The issue is whether or not a Palestinian state will be established. Benjamin Netanyahu has turned the issue into a question of settlements, i.e. whether to build new ones, freeze construction, or allow their “natural” growth. As for Palestinian leaders, the main issue they focus on is the release of captives and detainees, while what is meant in this respect is the captives and detainees in the hands of the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, not Israel. When I called Dr. Hassan al-Tibi, a Knesset member, to have his view, I found out that he was on vacation with his family in south Turkey. Then I was surprised to hear him express a view I had thought was mine alone. He said that the Palestinian rift poses a greater threat to the future of the cause than Israel's right- wing government does. He said there is a new and serious American approach, but the Palestinian rift would hinder it and ease the pressure on Netanyahu's government, which would not accept the establishment of a genuine Palestinian state since this mere acceptance would lead to the fall of the governmental coalition. Dr. al-Tibi described Netanyahu's government as the government of “maniacs” and said that each member is more radical than the other. He also said that the prime minister is lying to America and the world, and is manipulating words while settlements continue under one name or another. Defense Minister Ehud Barak arrived in Washington to meet with the US Middle East envoy and other US officials after the failure of Yitzhak Molcho who had been sent by Netanyahu to meet Mitchell. According to Israeli dailies, Barak will suggest a three-month freeze on settlement. However, these dailies said on the day of his arrival to Washington that he will suggest allowing Israelis to keep implementing the planned construction projects. This implies 100,000 housing units, along with 400,000 settlers currently. I noticed that Elliot Abrams, former Deputy National Security Advisor, a radical Likudist and pro-Israel before being an American, claimed in an interview with the Israeli Channel One this week that the Bush administration and Sharon's government had reached a verbal agreement about the continuation of construction inside the settlements according to specific conditions. Abrams had used the same words in an article he published in The Wall Street Journal. George Bush can give Ariel Sharon a settlement in Texas, but the Palestinians' territories are not his own to offer to Sharon, in case Abrams' words are true. As for Sharon's adviser, Dov Weissglas, he published an article in Yedioth Ahronoth whose English translation, which I found incomplete or unclear, says: “On May 16, 2003, in the course of meetings in Israel and in Washington, regarding the Israeli reservations about the road map, an agreement was reached that there would be no construction in the Jewish settlements in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza, with the exception of construction within the existing line of construction …” What do these words mean? It is most likely that what is meant here is construction inside the settlements without expanding them. But how can meetings be held in Washington and Israel on the same day? Did these persons hold a video-conference or did US and Israeli officials meet in Washington, while other officials met in Israel? In the face of Israeli deceit, the American side still insists on halting construction in the settlements, a stance announced by President Obama and reiterated by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and special envoy Mitchell. In the meantime, the Palestinians in Cairo are left with one week to announce their final failure; otherwise the agreement will be imposed upon them. In the meantime again and again, Netanyahu's government is benefiting from the absence of the Palestinian “partner” to have a number of laws targeting the 1948 Palestinians enacted. A law, which was passed after a preliminary hearing, stipulates that anyone who instigates against the Jewish character of the state or says that Israel is not a Jewish state shall be sentenced to a one-year imprisonment. In addition, the Loyalty Oath Law mandates the three-year imprisonment of people who commemorate the Nakba, while a third law on Israel as a Jewish and Zionist state makes military or alternative service compulsory. Dr. Ahmad al-Tibi was banned from visiting Lebanon to give a TV interview with colleague Zahi Wehbeh. The Israeli Interior Minister sent him a written ban letter, although the program is not political. Visitors to Lebanon or Syria are also threatened with a prohibition from running for elections. The 1948 Palestinians protested to the United States and the European Union on the ground that the suggested Israeli bills are Fascist and racist, and violate famous international agreements. In the meantime, and for the last time, the Palestinian rift persists while posing a greater threat to the cause than the one brought about by the Fascist Israeli government. The Palestinian leadership bears the full responsibility of this before the people, history, and God. http://www.j-khazen.blogspot.com/
