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A Palestinian Peace Offensive

Gershon Baskin

 

Al Quds Newspaper (Jerusalem) March 3, 2010 (page 18 – oped page)

 

With the Netanyahu right-wing religious government in power in Jerusalem it is clearer than ever that there is no partner for peace in Israel. The amazing thing about this statement is that the world believes that there is no partner in Ramallah.  The international community through the mainstream media is confronted with an Israeli peace offensive which presents Netanyahu as the partner pleading with the Palestinians to come to the table while Palestinian President Abbas is portrayed as the refusnik.  Isn’t it time to set the record straight?

 

It is time for the Palestinians to go on the offensive.  It is time for the international community and more importantly for the Israeli public to know that the Palestinian people and their leaders are interested in peace with Israel now.  It is time for the Israeli public and the international community to understand that the Palestinians have reasonable demands that could be acceptable to most Israelis.

 

What does the Israeli public know and believe?  They know that Netanyahu has spoken peace in every speech he makes.  They know that he accepted the two-state solution and recognized Palestinian national rights for a state. They know that Netanyahu continuously speaks about his desire to return to negotiations.  They know that Netanyahu says that all issues can be put on the table. They know that the Palestinians demanded a settlement freeze and that Netanyahu agreed and has frozen settlement building for ten months as a good will gesture to the Palestinians.  They know that Israel has removed check points and that the Palestinian economy is booming (as a result of that – this is how it is presented in the media). 

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Deadly political babblings

By GERSHON BASKIN 01/03/2010

Palestinians have an opportunity to play a constructive role in de-escalating the situation ignited by Netanyahu's thoughtless words on the heritage sites.

 

In 1996 in his first term in office, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu opened the Hasmonean Tunnels, declaring that this place was the “rock of our existence.” Following the opening, riots broke out in Jerusalem and throughout the West Bank and Gaza. Fifty-eight Palestinians and 15 IDF soldiers were killed.

Now the prime minister has fanned the flames once again, announcing that the Cave of the Patriarchs (and Matriarchs) in Hebron and Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem are national heritage sites.

If the consequences of such political babbling were not so deadly, one could simply say populism is a necessary evil of democracy. But we have a prime minister who speaks before he thinks and, more importantly, speaks about peace with our neighbors without any serious thinking about what peace means.

This is, of course, not the first time that riots in Hebron have spread throughout the Holy Land. There was the massacre of 1929 in which 67 Jews were killed by their Arab neighbors after rumors spread that Jews were killing Arabs near the Western Wall. In 1996, with the opening of the tunnels, rumors spread that Israel was digging under the Aksa Mosque so that it would collapse.

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 Can Israel survive this coalition?

 

BY GERSHON BASKIN
16/02/2010  

Netanyahu as a statesman needs to reshuffle his cabinet. He needs to approach Livni and

propose to her that Kadima replace Israel Beiteinu.

 

I have little faith in the ability of the current government to make peace with the Palestinians or with Syria. It seems that the international community largely shares this assessment and as a result Israel is on a collision course diplomatically with much of the world.

Israel’s good diplomatic relations are predicated on the assumption that Israel is truly interested in peace with its neighbors and at least is trying to advance a process in that direction. The aggressive style and attitude of Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman have placed Israel in direct confrontation with neighboring states and others in a way that create a real strategic danger for us.

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LAST ATTEMPT TO STOP THE WIESENTHAL CENTER OF TOLERANCE

Gershon Baskin

February 17, 2010

 

“The Simon Wiesenthal Center on Tuesday accused opponents of its plans to build a museum near a historic Muslim cemetery in central Jerusalem of “sheer hypocrisy” after the center obtained information showing that the Supreme Muslim Council of British Mandate Palestine had planned to build a large commercial center directly on top of the cemetery in 1945.”

 

This is not news.  This appeared in their claim to the Israeli High Court already two years ago.  My response and my position on this has always been the following:

 

What Muslims do or do not do on sacred Muslim property is a matter for the Muslim community and believers to deal with.  What the State of Israel does, the City of Jerusalem and the Jewish people do on sacred Muslim property is completely a different matter.  The State of Israel, the City of Jerusalem in which the State of Israel is the sovereign and the Jewish people cannot and should not build anything on top of a Muslim cemetery without the explicit agreement and participant of the representatives of the Muslim community.  Furthermore, the very idea of building of the State of Israel, the City of Jerusalem and the Jewish people building a CENTER FOR TOLERANCE on top of what was a Muslim cemetery sounds like something out of the annals of bad political fiction and fantasy.  It is such an amazingly bad idea that it is almost impossible to imagine that it is in fact really happening.  (Dr. Gershon Baskin, leader of the ad hoc public campaign against building the Wiesenthal Center of Tolerance in the Mamilla Muslim cemetery in Jerusalem)

 

 

I would like to share with you a letter that I wrote to the Dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center.  I received no response and therefore I have decided to make the letter available to the public.

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Encountering Peace: Israel - a leader among the community of nations

Jan. 18, 2010
Gershon Baskin , THE JERUSALEM POST

Humanitarian disasters around the world bring out the best in Israel and in Israelis. The horrific devastation caused by the earthquake in Haiti and the scenes of unbearable human suffering brought about an immediate enlistment of both civilian and public efforts to come to the aid of the poorest nation in the Western hemisphere.

 

The sight of the El Al jet laden with medical aid and almost 200 IDF and civilian personnel brought pride to each and every Israeli and to Jews all over the world. Israel is on the ground in the heart of the disaster and we are making a difference. Our experience and capabilities in providing the world's best humanitarian aid in times of real crisis is something that we can certainly be proud of.

