Palestijnen wijzen voorstellen John Kerry af (Khaled Abu Toameh)

 

De kansen voor het vredesoverleg zien er niet goed uit. De Palestijnen wijken feitelijk niet af van hun standpunt uit pakweg 1988, toen ze -zo wordt gezegd- de facto Israel erkend zouden hebben binnen de grenzen (wapenstilstandslijnen) van voor 1967 en het gehele gebied daarbuiten als hun soevereine staat claimden. Alleen een 1-op-1 landruil voor enkele nederzettingenblokken zouden ze willen toegeven, en een tijdschema van 3 jaar totdat Israel zich geheel heeft teruggetrokken.

The official summed up Abbas's position as follows:

• No to a demilitarized Palestinian state;
• No to recognizing Israel as a Jewish state;
• No to a solution that does not include all of east Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state;
• No to another interim agreement with Israel and, of course,
• No to the presence of any Israeli soldiers in the Jordan Valley.

Grote afwezige in dit artikel is de geëiste 'terugkeer' van de Palestijnse vluchtelingen en hun nakomelingen naar Israel, dat door de Palestijnen breed wordt beschouwd als een onvervreemdbaar recht. Dit probleem ligt deels besloten in de (weigering van de) erkenning van Israel als Joodse staat. Voor Israel zijn daarnaast 'rode lijnen' het behoud van tenminste een deel van de Oude Stad en de Olijfberg, en de veiligheidskwestie, die zich verzet tegen een gemilitariseerde Palestijnse staat en een voorlopige militaire toegang tot tenminste de Jordaanvallei eist.

 

Het lijkt vrijwel onmogelijk om zulke rode lijnen bij elkaar te krijgen.

 

Wouter

_________________

 

 

What the Palestinians and Arabs Think of Kerry's New Ideas

by Khaled Abu Toameh
December 27, 2013 at 5:00 am

http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/4109/arab-league-palestinians-john-kerry

 

It is hard to see how Abbas would be able to retract his position now that the Arab League has also rejected Kerry's ideas. Kerry will now have to launch a new diplomatic campaign to convince the Arab League to change its position. And for the Arab countries to do that really would take a miracle.

The Palestinian Authority does not like U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's latest ideas for peace between the Palestinians and Israelis.

The Palestinians especially do not like Kerry's proposal that Israel maintain a military presence in the Jordan Valley if and when a Palestinian state is established next to Israel.

Kerry, however, does not seem to be impressed with the Palestinians' rejection of his ideas. He appears convinced that immense pressure on the Palestinians will eventually force them to succumb.

Palestinian Authority officials complained this week that Kerry is obviously not taking them seriously. "Although the Palestinian Authority leadership has turned down his ideas, Kerry continues to exert heavy pressure on us because he thinks he can impose his will on us," remarked a senior Palestinian official in Ramallah. "Of course, Kerry is living in an illusion if he thinks we would change our position."

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who briefed Arab foreign ministers in Cairo on December 21, repeated his opposition to Kerry's ideas. Before that, Abbas sent a letter to President Barack Obama expressing reservations about Kerry's proposals.

Abbas has even won the backing of the Arab League for his stance. So it is not only the Palestinians who are now saying no to Kerry, but the Arab countries too. "The U.S. proposals achieved Israeli expansionist demands, and guaranteed [Israel's] continued control of [the Jordan Valley] on the security pretext," said a statement released by the Arab League.

Arab League Secretary-General Nabil al-Araby said that not one Israeli soldier could stay in the West Bank.

The Arab League's position is a severe blow to Kerry's ongoing efforts to persuade the Palestinian Authority to accept his ideas. Having won the backing of the Arab countries, Abbas now feels more confident to say no to Kerry and his proposals.

When Kerry next returns to the region, Abbas will once again tell him that he doesn't accept his ideas, particularly in the wake of the Arab League's having also rejected them.

Abbas, however, seems to have a problem not only with the idea of maintaining an Israeli military presence in the Jordan Valley.

A Palestinian official, who also said that Abbas had won backing from the Arab countries for his stance, revealed that Abbas continues to stick to his positions on a variety of issues pertaining to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict -- positions that openly contadict most of the Israeli and American demands.

The official summed up Abbas's position as follows:

• No to a demilitarized Palestinian state;
• No to recognizing Israel as a Jewish state;
• No to a solution that does not include all of east Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state;
• No to another interim agreement with Israel and, of course,
• No to the presence of any Israeli soldiers in the Jordan Valley.

