Recognising what?

Al-Ahram Weekly, 06-12.12.07. It's not that Israel's borders are porous. They don't exist at all, writes Galal Nassar
Perhaps seeking to distract attention from the crisis facing his government, or hoping to exploit the weakness of the Arab regional system, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is asking the Arabs to recognise Israel. Unfortunately, such a move may be a prelude to ethnic cleansing in Palestine. Zionist ideas are a mixture of racism that exists in symbiotic relation with Western imperialism -- something made clear in Theodore Hertzl's book The Jewish State. Hertzl ignored the fact that Palestine was already inhabited by a people with an extensive history, something he sees as a minor hurdle. "Supposing, for example, we were obliged to clear a country of wild beasts, we would not set about the task in the fashion of Europeans of the fifth century. We would not take spear and lance and go out singly in pursuit of bears; we would organise a large and active hunting party, drive the animals together, and throw a melinite bomb into their midst," he writes. It was on the basis of such formulations that the Basel Conference endorsed Zionism as its strategy in 1897.

Now Israel wants the Palestinians, and eventually all Arabs, to recognise Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state. That is the demand it makes at every gathering addressing Palestinian rights. The fact that Israel has to voice this demand so often is extraordinary. Countries recognise one another in a routine manner. They do so without references to the "right to exist" and without noting their being Islamic, Christian, or even secular countries. So why does Israel repeat itself in this fashion? What does a Jewish state entail?

Apparently, Israel wants Jews and only Jews to live on the "land of Israel". In other words, non- Jewish sovereignty is out of the question in all, or even part, of Palestine. But without recognising a non-Jewish sovereignty on at least a section of the historic land of Palestine, diplomatic and political efforts are pointless. Israel wants non-Jews to be second class citizens and it treats Israeli Arabs accordingly. This is the main reason Israel has no constitution so far. A Jewish state is one that remains open to immigration by Jews living abroad, and we all know that such immigration would take place at the expense of the Palestinians.

So how about Israel's "right to exist"? This right is accorded to states that exist within recognised borders. So when Israel demands recognition of its "right to exist", one has to start wondering about its final borders. How can you recognise a country that has no clear borders? Once Israel draws borders it will imply an admission that what lies within them belongs to all its citizens, including non-Jews. It would thus be abandoning its Zionist ideals. So far, it has been reluctant to do so.

Israel is demanding recognition of its "right to exist" and yet it is in no mood to discuss borders. Yet since 1947 Israel's borders have changed repeatedly. Which are the ones it wants recognised?

Accettare Israele come stato ebraico?

Daniel Pipes, danielpipes.org, 29.11.07. Il riconoscimento da parte araba della natura ebraica di Israele deve avere la massima priorità diplomatica. Finché i palestinesi non accetteranno ufficialmente il sionismo, seguitando poi a porre fine a tutte le loro varie strategie per eliminare Israele, i negoziati dovrebbero essere interrotti e non riavviati. Fino ad allora, non c'è nulla di cui discutere.

A sorpresa, qualcosa di utile è emerso dalla combinazione del mal concepito vertice di Annapolis e un debole premier israeliano, Ehud Olmert (secondo il quale "la pace va raggiunta con le concessioni"). Rompendo con la tradizione dei suoi predecessori, Olmert ha coraggiosamente chiesto che i suoi partner negoziali palestinesi accettino l'esistenza di Israele come stato ebraico, suscitando così una eloquente reazione.

A meno che i palestinesi non riconoscano Israele come "stato ebraico", ha annunciato Olmert l'11 novembre scorso, i colloqui di Annapolis avrebbero subito una battuta d'arresto. "Non intendo in alcun modo trovare un compromesso sulla questione dello stato ebraico. Ciò costituirà una condizione per il nostro riconoscimento di uno stato palestinese".

Il giorno dopo, egli ha confermato questi punti definendo il "riconoscimento di Israele come stato per gli ebrei" come il "trampolino di lancio per tutti i negoziati. È assolutamente fuori discussione il fatto che Israele sia uno stato degli ebrei". La leadership palestinese, egli ha osservato, deve "voler fare pace con Israele, inteso come stato ebraico".

