country:palestinian authority

Gen. John Allen appointed U.S. security envoy in peace process -
By Barak Ravid
Haaretz Daily Newspaper
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/gen-john-allen-appointed-u-s-security-envoy-in-peace-process-1.525718

Gen. John Allen has been appointed special U.S. envoy on security issues in negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. He will not mediate between the parties; his work will almost exclusively involve contacts with Israel. Allen will deal with the U.S. position on Israeli security needs and the security arrangements that would accompany the establishment of a future Palestinian state.

Should Palestine switch from the shekel to Bitcoin? — RT Op-Edge
http://rt.com/op-edge/palestine-switch-to-bitcoin-558

Bitcoin, like the spiritual leaders who have come before it in the Middle-Eastern desert, is a miraculous gift capable of transforming an oppressed, forgotten people. The Palestinian economy is a multi-billion dollar economy that unfortunately benefits mostly outsiders. But if Bitcoin were adopted as the official currency, Palestinians would be able to shape their own economic destiny and in so doing their sovereign destiny.

Contribution sur Russia Today pour @Fil

Je ne suis pas totalement convaincu par cette analyse, mais il y a plusieurs choses intéressantes là-dedans : Exile and the Prophetic : Disappearing Massad, disappearing Palestine | Marc H. Ellis
http://mondoweiss.net/2013/05/prophetic-disappearing-palestine.html

Read Massad carefully.  Though his criticism of the Palestinian Authority and Arab governments are often one-liners, they’re tough ones.  It’s bound to ruffle feathers. 

This could be another reason for Massad’s disappearing article.  With the recent Arab League land swap agreement, it seems that the Arab countries are all-in on Israel being integrated into the Middle East military security structure.  What they don’t need are Palestinian intellectuals and activists messing with their political alliances, especially those sponsored by the United States.  Al Jazeera is policing its own.

If you remember, Said was merciless on the Palestinian Authority and the Arab governments after the Oslo Accords were signed.  As his health deteriorated, Said went ballistic.  Again, the differences between Massad and Said are instructive here.  Is Massad the inheritor of Said’s mantle in these changing times?

Massad and other Palestinian intellectuals and activists want to prevent the Palestinian Authority and the Arab governments from signing away their birthright.  Hitting at Jews and Jewish history, making Jewishness invisible in the movement to free Palestinians, is partly a strategic ploy to regain traction in the context of an agreed upon disappearing Palestine.

Israeli ministries propose toll on Palestinian goods to plug budget deficit. http://www.haaretz.com/misc/article-print-page/israeli-ministries-propose-toll-on-palestinian-goods-to-plug-budget-deficit

Des ministres israéliens proposent des taxes sur les produits palestiniens pour réduire le déficit budgétaire d’Israel.

Israel may not be a pariah, but it’s definitely a headache - Diplomacy & Defense - Israel News | Haaretz Daily Newspaper
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/israel-may-not-be-a-pariah-but-it-s-definitely-a-headache.premium-1.520012

Le Ha’aretz tente de relativiser l’acte de Stephen Hawking en accusant les pro-droit international de «bombardement»...

The media’s reports Wednesday that Professor Stephen Hawking would not be attending the President’s Conference in Israel next month prompted many to accuse the world-renowned scientist of anti-Semitism.

Hawking, however, has already visited Israel four times, including the last time, in 2006, at the invitation of the British Embassy. During that trip, he visited universities in Israel and the Palestinian Authority and said he hoped to meet Israeli and Palestinian scientists.

According to a report in the Guardian, ever since Hawking’s participation in the conference was made known some four weeks ago, he has been bombarded with countless emails and letters from Britain and other places in the world, calling on him to revoke his decision.

In view of Hawking’s previous visits to Israel, however, it would be difficult to brand him anti-Semitic. Perhaps he just wanted to avoid the headache involved in any visit to Israel by a well-known scientist or performer.

Among those fighting to thwart the repeated attempts, especially in Britain, to boycott universities in Israel is David Newman, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. Newman says that the majority of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement was once limited to mere proclamations by various organizations, but that this has been changing in recent years. Now, he says, boycott efforts are carried out primarily by determined activists who bombard public figures planning to come to Israel with an onslaught of emails and faxes. This is probably what happened to Hawking. If so, it means Israel may not be a pariah yet, but it is certainly no longer a place everyone travels to gladly.

