30 november 2012, The Israeli Communist Party http://www. maki.org.il המפלגה הקומוניסטית הישראלית‎  الحزب الشيوعي الاسرائيلي‎ (Israel)

לקראת הדיון באו"ם: במרכז תל-אביב הפגינו למען המדינה הפלסטינית שישי, 30 נובמבר 2012 18:24

כאלף בני אדם השתתפו בעצרת שנערכה אמש (חמישי) ברחוב רוטשילד, מול "היכל העצמאות", שבמרכז תל-אביב למען מדינה פלסטינית עצמאית לצידה של ישראל. העצרת נערכה ביוזמה של מספר ארגונים ובהם פורום ארגוני השלום, חד"ש, גוש שלום, שלום עכשיו, ונציגים ממרצ. המפגינים קראו קריאות תמיכה ברעיון שתי מדינות לשני עמים ונשאו שלטים שעליהם נכתב "מדינה פלסטינית - אינטרס ישראלי" ו"שתי מדינות לשני עמים". המפגינים גם ביכרו על המהלך הפלסטיני באו"ם ואמרו כי זה צעד חשוב בדרך להקמת שתי מדינות זו לצד זו. הם מחו על כוונת ישראל להתנגד לצירופה של פלסטין לאו"ם כמדינה משקיפה. מאחורי הנואמים הונפו דגלי ישראל ופלסטין.   שורה ארוכה של נואמים לקחו חלק באירוע, ובהם: נבילה אספניולי, מס' 5 ברשימת מועמדי חד"ש בבחירות הקרובות. סופיאן אבו-זיידה, בכיר בפתח ושר לשעבר בממשלה הפלסטינית, שהשתתף אף הוא בהפגנה בתל אביב. "אני שמח לבוא ישר מעזה לתל אביב ולפגוש חברים שכבר לפחות 20 שנה אנחנו נפגשים ומנסים להשיג את השלום", אמר אבו-זיידה. "כמה אני שמח שברגע שיש הפגנות ברמאללה ובעזה גם בתל אביב חוגגים את היום הזה שהפלסטינים מקבלים מעמד של מדינה לא חברה באו"ם. אני רוצה להודות לכל אלה שבאו לכאן. המסר שעובר לפלסטינים זה שעדיין יש אנשים בישראל שמאמינים בשתי מדינות לשני עמים. יש שפויים בישראל. יש אנשים שמאמינים שצריך לשים קץ לכיבוש. די, נמאס לנו. הפלסטינים רוצים מדינה שתחיה בשלום לצדה של מדינת ישראל" ד"ר נאווה זוננשיין, מנהלת בית ספר "וואחד אל סאלאם" בנווה שלום, אמרה בנאומה: "באנו לכאן לתמוך בך, אבו מאזן, ובעם הפלסטיני. אתה בחרת במאבק לא אלים ואנו מכבדים את זה, בעוד הממשלה מדברת עם מי שיורה טילים. הפלסטינים לא יכולים לחכות יותר, בואו נעבוד יחד לשינוי המציאות". בעצרת הופיעה הזמרת מירה עווד, שאמרה כי היא מאושרת לעמוד תחת שני דגלים. "אני מאושרת מיוזמת אבו מאזן ועצובה מאוד מהאטימות והסירוב הלא מובן לתת סוף סוף צ'אנס לעם הפלסטיני להתקדם בחיים". הצבעה היסטורית באו"ם באולם העצרת הכללית של האו"ם בניו יורק נערכה אמש (חמישי) ההצבעה ההיסטורית של בקשת הרשות הפלסטינית להכיר בה כמדינה משקיפה שאינה חברה באו"ם. הבקשה התקבלה ברוב גורף של 138 מדינות תומכות מול תשע מתנגדות בלבד. בין התומכות בבקשה הפלסטינית נרשמו סין, הודו, רוסיה, יפן וחלק גדול ממדינות אירופה - צרפת ואיטליה בראשן, כמו גם אוסטריה, ספרד, פורטוגל, נורבגיה, דנמרק, קובה, ונצואלה, אירלנד ועוד. בפתח הדיון נשא יו"ר הרשות הפלסטינית, מחמוד עבאס (אבו מאזן), נאום בו האשים את ישראל במעשים ברבריים כלפי הפלסטינים. בהמשך נאומו, שב אבו מאזן והתייחס למבצע "עמוד ענן" ובתגובת העולם למערכה. לדבריו, "התוקפנות הישראלית נגד עמנו ברצועת עזה הוכיחה שוב כמה דחוף זה לשים קץ לכיבוש הישראלי, ולאפשר לעמנו לזכות בחירות ובעצמאות. תוקפנות זו גם הוכיחה את דבקותה של הממשלה הישראלית במדיניות הכיבוש, בכוח הזרוע ובמלחמה, שבתורם מחייבים את הקהילה הבינלאומית לשאת באחריותה כלפי העם הפלסטיני וכלפי השלום". "לא באנו לכאן כדי לעשות דה-לגיטימציה למדינה שהתבססה לפני שנים – ישראל - אלא כדי לאשר את הלגיטימיות של מדינה שצריכה כעת להשיג את עצמאותה, וזוהי פלסטין", אמר עוד אבו-מאזן. "באנו ליזום ניסיון אמיתי ואחרון להשיג שלום. המהלך שלנו לא מכוון להריסת מה שנשאר מתהליך המשא-ומתן, שאיבד את מטרתו ואת האמינות שלו, אלא לנסות ולהפיח בו חיים חדשים ולהציב עבורו בסיס מוצק. בשם אש"ף, אני אומר: לא נוותר ולא נתעייף. הנחישות שלנו לא תדעך, ונמשיך לפעול להשגת שלום צודק. עם זאת, מעל לכל ולמרות הכול, אני מדגיש שעמנו לא יוותר על הזכויות הלאומיות הבסיסיות שלו, כפי שהוגדר בהחלטות האו"ם. לא נקבל כל דבר שהוא פחות מעצמאות המדינה הפלסטינית, עם מזרח ירושלים כבירתה, בכל השטחים הפלסטינים שנכבשו ב-1967, הדורש לחיות בביטחון לצד מדינת ישראל, עם פתרון לבעיה הפלסטינית על בסיס החלטה 194, בהתאם לחלק האופרטיבי של יוזמת השלום הערבית". עוד בנושא: http://maki.org.il/he/occupation/135-news/14717 http://maki.org.il/he/occupation/135-news/14723

