NOVANEWS
Unequal parties to the conflict, the Israeli prime minister, left, and the Palestinian authority president, right
This is part of Marc H. Ellis’s “Exile and the Prophetic” feature for Mondoweiss. To read the entire series visit the archive page.
The ceasefire negotiations continue on. Or will stop and begin again. Does it really matter?
Deadlines with Israel should be redefined as bully-lines. Do this, right now, as we say – or continue to die.
Our Jewish arrival after the Holocaust is permanently redefined. Not security. Expansion. Not normalcy and reconciliation. Aggression without limit.
Take that Palestinians. Take that world. No one hold’s Israel – or Jews – to account.
That’s the talk in Cairo: Disarm Gaza like the West Bank has been disarmed. Reading between the lines this means arm Gaza the way the West Bank has been armed.
The issue isn’t whether there will be weapons in Gaza. There will be more weapons after the agreement is reached. Instead of Hamas, the weapons will be in the hands of a submissive limited autonomy Palestinian Authority with Israel, Egypt, the United States and a host of other rogue states with their fingers on the triggers.
Contrary to popular understanding, Gaza under Hamas was somewhat diverse, with competing centers of power. After Cairo, Gaza might become a national security state – without nationality.
In Cairo, all roads lead through Mahmoud Abbas it seems. Comeback it is. To what end?
Even the vaunted sea route to Cyprus is autonomy water talk. Guarded and vetted, guarded and vetted again, then more, the Palestinians lucky enough to get through this Israeli/European security net might be stripped of any identity they had by the time their boat arrives. Or their identity will be so visible they will be like Jews once were – almost invisible and highly visible at the same time.
Looks like the Jewish condition of the 20th century has become the Palestinian condition of the 21st century.
In Cyprus, perhaps Palestinians will choose to become Europeans. But, then, Europe has cordoned off its shores to those fleeing other parts of the colonized world.
Cyprus won’t be a picnic for Palestinians. They will be suspects in their freedom almost much as they are suspects in their own homeland.
Unless Palestinians can form a beachhead in Europe. As in Lebanon?
Perhaps the Cyprus route is another version of population transfer under yet another name. After the Gaza war one thing is for sure – the Palestinian Diaspora will grow larger.
Cairo is a place where Palestinian freedom will once again be delayed. Denied?
Abbas the israeli puppet reject to be a member of the ICC
link to presstv.com
The Prosecutor at the ICC has told the Palestinians not for the first time [rightly or wrongly] that she is ‘waiting for them’ [presumably to become a member of the ICC ] and until they do’ she will reject any complaint. Many International court lawyers have said the Palestinians do not need to sign up for membership. Why all these disputes about procedure? Why don’t the Palestinians just sign up for membership? No doubt other excuses would be made. But the ICC would make itself more of a laughing stock in such an eventuality. A further rejection by the ICC even after becoming a member would have the benefit of concentrating the minds of the Palestinians, they have to know who their enemies are before planning further strategies.
Abbas has been stalling for a long time. It seems the US and Israel have shown displeasure at the thought of the Palestinians going to the ICC.
Maybe they are twisting his arm, maybe they are threatening him, maybe they are making false promises.
On July 25th, Palestinian Justice Minister Salim Sakka and Gaza Attorney General Ismail Jaber filed a complaint against Israel for war crimes with the ICC. Last week, the Palestinian Authority asked the ICC to nullify the complaint. From Voltairenet.org:
“… The Palestinian Authority requested International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Ms Fatou Bensouda to nullify the complaint filed on July 25, 2014 by Palestinian Justice Minister Salim Sakka and Gaza Attorney General Ismail Jaber against the war crimes committed by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip.
Interim President Mahmoud Abbas argued that the complaint was likely to backfire against the Palestinian resistance (which is legally false) and that the Palestinian Authority favored a different strategy: joining the Court (which it never followed up on).