According to Newman, one of the founders of Ben-Gurion University’s politics and government department, which has been accused by local McCarthyists of having dangerous leftist tendencies, the answer to these attempts to impose an academic boycott on Israel is to strengthen the cooperation between Israeli and international scientists.

Acts such as upgrading the status of the Ariel University Center, and threats like the one by the Higher Education Council to shut down Ben-Gurion’s politics and government department hardly contribute to furthering said cooperation.

Erekat: PLO not notified of settlement freeze | Maan News Agency
►http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=593212

BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Israel has not notified the PLO of any changes to its settlement activity, Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said Tuesday, as Israeli media reported a new moratorium on settler homes in the West Bank.

“We have not been notified of any changes to Israel’s colonial plans, including ongoing construction in dozens of Israeli settlements in the Occupied State of Palestine, including in and around our occupied capital East Jerusalem,” Erekat said in a statement.

Israel’s army radio reported Tuesday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had ordered a freeze on publishing tenders for new West Bank settler homes to avoid hampering US efforts to renew peace talks.

“What we need are actions and not words," Erekat said in response to the report. “We monitor Israeli activities on the ground on a daily basis.”

Neither Netanyahu’s office nor the housing ministry would comment on the army radio report, which said the premier had gone back on a pre-election pledge to push ahead with thousands of new settler homes if re-elected.

The radio said the tenders were related to construction in the major settlement blocs which are home to most of the 360,000 Israelis living in the West Bank.

Netanyahu’s decision to freeze the tenders was linked to efforts led by US Secretary of State John Kerry to relaunch peace talks with the Palestinians, according to the report.

Hagit Ofran of the Israeli group Peace Now, which opposes settlements, confirmed that the watchdog had seen no evidence of any new tenders published since the start of 2013.

“There have been no new tenders published for settlement construction in the West Bank since the start of the year, and tenders are normally issued every three months,” she told AFP.

“This is not a settlement freeze because construction in the settlements is continuing, but you could say it is a show of restraint by Benjamin Netanyahu who does not want to be accused by the Americans of being responsible for the failure of their efforts to restart negotiations with the Palestinians.”

Report Highlights Corruption In Palestinian Institutions - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/05/report-corruption-palestine-institutions-gaza.html

The annual report for 2013 issued by the Coalition for Accountability and Integrity (AMAN) showed that corruption is still rampant inside public Palestinian institutions despite the progress during the past year. It showcased the positive and negative developments that affected corruption in various sectors, focusing on the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the West Bank, as gathering information from Gaza’s Hamas government is difficult.

By +972blog |Published May 4, 2013
Exhibition on loan: How Israel’s cultural institutions contribute to occupation
http://972mag.com/exhibition-on-loan-how-israels-cultural-institutions-contribute-to-occupation/70447

...

According to today’s international standards, heritage sites are not a national possession, but rather part of a place’s history, and as such, must be accessible to residents and remain under their jurisdiction. However, the prohibition on the removing findings from occupied territories enshrined in international law, and the Oslo Accords, under which archaeological sites in Area C are to be transferred to the Palestinian Authority, have long become meaningless in the Israeli discourse.

...

It is easy to ignore the deeds of these institutions and to focus on violence and the daily Israeli violations in the Occupied Territories. But even if the “exhibition on loan” from the Herodium is not identical to wielding physical violence against Palestinians, it seems that in everything that pertains to the West Bank, those in charge exploit resources for their own needs, whether for exhibition, excavation or settlement expansion. The exhibition in honor of Herod and the emphasis on the importance of the Herodium site is the best way in which the Israel Museum can “contribute” – intentionally or not – to strengthening the Gush Etzion settlement bloc and turning Herodium into a central Israeli tourism heritage site. Likewise, in the case of City of David, Tel Aviv University only has to perform its excavations professionally. Police, settlers and the authorities will handle the struggle against the local residents.

Both institutions could choose a different route. They could abide by international law in recognition of the mutual interest of all residents. They could put their work on hold until better days, when such activities can promote shared heritage and dialogue between cultures. In their decision to ignore the political implications, however, the cultural institutions’ contribution to the occupation is to dismiss it (and to ignore the Palestinians), and to present their work as investigative and cultural. And if critique is voiced, they can simply say that it’s nothing compared to violence, which we all oppose.

7 injured as settlers attack Palestinian school buses | Maan News Agency
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=580826

NABLUS (Ma’an) — Settlers threw rocks at a two Palestinian school busese south of Nablus on Sunday, injuring seven children, a Palestinian Authority official said.