Sollevare tale questione ha il vantaggio di focalizzare finalmente l'attenzione su quello che costituisce il punto nevralgico del conflitto arabo-israeliano: il sionismo, il movimento nazionalista ebraico, un tema che come al solito viene ignorato nel parapiglia dei negoziati. Pressoché sin dalla nascita dello stato, l'attenzione è stata focalizzata su grovigli di questioni secondarie come i confini, dislocamento delle truppe, il controllo degli armamenti e delle armi, i principi sacrosanti, le risorse naturali, i diritti di residenza, la rappresentanza diplomatica e i rapporti esteri.

La leadership palestinese ha replicato prontamente e inequivocabilmente alle richieste di Olmert:

• The Higher Arab Monitoring Committee, di Nazareth, ha chiesto all'unanimità all'Autorità palestinese di non riconoscere Israele come stato ebraico.
• Salam Fayad, "premier" dell'Autorità palestinese, ha così asserito: "Israele può definirsi come vuole, ma i palestinesi non lo riconosceranno come stato ebraico".
• Yasser Abed Rabbo, segretario generale del Comitato esecutivo dell'OLP, ha così chiosato: "Tale questione non è negoziabile; è stata sollevata ad uso e consumo interno [israeliano]".
• Ahmad Qurei, capo-negoziatore palestinese, ha così commentato: "Tale richiesta è del tutto inaccettabile".
• Saeb Erekat, a capo del Dipartimento Negoziati dell'OLP, ha così asseverato: "I palestinesi non riconosceranno mai l'identità ebraica di Israele (…) Non esiste alcun paese al mondo dove l'identità religiosa e quella nazionale si intrecciano".

La generalizzazione di Erekat è al contempo curiosa e significativa. Non solo 56 paesi e l'OLP fanno parte dell'Organizzazione della Conferenza islamica; ma la maggior parte di questi membri, inclusa l'OLP, considerano la Shari'a (la legge islamica) come la loro principale, se non unica, fonte di legislazione. L'Arabia Saudita esige perfino che ogni suddito sia musulmano.

Inoltre, il nesso religioso-nazionale si estende ben oltre i paesi musulmani. Jeff Jacoby del Boston Globe fa notare che la legislazione argentina "autorizza l'appoggio governativo alla fede cattolico-romana. La Regina Elisabetta II è il governatore supremo della Chiesa Anglicana. Nel regno himalayano del Bhutan, la Costituzione proclama il Buddismo ‘patrimonio spirituale' della nazione (…) ‘La religione predominante in Grecia', dichiara il paragrafo II della Costituzione ellenica, ‘è quella della Chiesa Ortodossa Orientale di Cristo' ".

E allora, perché il rifiuto camuffato da principio di riconoscere Israele come stato ebraico? Probabilmente perché l'OLP vuole ancora eliminare Israele come stato ebraico.

Si noti l'utilizzo del verbo "eliminare", non distruggere. Sì, è vero, l'antisionismo ha prevalentemente assunto fino ad ora una forma militare, dal proclama di Gamal Abdel Nasser di "gettare gli ebrei in mare" a quello di Mahmoud Ahmadinejad che "Israele deve essere cancellato dalle carte geografiche". Ma la potenza delle IDF ha spinto l'antisionismo verso un più sottile approccio volto ad accettare uno stato israeliano, ma smantellando il suo carattere ebraico. Gli antisionisti prendono in considerazione diversi modi per conseguire ciò:

Demografia. I palestinesi potrebbero sopraffare demograficamente la popolazione ebraica di Israele, un obiettivo evidenziato dalla loro pretesa di esercitare un "diritto al ritorno" e dalla loro cosiddetta guerra dell'utero.

Politica. I cittadini arabi di Israele ricusano sempre più la natura ebraica del paese ed esigono che esso diventi uno stato binazionale.

Terrorismo. Il centinaio di attacchi sferrati settimanalmente dai palestinesi dal settembre 2000 al settembre 2005 cercarono di provocare il declino economico, l'emigrazione e l'appeasement.

Isolamento. Tutte quelle risoluzioni delle Nazioni Unite, le condanne editoriali e le aggressioni nei campus intendono intaccare lo spirito sionista.

Il riconoscimento da parte araba della natura ebraica di Israele deve avere la massima priorità diplomatica. Finché i palestinesi non accetteranno ufficialmente il sionismo, seguitando poi a porre fine a tutte le loro varie strategie per eliminare Israele, i negoziati dovrebbero essere interrotti e non riavviati. Fino ad allora, non c'è nulla di cui discutere.

