Discovering MENA and other thoughts

Hace tres meses Binyamin Netanyahu intentó convocar elecciones legislativas anticipadas, henchido de orgullo por  la ‘Ley Nacional’ que pretendía ver aprobada  y convencido de que sus ciudadanos reconocerían los esfuerzos que el Primer Ministro estaba llevando a cabo en pos de su bienestar y paz futuros, libres de árabes e incluso palestinos incómodos. Hoy por hoy, Bibi no parece tan satisfecho ni confiado. Las últimas encuestas sugieren que Isaac Herzog, líder del partido laborista -hoy mas al centro que a la izquierda del espectro político- en la alianza llamada ‘Unión Sionista’ con Tzipi Livni, está tomando un enorme impulso. A pesar de ello, también nos informan de que una quinta parte de los votantes se declaran aún indecisos.  Algo en lo que coinciden sondeos y expertos es que cada vez más israelíes se declaran partidarios del ‘cualquiera antes que Bibi’.

“Hay que tener cuidado al elegir a los enemigos porque uno termina pareciéndose a ellos”, dijo en su día Jorge Luis Borges. Cuando tu principal enemigo está en casa y está tan imbricado con tu misma de razón de ser, no es de extrañar que te sea difícil avanzar y luchar contra el enemigo exterior. Es éste el caso de la causa palestina, que no se conforma con chocar una y otra vez contra el muro de la intolerancia israelí, sino que se ve continuamente erosionada por las diferencias y luchas cainitas en el seno de la propia élite palestina. El ejemplo más significativo es la guerra – no por coincidencia denominada “guerra entre hermanos” – entre Hamas y Fatah, que estalló cuando los primeros se proclamaron vencedores de las elecciones que la Franja de Gaza había celebrado en enero de 2006.

"You have to be careful when choosing your enemies because sooner or later you will end up resembling them," Jorge Luis Borges said once. When your main enemy is your team-mate and is deeply embedded with your very raison d'être, it's no wonder how difficult it may be for you to move forward and fight any external threat whatsoever. This is exactly the case with the Palestinian cause, that does not seem to have enough with crashing time and again against the wall of Israeli intolerance and sees itself continually eroded by brotherly differences and struggles within the Palestinian elite itself. The most significant example of this is the war - not coincidentally called "war between brothers" - between Hamas and Fatah that broke out when the former were proclaimed winners of the elections the January 2006 Gaza Strip.

Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah delivered an unforgettable speech in Beirut last July 25th on the occasion of "Jerusalem Day", in which he pledged "all means of support" for the "Palestinian resistance". It wasn't the first time Nasrallah took the chance to criticise Israel and its actions. It was the first time in months, though, Nasrallah showed signs that links between his organisation and Hamas are thawing. Hezbollah and Hamas had been allies in the region for more than 20 years. The first direct contact between the movements took place on December 17, 1992, when Israel deported 415 Hamas and Islamic Jihad activists from the West Bank and Gaza to Marj Al-Zouhour in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley. Hezbollah’s resistance in the early 1980s inspired and motivated the Palestinians to launch the first intifada in December 1987, during which the Muslim Brotherhood branch in Palestine created Hamas. Many experts consider Nasrallah's messag...

Mi nombre es Zeinab, tengo 14 años y vengo de un lugar del que hoy por hoy muchos estaréis cansados de oír hablar: la franja de Gaza. Mis abuelos, sin embargo, no nacieron aquí, sino en una ciudad, Beersheba, en el centro de lo que hoy el mundo entero se empeña en denominar Israel, pero que en mis recuerdos se llama aún Palestina. Desde que somos pequeños, mi madre se esfuerza en leernos todas las noches los cuadernos en los que mi abuelo Maher relata cómo era su vida allí, cómo le gustaba relajarse en su huerto de olivares, comer sandía con avidez cerca del zoco y romper el ayuno del Ramadán al anochecer con sus vecinos musulmanes y cristianos. También cuenta cómo las primeras comunidades de judíos en la ciudad se mostraban enormemente amables con ellos. Venían huyendo de la muerte que en Europa aguardaba a sus familiares y vecinos. Pero un día, el mundo entero decidió ponerse en contra de los habitantes de la antigua Palestina, y crear un estado para aquellos judíos, allí donde ell...