Ghassan Daghlas, who monitors settlement activity in the northern West Bank, said settlers smashed the windshield of two buses returning from a school trip.

Seven children were injured and taken to the Rafedia Hospital in Nablus, Daghlas said.

https://twitter.com/Tweet_Palestine/status/329201080263131139/photo/1

The Oslo Illusion | Jacobin

http://jacobinmag.com/2013/04/the-oslo-illusion/?r44b=no

The Oslo Illusion

by Adam Hanieh

The Oslo Accords weren’t a failure for Israel — they served as a fig leaf to consolidate and deepen its control over Palestinian life.
Schell

This year marks the twentieth anniversary of the signing of the Oslo Accords between the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Israeli government. Officially known as the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements, the Oslo Accords were firmly ensconced in the framework of the two-state solution, heralding “an end to decades of confrontation and conflict,” the recognition of “mutual legitimate and political rights,” and the aim of achieving “peaceful coexistence and mutual dignity and security and … a just, lasting and comprehensive peace settlement.”

#palestine #israël #accords-d-oslo

Israël/ Palestine
Le Conseil National de Sécurité américain récuse les allégations avancées par Haaretz (édition du 24 avril 2013) selon lesquelles Washington serait disposé à inviter à un sommet Netanyahou, Abbas et le roi Abdallah de Jordanie pour relancer les négociations israélo-palestiniennes. L’auteur de l’article maintient que ses informations sont puisées à la bonne source.

U.S. denies plan to convene 4-way Mideast summit in June
Despite denials, well-placed U.S. sources insist that a four-way summit heralding the launch of renewed talks between Israel and the Palestinians had been discussed with Mideast leaders, foreign ministers.

By Chemi Shalev | Apr.25, 2013 | Haaretz

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/u-s-denies-plan-to-convene-4-way-mideast-summit-in-june-1.517668

The Obama administration Thursday denied a Haaretz report about plans to convene a four way Middle East peace summit in which President Barack Obama, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Jordan’s King Abdullah will participate.

Bernadette Meehan, National Security Council Spokesperson: said “We have the seen the media reports of a planned Middle East Peace summit in Washington. These reports are not true. We remain committed to working with the Israelis and the Palestinians to achieve a lasting peace through direct negotiations.”

Acting Deputy Spokesperson Patrick Ventrell also denied the report, saying that the U.S. Administration is expecting to hold talks with an Arab League delegation that will visit Washington on April 29.

Despite the denials, however, well-placed American sources insisted Thursday that a four-way summit that would herald the launch of renewed talks between Israel and the Palestinians had been discussed with Mideast leaders and foreign ministers. One diplomatic source told Haaretz that the sides had been encouraged to “come up with ideas” that would enable the summit to convene. (…)

Jadis les relances du processus de paix étaient médiatisées longtemps à l’avance de manière à ce que l’on puisse dire que, cette fois-ci, « c’était la bonne ! ». Tout concourait à susciter les espoirs, voire les enthousiasmes, et même à prévenir les frustrations en cas d’échec. Rude tâche d’ailleurs tant l’incrédulité prévalait. Dans ce cas, la rumeur d’un « plan B » pouvait entretenir la flamme. Aujourd’hui rien de tel. C’est presque par surprise qu’on a appris l’initiative américaine. Depuis, c’est peu de dire que les navettes diplomatiques de John Kerry sont discrètement annoncées. C’est d’ailleurs une bonne chose, la retenue en diplomatie étant l’une des rares vertus qui souffre les excès, sans en souffrir.

L’auteur de l’article fait lui aussi montre de prudence en précisant in fine que l’objectif de Washington est de conforter l’Autorité palestinienne et son président. On voit l’ambition. Ce sera vrai si l’initiative américaine rencontre la réussite. Ce sera contreproductif à la fois pour l’Autorité palestinienne et pour Mahmoud Abbas en cas d’échec. Il n’y a pas que les échecs des précédents processus de paix qui ont peu à peu décrédibilisé le président aux yeux des Palestiniens, mais ils y ont leur part.

L’article indique que les références habituelles seront bien prises en compte : l’Initiative de paix arabe de 2002 ; le renoncement par les Palestiniens à leur exigence de voir geler la colonisation ; des négociations directes entre Israéliens et Palestiniens ; le principe de deux Etats pour deux peuples et, enfin, la perspective d’une dotation économique et financière pour les Palestiniens. Ces "termes de référence" sont traditionnels depuis quelques années. Ils n’ont jamais rien produit sinon de donner du temps au temps.