VITÓRIA: A ONU RECONHECE O ESTADO PALESTINO!

30 novembro 2012, EDITORIAL Vermelho http://www.vermelho.org.br (Brasil)

Talvez, no futuro, o dia 29 de novembro venha a ser a data nacional palestina. Ou, ao menos, um grande feriado. A data marca uma grande vitória diplomática e política no caminho pelo reconhecimento do Estado Palestino independente, democrático e soberano. A Assembleia Geral da ONU aprovou, por 138 votos contra nove (EUA, Israel, Canadá e seis outros pequenos países) e 41 abstenções, a admissão da Palestina como Estado observador.

A extensão da vitória é expressa pelo fato de que mais de 2/3 dos 193 países membros da ONU terem votado pela elevação da Palestina ao novo status, conferindo, em nível internacional e diplomático, as prerrogativas, direitos e deveres de um Estado soberano. Um dos efeitos da nova situação será o reconhecimento internacional de que os territórios palestinos não são (como pretende Israel) áreas disputadas, mas “um país ocupado”, disse o negociador palestino na ONU Saeb Erakat.

Outro aspecto, jurídico, dessa vitória surge com a nova situação criada. O reconhecimento da Palestina como um Estado, mesmo que observador, dará a seu governo o direito de participar das agências da ONU e do Tribunal Penal internacional (TPI), com sede em Haia, ao qual poderá recorrer contra os crimes de guerra e contra a humanidade cometidos pelo governo sionista de Tel Aviv nos territórios palestinos ocupados.

Aliás, o temor de que isso ocorra reflete, por sua vez, a extensão da derrota de Israel e seus aliados, sobretudo os EUA, no plenário da ONU.

Numa confissão insofismável dos crimes de guerra e contra a humanidade que cometeram ou com os quais foram coniventes, Israel e EUA tentaram obter, sem êxito, o compromisso palestino de não recorrer ao TPI. A pretensão foi rejeitada pelos dirigentes palestinos.

A hipocrisia dos EUA e a mentirosa diplomacia do sionismo justificam a resistência contra o reconhecimento do Estado Palestino pela ONU alegando que o caminho para isso é a negociação entre a Autoridade Palestina e Israel – negociação que fracassou justamente devido à intransigência, arrogância e agressividade do governo de Tel Aviv, com total apoio dos EUA.

O temor de um eventual recurso palestino ao TPI ilustra as ilegalidades cometidas por Israel, com apoio de seus aliados, sobretudo os EUA, e que foram responsáveis por aquele fracasso diplomático.

As forças de ocupação de Israel repetem, em território palestino, agressões semelhantes às praticadas pelas tropas nazistas durante a 2ª Guerra Mundial nos territórios ocupados (o Gueto de Varsóvia é um exemplo dramático). Hoje, passados mais de sessenta anos, Israel repete na Palestina a agenda nazista no leste da Europa e visa ao genocídio e extermínio da população palestina para roubar suas terras, casas, propriedades.

São crimes de guerra que se repetem, como o uso de armas químicas e bombas de fragmentação, proibidas pela Convenção de Genebra e pela Convenção de Armas Químicas. Entre elas o fósforo branco, que queima os corpos das vítimas sem poder ser apagado. Israel usa e abusa dele, como fez na Operação Chumbo Derretido (2008) e no recente ataque contra Gaza.

A Convenção sobre Armas Convencionais proíbe o uso de armas excessivamente letais, que provoquem danos excessivos ou atingindo indiscriminadamente a população civil que, ao contrário, deve ser protegida e poupada pelas forças atacantes.

As convenções internacionais também proíbem apropriação dos bens dos civis e punições coletivas contra ações da resistência à ocupação.