 

Unfortunately our skills and expertise were gained in having to rescue the casualties of terrorism in our own streets and homes. But from that need and from the darkness of those experiences, we spread our goodwill to thousands of innocent victims of nature's mysteries in lands far away where we have no military, strategic or economic interest.

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An American Peace Initiative: (Is there a nice way of saying “an imposed solution”?)
by Gershon Baskin

Eleven months have passed since the Obama administration took over. President Obama's impact on the entire world has been dramatic and impressive. But it seems that the issues that confront the president on every front are much more complex than hoped for, and, as we say in Hebrew, "as large as the expectation -- the size of the disappointment."

There is an opportunity here and now to make a strategic change in Israeli-Palestinian relations, despite the fact that it cannot be done by traditional means.

There is close to zero chance of a bilateral negotiated Israeli-Palestinian agreement at this time, given the political constellations in Israel and in Palestine. It is a waste of time and even dangerous to try to resume a negotiated process that will lead to open-ended negotiations with no real progress.

 

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Encountering Peace: Change in Gaza is possible

Dec. 22, 2009
Gershon Baskin , THE JERUSALEM POST

Thirty-nine young people from Gaza applied to attend a peace education workshop sponsored by the Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information that was held this past weekend in a school in Beit Jala. Thirty-five of them were denied entry by the IDF and did not have the opportunity to join the 70 other Israelis and Palestinians who spent the weekend in dialogue, debate, disagreement and agreement, rejoicing in the mutual recognition that we all want peace and that peace is possible.

 

Actually all 39 Gazans were denied entry, but we managed to get agreement to allow four people to come. The refusal of the army to allow their entry had nothing to do with security. The army officer in charge even told me so. This is the policy and the army is implementing that policy.

 

What exactly is the policy and why was it designed, you ask? The policy is to completely isolate Gaza from the rest of the world and the reason is to convince the people of Gaza that they should take action against the ruling Hamas government. The policy is that no one leaves Gaza. Period.

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בדרך לשלום: יש סיכוי לשינוי בעזה

مواجهة السلام بقلـم غيرشون باسكن  28 ديسمبر/كانون الأول 2009

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Encountering Peace: 2 capitals for 2 states for 2 peoples

Dec. 7, 2009
Gershon Baskin , THE JERUSALEM POST

Not one country in the world recognizes our capital, Jerusalem, as the capital of Israel. Even the United States footnotes the following on the State Department Web page: Israel proclaimed Jerusalem as its capital in 1950. The US, like nearly all other countries, maintains its embassy in Tel Aviv. UN Security Council Resolution 478 declared the 1980 Jerusalem Law that declared Jerusalem to be Israel's "eternal and indivisible" capital null and void, affirming that it was a violation of international law.

 

The European Union is debating its own position on Jerusalem. The debate is a much better reflection of the reality of Jerusalem than any of the governing politicians in Jerusalem have the courage to admit. After lying to the public for 42 years about Jerusalem being the united eternal capital of Israel, it is time to admit there are two Jerusalems - one Israeli and one Palestinian. Even Teddy Kollek, the 20th century Herod, admitted in 1988 that "coexistence in Jerusalem is dead." This was a great blow for the man who believed he had united the city.

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לפגוש בשלום: שתי בירות לשתי מדינות לשני עמים מאת גרשון בסקין, 14 בדצמבר 2009

 

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Encountering Peace: Getting serious about 'economic peace'

Nov. 23, 2009
Gershon Baskin , THE JERUSALEM POST

More than 10 months have passed since President Barack Obama entered the White House and seven months since Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu took over the reins in Jerusalem and there is still no peace process worth mentioning.

Netanyahu campaigned on the slogan of "economic peace" and boasted that he would help the Palestinians build their state from the bottom up by strengthening their economy and thereby "giving them something to lose," so that they will not revert back to violence.

 

In August, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad presented his own plan for Palestinian state-building, under the title: "Ending the Occupation, Establishing the State." This 38-page document is full of detailed plans for developing the institutions of the Palestinian state, though it has almost no reference at all to how the Fayyad government plans to end the occupation. The plan also speaks about a future Palestinian capital in east Jerusalem but makes no reference at all to building any of the governmental infrastructure necessary to run a capital city in Jerusalem.

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23/11/09

AN ISRAELI VIEW
 

Is there a nice way to say "an imposed solution"?
 

by Gershon Baskin

The peace process has once again entered a dead end. Senator George Mitchell has fallen into the trap of negotiating about negotiations. There is little chance that bilateral negotiations at this time will be capable of producing agreements on either the Israeli-Palestinian or Israel-Syria track. The US mediator has been focusing on "process" rather than "substance". The Middle East is not Northern Ireland. Here we all have a pretty good idea of what the end game looks like (on both tracks) and we also have 18 years experience of failed process.

The parameters of agreement are more or less known. The needs, interests, threat perceptions and means to answer them are known on both tracks by experts but have not yet been detailed and no international commitments have been made to provide for them. The possible agreed outcomes of negotiations are light years away if left to the standard classical negotiating process. Yes, the parties must be brought back to the table and there must be a process where they can relate to the substantive issues. But we don't need to wait for them to produce the substance in a bilateral process.

 

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Common Ground News Service - Middle East
 

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Water shortages in West Bank and Gaza

by Robin Twite

19 November 2009

JERUSALEM - Controversy between Israelis and Palestinians over the way water is shared was exacerbated by the recent publication of an Amnesty International report on the water shortage facing Palestinians. The report is highly critical of Israeli policy, claiming that Israel denies the Palestinians their share of available water, and says the average Palestinian consumes only a quarter of the water of an average Israeli.

