'I' - a Palestinian Arab notebook

When I began writing this notebook, I wasn't sure what its focus should be. As a Palestinian Arab, I wanted to discuss something related to my background and community - a community in which people are expected to focus on one thing and one thing only: liberating an occupied land and regaining the rights of the Palestinian people.

The occupation colors our literature, our art, in fact our entire culture - a culture which we created for ourselves to resist the occupation, and in which it's actually difficult to be creative in any field where the occupation is not the subject.

Since the beginning of the Palestinian revolution, there have been various schools of thought on what path should be taken to reach the ultimate goal of statehood. At first, the consensus was that the way to liberate what had been taken by force was through armed resistance.

Today, however, the Palestinian community is deeply divided on the issue.

The current debate has its roots in the establishment of the Palestinian National Authority, which changed the nature of the leading resistance movement, Fatah, from a movement dedicated to fighting the occupation to one whose role was to direct the community affairs of the Palestinians of the West Bank and Gaza.

This caused a schism as some groups, such as Hamas, sought to continue with the path of armed resistance, while others believed negotiations and dialogue were simply better for the Palestinian case. The civil war in Gaza between Fatah and Hamas was just a symptom of the internal conflict and diverging ideologies in the Palestinian community.

 I decided to focus on this issue due to the fact that not only the Palestinians, but also the broader Arab world is suffering from a similar cultural conflict.

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Obama's peace plan?

Some details of America's new plan for peace in the Middle East were recently unveiled in the media; Al-Jazeera quoted Palestinian parliamentarian Hassan Khresheh as saying the to-be-proposed plan consists of ten points and aims to achieve a Palestinian state by the summer of 2011.

The plan, which has not yet been officially approved by the White House, is to be to be declared at the end of September, according to the report.

However, if the plan resembles what has gone before (which it apparently does) it will encounter serious difficulties and wide Arab rejection.

Under the plan, Palestinians will have no authority over any part of east Jerusalem, Israel will retain control of some neighborhoods, and Arabs - in other words Jordanians - will be put in charge of other areas in the holy city.

This completely does away with the primary and most basic Palestinian demand.

According to the plan, international forces are to control several parts of the Jordan valley and the West Bank.

This means the promised Palestinian state will be surrounded, by the Israel Air Forces from the air and by international forces on land. While this violates the basic condition any democratic state must satisfy, namely independence, it isn't the biggest obstacle presented by the plan.

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Winds of War - Israel and Lebanon

The Israeli government has recently threatened that should Hizbullah join Beirut's incoming government, it would respond to any attack launched by Hizbullah by targeting Lebanon itself. Israel stated that if Hizbullah attacked any Israeli anywhere it was prepared to attack targets on Lebanese soil.

Hizbullah officials stated in response that the organization was even stronger today than at the beginning of the Second Lebanon War in 2006, and that its armed wing was well prepared for any possible confrontation with Israel. The officials also stated that Israel would not dare start a new war with Lebanon since the United States would not support such a move at the current time.
 
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has stated that there are no "winds of war" blowing in the north, only a war of words and media. However, Israeli troop movements and training exercises on the northern border seem to tell a different story. In reaction, the Lebanese army has moved some of its forces south.

Although both sides claim that there are no winds of war in the north, they seem to be acting just as they did before the 2006 war. Both continue to prepare for the next battle while claiming that nothing serious is going on.

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Netanyahu's Conditions

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently stated that Israel would accept the idea of an Israel-Palestinian peace only after the Palestinians agreed to five conditions. His conditions are: recognition of Israel as a Jewish state, Palestinian agreement that a peace treaty ends all claims against Israel, no Palestinian refugees are to be allowed to return to Israeli territory, a demilitarized Palestinian state, and an international recognition of the demilitarization.

Besides these, Israeli sources claimed Netanyahu had refused a Palestinian demand to renew the negotiations. Netanyahu stated clearly in the Knesset that the separation wall would never be removed or changed. According to him, it prevented Palestinian attacks and assured the security of Israel.

