An Article From Haaretz: Israel & Palestine, Multi-Ethnicity

I chose the title but the article is from Alexander Yakobosn of the leading Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz:
Original Artice:

Comment / Settlers can stay, but only as citizens of Palestine

By Alexander Yakobson

Haaretz 12/31/2009



"The time has come to say to the settler leaders: Okay - you've convinced us. It seems that a mass evacuation of settlers is an impractical idea. You showed us clearly that you're prepared to turn such a removal into a national trauma. It's doubtful that any Israeli politician would chance it.

But whoever seeks to determine the country's fate with threats must know that the final result is likely to be disappointing. Giving up on evacuation doesn't mean giving up on dividing the land. Whoever concedes to this is giving up on Israel. In the end, the only alternative to the two-state solution is one state. This is usually called a "binational state," which is a bad joke. A binational state may exist in Belgium (perhaps; there, too, it barely works).

Here in our region, in real life, "one state" would be Arab, Muslim and Sunni (no matter what the constitution said), and much less of a binational Israel.
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If evacuation is not practical, the conclusion is to divide the land without removing settlers. Israel should formally adopt the suggestion by Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad: There is no need for an evacuation; settlers who are interested may stay where they are after an Israeli withdrawal and live as a Jewish minority in a Palestinian state. Israel will have sovereignty on one side of the border and the Palestinians on the other - over everyone living there. There will be no evacuation, and Israeli soldiers won't have to take people from their homes. They will simply retreat to the new border.

Adopting this position would create an opportunity for Israel to gain a more comfortable border. Discussions on border corrections and territorial exchanges have been undertaken under pressure to keep as many settlers as possible within Israeli borders to reduce the size of an evacuation. The map offered to Palestinians by former prime minister Ehud Olmert shows that in the end, Israel would have a border worse than the Green Line: an infinite line winding like a snake, without any logic to it, military or otherwise.

These corrections to the border are no good for either side. If you don't have to worry about decreasing the number of people evacuated, it's possible to draw a much more rational border; the number of settlers included in Israel would be much smaller in this case. Second, if there is no evacuation, there is no financial compensation. In our country, some payment will certainly be made, beyond the letter of the law, but we are talking about much smaller sums. The state does not have to compensate a person for a change in the territories' political status, and settlers' property rights will be insured by a peace treaty.

Adopting this position would make things easier for Israel from a political point of view. Europe and America will continue to oppose construction in the settlements, which violates international law, but the world treats settlement expansion with concern because it is viewed as a permanent erosion of the territory of the future Palestinian state, which aims to make the occupation irreversible. If the settlers are irrelevant to the border, they turn into a much less important issue.

It is clear that the great majority of settlers does not want to live under a Palestinian government and would leave. If there is a sizable minority that prefers the commandment to settle the land over national sovereignty, this is a legitimate choice that should be honored. If only this experiment succeeds. The connection to Judea and Samaria is worthy of respect; what is unworthy is the attempt to rule over another nation (in effect, we are talking about the attempt to rule over two nations and determine their fates).

And yet, it is worth asking, without doubting Fayyad's intentions, if it is reasonable that Palestine be the only Arab state with a significant Jewish community. The Jewish imagination pictures mass slaughter, but these are exaggerations of anti-Arab rhetoric.

The Arab world emptied of Jews without such dramas and in most cases without government decisions, and still Jewish life became impossible there. It is more reasonable to assume that virtually all the settlers will find themselves on the Israeli side of the border. But after all, that's what the Law of Return is for."

Dizengoff Street By Jamil Shawwa

I recall as if it is just yesterday when my family and I used to go to Tel-Aviv at least twice a month. Visiting and going through Dizengoff has been necessary. What a street, we felt that the whole world was in Dizengoff. The cafes, people from all over the world, restaurants, bakeries, and the most fashionable department stores. I remember maybe the best cafe I ever visited, Ruval, where the most delicious food and pastries used to be served. The smell of Ruval has never left me and it has been a standard I measure with any food place I visit any where in the world. I cannot stop talking about food and let us not forget in the midst of talking about the classy Dizengoff; the Falafel stands in that street. We have honorable friends in Israel that my family and I cherish and will always be honored to call them family. The road to Tel-Aviv was nice, a checkpoint or two but it was ok, security measures were understandable. I might be a dreamer, but I think the day will come when the two people destined to live side by side will have open roads and hearts and will enjoy a civilized neighboring relations.