The response to the report from both sides was entirely predictable. The Israelis refute the report’s basic premise that they are denying the Palestinians their fair share of water. The Israeli Foreign Ministry issued a formal statement saying that Israel had fulfilled its obligations under the Oslo Accords and supplied all the water to which the Palestinians are entitled.

Palestinian sources, on the other hand, praise the report. The head of the Palestinian Water Authority said it demonstrated that his people had been deprived of a basic right throughout the Occupation.
 

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מחסור מים בגדה המערבית ובעזה

قص المياه في الضفة الغربية وغزة

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INTERMOUNTAIN JEWISH NEWS • November 20, 2009 (Denver Colorado)

I N T E R V I E W : F O U N D E R  O F  L I B E R A L  T H I N K-    TA N K

 

Dr. Baskin works the gears of peace

Activist sets forth the conditions that make the time ripe for peace in Israel

 

Click here to read the interview

 

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Click here to view the presentation

 

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Click here to view the presentation

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IPCRI Proposal for a New United Nations Security Council Resolution on the Two States for Two Peoples Solution

 

Expressing its continuing concern with the grave situation in the Middle East,

 

Emphasizing the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war and the need to work for a just and lasting peace in which every State in the area can live in security,

 

Emphasizing further that all Member States in their acceptance of the Charter of the United Nations have undertaken a commitment to act in accordance with Article 2 of the Charter,

 

Affirms that the fulfillment of Charter principles requires the establishment of a just and lasting peace in the Middle East which should include the application of both the following principles:

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欢迎访问新华网 - WWW.XINHUANET.COM

 

News Analysis: Palestinians begin unilateral search for int'l recognition of statehood

"The course that the U.S. is driving, which is the attempt to get the parties back to negotiations, is a dead end. There is zero chance of a bilateral, negotiated Israeli-Palestinian agreement in the foreseeable future," said Gershon Baskin, the Israeli chief executive and founder of the Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information.

   

 Baskin is one of the loudest proponents of this unilateral route to statehood.

    HOW IT WILL WORK

 

    In Baskin's version of the process, first the international community would grant "Palestine" full UN membership. At that point, Israel would be considered to be breaching the UN charter by occupying the territories of a UN member. Then the UN Security Council would initiate a mechanism to guarantee Israel's withdrawal from Palestinian territories.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE

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Tell Somebody

A weekly public affairs program on KKFI-FM 90.1, Kansas City community radio.

 

Tue, 3 November 2009 Peace in the Middle East & The Good Soldier In the first segment of the show, I talk with Gershon Baskin, founder of the Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information (IPCRI).  Baskin spoke recently at the Jewish Community Center in Overland Park, Kansas on the topic "Is Peace in the Middle East Possible?" Founded in Jerusalem in 1988, IPCRI is the only joint Israeli-Palestinian public policy think-tank in the world, and is devoted to developing practical solutions for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  In the second half of the show we hear from filmmakers Lexy Lovell and Michael Uys on their documentary The Good Soldier.  The film is the subject of Bill Moyers Journal on PBS November 6, 2009, and features 5 soldiers from World War II to Iraq, including past Tell Somebody guest Edward Wood. Tom Klammer  www.tellsomebody.us  send email to mail@tellsomebody.us right-click on the .mp3 filename below to save this show to your computer. Direct download: tellsomebody091103.mp3 Category: podcasts -- posted at: 2:47 PM Comments[0]

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Rabbi Kaufman's -The Whole Megillah - interview with Gershon Baskin

 Oct. 29 2009 First Hour - Gershon Baskin IPCRI

Podcasts from Rabbi David Kaufman including episodes of The Whole Megillah which airs live on www.macsworldlive.com on Thursdays from 2-4 pm Central. Please also see Rabbi Kaufman's blog www.rabbikaufman.blogspot.com for the recorded video links to the shows, articles, and sermons. Become a fan of "Rabbi Kaufman's - The Whole Megillah" on Facebook. Follow "Rabbi Kaufman" on Twitter. Most importantly tune in to The Whole Megillah on Thursdays 2-4 pm Central on www.macsworldlive.com.

 

Download this episode (58 min)
The first hour of Rabbi Kaufman's -The Whole Megillah from Oct. 29 2009 - Guest - Gershon Baskin IPCRI

http://rabbi.mypodcast.com/2009/10/Rabbi_Kaufmans_TWM_Oct_29_2009_First_Hour_Gershon_Baskin_IPCRI-252553.html

 

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So near, yet so far: Veteran Israeli peacenik to speak here

Written by Rick Hellman, Editor

Friday, 23 October 2009 11:00

 

Even though he admits there is no Israeli-Arab peace process worthy of the name, Gershon Baskin calls himself an incurable optimist.
 

Gershon Baskin

“I am always an optimist,” said the 53-year-old founder of the Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information, who’ll give a talk here next month as part of a coast-to-coast swing. (See below for details)

“I believe that in a strange, bizarre kind of way, it’s actually closer than it’s ever been before,” Baskin said. “And that is mostly because the parameters of a solution are accepted across the board. There is international consensus, as well. The problem … is to convince people’s it’s doable. When we started 21 years ago, we would sit with the Jerusalem working group, or the water group or the economic group, and we had lots of questions. Today there are no questions; every single issue is resolvable.”