Israel errs in trying to impose its Jewish identity

Shulamit Aloni *, The Daily Star, 3.12.07. Jews are a people but not a nation; they are a religious ethnic group or as respected a tribe as may be. The Jewish citizens of Britain, including the orthodox, are British, and that is what is written in their passports and in the British population registry. The same is true of France: The Jews there are French. In Canada, they are Canadians, and in Holland they are Dutch. They uphold their Jewish lives in their communities, since in democratic nations there is freedom of religion and freedom from religion. If these states were to register their Jewish citizens as "Jewish" in the nationality category, we would accuse them of being anti-Semitic. There is a difference between a people, a religion, and a nationality, since nationality is decided by citizenship - a people as opposed to a nation - and therefore citizenship is nationality. The affinity of a citizen to the state is based on citizenship and not on religion; it is based neither on the tribe nor on maternal genes.

If among Israeli Cabinet ministers there are those who feel that they are more Jewish than Israeli, that is their right, and they can uphold all the religious precepts and pray all the prayers. But that is not relevant to the ties between Israel and its neighbors. There are people among us who like to repeat that Israel is a Jewish state and not a state for all its citizens. It is strange that this notion was to be imposed on the Palestinians in the document prepared for the Annapolis conference as a condition for ending the occupation. Palestinians are asked to recognize an Israel where some 20 percent of its citizens, the Arabs, have inferior status.

In the past, it was a great joy to be an Israeli. Israel was father to the nations. The word "Jewish" does not exist in any of the prayers. There is: "And I will restore the captivity of my people Israel." And there are the people of Israel, the land of Israel, the Torah of Israel, the God of Israel and the daughter of Israel.

The state of Israel was established as a civilian state, as a state of law, and not as a state of Halakha, or Jewish religious law. It was not established by ultra-orthodox Jews to whom the Cabinet ministers enslave themselves, and whose supporters they release from military service, from other work, and from tuition fees, and to whom they even pay a monthly wage.

In the document establishing the Israeli state, it was promised that there would be "complete equality of rights for all its citizens regardless of origin, race or gender." And another reminder: On Israel's Independence Day, citizens light 12 beacons, the number of the tribes of Israel.

Let the Cabinet ministers feel at home as Jews as much as they want to; let them raise their voices in prayer, but they must remember that they serve the government of Israel, which still represents itself as being democratic. In other words, they are the representatives of all its citizens and are responsible for them. Therefore, it would be better to demand of the Palestinians to recognize Israel as a sovereign state, and not to coerce them in the same way as the citizens coerce us, through the imposition of religion and the word of rabbis.

The existing arrangement in Israel was suitable for the Catholic Spain of Isabella and Ferdinand at the end of the 15th century. That is when the expulsion of Jews from Spain took place, since only Catholics, or those who converted to Catholicismm could be Spanish. If it is more important to be a Jew than it is to be an Israeli, then why do we demand of the Jews of the world to come here at a time when they have it so good in the democratic countries in which they live as Jews?

Shulamit Aloni is a former Israeli education minister. She has been awarded both the Israel Prize and the Emil Grunzweig Human Rights Award by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel. THE DAILY STAR publishes this commentary in collaboration with the Common Ground News Service.

Did Livni mean what she said? Did Livni intend transfer of Israeli Arabs?

Jawad Boulous, Haaretz, 26.11.07. I heard Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni declare last week that the Palestinian state would provide a national solution for all the Palestinians, including those who live inside Israel. The minister in effect was offering her understanding of the real significance of Israel's insistence on conditioning its participation in the Annapolis conference on Palestinian recognition of Israel as the state of the Jewish people. The connection Livni made between the Palestinian refugees and the Palestinian citizens of the State of Israel - by saying that both of them could find their solution in a future Palestinian state - did not leave much to the imagination, for this time the remarks were made by the foreign minister and in the name of the Israeli government, and herein lies the danger. Since the state's establishment, its leaders have refused to internalize the fact that an Arab Palestinian minority remained here. Their decision to stay and live on their lands constituted a painful reminder to the leaders of the Zionist movement about the way in which reality failed to conform to Israel Zangwill's well-known slogan that saw this as "a land without a people for a people without a land." One cannot help but be shocked at how the foreign minister dared to say what she did without the very foundations of the state being rocked. If she does not correct her statements or apologize in the near future, her direct superior, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will be obliged to clarify the government's standpoint in a clear and unequivocal manner, and instruct her to apologize. If she refuses to do so, he must show her the way out.