Israel não cumpre nenhuma das determinações sobre a proteção à população e seus bombardeios destroem moradias com moradores dentro, como no caso da família Al-Dallu que teve onze pessoas mortas pelas bombas de Israel, a maioria mulheres, e quatro crianças (entre elas um bebê de menos de dois anos de idade!). Edifícios públicos, uma universidade, inclusive um estádio de futebol, estão entre as centenas de alvos de Israel. Em apenas uma semana de ataques, foram destruídas 200 casas, 42 edifícios públicos, e danificadas cerca de oito mil residências.

A vitória palestina na ONU é um acontecimento histórico memorável pelo avanço democrático e fortalecimento da ordem jurídica internacional que representa. É também memorável pela notável derrota do imperialismo, da diplomacia dos EUA e da agressividade israelense. É uma vitória que indica o único caminho para a paz duradoura e sustentável: o reconhecimento da autonomia dos povos e independência e soberania dos Estados.

Nobel peace laureates call for Israel military boycott over Gaza assault

8 November 2012, Guardian guardian.co.uk (UK)

Chris McGreal in Jerusalem

Letter with 52 signatories including artists and activists also denounces US and EU 'complicity' through weapons sales

(A man looks at the ruins of a Hamas police station destroyed by an Israeli air strike in Gaza City. Photograph: Oliver Weiken/EPA)

A group of Nobel peace prize-winners, prominent artists and activists have issued a call for an international military boycott of Israel following its assault on the Gaza Strip this month.

The letter also denounces the US, EU and several developing countries for what it describes as their "complicity" through weapons sales and other military support in the attack that killed 160 Palestinians, many of them civilians, including about 35 children.

The 52 signatories include the Nobel peace laureates Mairead Maguire and Adolfo Pérez Esquivel; the film directors Mike Leigh and Ken Loach; the author Alice Walker; the US academic Noam Chomsky; Roger Waters of Pink Floyd; and Stéphane Hessel, a former French diplomat and Holocaust survivor who was co-author of the universal declaration of human rights.

"Horrified at the latest round of Israeli aggression against the 1.5 million Palestinians in the besieged and occupied Gaza Strip and conscious of the impunity that has enabled this new chapter in Israel's decades-old violations of international law and Palestinian rights, we believe there is an urgent need for international action towards a mandatory, comprehensive military embargo against Israel," the letter says.

"Such a measure has been subject to several UN resolutions and is similar to the arms embargo imposed against apartheid South Africa in the past."

The letter accuses several countries of providing important military support that facilitated the assault on Gaza. "While the United States has been the largest sponsor of Israel, supplying billions of dollars of advanced military hardware every year, the role of the European Union must not go unnoticed, in particular its hefty subsidies to Israel's military complex through its research programmes.

"Similarly, the growing military ties between Israel and the emerging economies of Brazil, India and South Korea are unconscionable given their nominal support for Palestinian freedom," it says.

The letter opens with a quote from Nelson Mandela: "For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others."

The other signatories include John Dugard, a South African jurist and former UN special rapporteur in the occupied territories; Luisa Morgantini, former president of the European parliament; Cynthia McKinney, a former member of the US Congress; Ronnie Kasrils, a South African former cabinet minister; and the dramatist Caryl Churchill.

THE STRONG AND THE SWEET

November 30, 2012, Gush Shalom גוש שלום http://zope.gush-shalom.org (Israel)

info@gush;shalom.org

Uri Avnery

IT WAS a day of joy.

Joy for the Palestinian people.

Joy for all those who hope for peace between Israel and the Arab world.

And, in a modest way, for me personally.

The General Assembly of the United Nations, the highest world forum, has voted overwhelmingly for the recognition of the State of Palestine, though in a limited way.

The resolution adopted by the same forum 65 years ago to the day, to partition historical Palestine between a Jewish and an Arab state, has at long last been reaffirmed.

I HOPE I may be excused a few moments of personal celebration.

During the war of 1948, which followed the first resolution, I came to the conclusion that there exists a Palestinian people and that the establishment of a Palestinian state, next to the new State of Israel, is the prerequisite for peace.

As a simple soldier, I fought in dozens of engagements against the Arab inhabitants of Palestine. I saw how dozens of Arab towns and villages were destroyed and left deserted. Long before I saw the first Egyptian soldier, I saw the people of Palestine (who had started the war) fight for what was their homeland.

Before the war, I hoped that the unity of the country, so dear to both peoples, could be preserved. The war convinced me that reality had smashed this dream forever.

I was still in uniform when, in early 1949, I tried to set up an initiative for what is now called the Two-State Solution. I met with two young Arabs in Haifa for this purpose. One was a Muslim Arab, the other a Druze sheik. (Both became members of the Knesset before me.)

At the time, it looked like mission impossible. “Palestine” had been wiped off the map. 78% of the country had become Israel, the other 22% divided between Jordan and Egypt. The very existence of a Palestinian people was vehemently denied by the Israeli establishment, indeed, the denial became an article of faith. Much later, Golda Meir famously declared that “there is no such thing as a Palestinian people”. Respected charlatans wrote popular books “proving” that the Arabs in Palestine were pretenders who had only recently arrived. The Israeli leadership was convinced that the “Palestinian problem” had disappeared, once and forever.

