CMEP Bulletin
June 10, 2011

Keeping Up the Pressure, Naksa Protests Continue, New Violence, and more. . .

Keeping Up the Diplomatic Pressure
Avoiding a Showdown?
Calling on the President
Obstacles to Assistance
Naksa Day Protests
Living in East Jerusalem
Settler Violence and Home Demolitions
Gaza Rocket

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Keeping Up the Diplomatic Pressure

The spotlight in the past week has remained on whether negotiations can be started between Israelis and Palestinians this summer as a means of putting off a Palestinian resolution for statehood in the UN General Assembly this fall. 

In response to the French proposal last week for an international conference on Israel-Palestine in Paris next month, Israel and the Palestinian Authority rushed their top negotiators to . . . Washington, DC.  They may in fact have been convened by the U.S. State Department, concerned that the Europeans are seeking to take on a greater leadership role on this issue. Israeli and Palestinian negotiators reportedly did not meet with each other but met separately on Monday, June 6 at the White House and State Department. 

On the one hand nothing much seems to have changed.  The Palestinian Authority (PA) said, as it has before, that they could go to a conference with negotiations based on the 1967 lines and agreed land swaps, as President Barack Obama proposed last month. A Palestinian state based on the 1967 lines with adjustments would necessarily preclude most of the West Bank from eventual Israeli settlement. The Israeli negotiators, however, said they could not agree. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said there was no point in holding a conference unless the two sides were willing to negotiate, and she noted the unresolved problem of negotiating with a Palestinian government that includes representatives of Hamas.

President Obama warned in his speech last month that unilateral actions -- such as the Palestinians seeking a vote on statehood at the UN General Assembly – should be avoided.  

Avoiding a Showdown? 
  
On the other hand, The Jerusalem Post reported on June 8 that a PA official said the PA might postpone the application for UN membership in return for U.S. and international guarantees that Israel would refrain from “provocations” or “creating new facts on the ground” in coming months.  

“Creating new facts on the ground” is generally seen as a euphemism for new Israeli settlement construction in the Palestinian territories. This has long been a central issue in negotiations about the conflict.  When the Oslo Accords were signed in 1993 there were 110,000 Israeli settlers in the West Bank. Today there are over 300,000 settlers in the West Bank and another 200,000 in East Jerusalem.  Use of the word “provocations” could be taken as a departure from the PA’s previous demand for explicit cessation of all settlement construction during negotiations.  

Prime Minister Netanyahu has said that for Israel to resume negotiations, the PA must disavow its agreement with Hamas or Hamas must accept the Quartet’s three conditions for engagement: renouncing terrorism, recognizing Israel, and accepting previous agreements with Israel.

All this suggests that showdown expected with a vote in September on a Palestinian request for UN membership for a state with borders based in the 1967 lines is still likely on the schedule. PA negotiator Saeb Erekat has reportedly said in the absence of an agreement the PA plans to launch its petition for membership this summer.  

France indicated that it plans to support UN membership for a Palestinian state unless negotiations have resumed; Russian and other EU member votes also may be in play to support the PA application if Israel does not seem to be making meaningful efforts to restart negotiations.  

Calling on the President

While Israeli and Palestinian leaders were trading preconditions, leading former statesman in the United States were calling on President Obama to step up his leadership for a return to negotiations. In a message to the president, and the public, printed in the pages of the New York Review of Books, former Congressman Lee Hamilton and other luminaries from the foreign policy community applauded the president for his remarks in his May 19th speech, but called on him to go further.

“We believe these principles should also have included the sharing of Jerusalem and an agreed solution to the plight of Palestinian refugees, as proposed in the Arab Peace Initiative of 2002,” the authors wrote, referring to the president’s effort to define principles of the negotiations. “Prospects for the implementation of these principles depend entirely on an understanding by both parties that there are consequences for their rejection. As suggested in our letter, if the stalemate continues, we believe the US should take the lead in bringing the issue back to the Security Council and its Resolutions 242 and 338, which serve as the foundation of the peace process.”

Obstacles to Assistance 

Non-government and charitable organizations have long complained of bureaucratic obstacles presented to their employees in carrying out humanitarian work in the West Bank and Gaza.  The Association of International Development Agencies (AIDA) recently conducted a survey in an attempt to list and quantify these obstacles. The full report addresses the cost of mission adjustments required by the delay or denial of visas and permits, including abandoned projects, duplicate staff, purchase costly equipment, the loss of donor funds because of restrictions and the need for access-based aid rather than need-based aid. AIDA’s overall estimate is that restrictions cost international non-government organizations an estimated additional $4.5 million USD per year.

Naksa Day Protests

For the second time in three weeks, Palestinian protesters stormed the Syrian-Israeli border on June 5 causing casualties.  This time it was in was in commemoration of the “Naksa” (the setback), when around 200,000 Palestinians became refugees after the 1967 war. 

The casualty toll is disputed, but Syrian news agency SANA reported 22 protesters killed and 350 injured. 

The Lebanese government and Hamas in Gaza kept protesters from their borders, and there was a low turnout for the West Bank.

In Tel Aviv, 5,000 Israelis marched though the streets calling for a Palestinian state based on 1967 lines. 

Living in East Jerusalem

The Israeli human rights group B’Tselem and The Guardian this week launched a wonderful interactive video project that explores the daily existence and experiences of living and working in East Jerusalem. Told from the perspective of two Israelis and four Palestinians, the videos offer a unique perspective on the intricacies of this fragile city.

Settler Violence and Home Demolitions

Israeli settlers in the Palestinian territories are believed to be behind an arson attack on a mosque in the West Bank near Ramallah.  It is the most recent example of the settlers’ “price tag” policy, where they protest the Israeli government’s removal of illegal outposts by using violence against Palestinians. Graffiti on the mosque said “price tag” and “Alei Ayin,” the name of an illegal settlement outpost Israeli security forces demolished last week.  

There have been several arson attacks on mosques in recent years; no one is known to have been prosecuted. Prime Minister Netanyahu called the arson attempt a “criminal act” and Defense Minister Ehud Barak said security forces would use “all means at their disposal to catch the perpetrators.” 

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refuges has released the latest monthly figures for home demolitions and forced evictions in the West Bank.  During May, there was a record number of children displaced and 304 Palestinians were displaced or affected by a demolition because of a vital facility has been destroyed, such as a water system.  UNRWA has announced a new web initiative to monitor demolitions and provide the latest figures.

Gaza Rocket

Since Hamas and Farah reached their agreement on political cooperation in late April, the Gaza border with Israel has been generally quiet. 
On May 28 a rocket from Gaza was fired into Israel.  This is the first attack since April 19. 

New Ways to Give

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Formed in 1984, Churches for Middle East Peace is a coalition of 24 national Church denominations and organizations, including Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant traditions. It works to encourage U.S. government policies that actively promote a just, lasting and comprehensive resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, ensuring security, human rights and religious freedom for all people of the region.Coalition members are: Alliance of Baptists, American Baptist Churches USA, American Friends Service Committee, Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of America, Armenian Orthodox Church, Catholic Conference of Major Superiors of Men's Institutes, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Christian Reformed Church, Church of the Brethren, Church World Service, Episcopal Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Franciscan Friars OFM (English Speaking Conference, JPIC Council), Friends Committee on National Legislation, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, Maryknoll Missioners, Mennonite Central Committee, Moravian Church in America, National Council of Churches, Presbyterian Church (USA), Reformed Church in America, Unitarian Universalist Association, United Church of Christ, and The United Methodist Church (GBCS & GBGM).