Via Haaretz

Should Jews be allowed free access to pray at  Haram Al-Sharif, the Noble Sanctuary , one of Islam's holiest sites? The Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third most sacred site in Islam, adjoins the Western Wall and stands on what Jews insist are the first and second temples. Haram Al-Sharif has been an exclusively Islamic shrine since the Arab conquest of Palestine in the 7th century AD, but the mosque was built upon the Temple Mount, itself one of Judaism's most sacred sites. The Western Wall, the only remnant of the Jewish temple destroyed by Herod in 70 AD, is under direct Israeli control, and Jewish prayer has always been allowed there. Even Christians revere the site they consider the place where Jesus walked and reasoned with the rabbis — as well as chastised the Pharisees and money changers. The compound has been under factual if not legal Israeli sovereignty since Israel annexed East Jerusalem in 1980, and is the holiest site in Judaism. That´s not the case of Haram Al-Shari...

Last July I wrote about the several Tamarrod-style copycat movements that had been created throughout the Arab world inspired by their Egyptian brethren with the aim of protesting against the governments in power and in favour of the granting of further rights. One of the most active ones has surprisingly proven to be the Tamarrod Gaza movement, silently formed in the street against what some consider a status quo controlled by Hamas that is growing authoritarian by the day. Several small scale protests have been taken place in the tiny territory throughout recent weeks, but the demonstration most organisers hoped to represent a real breakthrough was scheduled for November 11, a key date for all inhabitants of the Strip. Indeed, las Monday was the anniversary of the death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, founder of Hamas rival Fatah, a date revered by all Palestinians that in the past has also been an occasion for protests.

Just a sentence: " the Palestinian people and the Palestinian state are a modern invention inspired by Israel. It has no precedent, it has no history. There were never such a people and such a state. Now, thanks to the Israeli occupation, there are ". Read the whole article here .

Lieberman is back ... start trembling!!

One of the unforeseen consequences of the much bragged about Russia & U.S. backed deal on Syrian Weapons of Mass Destruction has been casting light on one key stakeholder which nonetheless was trying to remain on the sidelines as of lately, Israel. Indeed, Assad´s regime immediate reaction after relinquishing and accepting to give up its weapons (and therefore admitting their being in possession of them) was to point its finger to the eternal usual suspect when it comes to WMD in the region. A suspicion that might have been clarified by a 1983 C.I.A. paper that has been recently declassified whereby the Hebrew state has for decades amassed this kind of arms. Israel has however always acted with ambiguity and never acknowledged having nuclear weapons, even though many amongst its authorities have hinted they have the right to assemble and stock them in order to defend themselves (and by themselves, without having to call for outside intervention) from all these danger...

I just discovered an incredibly useful webpage dedicated to reporting when and where new settlements have been built... Facts on the Ground , coincidentally created by American activists.

One of the major obstacles that stand in the road to peace between Palestinians and Israelis is the issue of Israeli settlements, colonies built in a territory that, according to Resolution 181 adopted in 1947 by the UN General Assembly and subsequent texts belongs to a (painfully still inexistent) Palestinian state. According to estimates, today about half a million Jews live as settlers in the more than 140 illegal settlements (so declared by the International Court of Justice) set up by Israel in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

Great account on Al-Monitor about the dilemma certain Israeli settlers face. "A military-political earthquake shook the land, at the height of which the settlers became the spearhead of Israeli national policy, both in the domestic arena and on the international front. [...] the "big bang" occurred immediately following the 1967 Six-Day War. [...] In those days of burning messianic fervor, Stern found himself in the minority among his friends. Only a few remained behind, while a surging wave of ecstatic religious youths, driven by intoxicating mystical passion, rushed to settle in the "promised land." As a child raised on the ideal of the sanctity of the land of Israel, Stern found himself in a dilemma. He had to make up his mind which side to take, now that the Greater Land of Israel was under Israeli control".

Here are the more common questions about the Nakba (taken from here ) 1. What is the Nakba? Nakba means "Catastrophe" in Arabic. It refers to the destruction of Palestinian society in 1948 when approximately 750,000 Palestinians fled or were forced into exile by Israeli troops. Because the Palestinians were not Jewish, their presence and predominant ownership of the land were obstacles to the creation of a Jewish state. Their exodus, or Nakba, was already nearly half-complete by May 1948, when Israel declared its independence and the Arab states entered the fray. Many Zionist leaders in Palestine openly favored "transfer" of the indigenous Palestinian population. Zionist forces used clashes that erupted as the British Mandate of Palestine came to an end in 1947-48 to rid as much of the land of its Palestinian inhabitants as possible. By the end of 1948, approximately 750,000 Palestinians - three-quarters of the Palestinian population - fled in panic ...