Over the years, Israeli leaders competed with one another in coining racist slogans that would bear evidence of their desire to rid themselves of that national minority - expressions such as "drugged cockroaches in a bottle," "a cancer in the body of the state" and "fifth column" - lines that became engraved deeply upon the consciousness of the Arab minority. These sentiments served as a reminder that at least some Israeli policy-makers believe, as part of their conceptual understanding and basic worldview, that Israel should not become reconciled to the existence of the Arab-Palestinian minority in its midst. Against this backdrop, it is possible to understand the policy of discrimination that is wielded against the Arab minority - a policy that is in fact a symptom of a sick body that refuses to accept the minority as one of its own natural organs.

Livni's declaration is seen in the eyes of many as a significant step toward the implementation of the transfer plan that in days gone by was the declared dream of marginal political figures and bodies. Now apparently we are no longer talking about a contingency plan, but rather about a fact that all the Arab population in Israel must regard with utmost seriousness and place at the head of its concerns. If this understanding is mistaken, Foreign Minister Livni and the government of Israel are obligated to declare in no uncertain terms that the state is not planning any kind of transfer.

And for their part, the leaders and institutions of the Arab minority must hold a thorough and responsible discussion, and perhaps must also rethink, the way in which they will conduct the long and ongoing struggle for survival inside this country. At the end of the road, it is not sufficient to shout and to act like a victim, since even a victim has to find ways to protect himself if he is to survive.

The author is an attorney who represents, among others, Marwan Barghouti.

Abu Mazen: «Cacciamo la banda di Hamas»

Davide Frattini, Corriere della Sera, 16.11.07. Il governo di Ehud Olmert — rivela il quotidiano Haaretz — discuterà lunedì la questione del riconoscimento di Israele come Stato ebraico. Avigdor Lieberman, ministro per le Minacce strategiche, vuole che il riconoscimento da parte dei palestinesi venga posto come precondizione a qualunque negoziato. Il leader del partito ultranazionalista Israele la nostra casa starebbe preparando con il Likud, all'opposizione, una legge che stabilisca il principio. «Olmert ha deciso di impedire qualunque apertura sui rifugiati palestinesi», commenta l'analista Danny Rubinstein alla France Presse. Israele considera il diritto al ritorno una minaccia alla sua esistenza come Stato ebraico. «Alla vigilia di Annapolis — scrive Haaretz in un editoriale — il governo tira fuori questa assurda richiesta, dopo che i nostri leader hanno fatto di tutto per sabotare il carattere ebraico del Paese: insediamenti sparsi nel cuore della popolazione palestinese che rendono impossibile separare i due Stati lungo un confine attuabile».

Abu Mazen non ha risposto direttamente alla richiesta. «La Palestina storica sarà divisa in due Stati — ha commentato —. Non discutiamo del carattere religioso dell'uno o dell'altro». A escludere un'intesa sono stati il premier Salam Fayyad («possono chiedere quello che vogliono, ma non lo otterranno da noi») e Saeb Erekat, negoziatore e consigliere del presidente: «Riconosciamo il diritto di Israele a esistere. Ma i palestinesi non lo accetteranno come uno Stato ebraico».
La strage di lunedì ha spinto Abu Mazen a cambiare i toni. «Dobbiamo far cadere questa banda che ha preso il controllo con le armi e sta abusando del nostro popolo», ha detto il presidente in un discorso. L'appello minaccioso è arrivato dopo gli scontri alla manifestazione in memoria di Yasser Arafat, dove il Fatah è riuscito a portare oltre duecentomila persone. Alla fine della parata i miliziani fondamentalisti hanno sparato sulla folla e otto persone sono rimaste uccise. La polizia organizzata dal movimento integralista ha arrestato quattrocento attivisti del partito laico — il premier deposto Ismail Haniyeh ha annunciato che alcuni verranno rilasciati —, ha aumentato i controlli sui giornalisti palestinesi e starebbe progettando di limitare le riunioni pubbliche

'Absurd' Israeli demand seen as bid to sabotage US peace talks

Cape Times, 16.11.07. JERUSALEM: Israel is hardening its stance towards the Palestinians - just weeks ahead of US peace talks - by insisting that they recognise the Jewish nature of the state. This demand, slammed by the liberal Haaretz daily as "absurd", appears to have come from nowhere at a time when negotiating teams from both sides are working to agree on a joint document for the November 27 meeting at Annapolis, Maryland. "There has never been a debate on this question ..." a surprised foreign ministry official said. "It's obvious that the Palestinians cannot recognise the Jewish nature of Israel. It will be difficult to move forward with such a demand."