The complaint was endorsed by 130 law professors from around the world. In accusing Israel of colonialism, it automatically triggered a series of precautionary measures and prohibited foreign companies from trading with Israeli entities established in the occupied territories. So that even if the complaint were not to be considered in a long time, it would nevertheless have generated immediate effects…”
But Minister Sakka said a couple of days later on Aug 9th that only he could annul the complaint and he is refusing to do so. The complaint against Israel is still on.
Hurrah! Thanks Walid.
Walid, It would appear the Prosecutor will not accept any declarations or complaints from the Palestinians because [rightly or wrongly] they are not a state member of the ICC. “Palestine is not a State Party to the Rome Statute; neither has the Court received any official document from Palestine indicating acceptance of ICC jurisdiction or requesting the Prosecutor to open an investigation into any alleged crimes following the adoption of the United Nations General Assembly Resolution (67/19) on 29 November 2012, which accorded non-member observer State status to Palestine. Therefore, the ICC has no jurisdiction over alleged crimes committed on the territory of Palestine.link to icc-cpi.int. The International law experts are in disagreement as to whether the Prosecutor has or can reject the complaint/declaration link to opiniojuris.org. Hostage thinks the Prosecutor should move forward with the legitimately filed [in 2009] declaration. It would appear the Prosecutor, or Abbas, for whatever reason are dragging their feet. Or it could be because the court is not really a court but a venue where only the powerful can get access, or if you are not only powerful but also have a white face.
Thanks for the insight, Harry. This ICC legal stuff is out of my league so I’m just watching from a distance and hoping Palestinians could get the justice due to them. The only clear thing so far is how much Abbas is against going anywhere near the ICC. It must be the top priority on his job description.
“In Cairo, all roads lead through Mahmoud Abbas it seems. Comeback it is. To what end?”
It’s been what the whole thing has been about starting with the murder of the 3 teens that culminated in an all out assault on Gaza to put Abbas at the head of Gaza too. The West Bankers have already been turned into Finns, as Israelis would say, now the intent is to do likewise with Gaza. But Hamas is not playing along.
On a side note, the 2010 photo above was the one that also included King Abdullah II and Mubarak that was shamelessly doctored by Mubarak to show him leading the pack with the others following behind him to bolster his image with the Egyptian public. It was published in the pro-Mubarak “Al-Ahram”:
link to cironline.org
So what happens when the mayor of Ramallah – er, I mean, His Excellency the President of the State of Palestine Dr. Mahmoud Abbas, Grand Master of the Order of the Star of Jerusalem – kicks the bucket? Do the Israelis and Americans plan to just continue manipulating his corpse?
Hamas will NEVER disarm or allow puppets in there. They asked Lebanon to have Hezbollah disarm many times, did they succeed? No, they tried with Hamas many times, and they know it is not going to happen. Hamas just gets stronger each time. They need to give up the fantasy of thinking Palestinians will submit.
Reading this reminds me of something. Former Israeli soldier Avner Gvaryahu tells us about the IDF practice of the ‘Straw Widow’, “The grounds of how these actions are growing, is the day to day life. Is the routine. Are the things that no one questions. Right? For example, entering a house for military purposes. This is what is called a ‘Straw Widow’. I took part in numerous ‘Straw Widows.’ This is something that happens around the West Bank. Not really questioned, not considered illegal, not considered extreme. But when you have the order to enter a house, and eventually do whatever you like in the house, because you need it for military purposes, it’s a very slippery slope.
“Because, when you enter a house and only use it for an observation point, what do you do when you’re water’s finished and there’s no other way to get water to you? Do you drink water or you don’t drink water? What happens when your food is finished? So when we’re sitting here very comfortably we say, ‘of course talking water is immoral to take someone’s water or food without permission. Even though it’s very easy to get permission when you have a helmet and gun, right? No one will say no to you. But this doesn’t end. What happens when you have to take a shower in the house, if you’re in the house suddenly for 48 hours or three days. And if you’re allowed to sit on the sofa, you’re allowed to put your legs on the table.”
It does not make you anti-Semitic or a self-hating Jew to disagree with what Israel is doing, just a person with a good heart, with compassion and with a conscience.