 

Baskin was born in New York and moved to Israel in the late 1970s. He’s been a peacenik ever since, even serving as an adviser to the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin during the Oslo-Accords era. His opinion articles appear frequently in the Jerusalem Post. He now serves as co-CEO of the IPRCI (www.iprci.org) think tank with longtime Palestine National Council member Hanna Siniora. Siniora is a Christian and a former journalist.

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Encountering Peace: Negotiating about negotiations

Nov. 9, 2009
Gershon Baskin , THE JERUSALEM POST

For the past two weeks I have traveled cross-country in the US speaking in synagogues, churches, mosques and universities. My message to my audiences has been one of hope. I have met Jewish communities in deep division. I have found communities (Jews and non-Jews) in deep conflict between those who define themselves as "pro-Israeli" and those who are "pro-Palestinian." Some of the organizers who brought me to speak used my presence to enable these two groups to speak to each other, because the divide over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has removed civility from their ability to communicate.

In my talks I have said something that has shocked many, as it seems so remote from the current comprehension of events in our region. "Peace," I said, "could actually be closer than ever before!"

I say this because never before has it been clearer what the parameters of Israeli-Palestinian peace are, and never before has the global consensus on those parameters been so overwhelming.

Binyamin Netanyahu's recognition of the need to make peace within the two- states-for-two-peoples framework has propelled the possibility for this to become reality. Netanyahu's reservations must be addressed. The threats are real, and therefore real solutions to them must be developed to enable Israel to withdraw from the West Bank and from the Palestinian parts of Jerusalem.
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Encountering Peace: Abbas is a partner for peace. Is Netanyahu?

Oct. 26, 2009
Gershon Baskin , THE JERUSALEM POST

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has issued a presidential decree that elections will be held in January. This followed his decision to sign the Egyptian plan for intra-Palestinian reconciliation, knowing that Hamas would refuse to sign.

Abbas is demonstrating decisive leadership. After 20 years, he convened the Fatah conference that even Yasser Arafat feared would fragment the movement and destroy the struggle for national liberation. The conference ended in relative unity behind Abbas. With the exception of the blunder - from the Palestinian point of view - of briefly withdrawing the Goldstone report from the UN Human Rights Council, Abbas's popularity is higher than that of any other Palestinian personality.

 

Abbas is not a man of the people. He lacks charisma. He does not do well on the streets, working the crowd. He doesn't like to go into villages and meet the common people. He doesn't seek the photo-ops that most politicians go out of their way to create. He doesn't like being interviewed. He is much more comfortable within the confines of his Mukata headquarters in Ramallah. A relative of his told me that his favorite pastime is watching National Geographic nature films.

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לקראת שלום: עבאס הוא שותף לשלום, אך האם נתניהו?

رسم الحدود هو الخطوة الأولى

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Gershon Baskin – US Speaking Tour – October 20 – November 13, 2009

 

The following is a list of events that have been scheduled around the country.  Please spread the word.  If you are in the area, please come.  I still have space to fit in more events and more private meetings.  If you would like to organize a speaking event or a private meeting, please let me know as soon as possible. 

 

My US cell phone number is: 646-290-0279

 

Route:  Los Angeles, San Francisco, Tucson, Kansas City, Denver & Boulder, Brattleboro, Vt., Washington, DC, Princeton, NJ, Philadelphia, NYC

 

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE WHOLE PROGRAM

 

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Think tank to present its vision for peace

Thursday, October 15, 2009 | by

 

Gershon Baskin, who co-founded the Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information with a Palestinian colleague, will be in the North Bay to discuss the think tank’s work and present its plan for a viable, democratic and peaceful two-state solution to the conflict in the Middle East.

 

Baskin’s San Rafael talk will take place 7 p.m. Oct. 25 at First Presbyterian Church of San Rafael, 1510 Fifth Ave., San Rafael. The event is sponsored by From Here to Peace.

Baskin also will speak 7 p.m. Oct. 27 at B’nai Israel Jewish Center, 740 Western Ave., Petaluma. Sponsors are the congregation and the Jewish Community Relations Council.

 

Baskin believes in order for peace to be achieved, a new approach is necessary. In an Oct. 12 op-ed in the Jerusalem Post, he suggested that a “lose-lose” scenario is more likely to produce the desired results. “Both sides must feel the pain of the settlement,” he wrote. “No peace arrangement will be acceptable if one side perceives that the other is coming out the winner.”

 

The Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information, composed equally of Israelis and Palestinians, is devoted to developing practical solutions for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

For more information on Baskin’s talks, contact sberns@jcrc.org or call (415) 472-5128.

 

 

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Encountering Peace: The 'lose-lose' approach to peace

Oct. 12, 2009
Gershon Baskin , THE JERUSALEM POST

So Nobel Peace Prize laureate President Barack Obama has a debt to make good on. He has stated that his focus will be Middle East peace. At the same time, his special envoy, George Mitchell, has stated that efforts for peace will continue, but at a "ramped-down level."

Is it actually possible to ramp down the process? What exactly does that mean? What exactly has been achieved in the last nine months? The Middle East has been likened to a car with only two gears - forward and reverse. There is no status quo and there is no standing in place. If we are not moving forward, we are moving backward. The events of the last few weeks have clearly demonstrated that the forces of those who would like the car to go into reverse are quite powerful. While it seems evident that neither the Israelis nor the Palestinians desire or have energy for another round of violence, the slope of the decline is extreme and very slippery.