L’article mentionne bien les parties au conflit (Israël, Palestine), l’un de ses « mandataires » (Amman, qui a signé un accord de paix avec Israël. Le Caire aurait dû entrer dans cette catégorie mais le pays est engagé dans une crise constitutionnelle qui ne renforce pas sa crédibilité), ceux qui les soutiennent (le Caire et d’autres capitales arabes non mentionnées dans l’article), ceux qui se sont récemment rendus indispensables dans les équilibres régionaux (Ankara, nouvel invité) et, bien entendu, Washington qui reste le seul maître d’œuvre d’un ouvrage inachevé (la paix ? l’Etat palestinien ? la stabilité ? etc.)

Mais à ce mariage pour tous, il manque un partenaire, du moins dans l’article du Haaretz : l’Union européenne. Gageons qu’elle aura son mot à dire.

U.S. seeks to convene 4-way Mideast summit in June
Kerry working with Palestinians, Israel and Jordan to formulate basis for summit that would launch new peace talks and herald economic assistance to the Palestinian Authority ; Turkey and Egypt may also be invited to participate in summit.
By Chemi Shalev | Apr.25, 2013 | 7:31 AM |
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/u-s-seeks-to-convene-4-way-mideast-summit-in-june.premium-1.517473
U.S. seeks to convene 4-way Mideast summit in June : The American Administration plans to convene a four way Middle East peace summit in which U.S. President Barack Obama, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Jordan’s King Abdullah will participate.

Well-placed U.S. sources said the summit is slated to convene in Washington during the month of June- with thought already being devoted to avoid a scheduling clash with the 2013 Israeli Presidential Conference and the 90th birthday celebrations of President Shimon Peres.

The sources said that Turkey, Egypt and other Arab countries may also be invited to participate in the summit, though it’s not clear yet at what level. Secretary of State John Kerry discussed the planned summit in his meetings in Istanbul this week with the Turkish and Egyptian foreign ministers as well as with Abbas.

The summit is also expected to be discussed at Friday’s White House meeting between Obama and King Abdullah, as well as in a mid-May Washington visit by Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. U.S. sources said that Israel is also aware of the plan.

The Administration, according to the sources, has yet to decide whether it will convene the summit in any case, or only if Kerry achieves a breakthrough that will allow a resumption of peace talks. Kerry has met with Abbas five times in recent weeks in an effort to circumvent the Palestinian leader’s insistence on a settlement freeze as a precondition to resuming negotiations.

The Administration is said to be contemplating a letter of invitation or “terms of reference” for the summit that will include the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, which was reaffirmed by the Arab League meeting in Doha at the beginning of April, as well as the principle of “two states for two people” and a substantial economic package for the Palestinian Authority.

According to the sources, in his meeting Kerry has asked his interlocutors to propose ways that would make the convening of such a summit feasible. The “best case scenario” for the U.S. is that it will be able to announce a venue and format for resuming direct talks.

“We have two or three weeks left to see if this thing is doable,” one source said. “The Americans believe it is – but they may be naïve.” Kerry, the source added, is “working night and day” to get the peace process moving.

The Administration views the resumption of the peace process, among other things, as a way of strengthening the Palestinian Authority and the personal stature of President Abbas.

Autorité palestinienne.
Du bon usage des banalités par un ancien de la CIA, Paul Pillar, à l’occasion de la démission du premier ministre palestinien, Salam Fayyad (les parenthèses ne sont pas de Pillar):

– Salam Fayyad avait tout pour séduire les Américains (dit et tant répété que cela n’a pu que le desservir);
– Il aura été (à son corps défendant) le « bon » Palestinien à opposer au « mauvais » Palestinien qu’était le Hamas ;
– L’Autorité palestinienne aura constitué un trompe-l’œil dissimulant la véritable ambition de la politique israélienne et un pion aux mains des différents premiers ministres israéliens qui n’ont eu de cesse de retarder indéfiniment l’apparition d’un Etat palestinien (réalité toujours valable depuis les accords d’Oslo en 1993 jusqu’à aujourd’hui);
– L’Autorité palestinienne aura incarné l’idée selon laquelle les Palestiniens devaient créer leur Etat, mais sans jamais avoir la possibilité d’accomplir cette mission du fait de la politique israélienne (toute avancée sur la voie de l’Etat étant ralentie, dénoncée, empêchée ou sanctionnée par Israël) ;