The only two things that Abbas and the Arab League are prepared to accept is a timetable for an Israeli withdrawal to the pre-1967 lines that does not exceed three years, and an exchange of land "equal in size and value" with Israel in cases where Israel retains any land beyond the pre-1967 lines.

Until recently, the Palestinian rejection of Kerry's ideas was expressed in a rather polite manner.

In the past few days, however, senior Palestinian Authority officials have begun launching a scathing attack on Kerry, with some accusing him of "endorsing" Israel's position on most issues related to the conflict with Israel.

PLO Secretary-General Yasser Abed Rabbo said that Kerry's proposals on security will lead to the "total failure" of the peace talks with Israel. Kerry's ideas, he added, have provoked a "real crisis." Abed Rabbo said that Kerry "only wants to win over the Israelis and [allow] settlement expansion at our expense."

In an interview with Voice of Palestine radio, Abed Rabbo continued his unprecedented criticism of both Kerry and his proposals. "Washington does not have the right to determine where our borders would be," he declared. "We won't allow Israel to slice off any parts of our land. If the Americans want, they can give Israel parts of California and Washington. This land belongs to the Palestinians."

The Arab League's rejection of Kerry's ideas not only complicates his efforts to achieve a deal between Palestinians and Israelis, but also ties Abbas's hands. It is hard to see how Abbas would be able to retract his position now that the Arab League has also rejected Kerry's ideas.

Kerry will now have to launch a new diplomatic campaign to convince the Arab League to change its position. And for the Arab countries to do that really would take a miracle.

 

Arafat niet vergiftigd volgens 2 van 3 onderzoeken

 

Liefst drie onderzoeksteams hebben zich gebogen over de resten van Yasser Arafat en zijn spullen, negen jaar na zijn dood, om proberen vast te stellen of hij vergiftigd werd of aan iets anders overleed. Zijn weduwe, van wie hij de laatste jaren gescheiden leefde, weigerde destijds een autopsie maar beweert nu dat hij vergiftigd was.

 

Zowel de Russen als de Fransen vonden geen aanwijzingen voor vergiftiging; de Zwitsers meenden wel dat polonium vergiftiging zijn dood kan hebben veroorzaakt.

 

Wouter

__________

 

Report: Russian experts find Arafat died of natural causes

http://www.jpost.com/Diplomacy-and-Politics/Report-Russian-experts-find-Arafat-died-of-natural-causes-336211

By JPOST.COM STAFF, REUTERS

12/26/2013 11:48

 

Amid conflicting reports of the Palestinian leader's cause of death, the latest discovery negates Swiss findings, confirms French report.

Former Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat surrounded by doctors from Tunis, Egypt and Jordan Photo: REUTERS/HO/Palestinian Authority/Hussein Hussein

MOSCOW - Former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat died of natural causes, not radiation poisoning, the head of a Russian state forensics agency that tested samples taken from his body said on Thursday, according to the Interfax news agency.

The Russian finding was in line with an assessment by French scientists who said earlier this month that Arafat, who died in 2004, had not been killed with radioactive polonium.

Related:

·        Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was murdered with polonium, widow says

·        French forensic experts find Arafat did not die of poisoning, source says

"Yasser Arafat died not from the effects of radiation but of natural causes," Vladimir Uiba, head of the Federal Medico-Biological Agency (FMBA), was quoted as saying by Interfax.

Arafat, who signed the 1993 Oslo interim peace accords with Israel but then led an uprising in 2000, died at 75 in a French hospital four weeks after falling ill following a meal in his Ramallah compound surrounded by Israeli tanks.

The official cause of death was a massive stroke, but French doctors said at the time they were unable to determine the origin of his illness. No autopsy was carried out.

Swiss forensic experts said last month that their tests of samples taken from Arafat's body were consistent with polonium poisoning, while not absolute proof of the cause of death.

Samples were taken from Arafat's body in November 2012 by Swiss, French and Russian experts after an al Jazeera documentary said his clothes showed high amounts of polonium.