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עם השלום: בארץ של ניסים, הבה נתמודד עם המציאות

مواجهة السلام: لنكن واقعييّن في أرض المعجزات

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CLICK HERE FOR THE PRESENTATION OF GERSHON BASKIN AT THE CONFERENCE ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN PEACE: ANY SUCCESSFUL PROCESS?  BRING PEACE TOGETHER 29 SEPTEMBER 2009, AMBASSADOR HOTEL, JERUSALEM

 

 

 

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Encountering peace: In the land of miracles, let's get real

Sep. 29, 2009
Gershon Baskin , THE JERUSALEM POST

Now that the NY Summit has come and gone, Netanyahu made his speech to the world, Abbas had his opportunity to speak his mind - is there any reasonable person out there who actually thinks a negotiated peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians is possible? Yes, President Obama is determined and Senator Mitchell is persistent. Now, while this is the land of miracles, let's get real.

 

While both Israeli and Palestinian public opinion polls continue to show that a clear majority of both peoples want peace, neither side believes there is a partner on the other side. This is part of the historical reality of the Oslo peace process. Objectively speaking, there is no reason why Israelis and Palestinian should trust each other. Both sides systematically breached substantially every single agreement they signed.

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After the summit –

What we can understand from what happened in NY

 

Gershon Baskin*

 

September 23, 2009

 

The Obama-Netanyahu-Abbas summit was a disappointment mainly because of the (perhaps not reasonably) high expectations that much of the world has held for the new US Administration (including me).

 

It appears (at least until now) that the nature of the policy of the Obama administration will not be a radical shift from what we had seen until now. The emphasis will be on direct bilateral negotiations.  The assumption is that Senator Mitchell will be at the table, although that has not been stated explicitly. This assumption is drawn from Mitchell’s role in the Northern Ireland process.

 

The US’s emphasis in the negotiations will be to complete a permanent status Israeli-Palestinian agreement on all outstanding issues. There is no indication, until now, that a time table is being set for those negotiations, although President Obama and Senator Mitchell have both indicated that they will not be open-ended.  

 

Both President Obama and Senator Mitchell indicated that the renewed peace process would be comprehensive and would seek to bring about agreements between Israel and Syria and Israel and Lebanon as well as encouraging Arab states to take confidence building steps towards greater normalization with Israel.

 

President Obama has indicated a sense of urgency and determination, but this has been expressed only in the tone of his voice and not in any explicit “tools” that will be used by the US to push the parties to make important and difficult decisions.

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Encountering peace: A progressive new year

Sep. 14, 2009
Gershon Baskin , THE JERUSALEM POST

Rosh Hashana is a time for reflection, a time to look back while considering the future. Israel is an amazing country. There is so much to be proud of, so many achievements in such a short time. No other country has accomplished so much while faced with so many challenges. Yet with all its achievements, it is difficult to predict if Israel's immediate future carries the promise of peace, security and prosperity, or a much less happy fate.

 

Israel's Declaration of Independence promised that this country would be founded on the principles envisaged by the prophets - complete equality of social and political rights for all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; the safeguarding of the holy places of all religions; and faithfulness to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.

Instead Israel has become a country founded on the principle of profits for Israel, and proponents of justice and equality hide their faces in shame.

 

Young people are increasingly driven to passionate narratives of nationalist fervor, built on the pernicious foundation of racism and xenophobia. Others flee into other countries and mystical religions - losing the vast wealth and heritage of the Jewish culture to cynicism and anger. Universities are demoralizing institutions: academic jobs are scarce, library acquisitions are frozen, entry standards are low and student expectations are even lower. Our graduates cannot compete in the rest of the world.

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The right of return

Israeli understanding of the Jewishness of Israel is complex, and it makes the right of return the most contentious issue on the negotiating agenda

 

Gershon Baskin, 7 - 09 - 2009

 

The demand of Prime Minister Netanyahu to the Palestinians to recognize Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people is perceived by many of the few people left in the Israeli peace camp to be simply another precondition for negotiations aimed at preventing negotiations. Unfortunately, the Palestinians have fallen into Netanyahu's trap and rather than understanding it is a trap have helped to further deepen the Israeli narrative that there is no Palestinian partner for peace.

The Palestinians are not entirely at fault for failing to properly understand what is being demanded. And to a large extent the Israeli demand is indeed a quite transparent attempt to pre-emptively remove the most contentious issue on the negotiating agenda - the refugee problem. Former Israeli chief negotiator and Foreign Minister, Tzipi Livni, issued a similar demand to the Palestinians prior to the Annapolis summit in November 2007. One of the reasons why there was no joint statement (other than the one read by President Bush) was Livni's demand to the Palestinians that they recognize Israel as a Jewish state. The question of the Jewishness of Israel is one that is quite complex and misunderstood. By calling Israel a "Jewish State" as it is referred to in Israel's Declaration of Independence and in UN Resolution 181 which partitioned Palestine into two states "one Jew and one Arab" does not define if Israel is the nation-state of the Jewish people or a state with a state religion which defines its essence. Netanyahu has, on the other hand, used the expression "the state of the Jewish people" or even "the nation-state of the Jewish people".

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Encountering Peace: President Obama: Pro-Israeli, pro-Palestinian, pro-peace

Aug. 31, 2009
Gershon Baskin , THE JERUSALEM POST

President Obama's popularity in Israel is at an all time low for a US president. Only 4% of Israelis believe that the president is pro-Israeli, according to a survey published last week by the Jerusalem Post.

 

President Obama does not face elections in Israel so perhaps he does not need to be overly concerned with this statistic but in order for Obama's Middle East peace plans to succeed, the Israeli public must have a "buy-in".