Netanyahu's conditions represent a new approach to directing the conflict with the Palestinians. They will be almost impossible to agree to as they contradict demands which the Palestinians consider to be the heart of the conflict. Not only that, but Netanyahu also makes these demands at a time when Israel refuses to take even the simplest step to improve the peace process. The Israeli government stated clearly that building settlements in east Jerusalem is not illegal and does not contravene any law since east Jerusalem is considered a part of the united Jerusalem, the capital of Israel.

So what Netanyahu is offering is a chance for the Palestinians to forget about east Jerusalem as their capital, accept the "logic" and agree to the existence of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, completely ignore the right of millions of Palestinian refugees who are living in bad conditions and camps after being kicked of their houses, immediately agree to recognize Israel as a Jewish state, forgive all the war criminals and agree to not pursue any claim against them, and establish a state which will be a backyard for Israel, which can be entered whenever the latter wants.

Well this sounds like an attractive offer in the eyes of the Israeli leadership, and in the future the Palestinians will be blamed for not accepting it, exactly as Olmert and Barak blamed Arafat and Abu Mazen for not agreeing to their similar offers, which only differed in the way they were said or written.

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A 'settlement freeze' is not enough

Last week, Congressman Robert Wexler (D - FL) , a supporter of Israel and a close political ally of President Obama, stated his belief that Israel would say yes to settlement freeze. According to Wexler, Israel would not stand to lose much by making this necessary move aimed at making Arab states - who say they are ready for normalization with Israel - lay their cards on the table. 

"I want to call their bluff," Wexler said. "I want to see, if Israel makes substantial movement toward a credible peace process, whether they are willing to do it. And if they are not, better that we should find out five or six months into the process, before Israel is actually asked to compromise any significant position."

In other words, Wexler has indicated that the Arabs will be considered as lacking a will for peace if they refuse to start normalization relations after Israel freezes settlement construction and growth.

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The coming of the third intifada?

Since its establishment, the State of Israel has largely depended on its security forces and intelligence agencies to ensure its national security. Today, Israel believes that diminished Palestinian attacks is a result of the successful efforts of its security and intelligence forces.

Israel began building its intelligence and security forces even before the declaration of the state of 1948. Jews in Palestine did not trust the Arabs who lived among them, and often offered bribes to the Arab population in exchange for information about Arab plans in Palestine. The Israelis also went about recruiting inside the Arab world, across the Middle East, and around the world.

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Reconsidering the Middle East

Many people wonder why Israel and the Arab world have not reached an agreement to end the historical conflict between them. Neither side has yet to find a solution that meets its needs. It also seems that none of the leaders in the region over time, wanted to take responsibility for any kind of compromise reached.

The Middle East, and the world in general, is affected by the Arab-Israeli conflict as it has international repercussions. There is an old theory that says that Israel's establishment was accepted by the West only to "keep an eye" on the Arab world and the region.

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A new chapter in US-Arab relations?

The US has been showing brave policy shifts towards the Muslim world and the Israeli-Arab conflict. This change is mostly noted in America's view on the importance of finding a solution for the Israeli-Arab conflict.

The changes started as soon as President Obama took office. Both Europe and America have indicated that ending the conflict in the Middle East would be beneficial to the Western world and would help bring about international security.

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Is Israel starting to feel US pressure?

Last week, Israel started to feel the pressure from the US as plans for a new peace initiative proposed by Obama were said to be in the works. Obama was said to deliver the contents of the plan on his visit to Cairo next week, but recent reports have suggested that his speech will focus on American ties with the Muslim world and not on the new peace plan which is rumored to refer to east Jerusalem as the future capital of an independent Palestinian State.

Since then, Israeli politicians have not stopped talking of the importance of getting Israel out of this situation in any way, including the removal of Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

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Iranian code and Arab support

There are growing suspicions that the US will apply pressure on Israel to reach a peace agreement with the Palestinians.

Prime Minister Netanyahu started his international tour by visiting Jordan where he said that the Arab world and Israel share a common threat - Iran. However, any agreement between Israel and the Arab world on the importance of limiting Iranian influence in the Middle East would not bear fruit unless Israel showed an interest in ending the Arab-Israeli conflict.

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