Intruders, Fence Jumpers and Just Up To No Good Trespassers, By Jamil Shawwa

The couple that crashed the state dinner that was hosted by the Obamas to the Indian Prime Minister should be prosecuted as trespassers. They were not clever, but intruders. To me they are the same as those that tries and tried in the past to climb the fences of the White house. The difference between this couple and the other fence climbers is that this couple climbed to the invitation-wearing tuxedo and soirée dress and not in some sort of suspicious outfits. The Secret Service confirmed that this wise couple was not on the guest list. This is a serious offence and this matter should be taken very seriously, and the law should be applied. The second part of what could have been a tragic incident is the immediate need for a serious review of the Secret Service Personnel and procedures in our country. The guilty party or parties should be fired at once and the prestige of the presidency and security should be restored.

Egypt And The Loss Of a Dream, by Jamil Shawwa

Egypt, in its hopeless quest to reach the Mondial- Football-Soccer- World Cup in South Africa in 2010, lost the battle to Algeria in Sudan on 11/18/2009 1-0. The battle between the two teams turned ugly in the days preceding the final game in Sudan. The latest news coming out of Egypt, Algeria and Sudan that the these three Arab countries are recalling ambassadors and protesting various actions by the fans ranging from burning flags, attacking Egyptians businesses in the capitol of Algeria and attacks on Egyptians in Sudan to the claim that egyptions attacked the alegerian soccer team bus in Cairo. The news are not unique to the Middle East, Europe has a long history of fans from different countries doing destructions in countries when their favorite teams lose. The unique for Egypt in particular is that the dream to go to the world cup has been attached to Egypt's image and prestige notwithstanding its dignity. The people and the media were looking for something to uplift Egypt's deteriorating morals and its people loss of direction. The news coming out of Egypt for the past few years has been the battle to succeed the aging president Mubarak and the possible transition of power to his son Jamal. Jamal and Mubarak's other elder son Alaa went to Sudan to support the national team and they went back with the loss looming over their head. Egypt's loss will in my opinion have political consequences; it will awaken the country towards the need to bring the focus back. I watched the whole game in one of the Middle Eastern restaurants in the area here and saw with no doubt the inability of the Egyptian team to score and win not because they lack the expertise but because they lack the confidence. This has been the story of Egypt for a long time, the lack of confidence, not believing that it can win. Egypt is the largest Arab country with the most forward thinking; the best example is its peace with Israel long before the completely Arab world decided that it is the only way to resolve the Palestinian Israeli conflict. Since 1952, the year that the Egyptian Army toppled the rotten Monarchy and replaced it with a mixture of a military and socialist regime that Egypt lost its prestige. Egypt has the resources and the talent to be a leading country in the Middle East and to be an emerging developing country in the world such as China, and India but Egypt lacks one thing; the belief that it can make it, that it can win. The football, soccer match, showed Egypt's inability to score. The Egyptians work hard, but they cannot finish. Egypt needs a new leadership and it needs to lead the region in the quest for democracy as it did with the peace process.

If Not Obama, Who, and If Not Now, When. By Jamil Shawwa

I was not as surprised by President Obama's winning the 2009 Noble Peace prize as I was surprised by the multiple voices that rejected this victory here in our country the US. The opposition questioned the reason, as the president has not been in office for more than few months. They were wrong, the measure was not by how long he has been in office but how he came to office, what his arrival represents and what he did to world peace and civilization since he came to office. I claim to have the answer for the oppositions’ dilemma and the answer is that Obama came to power as the first American from African decent, that a majority of American people of all ethnic backgrounds from all over the world voted him to power, that the first thing he did when he became president was to open the eyes and the hearts of the world to the importance of showing America's tolerance and acceptance to Islam as one of the three divine religions and that Islam is not a religion of war but a religion of peace and tolerance, and that there is a place in America for Islam. Obama's speech at Cairo University in my opinion cemented his nomination to the Noble prize.