 

Israeli society really does want peace, even if at the same time it expresses attitudes which are against making concessions to the Arabs, and in particular to the Palestinians. Israelis - like Palestinians - have lost confidence in peace processes and of hopes that there is a partner for peace on the other side. As the Oslo process lingered on far beyond the dates of the agreements and violence increased, people in the region and across the globe lost their patience and their belief that Israeli-Palestinian peace was possible.

The US position has always been that Israelis and Palestinians have to want peace more than the third parties do. Well, the people in the region do want it, they just don't know how to do it and have lost faith that it is even possible.

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Encountering Peace: Drawing borders is the first step

Aug. 17, 2009
Gershon Baskin , THE JERUSALEM POST

We still have no real idea of when or what President Obama will present as an Israeli-Palestinian peace plan. In the meantime, the Prime Minister's special emissary, Yitzhak Molcho, is off to Washington to try and reach some understandings with the US administration prior to the next meeting between Senator Mitchell and Netanyahu.

 

The rumors floating around suggest that Obama's plan will aim to focus first on setting borders between the State of Israel and the future State of Palestine, now that Netanyahu has accepted the two-state solution.

 

Focusing on borders makes good sense, because once borders are agreed upon, Israel can continue its settlement activities in those areas that will be annexed to Israel and begin to construct new housing for the settlers that will have to leave their homes in areas that will become part of the State of Palestine.

 

Once the US plan is announced, the border debate in Israel will go into full force. It is important that the public and the government understand the dynamics involved and the red lines that will be imposed from the Palestinian side.

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رسم الحدود هو الخطوة الأولى

שרטוט גבולות הוא הצעד הראשון

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Common Ground News Service - Middle East
 

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Creating a peace park in the Golan Heights

by Robin Twite

06 August 2009

JERUSALEM - It is said that good ideas do not die but wait till their time has come. When I read recently in the press that the American Government, or more precisely the office of George Mitchell, President Obama's envoy to region, had taken up the idea of creating a peace park in the Golan Heights as a way of resolving the Israeli-Syrian conflict, I felt a certain sense of pleasure.

As long ago as 1995, I put forward the idea of a peace park that would include most, but not all, of the Golan. The concept at that time was that the Golan would return to Syrian sovereignty but that much of it would be recognised as an international park or enclave which would be accessible to Syrians, Israelis, and other nationals of the Middle East and elsewhere. It would be controlled by an international commission, specifically created for this purpose, which would be comprised of representatives from Syria, Israel and a selected United Nations agency. A detailed paper was produced outlining how such a park would be managed and how its presence would be advantageous to all parties.

The concept was worked out in some detail at the time, but apart from a couple of articles in the Israeli press and a supportive message from the Israeli Foreign Ministry, it came to nothing. The Syrian authorities, approached by roundabout means, rejected anything which would in the least diminish their sovereignty.

The idea re-emerged during Israeli-Syrian second track negotiations conducted with the support of the Turkish Government in 2008 when one of those most involved in this effort asked for a copy of what I had written, and circulated it to those involved.
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הקמת פארק שלום ברמת הגולן

تحويل مرتفعات الجولان إلى متنزّه سلام

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Encountering peace: Conclusions from a very hot summer

Aug. 3, 2009
Gershon Baskin , THE JERUSALEM POST

The Obama road show has come and gone. Now it's time for the DC crowd to produce its plans for peace-making. The Middle East can't wait; if there's no progress, there will be regression toward violence. There is no "status quo" in the Middle East. Here are some conclusions that the US team should be presenting in Washington:

Economic peace - Israel Television produced magazine reports on the booming economy of Ramallah. They demonstrated the direct link between access and economic growth. The short-term growth is quite remarkable considering the past years of regression. There are limits, however, which must be understood, and the sudden positive change should not blind us to the economic reality of the occupied territories.

The main investments are in real estate, which is a good way to jump-start any economy and create jobs, but the real push is needed in industrial investment, and that's just not happening. There is a lot of cash in the economy of the West Bank being spent on consumer goods, and mostly on building materials. The main real estate projects, like the building of new cities, will require a transfer of territories from Area C - 60 percent of the West Bank is under full Israeli control - to areas A or B. If this is not done, those major development projects will not happen, including some of the pet projects of Tony Blair. Economic peace has territorial dimensions.

 

Settlements - Israeli reports suggest that Defense Minister Ehud Barak and US special envoy George Mitchell have been negotiating a compromise that will not enforce a full settlement freeze, or perhaps limit it in time. Reports from Washington are quite different. President Barak Obama knows that the entire Islamic world is watching to see if he caves under Israeli pressure. If he does, all the warmly-received words of his Cairo speech will not hold any credibility in the eyes of the billions of people who wanted to believe there really had been a change in Washington.

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במפגש עם השלום- מסקנות מקיץ חם במיוחד

مجابهة السلام: نتائج من صيف حار جداً

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A presentation by Gershon Baskin presented to world leaders in the US, EU, UN and Russia

(Adopted by Javier Solana and now known as the “Solana Plan”)

 

 

To READ THE PRESENTATION GO TO:

 

http://www.ipcri.org/files/ending.pdf

 

 

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Encountering Peace: Oh no, Jerusalem

Jul. 21, 2009
Gershon Baskin , THE JERUSALEM POST

Israel Radio reported that the Obama administration has demanded an immediate halt to the construction of a Jewish housing project in an east Jerusalem neighborhood. The report said that Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren was summoned to the State Department and told that the project, which is being developed by an American citizen, must stop. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is at odds with the White House over the issue of building in post-1967 communities, but successive governments have held that land inside of Jerusalem's municipal boundaries does not fall within the discussion of other post-1967 lands.