In 1949, there were not a hundred persons in the entire world who believed in this solution. Not a single country supported it. The Arab countries still believed that Israel would just disappear. Britain supported its client state, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. The US had its own local strongmen. Stalin’s Soviet Union supported Israel.

Mine was a lonely fight. For the next 40 years, as the editor of a news magazine, I brought the subject up almost every week. When I was elected to the Knesset, I did the same there.

In 1968 I went to Washington DC, in order to propagate the idea there. I was politely received by the relevant officials in the State Department (Joseph Sisco), the White House (Harold Saunders), the US mission to the UN (Charles Yost), leading Senators and Congressmen, as well as the British father of Resolution 242 (Lord Caradon). The uniform answer from all of them, without exception: a Palestinian state was out of question.

When I published a book devoted to this solution, the PLO in Beirut attacked me in 1970 in a book entitled “Uri Avnery and Neo-Zionism”.

Today, there is a world consensus that a solution of the conflict without a Palestinian state is quite out of the question.

So why not celebrate now?

WHY NOW? WHY didn’t it happen before or later?

Because of the Pillar of Cloud, the historic masterpiece from Binyamin Netanyahu, Ehud Barak and Avigdor Lieberman.

The Bible tells us about Samson the hero, who rent a lion with his bare hands. When he returned to the scene, a swarm of bees had made the carcase of the lion its home and produced honey. So Samson posed a riddle to the Philistines: “Out of the strong came forth sweetness”. This is now a Hebrew proverb.

Well, out of the “strong” Israeli operation against Gaza, sweetness has indeed come forth. It is another confirmation of the rule that when you start a war or a revolution, you never know what will come out of it.

One of the results of the operation was that the prestige and popularity of Hamas shot sky-high, while the Palestinian Authority of Mahmoud Abbas sank to new depths. That was a result the West could not possibly tolerate. A defeat of the “moderates” and a victory for the Islamic “extremists” were a disaster for President Barack Obama and the entire Western camp. Something had to found – with all urgency – to provide Abbas with a resounding achievement.

Fortunately, Abbas was already on the way to obtain UN approval for the recognition of Palestine as a “state” (though not yet as a full member of the world organization). For Abbas, it was a move of despair. Suddenly, it became a beacon of victory.

THE COMPETITION between the Hamas and Fatah movements is viewed as a disaster for the Palestinian cause. But there is also another way to look at it.

Let’s go back to our own history. During the 30s and 40s, our Struggle for Liberation (as we called it) split between two camps, who hated each other with growing intensity.

On the one side was the “official” leadership, led by David Ben-Gurion, represented by the “Jewish Agency” which cooperated with the British administration. Its military arm was the Haganah, a very large, semi-official militia, mostly tolerated by the British.

On the other side was the Irgun (“National Military Organization”), the far more radical armed wing of the nationalist “revisionist” party of Vladimir Jabotinsky. It split and yet another, even more radical, organization was born. The British called it “the Stern Gang”, after its leader, Avraham Stern”.

The enmity between these organizations was intense. For a time, Haganah members kidnapped Irgun fighters and turned them over to the British police, who tortured them and sent them to camps in Africa. A bloody fratricidal war was avoided only because the Irgun leader, Menachem Begin, forbade all actions of revenge. By contrast, the Stern people bluntly told the Haganah that they would shoot anyone trying to attack their members.

In retrospect, the two sides can be seen as acting as the two arms of the same body. The “terrorism” of the Irgun and Stern complemented the diplomacy of the Zionist leadership. The diplomats exploited the achievements of the fighters. In order to counterbalance the growing popularity of the “terrorists”, the British made concessions to Ben-Gurion. A friend of mine called the Irgun “the shooting agency of the Jewish Agency”.

In a way, this is now the situation in the Palestinian camp.

FOR YEARS, the Israeli government has threatened Abbas with the most dire consequences if he dared to go to the UN. Abolishing the Oslo agreement and destroying the Palestinian authority was the bare minimum. Lieberman called the move “diplomatic terrorism”.

And now? Nothing. Not a bang and barely a whimper. Even Netanyahu understands that the Pillar of Cloud has created a situation where world support for Abbas has become inevitable.

What to do? Nothing! Pretend the whole thing is a joke. Who cares? What is this UNO anyway? What difference does it make?

Netanyahu is more concerned about another thing that happened to him this week. In the Likud primary elections, all the “moderates” in his party were unceremoniously kicked out. No liberal, democratic alibi was left. The Likud-Beitenu faction in the next Knesset will be composed entirely of right-wing extremists, among them several outright fascists, people who want to destroy the independence of the Supreme Court, cover the West Bank densely with settlements and prevent peace and a Palestinian state by all possible means.

While Netanyahu is sure to win the coming elections and continue to serve as Prime Minister, he is too clever not to realize where he is now: a hostage to extremists, liable to be thrown out by his own Knesset faction if he so much as mentions peace, to be displaced at any time by Lieberman or worse.

