Fatah: estromessa la vecchia guardia legata a Yasser Arafat. Arrivano i cinquantenni

Wirepullers: è finito da qualche giorno il congresso di Fatah e, a giudicare dall'esito del voto, sembra che i palestinesi non sappiano bene dove andare (a esclusione forse di chi vive nella striscia di Gaza): riconfermato Abu Mazen, entrano nel comitato centrale anche Marwan Barghouti, uno dei leader della prima Intifada, attualmente detenuto in Israele e Mohammed Dahlan, leader di Fatah a Gaza. Insomma, negoziato o scontro frontale? Rimane al vertice chi predilige il primo, ma si fa sotto chi preferirebbe il secondo. Il tutto con buona pace di Tel Aviv che, di fronte al disorientamento palestinese, avanza con gli insediamenti illegali. (4)

La nuova guardia di Fatah entra nel comitato centrale dello storico partito laico palestinese. Vent'anni dopo il precedente congresso di Tunisi, il nuovo congresso di Fatah in corso a Betlemme ha sancito l'ingresso ai vertici del partito di molti dei protagonisti degli ultimi anni, a partire da Marwan Barghouti, il popolare leader di Fatah in Cisgiordania, che dal 2004 sta scontando l'ergastolo in Israele. Al momento resta escluso l'ex primo ministro Ahmed Qurei (Abu Ala), che ha guidato la squadra palestinese all'ultima tornata di negoziati con gli israeliani.

Qurei e' per ora l'ultimo dei non eletti, ma non si escludono cambiamenti al momento del risultato definitivo. Fuori dal comitato anche l'ex segretario presidenziale Tayib Abdel Rahim.

I dati preliminari del voto degli oltre 2mila delegati, permettono al momento di confermare l'elezione di 11 dei 21 membri del comitato, cinque dei quali vengono nominati dai vertici del partito.

Il piu' votato e' risultato Mohammed Ighniem, piu' noto come Mohammed Ghneim, che e' stato riconfermato ed e' uno dei fondatori di Fatah. Ostile agli accordi di Oslo, e' tornato solo due settimane fa in Cisgiordania dopo anni di esilio.

Al secondo posto vi e' Mahmoud al Aloul, governatore di Nablus dal 1995 e poi deputato, mentre terzo si e' piazzato Barghouti. Eletto anche Mohammed Dahlan, ex capo della sicurezza a Gaza e acerrimo avversario di Hamas, al quale molti rimproverano tuttavia la cacciata di Fatah dalla Striscia.

Con lui entrano l'ex responsabile della sicurezza in Cisgiordania Jibril Rajoub, oggi a capo della Federazione calcio palestinese, e l'ex capo dell'intelligence Tawfiq al Tirawi, oltre al negoziatore Saeb Erekat e Nasser al Qidwa, nipote del fondatore di Fatah Yasser Arafat ed ex delegato palestinese all'Onu.

Ingresso al comitato centrale anche per Hussein al Sheikh, direttore dell'agenzia che coordina i rapporti amministrativi civili con Israele, e Azzam al Ahmad, capogruppo parlamentare di Fatah e a capo della delegazione per i colloqui di riconciliazione con Hamas.

Infine e' stato eletto Sultan Abu el Einein, delegato palestinese in Libano, e unico membro del comitato centrale basato all'estero.

Fonte: www.clandestinoweb.com

Le Fatah navigue entre Gaza, Jérusalem et Washington

Wirepullers: è finito da qualche giorno il congresso di Fatah e, a giudicare dall'esito del voto, sembra che i palestinesi non sappiano bene dove andare (a esclusione forse di chi vive nella striscia di Gaza): riconfermato Abu Mazen, entrano nel comitato centrale anche Marwan Barghouti, uno dei leader della prima Intifada, attualmente detenuto in Israele e Mohammed Dahlan, leader di Fatah a Gaza. Insomma, negoziato o scontro frontale? Rimane al vertice chi predilige il primo, ma si fa sotto chi preferirebbe il secondo. Il tutto con buona pace di Tel Aviv che, di fronte al disorientamento palestinese, avanza con gli insediamenti illegali. (3)

Le Fatah a réuni le 4 août sa sixième assemblée générale à Bethléem, la première depuis vingt ans, après la fuite de la majeure partie de ses dirigeants du Liban vers la Tunisie. Les décisions seront difficiles à prendre lors de cette réunion en raison de la position inconfortable et ambigüe du parti. L'objectif premier de ce congrès consiste à contrer le Hamas qui cherche à être le principal sinon le seul, représentant des palestiniens en se posant en une force capable de négocier la paix et la création d'un Etat. Il faut dans le même temps que le Fatah prenne des positions fermes et tienne un discours dur face au Premier ministre israélien Benjamin Netanyahou au moment où ce dernier est sous la pression de l'administration américaine.