Paul Pillar ne dit pas que la politique menée par Salam Fayyad a permis des progrès économiques - limités dans le contexte de la contrainte extérieure, israélienne ou internationale, mais réels – mais a contribué également à réduire les revendications palestiniennes nationales en engageant un processus de rattrapage économique et social auquel les Palestiniens ne pouvaient qu’adhérer. Ce processus avait été engagé dès avant la disparition d’Arafat (avec l’actif soutien financier de la communauté internationale, surtout européenne), conforté par Abou Mazen arrivé au pouvoir sur un programme électoral de non-violence, et mis en œuvre par Salam Fayyad en qualité de ministre des Finances puis de premier ministre.

Enfin, on peut ne pas être d’accord avec Paul Pillar sur l’avenir de fayyad. Il n’est pas acquis qu’il quitte définitivement la politique. On pourrait le revoir à la tête du gouvernement, ou de l’Autorité palestinienne ou de toute autre forme de direction politique des Palestiniens.

A Good Man Leaves the Plantation
Paul Pillar
April 13, 2013

http://nationalinterest.org/blog/paul-pillar/good-man-leaves-the-plantation-8348

Salam Fayyad has been just about everything that U.S. administrations could have hoped for in a Palestinian prime minister. The American-educated economist is competent, honest and moderate. In his six years as prime minister of the Palestinian Authority he made admirable progress in instilling order in the bureaucracy that he led. It is no surprise that the Obama administration and Secretary of State Kerry tried hard, ultimately unsuccessfully, to keep him in the job. For similar reasons the Israelis were happy to have him around.

The Palestinian Authority or PA is a strange entity that nonetheless—at the time it was created by the Oslo accords that Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat signed 20 years ago—made sense. It was to be a transitional mechanism that would facilitate a change of the Palestinian leadership and political structure from a resistance movement (it was as head of the Palestine Liberation Organization that Arafat signed the accords) to a government. But Rabin, whom an Israeli extremist assassinated in response to his making peace with the PLO, is long gone. For many years now the strange entity has functioned as a stooge of a different sort of Israeli leadership, a leadership whose objective is to delay indefinitely the creation of a Palestinian state and to cling permanently to land conquered through a military invasion 46 years ago. It is misleading to consider the Palestinian Authority still to be a transitional mechanism as it was originally conceived, given that many years have gone by since, according to the timetable in the Oslo accords, a Palestinian state should already have been established. The PA, regardless of what may have been the skills and good intentions of some of those who have led it, is a Potemkin village—a prop that supports a deceptive Israeli story about peace, land, political power and especially the Israeli government’s intentions.

No matter how much one might understandably consider the Oslo accords to be dead, having the PA still around serves several purposes for Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. Most fundamentally, it preserves the fiction that the Israeli government actually supports a two-state solution. It also appears to relieve Israel from accountability for failing to live up to its responsibilities under international law as the occupying power in territory conquered in war. Of course, Israel really is the true power over all of the West Bank, but by being able to point to another entity that supposedly has administrative responsibilities it can say that problems and deficiencies are someone else’s fault.

The PA, especially with leaders as respectable as Fayyad, has functioned for Israel as the “good” Palestinians in contrast to the “bad” Palestinians of Hamas, enabling the Israelis to continue to pretend to want to make peace with Palestinians even though it has refused to deal with fairly elected Palestinian leaders when those leaders happen to be from Hamas. Meanwhile, the purpose of indefinite postponement of a Palestinian state is served by pointing to a Palestinian movement that does not appear to have its act together while Israel simultaneously does everything possible to prevent reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah, the dominant party in the PA, and thus to keep the movement divided.
The Palestinian Authority embodies the concept, articulated by American advocates for the Israeli government such as Elliott Abrams, that Palestinians must “build” a state rather than merely being “granted” one. But the “building” phase continues indefinitely, with an actual state always remaining out of reach. If the PA seems to be getting too close to statehood, the Israelis can, and do, easily kick it back. After the PA’s move to upgrade its status at the United Nations, Israel punished it by withholding tax revenue that belongs to the Palestinians. This exacerbated a financial crisis that has been one of the biggest challenges for Fayyad’s administration. The Israelis also, of course, can use their first-choice policy tool—military force—as they did in 2002 when they demolished many of the PA’s offices as well as other administrative infrastructure such as police stations. This action made it all the more difficult for the Palestinians to function in a way that demonstrates they are “building” a state. Even without Israeli use of something as blatant as the 2002 action, the many everyday restrictions Israel places on transportation and other aspects of Palestinian life make it impossible for the PA to work in a way that would ever force Israel to acknowledge that a state had been “built.”