The Undistinguished Gentleman By Jamil Shawwa

During President Obama speech before the joint session of congress regarding the historic health care reform, a voice interrupted the class and the civility of the session by shouting you lie at the president. Joe Wilson, the South Carolina Representative who sent that shout could not be spontaneous as he declared later, the tone, the face and the anger, left me with no doubt that this man is a part of a very small group in this country that do not like Obama for the person and not for the what he stands. We have disagreed with presidents and we will continue to disagree and bravely voice our disagreements but what separate this great country from other nations is that we like to be civil when we disagree. Other presidents in the past were also hated for who they are and not for what they stand; John Kennedy, Catholic, Bill Clinton, defeated the republican revolution led by Ronald Reagan and in his case, he was also hated later because of his love scandals, but still these and other presidents were never interrupted while talking before the joint session of congress. To me this is a big No No; I like my country- America- for its civility and class. I am amazed at those in S. Cralonia that greeted Wilson as the Liberator; Wilson was rude and crude and this is how he should be looked at and remmebered.

Farouk Hosni and The UNISCO Battle

Farouk Hosni- the Egyptian minister of culture who lost the title of UNICCO chief to the Bulgarian candidate- went on the attack after his loss. He spoke of a cultural war between the south and the north and between the Arabs and Israel. He moreover went on a spree according to news agency- by stating that he will declare a cultural war against Israel who he blames for the loss of the position. This tone and attitude leave me with no doubts that Hosni does not deserve the position and that his loss is logical. Hosni - again, according to agencies- has said in the past that he would burn books from Israel if he found them in Cairo. Cultured and civilized people do not say that even if they were Politicians just saying rhetoric. My position against Farouk Hosni would have been the same if he said that he would burn Egyptians books; the issue is not which country, language or culture, the issue is the principle. Farouk Hosni also represents to say the least an autocratic regime, he has never been elected to any position and he has been a minister of culture in Egypt for the past twenty years. Before that, he ran the Egyptian Art Academy in Rome, Italy. Bulgaria on the other hand is an emerging democracy, its representative to the UNICCO position never insulted other cultures and never declared conspiracy theories against anyone; the choice was clear, Bulgaria wins. The Arabs are at a cross road, they must stop using Israel as a scapegoat for their own failures; Israel is not to blame. The Arabs must start treating Israel with civility and distinguish between political disputes and cultural cooperation and integration. If they- the Arabs- cannot separate until there is a solution for the Palestinian question- then the least they can do is not to use words like Burn when talking about Israel or its culture and books.

The Flogging In Sudan, by Jamil Shawwa

The news coming out of Sudan is usually not pleasant and gets worse as time goes by. The latest episode was the flogging of a Sudanese Female Journalist for what Sudan described as a dress that contradicts the Islamic dress requirements, what a shame. Sudan government's use of this great religion as other groups and terrorists to torture their people is intolerable. Islam- bear in mind I am not a scholar- has nothing to do with the implementation of certain punishments that might exist in its punishment codes for some crimes. The Sudanese government with all it's internal problems; with it's southern people and northern rebels, does not have any legitimacy among it's people except in using Islam in the worst Hippocratic way to provide some legitimacy. The Sudanese are not dumb and they are not naive but for some unexplainable reason- to me at least- are still go along with the criminally wanted president El Bashir who promoted himself to Field Marshal El Bashir; what a shame, again. Sudan has established political families and in general its people are among the most educated in the Arab world but for the past Twenty years, since El Bashir came to power through a military coup against the democratic elected government of El-Sadiq El-Mahdi, the son of one of Sudan most prominent political and religious families, and Sudan economy, morals and status among developing nations has reach Rock bottom. Sudan once described as the basket of Africa in reference to it's agricultural potential to feed the whole continent is now nothing but separate islands of political entities with a president who is wanted to appear before the International Criminal Court to answer some genocide questions; Shame on him and I must say on some of the Sudanese people who just do not the least to say talk about these atrocities.

Rise and Shine and.... Revolt Iran, By Jamil Shawwa

The results of the presidential elections in Iran caused a massive popular uproar that Tehran did not witness since the religious scholars seized power from the Shah in 1979.

The Iranians based on media and reports coming out of the country are fed up with the status qua, fed up with the privileges these scholars have in comparison with the rest of the country and fed up with a deteriorating economic situation that should not be in a leading oil producing country like Iran.