A l'ouverture des débats, Mahmoud Abbas a axé son discours sur «les princes des ténèbres», qualifiant ainsi les félons de Gaza « qui devraient suivre la voie des négociations tant qu'il restait ne serait-ce qu'un infime espoir». Pour faire un bon équilibre, il a ajouté quelques mots à destination des plus durs affirmant que «bien que la paix est notre choix, nous nous réservons le droit de résister». Ses propos ont été immédiatement appuyés par ceux du général Jibril Rajoub. Cet ancien homme de confiance de Yasser Arafat et actuel conseiller pour la sécurité nationale à la présidence de l'Autorité palestinienne a précisé que le Fatah «n'avait pas renoncé et ne renoncerait pas à l'option d'un combat armé.»

Les congressistes évoluent entre la logique de l'affrontement pour ne pas se faire marginaliser par le Hamas et celle d'une négociation en cherchant à profiter d'un contexte plus favorable à Washington. Les militants de Gaza contestent la légitimité de la représentation palestinienne tandis que ceux de Cisjordanie, lassés des guerres faisant des ravages dans l'économie et dans leurs rangs, voudraient bien en finir en choisissant la voie pacifique mais en ménageant la chèvre et le chou.

Les pragmatiques voient leur territoire se réduire en peau de chagrin et ne veulent plus perdre de temps pour voir la naissance d'un Etat même à l'issue d'un accord provisoire. Mais ils doivent se montrer aussi suffisamment anti-israéliens pour satisfaire les désidérata des extrémistes qui ne veulent en aucun cas d'un accord de paix et, suffisamment «modérés» pour ne pas rompre tout à fait les liens avec les Etats-Unis qui tiennent à inventer un nouveau processus de paix.

L'existence de deux entités palestiniennes antagonistes facilite la prise de décision antinomique ayant pour conséquence le blocage de tout processus de paix. Selon la thèse à défendre et en fonction de l'opportunité du moment, l'une ou l'autre est mise en avant. L'OLP (Organisation de Libération de la Palestine) a été contrainte de signer les accords d'Oslo en 1993 avec comme condition impérative une timide reconnaissance d'Israël et pour le moins, le renoncement à sa destruction.

A l'opposé le Fatah, pourtant partie intégrante de l'OLP, représentant la branche armée, a choisit le combat comme seul moyen de recouvrer l'indépendance et refuse une quelconque reconnaissance d'un Etat juif en Palestine. L'autorité palestinienne subit donc ces contradictions. Et son leader n'a pas le charisme ni les moyens d'imposer sa volonté comme le faisait Yasser Arafat. Il est contraint de transiger, une fois à droite, une fois à gauche, pour assurer la cohésion de son parti.

Israël joue sur du velours
Israël, pendant ce temps, joue sur du velours puisqu'il reporte sur les palestiniens la responsabilité d'une inaction, sinon d'une rupture, en critiquant leur refus d'une reconnaissance claire et non ambiguë de son existence. Cette dichotomie entre paix et poursuite du combat attise la méfiance et fournit des arguments à la droite nationale israélienne qui s'oppose à toute négociation et à tout retrait des implantations de Cisjordanie.

Le double langage des palestiniens, oscillant entre lutte armée ou combat politique, a toujours été utilisé par Israël pour freiner toute avancée dans le processus de paix. Ils doutent des intentions pacifiques des palestiniens car les uns et les autres se contredisent sur la stratégie à suivre. Alors, la sécurité étant le crédo de tous les gouvernements, ils l'améliorent ou la consolident en étendant précisément les implantations en Cisjordanie. Les palestiniens ne semblent pas avoir compris que certains en Israël ont plus peur de la paix que de la guerre.

Nouvelle gouvernance
Des officiels militaires israéliens, qui ont approché le chef de l'Autorité, rapportent que Mahmoud Abbas a exprimé une certaine lassitude de n'avoir pas su fédérer son peuple. La remarque de Samy Abou Zohri, porte parole du Hamas l'accusant «d'avoir été élu à la tête de l'autorité palestinienne, et non pas du peuple palestinien» l'a profondément marqué. C'est pourquoi, désintéressé du combat politique et désabusé par ses échecs répétés, il semble résigné à céder sa place à condition que la charge n'échoie pas à un dirigeant du Hamas. A l'occasion de la démission de son Premier ministre Salam Fayed, le 7 mars 2009, il avait bien tenté de remettre de l'ordre dans l'Autorité pour prouver qu'il en était le chef mais sans réel succès.