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has sometimes spoken of abolishing the Palestinian Authority if Netanyahu’s government doesn’t take real steps toward a peace settlement. Abolition would end a charade, but it would also come with a cost to the Palestinians, mostly in the form of handing the Israelis an argument, to be used in perpetuity, that it was the Palestinians who destroyed the Oslo accords and gave up on peace. The charade is also a trap.
One can only imagine Fayyad’s deepest thoughts at the moment. His resignation reportedly involved disagreements with Abbas, as well as significant opposition to Fayyad within Fatah. But he surely must be feeling some personal relief. He is too smart and too honest not to perceive the stooge-like quality of the enterprise he has been involved in. No one should complain if he were to retire from public life and move into a comfortable academic position somewhere.

Secretary of State John Kerry pushes Turkey-Israel rapprochement - Washington Times
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/apr/21/secretary-state-john-kerry-pushes-turkey-israel-ra

Mr. Kerry said he understood the anger and frustration of those Turks who lost friends and family in the raid. Mr. Kerry, a former Massachusetts senator, said last week’s Boston Marathon bombings made him acutely aware of the emotions involved.

Defense establishment reaches out to PA - Israel News, Ynetnews
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4369625,00.html

Parmi les mesures israéliennes envisagées pour « remonter le moral des Palestiniens », et ainsi prévenir des « émeutes » palestiniennes lors des journées de la nakba et de la naksa,

The document offers that ammunition will be handed to the PA, including crowd dispersal measures, and that permits to open new Palestinian police stations be granted.

The Palestinian Time Warp - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/04/palestine-salam-fayyad-peace-process-economy.html

One can only admire the tenacity of those who insist with disarming sincerity that policies that have produced less Palestinian development and continuing occupation deserve yet another go.

Palestine. Intéressant sujet quasiment jamais évoqué publiquement: les dettes contractées par l’Autorité palestinienne (PA) dont l’existence a été révélée à l’occasion du départ du ministre des Finances Nabil Qassis. L’auteur de l’article, Abdel Bari Atwan (Rédacteur en chef de Alquds Alarabi) s’insurge contre une situation qui non seulement hypothèque l’avenir des Palestiniens mais leur fait supporter aussi le coût de l’occupation israélienne (En général, on s’accorde à dire que c’est la communauté internationale qui, par ses aides, finance l’occupation israélienne des territoires palestiniens).

PA debt as repressive as Israel
Abdel Bari Atwan (Alquds Alarabi)
13 April 2013
http://www.bariatwan.com/english/?p=1572

“We are very shocked to learn that the Palestinian Authority (PA) in Ramallah has run up debts approaching $5bn and that $1bn is external debt. These debts are a heavy burden on the Palestinian people, and will extend to the coming generations. Most Palestinians thought that the PA’s funding came from the donor countries, not debts that would constrain the hands of the Palestinian people and break their will.

The Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his Prime Minister Salam Fayyad have been airing apparently logical comparisons between the prosperous conditions of the Palestinians in the West Bank and the deteriorating conditions of the residents of the Gaza Strip. However, these Palestinian officials have not mentioned that such prosperity came as a result of borrowing the billions of dollars from foreign banks and institutions, not as a result of the fiscal genius of the government and its prime minister, who was a World Bank economist from 1987 – 1995 and was dispatched to the West Bank by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

I am not biased towards Hamas in the Gaza Strip, as I reject the way it deals with its citizens with an iron fist, the spread of corruption, and the level of interference in their personal lives. However, I am biased towards the Palestinian people and their future. They will be under pressure of this debt for decades ahead.

(…) I thank God for the resignation of Dr Nabil Qasis, which freed him to open up this issue of debts, to expose the cover-up of the increasing financial quagmire. The Palestinian prime minister should resign from his position, as he has plunged his country, subject to Israeli occupation, into debt. Salam Fayyad and his President Mahmoud Abbas should bear the responsibility of this disaster. They should resign from their positions as they have exempted the Israeli occupation from bearing its responsibility for over 20 years since signing the Oslo Agreement. (…) The PA, that now supports the Israeli occupation by borrowing money that it knows it cannot pay back, must be dissolved.”