ON FIRST sight, nothing much has changed. But only on first sight.

What has happened is that the foundation of the State of Palestine has now been officially acknowledged as the aim of the world community. The “Two-State solution” is now the only solution on the table. The “One-State solution”, if it ever lived, is as dead as the dodo.

Of course, the apartheid one-state is reality. If nothing changes on the ground, is will become deeper and stronger. Almost every day brings news of it becoming more and more entrenched. (The bus monopoly has just announced that from now on there will be separate buses for West Bank Palestinians in Israel.)

But the quest for peace based on the co-existence between Israel and Palestine has taken a big step forwards. Unity between the Palestinians should be the next. US support for the actual creation of the State of Palestine should come soon after.

The strong must lead to the sweet.

Hadash, women and peace groups rallies for UN bid in Tel Aviv and Nazareth

29 november 2012, The Israeli Communist Party http://www. maki.org.il המפלגה הקומוניסטית הישראלית‎  الحزب الشيوعي الاسرائيلي‎ (Israel)

Hadash and Israeli peace organizations said Wednesday they would hold demonstrations in Tel Aviv to support Palestine's bid to upgrade its status at the UN. Another rally was held in Nazareth by Israeli and Palestinian women organizations.

A coalition of Hadash and Israeli peace organizations said in a statement they would rally on Rothschild Blvd. in Tel Aviv on Thursday ahead of the vote in the General Assembly. "We are citizens in the state of Israel, and we support the UN bid," the statement said.

"We support Palestinian non-member status at the United Nations which will help both the Israeli and Palestinian peoples. The continuous conflict between two people has killed thousands of children, women, and innocent people," the statement said.

From the Hadash public campaign: "Israel said yes to the Palestinian State" (Photos: Hadash)

"The conflict will not be solved by force, and the only solution is negotiations which will lead to Palestine's independence, and Israel's as well”, wrote Nava Sonnenschein, co-founder of the School for Peace of Neve Shalom / Wahat al-Salam village. Among groups taking part in the initiative are the School of Peace and the village of Neve Shalom / Wahat al-Salam, Hadash (The Democratic Front for Peace and Equality – Communist Party of Israel), the Forum of Peace Organizations, Psychoactive, Gush Shalom, One Voice, Peace Now, Machsom Watch, Combatants for Peace, Ir Amim, Friends of the Earth and the Association of Arab Environmentalists.
The rally in support of recognition of Palestine at the UN, to be held Thursday, November 29, in Tel Aviv, at 6:00 pm opposite "Independence Hall" on 16 Rothschild Blvd. Another rally was held by the Democratic Women Movement in Israel and the Union of Palestinian Women in the occupied territories in Paulus VI road, Nazareth, on Wednesday, November 28.

President Mahmoud Abbas will address the UN General Assembly in New York before it votes on upgrading the PLO's status, Foreign Ministry official Omar Awadallah said Wednesday.

Brasil defende fim dos assentamentos israelenses e criação de Estado Palestino

30 novembro 2012, Agência Brasil http://agenciabrasil.ebc.com.br (Brasil)

Renata Giraldi
Repórter da Agência Brasil

Brasília - A representante do Brasil na Organização das Nações Unidas (ONU), a embaixadora Maria Luiza Viotti, defendeu ontem (29) a criação de um Estado independente da Palestina com o compromisso da “autodeterminação e a uma paz justa e duradoura no Oriente Médio”. Viotti condenou a violência e cobrou o fim do bloqueio à Faixa de Gaza. Ela também recomendou a suspensão dos assentamentos israelenses em Gaza e Jerusalém Oriental.

“O Brasil dá seu firme apoio à aspiração legítima do povo palestino a um Estado soberano, independente, democrático, contíguo e viável, com base nas fronteiras de 1967, convivendo em paz e segurança com o Estado de Israel”, ressaltou a embaixadora. “Insistimos, igualmente, na necessidade de retirar o bloqueio à Gaza.”

Viotti lembrou que há 65 anos a Assembleia Geral das Nações Unidas, presidida pelo embaixador brasileiro Oswaldo Aranha, aprovou a criação de dois Estados independentes no Oriente Médio – o de Israel e o da Palestina. Mas até hoje, segundo ela, a questão referente à Palestina está em aberto e é “uma das maiores ameaças à paz e à segurança internacionais”.

A embaixadora condenou os assentamentos israelenses, promovidos com o apoio do governo de Israel, nas áreas próximas à Faixa de Gaza e em Jerusalém Oriental. “Essa prática ilegal permanece sendo um sério entrave à paz na região e à realização da solução de dois Estados. O congelamento da construção de colônias, não é, entretanto, suficiente. A ocupação deve acabar”, disse.

Viotti reiterou ainda que o Brasil rejeita a violência cometida contra civis, como recentemente ocorreu durante os confrontos entre israelenses e o Hamas, movimento de resistência islâmica que ocupa parte da Faixa de Gaza, provocando mais de 160 mortos.