Les observateurs israéliens estiment que l'objet du Congrès est à rechercher ailleurs, dans le remplacement de Mahmoud Abbas. Seul son retrait pourrait faciliter une réconciliation avec le Hamas et le retour de Gaza dans le giron d'une Autorité remaniée. Les congressistes pourraient sortir de leur chapeau un nouveau dirigeant capable de fédérer toutes les tendances. Un héros respecté par tous les militants, Mohamed Ghneim, exilé depuis la Guerre de Six Jours de 1967, vient d'obtenir d'Israël le droit de se rendre à Ramallah, après 40 ans d'absence.

Netanyahou n'a pas donné l'accord de son retour à la légère. Il reste persuadé que Mahmoud Abbas n'est plus un partenaire crédible jouissant de la confiance de son peuple et préfère négocier avec une personnalité nouvelle. Abou Maher, nom de guerre de Ghneim, ou quelqu'un d'autre disposant d'une certaine aura, pourrait lui convenir. Le changement de gouvernance aura au moins l'avantage de lui faire gagner du temps car c'est de cela dont il a le plus besoin. Bien sur, le vétéran du Fatah ne pouvait pas désavouer ses amis et son premier discours tendait à s'attirer les faveurs de tous les militants: «Je suis venu dans ma patrie pour affirmer que nous poursuivrons la lutte jusqu'à la libération». Lutte militaire ou politique? Guerre ou paix? Sera-t-il le de Gaulle palestinien?

En tout état de cause, les palestiniens doivent retrouver de la crédibilité vis-à-vis des américains et de l'Europe. Ils devront apprendre à parler d'une seule voix pour appliquer une seule politique. Il faut souhaiter qu'elle soit claire et pragmatique.

Autore: Jacques Benillouche

Fonte: www.slate.fr

Fatah Elects to Change Leadership

Wirepullers: è finito da qualche giorno il congresso di Fatah e, a giudicare dall'esito del voto, sembra che i palestinesi non sappiano bene dove andare (a esclusione forse di chi vive nella striscia di Gaza): riconfermato Abu Mazen, entrano nel comitato centrale anche Marwan Barghouti, uno dei leader della prima Intifada, attualmente detenuto in Israele e Mohammed Dahlan, leader di Fatah a Gaza. Insomma, negoziato o scontro frontale? Rimane al vertice chi predilige il primo, ma si fa sotto chi preferirebbe il secondo. Il tutto con buona pace di Tel Aviv che, di fronte al disorientamento palestinese, avanza con gli insediamenti illegali. (2)

The Palestinian Fatah movement elected a group of younger leaders to its top council on Tuesday, bolstering the movement's credentials as the West's best hope for Mideast peace, according to early voting results.

Fatah's first conference in two decades, while plagued by classic Fatah wrangling and intrigue, appeared to rejuvenate the pre-eminent Palestinian movement at a critical moment, weeks before President Barack Obama is to unveil a comprehensive plan to achieve Israeli-Palestinian peace.

Unofficial results indicated that Fatah's younger generation won a majority of seats on the Central Committee, polling officials said, declining to named before official results are announced.
While many of the victors are familiar Fatah figures, some say their rise to the movement's highest ranks will revive Fatah.

"This election is setting a new future for the movement, a new democratic era," said Mohammed Dahlan, the polarizing former head of security in Gaza, and one of the winners.

Among the newly elected are Marwan Barghouti, the 50-year-old firebrand now jailed by Israel and seen as a likely future president, and Jibril Rajoub, 56, a former aide to the late-Yasser Arafat who led several crackdowns on Fatah's Islamic militant rivals Hamas.

Mr. Rajoub said the outcome represented a break from the movement's previous leaders, many of them in their 70s.

"This is a coup against a leadership that had monopolized the movement for a long time without even presenting a report about its work," he said.

Some Israelis criticized the conference for failing to renounce violence, but Fatah's proposed platform seemed to bring the movement in line with Obama's anticipated peace plan. The 2,300 delegates endorsed the concept of a Palestinian state alongside Israel brought about through peaceful negotiations.

However, the delegates conditioned future talks on a complete stop to Israeli settlement construction on land earmarked for a future Palestinian state -- a demand rejected by the current Israeli government -- and said they reserve the right to take up arms against Israel if negotiations fail.

The talk of "armed resistance" appeared aimed at competing with Hamas, which has capitalized on Palestinians' deep frustration over years of failed peace talks.

Overall, it appeared that the pragmatists who never left the Palestinian territories -- and who often spent years in Israeli jails -- won out over exiled hard-liners from places like Lebanon and Syria, permitted by Israel to enter the West Bank this week for the first time in decades.