The Iranians are also fed up with the adventurous style of their president Nejad. The Iranians want freedom, they long to the day when their country get rid of this supreme ayatollah and be just a regular country with a president and a parliament, long for the time when they can say and talk and just breath freedom.

The governing religious body in Iran has substituted the repressive Shah regime with another repressive regime, different names, but same methods. the defunct regime of the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi had the Savak as it's oppressive paramilitary to control the lives of the people and the scholars now have the Basij to keep dirty jobs going.

The Iranians do not go as far as asking for a regime change completely, they are asking for more freedom and more democracy. The future of Iran might turn to be as of its neighboring Turkey, with a liberal Islamic system and with the religious scholars going back to their natural place which is the place of education and universities.

President Obama's Cairo University Speech

I was so proud as an American and as a Cairo University graduate when my president stood high addressing the Islamic world from the podium of the Grande Hall of Cairo University. The timing could not be better; The Arab and Islamic worlds are in my opinion have been going through hard labor, and no one yet knows when is the delivery date and what is the shape of the unborn. President Obama is extending America's strong hands and open heart to help the Islamic world through its labor. The Muslims and the Arabs have to return the favor by putting the effort needed to accomplish their search for their place under the sun and among the civilized and democratic world. The terrorists who live and feed on the fringes of society better watch out, there is a new kid on the block by the name of Barack Hussein Obama who can relate to the masses and in the same time able to lead this great nation to ongoing and renewal sources of greatness.

Bibi Netanyahu's Jerusalem, By Jamil Shawwa

Bibi Netanyahu-the prime minister of the State of Israel- stated that Jerusalem will forever be united and will forever be the capital of the State of Israel. The Arabs and the Palestinians reacted-no surprise- with the usual condemnation and protests that they have mastered over 60 years of the Arab Israeli conflict. A Palestinian Authority official said that this statement of Bibi Netanyahu put an end to any peace prospects; other condemnations followed, maybe different but the message is the same. I choose to differ,I do not agree that Bibi Netanyahu's statement was new or it would have any impact on the peace process in the Middle East; on the contrary, Bibi Netanyahu is brining up a very important and sensitive subject to everyone in the Middle east, and that is the future of Jerusalem, the capital of the three main and great religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam. There is an informal agreement in the Middle East that Jerusalem should be united and that the city should preserve it's spiritual status and that it should be an open city with no fences or barriers as the situation was before 1967 and before Israel won that war and captured the Arab , old, section of Jerusalem. The disagreement is whether the Palestinians can have any control over the Arabic part, section and streets of the city and whether the Palestinians can declare that part as their capital and establish a municipality that can run the city, grant housing licenses and such. Bibi Netanyahu statement did not exclude the Palestinians from running the Palestinian part of the city and did not say that the Palestinian state cannot have the city-the Arab or eastern section- as its capital. The Palestinians must use new techniques in the negotiations with Israel, a technique that would look at Israel as a regular state with borders despute and not as an enemy or as a strange body in the Middle East; Israel is not. The negotiations with Israel should cover everything from borders to the idea of the right of return to those who originally left the historic Palestine during the war of 1948 following the declaration of independence of the State of Israel. The solution in my opinion to the right of return will be resolved when the settlements in the West Bank is resolved, in other words it will be this for that, no return in exchange of moving the settlers to lands inside the state of Israel. The time is now for a historic and final Conciliation between the Arabs and Muslims and the Jews in the Middle East and the world.

Jeb Bush: The GOP only Hope By Jamil Shawwa

In a long time, in the democratic world, have I seen, heard, or felt a party in such disarray as the Republican Party.

The Party looks and consists of a group of radio and TV commentators that sound like dealing with an America that does not exist anymore , a group of politicians in congress and few states governors that are lost and just wait and react to the Obama’s administration youthful and energetic agenda.

What happened to the Grand Old Party, and why it looks like a piece of ice that is evaporating so quickly that one cannot even know if it ever existed?

America in my opinion from the start of the year 2000 and until now has changed dramatically as no other great nation has changed in such sfort period of time.

America, the giant, the only super power, the dream place on earth, the Mecca of the suppressed and the hopeful from all over the world has been hit hard twice in less that 10 years.