“O Brasil rejeita firmemente o extremismo e todas as formas de violência contra a população civil. Exortamos todos os atores a comprometer-se completamente com a não violência, com o diálogo e com negociações efetivas”, disse a embaixadora. “Todas as partes no conflito têm obrigações sob o direito humanitário internacional e devem cumpri-las.”

Para a embaixadora, o Quarteto (formado pelos Estados Unidos, União Europeia, Rússia e China) é inoperante e demonstrou sua ineficiência, na semana passada, durante os confrontos na Faixa de Gaza. Segundo Viotti, o Conselho de Segurança deve assumir a responsabilidade de comandar o processo de paz entre israelenses e Hamas.

“A promoção da paz no Oriente Médio interessa a todos os membros das Nações Unidas e não pode ser delegada a terceiros. Um quarteto inoperante e um Conselho de Segurança omisso não servem aos interesses da paz no Oriente Médio”, ressaltou a diplomata, elogiando a concessão do status de Estado observador para a Palestina. “Expressamos nossa grande satisfação com a demonstração inequívoca de apoio da comunidade internacional a essa solicitação.”

Edição: Talita Cavalcante

‘WE LOST EUROPE,’ SAYS ISRAELI OFFICIAL

November 29, 2012, Mondoweiss http://mondoweiss.net (USA)

Philip Weiss

Haaretz says that Germany has backtracked on decision to oppose Palestinian non-member status at the U.N., and will abstain. "We lost Europe," an Israeli Foreign Ministry official says.

Early Thursday morning, just hours before the vote -- scheduled to take place around 11:00 P.M. (Israel time) -- Germany changed its mind, deciding to abstain from voting rather than opposing the Palestinian initiative, as Israel had assumed it would.

"The decision wasn't taken lightly," Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said. "Germany shares the goal for a Palestinian state. We have campaigned for this in many ways, but the recent decisive steps towards real statehood can only be the result of negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians," the German official said.

Ma'an says Israeli peace groups are for the Palestinian bid:

Israeli peace organizations said Wednesday they would hold demonstrations in Tel Aviv to support Palestine's bid to upgrade its status at the UN..

The statement was also signed by groups like Peace Now, Israel's centrist peace organization, and Machsom Watch, which monitors Israeli checkpoints in the occupied West Bank.

Jewish Voice for Peace is for it:

This vote will not create an independent Palestinian state. It could, however, give Palestinians the ability to hold Israel accountable in the International Criminal Court. Despite its limitations as a tool to achieve a fair resolution, Jewish Voice for Peace supports the move.

A successful bid will show that the majority of the world’s countries support Palestinian political and social rights.

Meanwhile, Israel and the United States are lobbying furiously against it. Both countries, which say they support Palestinian independence, have worked at nearly every turn against a just and lasting peace for both peoples.

Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told Bernard Avishai that he supports the statehood initiative, to save Israel:

“I believe,” Olmert wrote me, intending his statement to be made public, “that the Palestinian request from the United Nations is congruent with the basic concept of the two-state solution. Therefore, I see no reason to oppose it. Once the United Nations will lay the foundation for this idea, we in Israel will have to engage in a serious process of negotiations, in order to agree on specific borders based on the 1967 lines, and resolve the other issues. It is time to give a hand to, and encourage, the moderate forces amongst the Palestinians. Abu-Mazen"—an alias for Abbas—"and Salam Fayyad need our help. It's time to give it.”

Zionists are already seeking to discount the anticipated victory. Mark Leon Goldberg at Open Zion says Palestine can't take Israel to the International Criminal Court because that court is only for African countries, and Israel can pressure its way out. "The ICC is primarily a legal institution, but it is not sealed off to the dynamics of international power politics." More:

An investigation of Israel would be a radical departure from the cases the court currently pursues. The seven cases before the court all deal with African countries with barely functioning justice systems, and are the result of primarily intra-state, rather than inter-state, violence. ... [T]he court is simply not accustomed to pursuing charges against a western country with a strong legal system for its conduct in international conflict.

Even if the court could get over these hang-ups, pursuing charges against Israelis would be tantamount to political suicide for the court. It would not be unreasonable to think that several European countries would hold back their funding for the ICC, which is already cash-strapped.

Thanks to Ilene Cohen.

MARCOS ON GAZA

30 november 2012, Alternative Information Center http://www.alternativenews.org (Israel)

Subcomandante Marcos

Is it useful to say something? Do our cries stop even one bomb? Our words save the life of even one Palestinian?