Perhaps the biggest hindrance to Palestinian statehood dreams is Hamas' control of the Gaza Strip, which together with the West Bank, is supposed to comprise a future Palestine. The Fatah-Hamas rivalry was on stark display when voting hours were stretched to allow Fatah delegates, prevented by Hamas from leaving Gaza, to vote by phone.

All attempts to reconcile the two groups following Hamas' violent 2007 takeover of Gaza have failed. But Gaza strongman Mahmoud Zahar provided a glimmer of hope on Monday, praising dialogue as "the only way to realize Palestinian reconciliation."

"We wish for a new leadership in Fatah so we can continue the dialogue," he said during a visit to Egypt.
The Fatah conference, originally scheduled to last three days, on Tuesday dragged into its eighth day.

Others elected to the 23-member Central Committee included Azzam al-Ahmed, 62, Fatah's leader in the Palestinian parliament, and Mahmoud Aloul, a Palestinian parliamentarian the former governor of Nablus.

Also elected was Salim Zanoun, 78, a Jordan-based Fatah founder who exemplifies the older generation backed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

All told, 14 of the body's 18 elected seats went to new members, the remaining four going to incumbents from the old guard. President Abbas, also a member, will appoint four others.

Results for the 80 elected seats of Fatah's 120-seat Revolutionary Council, which together with the Central Committee sets the movement's policies, were expected on Tuesday. The group's overall leader remains Mr. Abbas.

Fatah held its last conference in 1989 in Tunisia, some 1,500 miles (2,400 kilometers) away from the delegates' hoped-for homeland. At the time, the movement was headed by Mr. Arafat, the stubble-cheeked guerrilla commander who once famously brandished a pistol while addressing the U.N. General Assembly.

This week's conference was chaired by Mr. Abbas, a suit-wearing moderate who is in many ways Mr. Arafat's opposite. Addressing the conference, Mr. Abbas touted seatbelt use as an example of Palestinian progress -- a notable departure from Mr. Arafat's fiery rhetoric.

Since its last conference, Mr. Fatah has been tainted by rampant corruption, electoral and territorial losses to Hamas and its failure to deliver a Palestinian state despite decades of both fighting and negotiations.

But signs of progress dotted the conference as well. The security improvements the international community has been demanding of the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority were evident in the black-clad, rifle-toting agents -- trained in U.S.-sponsored programs -- stationed at the conference venue, a school across the street from the traditional birthplace of Jesus.

Fatah's fortunes have also been boosted by recent gains in the West Bank economy, thanks in part to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to remove roadblocks and loosen restrictions as part of his so-called "economic peace."

But many Palestinians see these gains as a poor substitute for progress toward independence.
Saeb Erekat, a newly elected committee member, said much of the world is waiting to see whether moderate Palestinians will be able to strengthen their authority and democratic credentials, and regain control of Gaza.

"The international community is asking with one tongue, "Can I get my act together as a Palestinian?'"

Fonte: http://europe.wsj.com/home-page

Jailed Barghuti elected in Fatah top body

Wirepullers: è finito da qualche giorno il congresso di Fatah e, a giudicare dall'esito del voto, sembra che i palestinesi non sappiano bene dove andare (a esclusione forse di chi vive nella striscia di Gaza): riconfermato Abu Mazen, entrano nel comitato centrale anche Marwan Barghouti, uno dei leader della prima Intifada, attualmente detenuto in Israele e Mohammed Dahlan, leader di Fatah a Gaza. Insomma, negoziato o scontro frontale? Rimane al vertice chi predilige il primo, ma si fa sotto chi preferirebbe il secondo. Il tutto con buona pace di Tel Aviv che, di fronte al disorientamento palestinese, avanza con gli insediamenti illegali. (1)

Jibril Rajub, Mohammed Dahlan among new members of Palestinian Fatah's Central Comittee.

Palestinian activist Marwan Barghuthi, who is serving five life sentences in Israel, was elected to the governing body of Fatah, which dominates the Palestinian Authority, party officials said on Tuesday.

Barghuthi, 50, who was found guilty in 2004 for his role in five deadly attacks against Israelis, was among the new members elected to the Central Comittee in the party's first such vote in 20 years.

Also elected were former Palestinian internal security chief Jibril Rajub, 56 and former Fatah strongman in Gaza, Mohammed Dahlan.

Top Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qorei was among the party veterans who failed to be elected.
The Palestinian territories have been under Israeli occupation since 1967.

The committee was last renewed at Fatah's previous congress 20 years ago and many members hope that introducing fresh blood into its top bodies will help invigorate the party which has lost much of its clout over recent years.