"I read the newspaper headlines today about the construction of a neighborhood in Jerusalem and I would like to reemphasize that the united Jerusalem is the capital of the Jewish people and of the State of Israel. Our sovereignty over it is cannot be challenged..." That is Netanyahu's response. But he is quite mistaken. Israel's declaration of sovereignty over east Jerusalem has never been accepted by the world. In fact, the international community has not even officially recognized west Jerusalem as the capital. Not one government has its embassy in Jerusalem today. Netanyahu's statement of our sovereignty in Jerusalem not being challenged is at best wishful thinking.

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EU's Foreign Minister Adopts IPCRI's Plan

Click here to read IPCRI's plan shared with Solana and other world leaders

First Published:	16:38 , 07.12.09
Latest Update:	23:40 , 07.12.09

Print   International Arena   Javier Solana Photo: Reuters   click here to enlarge text click here to reduce text				Israel rejects Solana's call for deadline on Palestinian state European Union's foreign policy chief urges Security Council to set tangible deadline for formation of Palestinian state, endorse overall solution for issues of border parameters, refugees, control over Jerusalem; Israel says proposal 'undermines peace efforts' Roni Sofer, Reuters Jerusalem dismissed Sunday evening European Union Foreign Policy chief Javier Solana's call for the UN Security Council to recognize a Palestinian state by a certain deadline even if the Israelis and Palestinians have not reached agreement among themselves.   The Foreign Ministry released a statement saying "Resolutions 242 and 338 of the United Nations, the roadmap (peace plan) and agreements between Israel and the Palestinians all cautiously determine that the solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will only be reached through negotiations by the sides.     "Israel has declared its willingness for the immediate resumption of the peace talks with no preconditions. Any other approach, including one that calls for setting an artificial deadline for the negotiations, undermines the efforts to reach an agreement between (Israel and the Palestinian Authority)," the statement read.   Solana made his comments on Saturday at a lecture in London while Palestinian and Israeli peace talks remain stalled.   The Palestinians have said they will not revive peace talks unless there is a halt to Israel's settlement activities in the West Bank: "After a fixed deadline, a UN Security Council resolution should proclaim the adoption of the two-state solution," Solana said, adding this should include border parameters, refugees, control over the city of Jerusalem and security arrangements.   "It would accept the Palestinian state as a full member of the UN, and set a calendar for implementation. It would mandate the resolution of other remaining territorial disputes and legitimize the end of claims," Solana went on.     Advocating a return to Israel's borders before the 1967 war with Egypt, Syria and Jordan in which it took the West Bank, Solana said mediators should set a timetable for a peace agreement.   "If the parties are not able to stick to it (the timetable), then a solution backed by the international community should be put on the table," He said. The EU, along with the United States, Russia and the United Nations, is part of the Quartet of Middle East Negotiators.   Earlier Sunday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas rejected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's call to return to the negotiation table, saying Israel must halt all settlement construction in the West Bank before the talks are to resume.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Click here to read the story

 

 

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Encountering Peace: It's the occupation, stupid!

Jul. 6, 2009
Gershon Baskin , THE JERUSALEM POST

Many voices here are already pondering the question how are we going to deal with at least three more years of an anti-Israel administration in Washington. These are the people who think that pressuring Jerusalem to meet its road map obligations is empowering the Arabs and weakening the country.

 

One such person, and he defined himself as pro-peace, told me that until the Arabs recognize Israel as the Jewish state, freezing settlements sends the wrong message; it tells the Arabs they don't have to do anything and that all of the pressure will only be on Israel.

 

But the government knows that it is obligated to the road map, which states quite explicitly it must "immediately dismantle settlement outposts erected since March 2001... and consistent with the Mitchell Report, freeze all settlement activity (including natural growth of settlements)." While it is true that the Sharon government issued 14 reservations to the road map, the US never accepted them, except for what appears to be an unwritten understanding between Sharon and president George W. Bush regarding growth in the settlement blocs and in Jerusalem. But the Bush administration was voted out of office and with it those unwritten understandings, as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has indicated so clearly.

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Jews and Muslims unite against Jerusalem Museum of Tolerance By Nir Hasson
A new Jewish-Muslim initiative is seeking to derail the planned Museum of Tolerance, which is currently being built in Jerusalem on the site of a former Muslim cemetery.

The initiative's hopes to get the site declared ritually impure under Jewish law, due to the fact that the construction has involved unearthing the remains of hundreds of Muslims. Such a declaration would keep religious Jews from visiting the museum.

The proposal has already received the blessing of Rabbi David Schmidl, head of the ultra-Orthodox Atra Kadisha organization, which fights against the desecration of Jewish graves. Its Jewish sponsors - who include two left-wing activists plus one activist from the ultra-Orthodox Shas party - are also seeking support from Chief Sephardic Rabbi Shlomo Amar, but he has not yet replied to their letter.

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Common Ground News Service - Middle East
 

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The Palestinian-Israeli Textbook War

by Gershon Baskin

25 June 2009

JERUSALEM - Over the years, significant criticisms have been levelled at Palestinian textbooks for carrying messages that are not conducive to creating a culture of peace. Much less attention has been paid to Jewish-Israeli textbooks but they too deserve in-depth analysis and criticism.

In both Palestinian and Jewish-Israeli textbooks, the historical narratives presented contain strong elements of mutual non-recognition. The problem is compounded by the fact that officials from both sides, sensing that the “textbook war” is just another means for demonising the other, refuse to accept the criticism and tend to respond defensively rather than substantively.