Translated to English by the Alternative Information Center (AIC)

We believe it is useful. Perhaps we will be unable to stop one bomb, and our words will not turn into an armoured shield, to prevent that five point fifty-six millimetre caliber, or nine millimetre bullet with the letters IMI, Israel Military Industries, etched onto the base of the cartridge, hit the chest of a girl or a boy. Because perhaps our words can manage to join together with those of others in Mexico and the world. And maybe, first it will become murmur, then a loud voice and then a scream that they hear in Gaza. We don’t know, you don’t know, but for us, the Zapatistas of the EZLN, the important thing is that in the midst of destruction and death, you hear some words of encouragement. I cannot explain, but it turns out that yes, words are not enough to stop a bomb, yet they are like a crack opened in the black room of death, and a little light creeps in…”

Celebra India foro internacional sobre Palestina

29 noviembre 2012, Prensa Latina http://www.prensa-latina.cu (Cuba)

Nueva Delhi, 29 nov (PL) Defensores por igual del derecho a la existencia de Palestina como Estado soberano, judíos, musulmanes y cristianos convergerán el sábado en la ciudad india de Mumbai en un foro de solidaridad con el sufrido pueblo árabe.

Más de 25 oradores de Palestina, Líbano, Siria, Irán, Afganistán, Pakistán, Estados Unidos, Reino Unido y la India expondrán su visión sobre las razones históricas y actuales del conflicto entre palestinos e israelíes, coincidiendo con momentos trascendentales en la vida de esa nación.

Este jueves, coincidiendo con el Día Mundial de Solidaridad con el Pueblo Palestino y mediante abrumadora votación, la Asamblea General de Naciones Unidas concedió a Palestina la condición de Estado Observador No Miembro y reafirmó el derecho de su pueblo a la libre determinación e independencia.

Los participantes en la reunión de Mumbai, denominada Conferencia Internacional por la Paz y la Justicia para Palestina, se pronunciarán sobre ese hecho y acerca de las recientes agresiones de Israel a la Franja de Gaza.

La India fue el primer país no árabe en reconocer al Estado de Palestina (noviembre de 1988) y respaldó su membresía plena a la ONU cuando en octubre del año pasado la Asamblea General votó una resolución sobre el tema.

Nueva Delhi apoya el plan de paz árabe, que exige la retirada de Israel a las fronteras anteriores a 1967, junto con el reconocimiento de Israel y el establecimiento del Estado de Palestina con Jerusalén Oriental como su capital.

Asimismo, ha pedido poner fin a los asentamientos ilegales israelíes en los territorios palestinos ocupados y se congratula de las conversaciones directas entre las partes en conflicto.

Tanto en Naciones Unidas como en otros foros internacionales, además, ha reiterado su apoyo a la lucha del pueblo palestino por un Estado soberano, independiente y viable, en paz con Israel y dentro de unas fronteras seguras.

ONCE AND FOR ALL!

THE MANTRA of this round was Once And For All.

23 november 2012, Gush Shalom גוש שלום http://zope.gush-shalom.org (Israel)

Uri Avnery

“We must put an end to this (the rockets, Hamas, the Palestinians, the Arabs?) Once and For All!” – this cry from the heart was heard dozens of times daily on TV from the harassed inhabitants of Israel’s battered towns and villages in the South.

It has displaced the slogan which dominated several decades: “Bang And Finish!”

It did not quite work.

THE BIG winner emerging from the cloud is Hamas.

Until this round, Hamas had a powerful presence in the Gaza Strip, but practically no international standing. The international face of the Palestinian people was Mahmoud Abbas’ Palestinian National Authority.

No more.

Operation Pillar of Cloud has given the Hamas mini-state in Gaza wide international recognition. (Pillar of Cloud is the official Hebrew name, though the army spokesman decreed that the English name, for foreign consumption, should be Pillar of Defense.) Heads of state and droves of other foreign dignitaries made their pilgrimage to the Strip.

First was the powerful and immensely rich Emir of Qatar, owner of Aljazeera. He was the first head of state ever to enter the Gaza strip. Then came the Egyptian prime minister, the Tunisian foreign minister, the secretary of the Arab League and the collected Arab foreign ministers (except the one from Ramallah.)

In all diplomatic deliberations, Gaza was treated as a de facto state, with a de facto government (Hamas). The Israeli media were no exception. It was clear to Israelis that any deal, to be effective, must be concluded with Hamas.

Within the Palestinian people, the standing of Hamas shot sky-high. The Gaza Strip alone, smaller than an average American county, has stood up to the mighty Israeli war machine, one of the largest and most efficient in the world. It has not succumbed. The military outcome will be at best a draw.

A draw between tiny Gaza and the powerful Israel means a victory for Gaza.

Who remembers now Ehud Barak’s proud declaration in the middle of the war: “We shall not stop until Hamas gets on its knees and begs for a cease-fire!”[*]

WHERE DOES that leave Mahmoud Abbas? Actually, nowhere.

For a simple Palestinian, whether in Nablus, Gaza or Beirut, the contrast is glaring. Hamas is courageous, proud, upright, while Fatah is helpless, submissive and despised. Pride and honor play a central role in Arab culture.

After more than half a century of humiliation, any Palestinian who stands up against the occupation is the hero of the Arab masses, in and outside the country. Abbas is identified only with the close cooperation of his security forces with the hated Israeli occupation army. And the most important fact: Abbas has nothing to show for it.

If Abbas could at least show a major political achievement for his pains, the situation might be different. The Palestinians are a sensible people, and if Abbas had come even one step closer to Palestinian statehood, most Palestinians would probably have said: he may not be glamorous, but he delivers the goods.