Members of the party founded in the late 1950s by iconic Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat also elected a raft of new leaders to its 120-strong Revolutionary Council.

About 2,000 delegates cast their ballots at the party congress held in the occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem, the first ever in Palestinian territory.

Allegations of corruption and internal divisions further weakened the party.

In his opening speech at the congress on August 4, Abbas listed a litany of errors he said Fatah had committed, urging delegates to learn from them and use the congress as a platform to give Fatah a new start.

But the very next day, acrimonious disputes broke out as hundreds of delegates protested the lack of administrative and financial accounting by the Fatah leadership since the last congress in 1989.

The congress on Saturday re-elected Abbas as head of the movement, a post he has held since Arafat's death in 2004, and renewed its charter, effectively endorsing his political programme.

Fatah, which over the years has moved away from the armed struggle, underlined its commitment to a negotiated peace with Israel, but stressed that the Palestinian people have a "right to resistance to occupation" in line with international law.

Fatah also blamed Israel on Thursday for the 2004 death of its founder Arafat.
Fatah delegates s unanimously voted to "attribute to Israel, as an occupying power, full responsibility for the assassination of the martyr Yasser Arafat."

Fonte: www.middle-east-online.com

The Disappearing Palestinian

Wirepullers: ieri si è aperto il congresso di Fatah. Un evento a dir poco storico se si pensa che erano vent'anni che non ne veniva organizzato uno. L'obiettivo è quello di portare nuovi leader, che siano in grado di rimettere in moto il movimento palestinese verso la conquista di un proprio stato. Punto di partenza: ritrovare un'identità in quanto popolo. Identità andata persa dopo la vittoria di Hamas nel distretto di Gaza nelle elezioni del 2006, che ha di fatto diviso in due i palestinesi, ma soprattutto dopo la morte di Yasser Arafat. Affinchè si possa arrivare alla soluzione dei due stati c'è bisogno che ci siano anche due popoli e uno forse ha ricominciato ieri a chiedersi chi è. (3)

Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir once said that there were no Palestinians. All she had to do was look out the window to see an Arab or two, but her point was less factual than political in that she was denying that there had ever been any national identity for Palestinian Arabs, suggesting that arriving European Jews were doing little more than filling a political vacuum by returning to where their ancestors had in ancient times founded a state. It was a convenient national creation myth. Without a political consciousness and identity, a very Marxist concept, the Palestinians could not claim to recover something that, at least per Meir, they had never had. Meir’s view provided a suitable interpretation of recent history for the newly minted Israelis but it meant nothing less than a "nakba" or catastrophe for the surviving Palestinians.

Meir notwithstanding, many would argue that the time for creation of a viable Palestinian state has at last arrived, but that would assume that what takes place in Ramallah is not really dictated by politicians in Washington and Tel Aviv. Washington is involved in Israel-Palestine whether it should or wants to be there or not. It now has a president who is impatient and wants the deadlock to end but Tel Aviv is not cooperating. Israel has the most right wing government in its history presiding over a system of exploitative colonial rule that would be rightly called both racist and imperialist anywhere else in the world. That it is largely given a free pass is a tribute to the Israel Lobby’s effectiveness at silencing most criticism through its network of friends in the media and in political circles in both the United States in Europe. And that silence might become even more pervasive. The de facto conflation of criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism in hate crime legislation has already been used to attack critics of Israel in Canada and Australia. As such laws become more commonplace, it might soon mean that any and all criticism of Israel will become illegal in many countries.

Washington might well buck that trend by insisting that Israel conform to the standards of the rest of the world in terms of human rights and acceptance of international law, but that is in practice difficult to achieve. As long as Israel’s numerous friends in congress and the press provide it with political cover and media cooperation, Tel Aviv will continue to behave recklessly towards its own Arabs and its neighbors with impunity. The sense of Israeli exceptionalism and entitlement that drive the process, which has been noted and challenged even by many liberal Israelis and diaspora Jews, is without a doubt racist in origin.

There is also a central fantasy in Israeli life regarding what is needed to keep the country safe. A series of Israeli governments has been engaged in a holding action while making life miserable for the Palestinians under the assumption that they will presumably someday just decide to give up and go away. Current Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu continues that charade, claiming that he wants peace with the Palestinians while simultaneously tightening the screws. Netanyahu should be aware that there is the old saying that people should be judged by what they do and not by what they say. Even while he is providing a narrative that he thinks will pass as credible with the international audience that is judging him, the facts on the ground tell a different story, one of oppression and sometimes unimaginable cruelty. Judging by actions, there should be little ambiguity about what the Israelis are doing and intend to keep doing to the Palestinians. In violation of international law and precedent, the West Bank and Gaza are being treated as conquered territories subject to the whim of the Israeli government even when there is no evident security threat or reason for creating a level of misery that might well be unparalleled anywhere else in the world. And it is not just critics of Israel who are noticing. Even Senator John Kerry, chairman of the senate foreign relations committee, returning from a February 2009 visit to Gaza, was shocked by the suffering and devastation caused by the Israeli invasion.