#Abbas #Fayyad #West_Bank #Gaza #Qasis #Oslo_Agreement #debt

Analysts warn: Fayyad resignation may slow Palestinian steps towards statehood

Middle East Online
By Hossam Ezzedine - RAMALLAH (Palestinian Territories

http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=58118

Prime Minister Salam Fayyad’s resignation is likely to raise questions over donor support for the Palestinian Authority and may slow its steps towards statehood, experts warn. (…) However, in the past month, international donors have pledged fresh efforts to find the necessary funds and Washington quietly unblocked almost $500 million (382 million euros) in aid which had been held up by Congress. And Israel agreed to unblock revenues collected on behalf of the PA that were frozen last year in response to the Palestinians winning upgraded UN status. As a result, the PA on March 28 adopted a budget of some $3.9 billion, of which $1.4 billion would have to come from foreign financing.

Last month, the World Bank said the worsening fiscal situation could cause “lasting damage” to the competitiveness of the Palestinian economy, and a separate IMF report warned the crisis could “ultimately lead some to question the legitimacy of the PA and undermine its ability to govern effectively.” (…) But Imad Ghayatha, a political scientist at Bir Zeit University on the West Bank dismissed any suggestion that Fayyad’s departure would affect international aid. “This will not affect relations with donors,” he said. “Maintaining the PA is not only a Palestinian interest but also an Israeli and a regional one. The peace process relies on maintaining the PA and international powers know better than to tie up their interests with one individual,” he said (…)

Barak Ravid (Haaretz) détaille les raisons qui ont conduit le président Abou Mazen à se défaire de son premier ministre: son aura internationale, son refus de la corruption et du népotisme, la jalousie qu’il éveillait chez les envieux, la rancœur du président à son égard parce qu’il avait jugé en novembre dernier que la reconnaissance de la Palestine aux Nations Unies n’avait qu’une valeur symbolique, l’affrontement des deux autour de la récente démission de Nabil Qassis, ministre des Finances. L’auteur de l’article voit dans cette démission le signe d’une désintégration de l’Autorité palestinienne et s’interroge sur l’attitude des bailleurs de fond internationaux – notamment américains -qui pourraient être réticents à l’idée d’accorder leurs aides au prochain gouvernement palestinien. Il y voit aussi le résultat de l’attitude ambiguë adoptée par Netanyahu à l’égard de Salam Fayyad : reconnaissance de ses compétences mais aussi inquiétude de voir qu’il réussissait à construire les infrastructures de l’Etat palestinien.

Fayyad’s resignation: The beginning of the end of the PA?

It was actually the PA prime minister’s successes that eventually led to his downfall. His effective management and relative popularity meant he was a threat to too many people.

By Barak Ravid | Apr.14, 2013 | 1:24 AM | 41
Haaretz

http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/fayyad-s-resignation-the-beginning-of-the-end-of-the-pa-1.515292

“The resignation of Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad on Saturday is a dramatic development. Its ramifications won’t just reverberate in the part of the West Bank under Palestinian control, but also affect Israel and the Obama administration’s efforts to renew the peace process, as well as the European Union’s policy towards the Palestinians.

For Israel’s government and defense establishment, the U.S., and the EU, which both regularly provide economic aid to the Palestinian Authority, Fayyad was the go-to man. The former International Monetary Fund economist was educated in the U.S. and was a symbol of good governance and the war on corruption. His plan to build Palestinian state institutions from the bottom up received much international support.

But it was this success that itself bore within it the seeds of his demise. Fayyad, who served as prime minister since 2007, resigned after his relations with PA President Mahmoud Abbas deteriorated, reaching an unprecedented low. The crisis of confidence between the two leaders was sharp and irreparable. Abbas and the Fatah party’s old guard that surround him saw Fayyad as a political rival who needed to be eliminated.

Fayyad’s resignation is another sign of the PA’s internal disintegration and the deep political crisis it is struggling with. In order to survive, Abbas imposed a semi-autocratic regime in the West Bank styled after that of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Journalists and bloggers are sent to prison, demonstrations and criticism are suppressed with an iron fist and the government doesn’t function while the ruler travels the globe.”