But the opposite is happening. The violent Hamas is achieving results, the non-violent Abbas is not. As a Palestinian told me: “He (Abbas) has given them (the Israelis) everything, quiet and security, and what did [or “does”] he get in return? They spit in his face!”

This round will only reinforce a basic Palestinian conviction: “Israelis understand only the language of force!” (Israelis, of course, say exactly the same about the Palestinians.)

If at least the US had allowed Abbas to achieve a UN resolution recognizing Palestine as a non-member state, he might have held his own against Hamas. But the Israeli government is determined to prevent this by all available means. Barack Obama’s decision, even after re-election, to block the Palestinian effort is a direct support for Hamas and a slap in the face of the “moderates”. Hillary Clinton’s perfunctory visit to Ramallah this week was seen in this context.

Looked at from the outside, this looks like sheer lunacy. Why undermine the “moderates” who want and are able to make peace? Why elevate the “extremists”, who are opposed to peace?

The answer is openly expressed by Avigdor Lieberman, now Netanyahu’s official political No. 2: he wants to destroy Abbas in order to annex the West Bank and clear the way for the settlers.

AFTER HAMAS, the big winner is Mohamed Morsi.

This is an almost incredible tale. When Morsi was elected as the president of Egypt, official Israel was in hysteria. How terrible! The Islamist extremists have taken over the most important Arab country! Our peace treaty with our largest neighbor is going down the drain!

US reactions were almost the same.

And now – less than four months later – we hang on every word Morsi utters. He is the man who has put an end to the mutual killing and destruction! He is the great peacemaker! He is the only person who can mediate between Israel and Hamas! He must guarantee the cease-fire agreement!

Can it be? Can this be the same Morsi? The same Muslim Brotherhood?

The 61 year old Morsi (the full name is Mohamed Morsi Isa al-Ayyad. Isa being the Arab form of Jesus, who is regarded in Islam as a prophet) is a complete novice on the world stage. Yet at this moment, all the world’s leaders rely on him.

When I wholeheartedly welcomed the Arab Spring, I had people like him in mind. Now almost all the Israeli commentators, ex-generals and politicians, who uttered dire warnings at the time, are lauding his success in achieving a cease-fire.

THROUGHOUT THE operation I did what I always do in such situations: I switched constantly between Israeli TV and Aljazeera. Sometimes, when my thoughts wander, I am unsure for a moment which of the two I am looking at.

Women weeping, wounded being carried away, homes in shambles, children’s shoes strewn around, families packing and fleeing. Here and there. Mirror images. Though, of course, Palestinian casualties were 30 times higher than the Israeli ones – partly because of the incredible success of the Iron Dome interception missiles and home shelters, while the Palestinians were practically defenseless.

On Wednesday I was invited to air my views on Israel’s Channel 2, the most popular (and patriotic) Israeli outlet. The invitation was of course withdrawn at the last moment. Had I been on air, I would have posed to my compatriots one simple question:

Was It Worthwhile?

All the suffering, the killed, the injured, the destruction, the hours and days of terror, the children in trauma?

And, I might add, the endless TV coverage around the clock, with legions of ex-generals appearing on the screen and declaiming the message sheet of the prime minister’s office. And the blood-curdling threats of politicians and other nincompoops, including the son of Ariel Sharon, who proposed flattening neighborhoods in Gaza City, or even better, the whole Strip.

Now that it is over, we are almost exactly where we were before. The operation, commonly referred to in Israel as “another round”, was indeed round – leading nowhere than to where it started.

Hamas will be firmly in control of the Gaza Strip, if not more firmly. The Gazans will hate Israel even more than before. Many of the inhabitants of the West Bank, who throughout the war came out in their thousands in demonstrations for Hamas, will vote in even greater numbers for Hamas in the next elections. Israeli voters will vote in two months as they intended to vote anyhow, before the whole thing started.

Each of the two sides is now celebrating its great victory. If they organized just one joint celebration, a lot of money could be saved.

WHAT ARE the political conclusions?

The most obvious one is: talk with Hamas. Directly. Face to face.

Yitzhak Rabin once told me how he came to the conclusion that he must talk with the PLO: after years of opposing it, he realized that they were the only force that counted. “So it was ridiculous to talk with them through intermediaries.”

The same is now true for Hamas. They are there. They will not go away. It is ridiculous for the Israeli negotiators to sit in one room at the Egyptian intelligence service HQ near Cairo, while the Hamas negotiators sit in another room, just a few meters away, with the courteous Egyptians going to and fro.

Concurrently, activate the effort towards peace. Seriously.

Save Abbas. As of now, he has no replacement. Give him an immediate victory to balance the Hamas achievements. Vote for the Palestinian application for statehood in the UN General Assembly.

Move towards peace with the entire Palestinian people, including Fatah and Hamas – so we can really put an end to the violence,

ONCE AND FOR ALL!

[*] “If Hamas goes down on its knees tomorrow and begs us to stop, we’ll consider stopping. It also depends on the other side. Meanwhile, as long as this is not happening we’re going ahead.” www.haaretz.com