The politics of increasing misery is not new. Israel has long had an unspoken policy of making life hopeless for the Arabs in its midst and over which it rules to force them to leave for economic reasons. This policy has not been completely successful, with the Arab population inside Israel proper sustaining itself due to its high birth rate in spite of a large rate of emigration. Most hard hit has been the Arab Christian population, which has declined by more than a half in the past forty years, largely due to Israeli government harassment. The birthplace of Christianity in the Middle East will relatively soon be without indigenous Christians, driven out both by Israeli policies and the United States having unleashed local bigotry in places like Iraq. Ironically, Axis of Evil Syria is one of the few places in the Middle East where Christians can practice their religion with relative freedom.

Around Arab East Jerusalem, Israel continues to tighten its grip. Arab homes are demolished to create parks that only Jews will be able to use and settlements continue to be expanded to close Jerusalem completely off from the West Bank. Israeli Jews can buy houses in any part of the city, but East Jerusalem’s Arabs cannot and most West Bank Arabs can no longer even visit the city due to the network of military roads, the massive security wall, and movement restrictions. Israel’s friends like Reverend John Hagee’s Christians United for Israel, the American Jewish Committee, the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) are engaged in a sustained campaign to pressure the Obama Administration to stop its criticism of the settlements, sometimes arguing that the settlements problem will solve itself in a broader peace agreement. Their argument is false and deliberately so, intended only to buy yet more time for the Netanyahu government to continue to delay taking any steps at all. The settlements are the kernel of the problem in that they are creating facts on the ground that will be extremely difficult to resolve. Witness the turmoil resulting from the uprooting of only 8,500 Israeli settlers from Gaza in 2005. Removing more than forty times that many from the West Bank will be immeasurably more difficult, if it can be done at all, and adding to the numbers and the infrastructure that supports it only insures that a population shift will never take place, precisely what Netanyahu and his supporters intend.

And then there is Gaza. The Israeli attack on Gaza in January was perhaps one of the most foolish military operations of all time. It killed mostly civilians, devastated infrastructure, and demonstrated once and for all that the Israeli Defense Forces constitute one of the most undisciplined bodies of soldiers the world has ever seen, driven in part by racist rabbis who encouraged the troops to kill their Arab enemies without mercy. Since that time, Israel has done everything it can to stop the Gazans from rebuilding their shattered lives. Billions of dollars in aid has been committed to help Gaza, but Israel has effectively blockaded the strip both from land and sea, refusing to permit the transit of building materials and even food and medicine. The experience of former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, who was seized in July together with other human rights campaigners on a vessel bringing in medical supplies from Cyprus and put in jail for a week, is not unique and was hardly reported in the US mainstream media. Sometimes the level of Israeli intimidation against innocent people seems astonishing and driven by no rational purpose. International bodies have documented how the Israeli government unilaterally bans fishing by Gazan boats and uses helicopter gunships to attack fisherman caught at sea. In the most recent incident in mid-July, several fishing boats were badly damaged by machine gun and missile fire though no one was killed.

The irony is that Israelis might intend for the Palestinians to disappear, but they are also acutely aware that the demographics are not running that way. Within ten years there will be a mostly Muslim Arab majority between Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea. Israel can then survive only by abandoning any pretense of democracy and creating a complete police state with its Jewish citizens ruling over Arabs like a helot class or it can, alternatively, ethnically cleanse all the Christians and Muslims from its territory and make the Jewish religion the only basis for Israeli citizenship. The United States and the rest of the world know perfectly well that the course that the Israeli government is on is both suicidal and unsustainable, but will they really do anything about it? Barack Obama seems serious at the moment — but when AIPAC and the Israeli Lobby really start serious pushback will he be able to take the heat? Every president before him has decided that pressuring the Israelis is not a game that can be won, but just maybe Obama might be made of sterner stuff.