Talking in circles

Khaled Amayreh, Al-Ahram Weekly, 15-21.11.07. Provocations and misunderstandings abound, but Israel as a state for Jews only remains the heart of the problem. An additional but extremely important sticking point is Israel's insistence that the PA recognise Israel as a "state of the Jewish people" not just as a nation state like the rest of the community of nations. On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was quoted as saying that the starting point of all negotiations with the Palestinians would be the "recognition of Israel as a state of all the Jewish people. We won't hold negotiations on our existence as a Jewish state, this is a launching point for all negotiations," said Olmert. He added that he was sure the Palestinian leadership understood this "fact perfectly."

"We won't have an argument with anyone in the world over the fact that Israel is a state of the Jewish people. Whoever doesn't accept this can't hold any negotiations with me. This has been made clear to the Palestinians and the Americans. I have no doubt that Abu Mazen and Salam Fayyad are committed to prior agreements and want to make peace with Israel as a Jewish state." Olmert said he would set a precondition for future negotiations that Palestinians recognise Israel as a Jewish state. "This will be a condition for our recognition of a Palestinian state."

But recognition of Israel as a Jewish state is viewed by most Palestinian officials as amounting to a real national suicide since it would imply granting Israel a certain right, which can be activated in the future, to expel its Palestinian citizens who constitute nearly one-fourth of Israel's population.

In addition, recognising Israel as a state for Jews implies that Palestinians would have to completely forget about the right of return for millions of Palestinian refugees uprooted from their homes and villages by Jewish terrorists in 1948.

More to the point, it is very clear from statements made by Israeli leaders, including opposition leader Benyamin Netanyahu, that Israel would eventually contemplate preventing its non-Jewish population from exceeding a certain threshold in order to prevent Israel from losing its "Jewish identity".

Such manifestly racist policy might take the form of defranchising Israeli Arabs, expelling them, or imposing a limit on how many children an Arab couple can have.

"These are impossible and manifestly racist demands. We can't possibly agree that a million and a half Palestinians who are citizens of Israel won't have a permanent right to live on their ancestral land. This is like saying that the native Americans have no permanent right to live in America."

Arab leaders in Israel are also vehemently opposed to any suggestion that the PA recognise Israel as a Jewish state. Contrary to Olmert's assertions, Ahmed Teibi, an Israeli-Arab lawmaker, said he had received "clear assurances" from PA President Abu Mazen, Abu Alaa and other Palestinian negotiators that the PA "will never ever recognise Israel as a state for the Jews."

"There is complete harmony in our respective positions in this regard," Teibi told the Weekly, adding that Israel is using this issue for "political wrangling".

While on his way to Jerusalem for another round of talks with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, the chief Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qurei (Abu Alaa) and members of his negotiating team were held at an Israeli army checkpoint and kept waiting for nearly half an hour. The affront, which may have been deliberate, infuriated the former Palestinian Authority prime minister, who demanded that preparatory peace talks be moved to a third country.

"The Palestinian delegation is very angry. We don't go to negotiate with them in order to be humiliated. We represent the Palestinian people and the Palestinian cause. This is a humiliation we can't accept. We propose never to conduct negotiations in Israel again," he later told the Israeli state-run radio.

In fact, the incident serves as an allegory caricaturing the protracted talks between the two sides, notwithstanding the numerous bilateral meetings and several "bridging" but effectively futile visits to the region by United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Rice is due to return next week to check on progress, that is if there is any.

Of course, tens of thousands of Palestinian travellers are routinely held and humiliated at the ubiquitous Israeli checkpoints and roadblocks on any given day. But the fact that a VIP like Abu Alaa had to experience, even minimally, what is a daily nightmare for the bulk of his people, may give him a clear idea of what the occupation means in real terms.

Qurei's bout of anger, however, didn't stop him from travelling again to West Jerusalem on 12 November for more talks with Livni. But the talks failed to reach even a semblance of concordance on any of the core issues that define the Israeli-Palestinian conflict ahead of the upcoming Annapolis conference, slated to be held on 26 November.