The first hit to its pride came from the terrorists’ attacks of 09/11/2001 and the second one was the nature attack on New Orleans in 2005. The first attack shed the light on our vulnerability as an open society and injured our pride as the greatest nation on earth, a nation that we thought is away from the troubled world far from us. The second attack was from nature in the shape of floods that overcame our man made river barriers that some thought existed better in some developing countries.

These two attacks shaped the first 10 years of the 21 century and many of us still think that we could have prevented these two attacks, the first by having better security and coordination among the many security agencies and the second by just merely building better barriers by the shores of the river. The GOP led country fought and arguably prevailed against the Taliban and Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and against Saddam in Iraq. The results were mixed, and the management of the after war in Iraq was terrible.

By the end of the Bush admiration, the country was hit by almost unprecedented economic crisis in its history. The Housing market collapsed and it dragged with it all other markets. The time could not have been more perfect for -as Senator Kennedy said in the Democratic convention - a new generation of Americans which reminded us all of the hopeful election and years of his brother John F Kennedy.

Obama was the answer. The GOP- on the other hand- Selected an elderly and seasoned Politician, John McCain, and McCain in a moment of desperation and maybe a Hail Mary shot, chose a young female Politician from Alaska. Governor Palin was a no match to Joe Biden and in many ways, she too shed the light -through interviews and insiders’ leaks- on the lack of Republican charismatic Politicians that could again capture the imagination of the American people as Ronald Reagan did.

Jeb Bush is the answer right now for the Republican Party. He is a Bush and not a Bush at the same time. He has always been different than his brother George W Bush and from his father the elder George Bush. He is a moderate, popular and has not been 'tainted' with wars or  the economy  his brother 'W' left the country struggling. He appeals to a wide spectrum of Americans including the rising power in American politics; the Hispanic population. He is married to an originally Mexican woman, he is bilingual English and Spanish and he is most importantly an inclusive Politician. We witnessed his skills in winning Florida’s governorship twice. Jeb Bush also by all accounts stayed away  while governor of Florida from the only obstacle that he could face; the voting cards debacle in Florida during the first election of his brother against Al Gore.

UAE Political Stupidity

Barring the Israeli Tennis champion, Shahar Peer from participating in the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championship is another show of ignorance and a disastrous PR on the side of the UAE. Sports are sports; either you do it all the way or do not do it at all. The UAE is showing political stupidity and immaturity. The Arabs need to wake up. Preventing a female athlete from Israel is the worst publicity any country can have. The time has come-we can start with sports- for the Arab World to gradually reaching out to the Mediterranean neighbor-Israel- and sports is a formidable way to build confidence, trust and understanding among the people of the region. The excuses that the UAE presented from the protest over Gaza to security fears over the presence of the Israeli athlete are nonsense. Climbing the mountain of trust could have started by this very small yet giant step; allowing Israel to participate in the international sports event in The Middle East.

Respond to Time Magazine: Why Israel Can't Win-01/08/2009

It is not that Israel cannot win in Gaza or before that in Lebanon in 2006 but that Israel might not want to win completely and decisively. Israel had an ample chance- militarily- to dismantle the Hezbollah organization and end it from Lebanon finally as it did to the PLO in 1982. For some reason, it did not want to complete the job. In Gaza, Hamas obviously started this action, it continued to bombard the Israeli bordering cities with no reason-Israel withdrew completely from the Gaza Strip in 2005. As I’m writing this comment , I just heard that Israel unilaterally decided to stop it’s actions in Gaza without completing the mission- the rockets are still flowing from Gaza, albeit not as many as they used to be but still The situation in Gaza resembles the situation that occurred this summer between Georgia and Russia. Georgia started it and Russia finished it. The only difference maybe between Israel and Russia is that Russia had forces or observers in Georgia and Israel did not have anybody. We- America and the world- can dismantle the terrorists’ organizations – maybe not individuals- from The Middle East- we can do that politically and militarily. The Middle East is not geopolitically complicated as Pakistan and Afghanistan. In the Middle East, everybody knows who are who and his or her whereabouts. In Afghanistan and Pakistan, the whole population is mixed up which explains the difficulties in finding bin-Laden and dismantling AlQaeda.and other terrorist organizations.