Autore: Philip Giraldi

Fonte: http://antiwar.com

Les Palestiniens en mal de représentation et de stratégie

Wirepullers: ieri si è aperto il congresso di Fatah. Un evento a dir poco storico se si pensa che erano vent'anni che non ne veniva organizzato uno. L'obiettivo è quello di portare nuovi leader, che siano in grado di rimettere in moto il movimento palestinese verso la conquista di un proprio stato. Punto di partenza: ritrovare un'identità in quanto popolo. Identità andata persa dopo la vittoria di Hamas nel distretto di Gaza nelle elezioni del 2006, che ha di fatto diviso in due i palestinesi, ma soprattutto dopo la morte di Yasser Arafat. Affinchè si possa arrivare alla soluzione dei due stati c'è bisogno che ci siano anche due popoli e uno forse ha ricominciato ieri a chiedersi chi è. (2)

Qui représente les Palestiniens ? Soixante ans après la création clandestine du Fatah (acronyme inversé du Mouvement de libération de la Palestine) au Koweït, la question n'est plus un argument israélien utilisé pour éviter d'entrer dans un processus de négociations jugé a priori trop coûteux. Le mouvement national palestinien, longtemps incarné par le seul Fatah, apparaît aujourd'hui pour ce qu'il est : en panne, perclus de divisions et de fractures. A tel point qu'il est peu probable que son congrès prévu le mardi 4 août à Bethléem après avoir été retardé pendant deux décennies, suffise à remettre ce mouvement en ordre de marche.

On peut dater le début de ses ratés avec le processus de paix d'Oslo, lancé en 1993, et qui promettait pourtant de traduire l'aspiration nationale palestinienne dans le cadre de la solution des deux Etats, une Palestine fondée en Cisjordanie et à Gaza. Le retour triomphal de l'OLP et de son chef, Yasser Arafat, dans l'étroite bande de terre, en 1994, précipita en effet une cassure historique avec la diaspora éparpillée dans les camps de réfugiés créés à partir de 1948. La création du Fatah et la "repalestinisation" d'une cause longtemps instrumentalisée pour leur seul profit par les Etats arabes de la périphérie, étaient en effet des produits des camps et étaient dirigés contre une élite palestinienne accusée d'avoir échoué face au projet sioniste. Cet éloignement contribua à "geler" la mobilisation de la diaspora. Les cadres du Fatah et de l'OLP y perdirent en puissance en donnant l'impression de privilégier désormais les Palestiniens "de l'intérieur".

La deuxième cassure coïncida avec l'émergence d'une opposition interne dans les territoires palestiniens placés sous le contrôle très fragmentaire d'une Autorité palestinienne sanctifiée par les urnes en janvier 1996. Le Fatah, très longtemps écrasant au sein de l'OLP, avait toujours su affronter la contestation, ce "front du refus" qui repoussa notamment le compromis jugé léonin d'Oslo. Cette contestation était irriguée par un panarabisme et par un post-marxisme qui tombèrent en désuétude à partir des années quatre-vingts. Avec la naissance du Mouvement de la résistance islamique (Hamas), en décembre 1987, le mentor du nationalisme palestinien dut compter avec un courant profondément implanté et né au coeur des territoires palestiniens.

L'invalidation par l'histoire du postulat d'Oslo et du Fatah (la création inéluctable d'un Etat palestinien au terme d'une période intérimaire de cinq ans) a ouvert un espace au Hamas. Il en va ainsi de l'acceptation officielle d'un Etat palestinien à Gaza et en Cisjordanie, avec la partie orientale de Jérusalem comme capitale, même si les islamistes campent en revanche sur le "droit au retour" alors que l'initiative arabe qui constitue actuellement le point d'équilibre des parrains arabes des Palestiniens s'en tient plus modestement à une solution juste et négociée (avec Israël) dans le respect des résolutions des Nations unies.

L'émergence de cette opposition s'est traduite en deux étapes : la victoire des islamistes aux élections législatives de 2006, puis leur prise de contrôle militaire de la bande de Gaza au terme d'une guerre civile favorisée par des pays occidentaux qui refusent le moindre contact avec le Hamas au motif qu'il ne reconnaît pas Israël et qu'il n'a pas renoncé à la violence (ce qui est aussi le cas du Hezbollah libanais qui jouit pourtant d'un autre traitement.) Depuis, l'impasse est totale, entretenue par les irréductibles des deux côtés. Mais cette rupture géographique a un coût exorbitant puisqu'elle s'ajoute à la cassure initiale entre Palestiniens "de l'intérieur" et ceux de la diaspora et qu'elle condamne toute perspective d'élections générales alors que les mandats du président Mahmoud Abbas et du Conseil législatif sont soit échus soit en passe de l'être.