Many Palestinians have long believed Israel killed him - a charge Israel flatly denies - but an official Palestinian Authority investigation headed by Tawfiq Tirawi has yet to produce any evidence.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Zie ook op CIDI website:

• Frans rapport: Arafat niet vergiftigd
• Ook volgens Russen: Arafat niet vergiftigd

 

 

Abbas maakt Jezus weer tot Palestijn (Times of Israel)

 

Het is een jaarlijks terugkerend ritueel: Abbas misbruikt Kerstmis voor zijn propaganda doeleinden. Hij stelt zich zogenaamd solidair op met christenen en nodigt ze uit naar Bethlehem te komen, en eigent zich Jezus even toe als Palestijn. Dat Jezus een Jood was kan hij blijkbaar niet verdragen, dus moet de geschiedenis maar aangepast. Er zitten meer onjuistheden in zijn boodschap, zoals het feit dat het aantal christenen niet sinds de bezetting maar sinds de PA autonomie kreeg gestaag is gedaald. Ook suggereert Abbas dat de Gazanen nog steeds onder een Israelische blokkade lijden, terwijl de grenzen voor goederen open zijn en er ook steeds meer personen door kunnen. Egypte daarentegen heeft de grenzen gesloten, de tunnels onklaar gemaakt en is gestopt met het leveren van diesel voor een laag tarief. Het volgende is een lachertje:

 

“As we Palestinians strive for our freedom two millennia later,” he wrote in a statement, “we do our best to follow his example. We work with hope, seeking justice, in order to achieve a lasting peace.”

 

Jezus, geweldloos, de andere wang toekerend, zieken helend, zou de Palestijnen tot voorbeeld dienen? Was het maar waar! Helaas worden terroristen door de Palestijnen nog steeds als helden vereerd, wordt geweld tegen Israel als legitieme verzetsdaad gezien, en worden Joden en Israel in Palestijnse media en door imams gedemoniseerd. Met Jezus en zijn boodschap heeft een en ander weinig te maken.

 

Opvallend is ook dat Swaid (tweede artikel hieronder), die om een kerstboom in de Knesset vroeg, van de communistische partij is.

 

-------------------

 

Abbas, PLO lash Israel in Christmas messages

PA president calls Jesus a ‘Palestinian messenger,’ refers to Jerusalem as ‘occupied capital,’ but expresses commitment to talks

By Lazar Berman December 23, 2013, 12:02 pm

http://www.timesofisrael.com/abbas-plo-lash-israel-in-christmas-messages/

 

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas released a Christmas greeting Monday, calling Jesus a “Palestinian messenger” and implying that Israel persecutes Christians.

“As we Palestinians strive for our freedom two millennia later,” he wrote in a statement, “we do our best to follow his example. We work with hope, seeking justice, in order to achieve a lasting peace.”

Abbas reaffirmed the PA’s commitment to talks with Israel, “including ending the occupation of the Holy Land with the establishment of a fully independent and sovereign Palestinian State on the 1967 border with East Jerusalem as its capital.”

Abbas took the occasion to decry Israel’s security policies, saying, “this Christmas Eve, our hearts and prayers will be with the millions who are being denied their right to worship in their homeland.”

“We are thinking of our people in Gaza, trapped under siege, and of those who are prevented from worshiping in Bethlehem,” he said. “Our hearts and prayers are with the people of Al Dbayeh Refugee Camp in Beirut, along with all of our Palestinian refugees — Christians and Muslims uprooted from their hometowns in 1948 and who, since that time, have suffered the vicissitudes of a forced exile.”

The Palestinian Authority president also referred to Jerusalem as “our occupied capital.”

A YouTube clip released Sunday by the Palestine Liberation Organization pushed a similar theme, showing a glowing figure, presumably Jesus, holding a cross while traveling through the West Bank past scenes of destruction and armed Israeli soldiers and civilians. The figure, riding a chariot, comes up against Israel’s security barrier, but goes through it, ending up in Bethlehem.

“Christians are not a minority here,” Abbas’s statement read, as Christian populations have shrunk in Bethlehem and other cities in which they used to form the majority, “they are an integral part of the Palestinian people. Orthodox, Catholics, Armenians, Assyrians, Lutherans, Anglicans, Copts, Melkites, Protestants and others are all part of the rich mosaic of this free, sovereign, democratic and pluralistic Palestine we aspire to have and as established in our declaration of independence and draft constitution.”

Christian populations are thought to be dwindling or at least growing more slowly than their Muslim compatriots in much of the Middle East, largely due to emigration as they leave for better opportunities and to join families abroad. Some feel uncomfortable amid growing Muslim majorities that they see as becoming more outwardly pious and politically Islamist over the decades.