Throughout the week, a lot has been said about Israel attacking Syria. The news was about Israel carrying out airstrikes in and around Damascus, targeting missiles Iran intended to smuggle into Lebanon through Syrian soil. The final addressee was Hezbollah, which would in turn have later used this "game-changing" weapons to attack Israel. Even though Israel did not confirm the military move at the beginning (the first information came from US intelligence sources), many officials (including an Israeli ambassador acting as guest speaker in a conference on the Southern Mediterranean I had the honour to attend) have commented on it, affirming that Israel is not looking forward to intervening in Syria, but has drawn its particular "red line", that is, Iran providing the Shiite militia with powerful arms that will put in danger both the stability in the region and Israeli citizens' safety. As a matter of fact, and in anticipation to some kind of counter-attack, I...

Apparently, China is hosting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas for separate talks, showing a desire for a greater role in the region. The two leaders are due in Shanghai but will not coincide, as Netanyahu is due there on Wednesday, following Abbas’ departure a day earlier. China was looking forward to being able to organize an encounter and therefore to set up a meeting if the two men wanted. But understandably neither of them did. Even though the "Empire of the Centre" has traditionally maintained a low profile in the region, it has tried in recent years to play a more active role. Its diplomatic efforts were principally directed towards the economic sector, as well as to the quest for strategical resources, namely oil and gas. But, as of lately, China has also shown greater interest in playing a certain role in the political arena. The latter intention did not bode well when the state repeatedly opposed interna...

For months, the Syrian opposition has been accusing Hezbollah of waging a war against the Syrian people. Reports increasingly acknowledge the presence of Lebanese fighters, fighting alongside Assad´s army, on Syrian soil, namely in Shiite villages along the border between Syria and Lebanon. Even though the extent of the implication of Shiite group in Syria cannot be verified, it was clear the cum-militia had, in some measure, blood in their hands. This was confirmed when, in a televised speech, the leader of the Lebanese organization, Hassan Nasrallah, said they are ready to protect the Syrian regime. Nasrallah affirmed Syria has true friends in the region and the world that won't permit Syria to "fall in the hands of America, Israel, and Takfiris [jihadist group linked to Al Qaeda]". He added that members of Hezbollah were "providing appropriate aid" to Syrian government forces. He however denied Iranian forces are deployed in Syria, although he acknowledged ...

Months ago, an article in L'Orient-Le Jour renewed my hopes of a League of Arab States' (aka LAS) favourable evolution. Last January, LAS SG Nabil Al-Arabi, after talks in Cairo with President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, pleaded for a "new approach" to address the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, for the current 2002 API has provided nothing but failure. It is indeed high time to move forward, to change tack and to, above all, clearly set the goals all stakeholders want to achieve, in order to finally make real steps towards peace in the Middle East. The Arab League has announced the reformulation of the key text during a high-level meeting in Washington between a delegation from the Arab League headed by Qatar´s diplomacy hawk and PM, Sheik Hamad Bin Jassem Al-Thani, and US Secretary of State John Kerry, who recently visited the region and spoke of an urgent need for the resumption of peace negotiation. The new Initiative appears to foll...

Do you know where a product you usually consume has been produced? Within the EU borders, you usually do. According to European legislation, the origin of many products has to be specified.  But... what about the products with the label "Made in Israel"? That is a much more complicated issue, for these may have been manufactured in Tel Aviv, in Hebron, or in the Israeli Settlement of   Ariel .  European regulation lay down for which products it is required (notably fresh fruit and vegetables and a few other food products such as honey, olive oil and wine, as well as cosmetics) and for which it is not. Moreover, labelling is the responsibility of the merchant and not the producer. And merchants are often unaware of the issue of the settlements, as a result of which they fail to label these products correctly. This is going to change. After months of procrastination, several EU Foreign Ministers have asked the HR Catherine Ashton to move forward with plans whereby co...