Cet émiettement de la représentativité palestinienne ne s'arrête pas là. Originellement simple duplication du Fatah, l'Autorité palestinienne reprise en main par les donateurs internationaux ne s'en est-elle pas en partie affranchie ? C'est le message que tentent de faire passer les islamistes du Hamas lorsqu'ils dénigrent l'"Autorité Dayton", du nom du général américain chargé de la restructuration des services de sécurité palestiniens dont la mission est aussi d'être le premier rideau défensif au profit d'Israël. L'historien Jean-François Legrain résume l'impasse dans laquelle se trouve aujourd'hui le Fatah : incapable de mobiliser toutes ses forces sur une base nationaliste anti-israélienne comme sur une base anti-Hamas compte tenu des liens qui se sont créés entre miliciens durant la deuxième intifada.

Premier responsable américain à évoquer publiquement la création d'un Etat palestinien, George Bush avait lié en juin 2002 cette perspective à l'émergence d'une nouvelle direction palestinienne pour remplacer un Yasser Arafat considéré comme ayant failli.

Sept ans plus tard, l'Etat palestinien est devenu une antienne à Washington, à Londres ou à Paris, mais dans les territoires palestiniens cette direction palestinienne, représentative, légitime et rassemblée, reste introuvable.

Autore: Gilles Paris

Fonte: www.lemonde.fr

Palestinian Fatah party seeks to repair rifts

Wirepullers: ieri si è aperto il congresso di Fatah. Un evento a dir poco storico se si pensa che erano vent'anni che non ne veniva organizzato uno. L'obiettivo è quello di portare nuovi leader, che siano in grado di rimettere in moto il movimento palestinese verso la conquista di un proprio stato. Punto di partenza: ritrovare un'identità in quanto popolo. Identità andata persa dopo la vittoria di Hamas nel distretto di Gaza nelle elezioni del 2006, che ha di fatto diviso in due i palestinesi, ma soprattutto dopo la morte di Yasser Arafat. Affinchè si possa arrivare alla soluzione dei due stati c'è bisogno che ci siano anche due popoli e uno forse ha ricominciato ieri a chiedersi chi è. (1)

Fatah party holds its first congress in 20 years amid internal disputes, continued Israeli occupation.

The Fatah party which controls the Palestinian Authority holds its first congress in 20 years this week to renew a leadership undermined by internal rifts and the faction's 2007 rout from the Gaza Strip by democratically elected Hamas.

Fatah is due to renew the Central Committee and the Revolutionary Council, its two main governing bodies, at the congress opening on Tuesday in the West Bank city of Bethlehem.
During the three-day gathering, the 2,300 delegates are also set to adopt a new political programme.

Founded in 1959 by the Palestinians' historic leader Yasser Arafat, Fatah exercised undivided power among Palestinians before it was defeated by the resistance movement of Hamas in the 2006 legislative election.

Longstanding Hamas-Fatah tensions boiled over in June 2007 when Hamas seized control of inside Gaza after a week of deadly street clashes, confining Palestinian president and Fatah leader Mahmud Abbas's power base to the West Bank under Israeli occupation.
Gaza is still considered under Israeli occupation as Israel controls air, sea and land access to the Strip.

In the past few years, Fatah has moved away from armed struggle against Israeli occupation in favour of the search for a negotiated peace, but has been losing credibility as the efforts have failed to produce tangible results.

According to one document, Fatah will reaffirm its refusal to recognise Israel as a state for Jewish people only and the Palestinian leadership's refusal to resume peace talks until Israel halts illegal settlement building in occupied East Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank.

The congress will be only the sixth in Fatah history, with the previous one held in Tunis in 1989.
While Abbas is certain to remain at the helm of Fatah, there is much speculation as to who the delegates will elect to the 21-strong Central Committee and some veterans are expected to make way to younger Palestinians.

Fatah's West Bank secretary general Marwan Barghuti, who is serving five life sentences in an Israeli prison, former West Bank security chief Jibril Rajoub and Fatah's one-time strongman in Gaza Mohammed Dahlan, appear to be the strongest contenders.
But much will depend on alliances between rival political clans.

The 120-strong Revolutionary Council will be largely elected by the delegates, with the new Central Committee designating some members.

Disputes among Fatah leaders, which have significantly weakened the movement, flared up in recent weeks, with secretary general Faruq Kaddumi publicly accusing Abbas of plotting with Israel to get rid of Arafat, who died in 2004.
Kaddumi, who is based in Tunis, objected to holding the Congress in the West Bank, which he has not visited since Israel occupied the Palestinian territories in 1967.

Preparations also were marred by Hamas's refusal to allow some 400 Fatah delegates to travel from the Gaza Strip to the West Bank for the Congress.
Israel has given the green light for about 500 delegates who live abroad to travel to the congress.

"This congress will mark a historic turning point," said political analyst Hani al-Masri.
"Either Fatah will show it can carry out the reforms, the rejuvenation and the necessary changes by learning from its failures... or it continues its decline," he said.

Fonte: www.middle-east-online.com