Abbas referred to the impending visit of Pope Francis, scheduled for a whirlwind tour in March, and expressed hope that the pontiff would spread “the message of justice and peace for the Palestinians.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Israel to Abbas: No, Jesus was not a Palestinian

Foreign Ministry pans PA president’s ‘outrageous rewriting of Christian history,’ says he needs a hug from Santa

By Raphael Ahren December 23, 2013, 7:07 pm

http://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-pans-outrageous-rewriting-of-christian-history-by-abbas/

Israeli officials reacted with bitter scorn to a Christmas message from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in which he called Jesus a Palestinian and suggested Israel was to blame for the exodus of Christians from the Holy Land.

“He should have read the Gospel before uttering such offensive nonsense, but we will forgive him because he doesn’t know what he’s doing,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor told The Times of Israel on Monday. Abbas’s statement is an “outrageous rewriting of Christian history,” according to Palmor.

Earlier on Monday, Abbas published a lengthy Christmas greeting, calling Jesus “a Palestinian messenger who would become a guiding light for millions around the world.” Although he expressed his commitment to the peace negotiations with Israel, he expressed harsh criticism of Israeli policies, including an accusation that Jerusalem is responsible for the plight of Christians in the Holy Land.

“We celebrate Christmas in Bethlehem under occupation,” Abbas wrote. “This Christmas Eve, our hearts and prayers will be with the millions who are being denied their right to worship in their homeland.” He called the security barrier an “annexation Wall, which is stealing [Palestinians'] land and dooming their future.”

These rather unfriendly statements are “not exactly in the spirit of Christmas,” Palmor, the Foreign Ministry spokesman, said cynically. “Maybe he needs a hug from Santa?”

Abbas also mentioned Palestinians “trapped under siege” in Gaza, and “those who are prevented from worshiping in Bethlehem. Our hearts and prayers are with the people of Al Dbayeh Refugee Camp in Beirut, along with all of our Palestinian refugees — Christians and Muslims uprooted from their hometowns in 1948 and who, since that time, have suffered the vicissitudes of a forced exile.”

Abbas said more Palestinians will celebrate Christmas in Western cities than will do so in the city of Jesus’ birth. “To them we say that Bethlehem is their town and Palestine is their country. We will continue working tirelessly to give them the freedom to decide where to spend Christmas.”

An Israeli government official took offense particularly with the suggestion that Israel has caused Christians to leave the Holy Land. “The exodus of Christians from Bethlehem turned into a flood the moment the PA took control,” the official said.

But at least one Israeli official had some warm words for Abbas’s holiday message: MK Hanna Swaid (Hadash), an Arab Christian from the Galilee town of Eilaboun, backed up the message, if not the facts, of Abbas’s missive.

“What President Mahmoud Abbas said describes the real situation — Palestinians, including Christians, are celebrating Christmas and New Year’s Eve under Israeli occupation. That’s a fact,” he said.

Abbas’s Christmas message seemed to paper over the fact that Christians in the PA are only a fraction of the Muslims living in the West Bank and Gaza.

“Christians are not a minority here: they are an integral part of the Palestinian people,” Abbas wrote in his Christmas message. “Orthodox, Catholics, Armenians, Assyrians, Lutherans, Anglicans, Copts, Melkites, Protestants and others are all part of the rich mosaic of this free, sovereign, democratic and pluralistic Palestine we aspire to have.”

According to the CIA World Factbook, Christians make up 8 percent of the population in the West Bank, and 0.7% of Gaza.

Swaid, 58, acknowledged that in reality Christians are a minority among Palestinians, but noted that he appreciated Abbas’s comments nonetheless. “If the president of a country says so, he thinks and believes that to be the case,” Swaid said, adding that Abbas meant to emphasize that Christians are an “integral part” of Palestinian society.

A third-term lawmaker, Swaid this week tried unsuccessfully to get the Knesset to erect a Christmas tree as a sign of tolerance and inclusion of all of Israel’s minorities. “I tried to make Christians feel integrated, but alas, my request was rejected. President Abbas, without even asking us, said we’re an integral part of society. That’s a welcome initiative.”

Swaid said he was satisfied that Abbas chose to highlight the fact that Palestinian society consists of Muslims and Christians. “I am happy that President Abbas talked about the differences and the pluralism of the Palestinian people,” he said.

