com. You need to know that there is a growing silent majority of Americans who are fed up with the Israeli government’s obstruction of peace, even while we continue to support a strong and safe Israel. Other organizations that share this perspective whom you might also consider meeting with include:  Rabbi Arthur Waskow at the Shalom Center 215 844 8494 awaskow@aol.com, and leaders of such groups as , Rabbis for Human Rights in Israel (Rabbi Arik Aschermann ravarik.ascherman@rhr.israel.net), Gush Shalom in Israel (Uri Avnery at avnery@actcom.co.il) and Washington based groups like J Street, Jewish Voices for Peace, the Board of Church and Society of the United Methodists of America, Presbyterian Church USA, the United Church of Christ, the Unitarian Universalist Association, the Catholic Church in Israel, the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC),  Peace Now in Israel, and other groups that seek peace and reconciliation rather than endless occupation by Israel of the Palestinian people.

 

 

 

Please give the voices of peace equal attention to the voices of rejection of a plausible path to peace. And please don’t sign on to AIPAC-sponsored resolutions that give the impression that the American people support Israel’s refusal to end the Occupation of the West Bank. Such resolutions only strengthen the hands of those in the Israeli government least interested in working out a two state solution that provides justice and security to both Israel and Palestine.

 

 

 

Sincerely, your constituent,

 

X

 

Home address

 

Email and Phone

 

 

 

PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CONSTRUCT YOUR OWN LETTER AND USE ANY ELEMENTS IN THESE THAT ARE HELPFUL TO YOU.