#Salam_Fayyad #Obama #Mahmoud_Abbas #Fatah #Palestinian_independence #Nabil_Kassis #Netanyahu

Palestinian Prime Minister, Salam Fayyad, resigns in big blow to the peace process - Middle East - World - The Independent
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/palestinian-prime-minister-salam-fayyad-resigns-in-big-blow-to-the-pe

Présenter un espoir comme une calamité, il faut le faire.

Tales from Gaza: What is life really like in ’the world’s largest outdoor prison’? - Middle East - World - The Independent
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/tales-from-gaza-what-is-life-really-like-in-the-worlds-largest-outdoo

With its sandy beaches and sumptuous seafood, it could be a holiday resort. But life in Gaza, post-Israeli sanctions and with 50 per cent unemployment, has never been more difficult. Alistair Dawber meets the people trying to survive on the Palestinian coast.

Affaire à suivre.
Palestinian Prime Minister Fayyad offers resignation
By Ali Sawafta

Reuters
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/10/us-palestinians-fayyad-abbas-idUSBRE93917I20130410

RAMALLAH, West Bank | Wed Apr 10, 2013 5:47pm EDT
RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad offered his resignation to President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday following a rift between the two men over government policy, two sources told Reuters.

Abbas was due to return to the occupied West Bank from Jordan on Thursday, and it was not immediately clear whether he would accept the resignation of the U.S.-educated economist.

A spokeswoman at Fayyad’s office declined to comment on the reports, which followed persistent rumors that Abbas wanted to sack Fayyad following internal political wrangling.
Western governments have offered staunch support to Fayyad ever since he became prime minister in 2007, seeing him as the architect of Palestinian state-building efforts, and his departure could complicate their ties with Abbas.

Long-strained relations between the 61-year-old Fayyad and Abbas worsened last month when the prime minister accepted the resignation of his finance minister, against the wishes of the president.

Cairo promises to ease travel at Rafah border

http://www.egyptindependent.com/news/cairo-promises-ease-travel-rafah-border

Arab funding for Jerusalem comes a decade too late - The National
http://www.thenational.ae/thenationalconversation/comment/arab-funding-for-jerusalem-comes-a-decade-too-late#full

...

Sensing they must adapt or perish, growing numbers [of Palestinians] are rethinking their approach.

Record numbers are applying to upgrade their residency to Israeli citizenship; the Israeli matriculation exam is being preferred over the Palestinian equivalent; more students are enrolling in Israeli colleges; some youths are volunteering for Israeli national service; and Palestinian neighbourhoods are co-operating with the municipality on street-naming.

A recent poll conducted in East Jerusalem even found that, were there a peace agreement, a majority of Palestinians in East Jerusalem would prefer to remain under Israeli rule. Those findings need to be treated with extreme caution, but they will have contributed to the unease of Mr Abbas and the Arab League.

Experts concede that efforts by Palestinians to integrate into Israeli life signal no great love of Israel. Rather, residents of East Jerusalem have understood that denied alternatives, they may have no other hope of surviving in their city. They have looked to the example of the 1.4 million Palestinians in Israel and seen that their citizenship offers limited protections even while it does almost nothing to end discrimination.

Integration, in the view of a growing number, provides a platform for a local struggle for civil rights, even if at the same time it alienates them from the national struggle. Such actions are seen as a reinvention of the Palestinian tradition of sumud (steadfastness), not capitulation.

Nonetheless, the movement of Jerusalem’s Palestinians towards Israel, however reluctantly undertaken, is also a rebuke to Mr Abbas and the Arab world. Even with a pledge of $1 billion, it is difficult not to conclude that both have failed Jerusalem.

Israel bombs Gaza, shoots down West Bank youth - World Socialist Web Site

http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/04/05/gaza-a05.html

Israel bombs Gaza, shoots down West Bank youth
By Bill Van Auken
5 April 2013

Israel announced that it has placed its military on “high alert” Thursday as popular anger erupted following the deaths of a prominent Palestinian prisoner and two young protesters in the occupied West Bank.

Thousands joined funeral processions Thursday for Maysara Abuhamdia, a 64-year-old Palestine Liberation Organization veteran who died Tuesday in Israeli custody, and for two teenage cousins, Amer Nassar, 17, and Naki Belbisi, 18, who were shot down Wednesday night by Israeli troops using live ammunition against protests over Abuhamdia’s death.

#gaza #palestine #cisjordanie #israël