 

Palestijnse christenen onder druk, maar waardoor? (Alfred Muller)

 

Doorgaans is de tijd van kerst ook de tijd van de eenzijdige reportages uit Bethlehem waar Palestijnse christenen vertellen hoezeer de bezetting hun parten speelt, en hoe solidair de moslims met hen zijn. President Abbas weet het kerstfeest altijd goed uit te buiten voor zijn propaganda, en Westerse journalisten verslaan al die Palestijnse verhalen en kerstwensen altijd volkomen kritiekloos.

Hieronder legt de evenwichtige Alfred Muller in zoveel woorden uit dat Palestijnse christenen een heel ander verhaal vertellen met camera’s erbij dan zonder. Het is niet al te goed voor je gezondheid om je als christen in de Palestijnse gebieden kritisch uit te laten over moslims.

 

RP

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Palestijnse christenen onder druk, maar waardoor?

http://alfredmuller.net/2013/12/24/palestijnse-christenen-onder-druk-maar-waardoor/

 

Met grote regelmaat –zeker in de dagen voor Kerst– duiken er berichten op in de internationale media dat het beroerd gaat met de Palestijnse christenen. Al jarenlang wordt er gesproken over de massale emigratie van christenen uit Bethlehem en de steden eromheen.

Een paar ‘dode’ heilige plaatsen zijn het enige wat er over een paar jaar nog van het christelijk geloof over zou zijn. Maar over de vraag wie de schuldige is, lopen de meningen uiteen. Sommige media geven Israël de schuld, andere moslims.

Coöperatie

Praten belangstellenden met een Palestijnse politicus, hoge ambtenaar, directeur van een christelijke organisatie of een theoloog over de verhoudingen tussen moslims en christenen, dan is de kans groot dat ze te horen krijgen dat deze uitstekend zijn en dat zij gebroederlijk samen met hetzelfde probleem worstelen, namelijk de Israëlische bezetting. Terwijl het Midden-Oosten elders bol staat van spanningen tussen christenen en moslims, vormt Palestina een soort gunstige uitzondering dankzij de verdraagzaamheid en interreligieuze coöperatie. De emigratie van Palestijnse christenen is volgens deze gedachteschool uitsluitend te wijten aan de slechte politieke en economische omstandigheden, waarvan Israël de schuld krijgt.

Vraagt men een gewone Palestijnse christen naar de verhoudingen tussen moslims en christenen, dan bestaat de kans dat men een soortgelijk antwoord krijgt. Maar niet altijd. Er is ook een mogelijkheid dat er een genuanceerd antwoord klinkt. Dat is zeker het geval als de ondervrager de audiorecorder en het notitieboekje in de tas stopt en belooft de naam van de persoon niet te publiceren. Hoewel gewone Palestijnen de economische problemen niet zullen ontkennen, wijzen ze ook op de druk die er bestaat van moslimzijde. Klachten die ik heb gehoord, gaan onder meer over het lastigvallen van vrouwen en meisjes, het afpakken van land en de eenzijdigheid van de politie bij ongevallen waarbij moslims en christenen betrokken zijn.

Orde

Wat christenen mij ook vertellen, is dat de situatie de laatste paar jaar iets is verbeterd, sinds de vroegere Palestijnse premier Fayyad heeft gepoogd orde te creëren. Ook hopen ze dat radicale moslims niet aan de macht komen – zoals in de Gazastrook en grote delen van Syrië en Irak. Als Palestina een zelfstandige staat wordt, dan hopen ze op de komst van een gematigde, democratische en seculiere regering.

Uit een onderzoek van de verzoeningsorganisatie Musalaha naar vermeende vervolging onder 300 christenen in verschillende steden op de Westoever en in Oost-Jeruzalem bleek dat christenen in steden met een grote christelijke presentie – Bethlehem en omgeving bijvoorbeeld– relatief weinig vervolging van autoriteiten of in de economische en sociale sfeer ervaren. In plaatsen waar weinig christenen wonen (Nablus, Ramallah en Jeruzalem) zijn er meer klachten. Opvallend is dus dat christenen niet alleen onder de Palestijnse, maar ook onder de Israëlische soevereiniteit problemen ervaren.

(Israël Ingezoomd: RD-correspondent Alfred Muller levert elke zaterdag vanuit Jeruzalem commentaar op gebeurtenissen in Israël in het Reformatorisch Dagblad.)