Palestinian textbooks do not explicitly incite against Israel or Jews, just as Israeli textbooks do not explicitly incite against Palestinians or Islam. But both contain confused messages. It is easy to infer implied assumptions on both sides that the other nation should not exist and that this is essentially the political goal of the governments of the Palestinian Authority and the State of Israel. Assuming that this is not the case, the textbooks need to be revised.

more...>>>

Click here to read the text in Arabic

Click here to read the text in Hebrew

 

 

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Encountering Peace: Dressing up the Palestinian state

Jun. 22, 2009
Gershon Baskin , THE JERUSALEM POST

OK, Binyamin Netanyahu said the magic words "Palestinian state," now what? I want to give our prime minister the benefit of doubt and say that he even meant it; at least that is what he told US President Barack Obama. Where do we go from here? How do those words become transformed into reality? Let's try to imagine.

 

Let us assume for a moment that the Palestinians accept all of Netanyahu's conditions - their state will be demilitarized, it will have no effective control of its external borders, its airspace, seaport, electromagnetic sphere. The Palestinians will agree to define the State of Israel as the state of the Jewish people. The sovereignty of the Palestinian state will be more limited than the sovereignty of almost any other state. So be it (for the purpose of argument at least). Now Mr. Netanyahu, I have some questions for you regarding your vision of this Palestinian state.

 

You say that Jerusalem will remain the eternal undivided capital of the State of Israel. What do you propose to do with the almost 300,000 Palestinians who live in our undivided capital? Do you grant them full citizenship? Do they get a passport? Can they vote for Knesset members? They have never enjoyed equal rights in the city of Jerusalem since 1967. Municipal records clearly prove that NIS 1 is allocated for each Palestinian Jerusalemite for the NIS 7 allocated for Jews.

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Encountering Peace: What Netanyahu's peace initiative must say

Jun. 8, 2009
Gershon Baskin , THE JERUSALEM POST

US President Barack Obama's Cairo speech and subsequent remarks by him and other senior US officials have made it clear beyond any doubt that the solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is two states for two peoples. There is no other solution. Today only three countries in the world are in opposition to it: Iran, Libya and Israel.

 

I am not so sure that the people of Israel really wish to belong to this club or rejectionists. The creation of an independent, democratic and peaceful Palestinian state is in the interest of the Jewish people, the State of Israel and the Zionist movement. It is high time that the government take up the challenge of presenting its own peace initiative that will work with the international community, rather than against it, in fulfilling the will of the international community in bringing about an end to the conflict.

 

The initiative must of course not only present the threat perceptions of Israel and the real threats that a Palestinian state may create, but constructive and pragmatic proposals on how to confront those threats. The international community led by the United States, Israel's closest ally and the most powerful nation in the world, will be quite forthcoming in assisting an Israel which is willing to cooperate with it in bringing about an end to the conflict.

 

PRIME MINISTER Binyamin Netanyahu has pointed to at least four real threats that a Palestinian state would create to the security of the State of Israel and its people. There are practical solutions to all of them. The Palestinian people and the international community fully understand that there are real threats. None of the threats are existential. A Palestinian state cannot challenge the power of Israel - militarily, economically or in any other way.

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More (Hebrew)...>>>

More (Arabic)...>>>

 

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To the Obama Middle East Team
To the Leaders of the Quartet
To the Leaders of the Middle East Region

This is a telegraphic memo brief

 

The Making of a US-led International Peace Plan for Israel and Palestine

 

Assumptions

§         There is no chance at this time of reaching an Israeli-Palestinian bilateral negotiated agreement
 

§         Without a political framework (meaning a plan with a time-table) to end the Israeli occupation, no incremental progress will bring the desired results and will inevitably lead to another explosion

§         Economic peace is a myth, there is no money in the private sector around the world to invest, and without a significant change on the ground no sane person will invest in Palestine.

§         Palestinian security force building, training and deployment will not succeed without the political framework, especially as confrontations between the PA and Hamas increase

 

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Encountering Peace: Partner or pariah?

May. 26, 2009
Gershon Baskin , THE JERUSALEM POST

There is no solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict other than "two states for two peoples." Any other proposal guarantees the continuation of the conflict and the end of the Zionist enterprise, the State of Israel.

 

There are those on the Left who think that the two-state solution is no longer viable. They are suggesting that the Palestinian people be deprived of the stage of normal national development and denied the ability to take responsibility for their own future. These do-gooders and dreamers are ready to deny Palestinians the same rights that all other nation-states have (including Israel) to a territorial dimension on which they can express their culture, heritage, language and visions for their future as a people. For the most part, these people are anti-Israeli and are actively working for Israel's destruction.

 

Those on the Right who think Israel can continue to hold on to the West Bank under full occupation are damning it to become an apartheid state that will be rejected and boycotted by the international community. It will cease to be the place where anyone with an appreciation for human rights and dignity will be able to live. These people are working for Israel's destruction in the name of Zionism, but in reality they are much more like the Zealots of Masada who are leading the Jewish people and the country to collective national suicide.

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Encountering Peace: But What about Iran?

 

By: Gershon Baskin

There is a great deal of speculation around regarding what President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu will say to each other when they finally meet on May 17.  In fact, no one in the media really knows. Netanyahu has not released his foreign policy plans vis-à-vis the Palestinians. Obama’s team hasn’t yet finished their homework and has not released any details of what their plans are. 

There have been very few statements made by both sides that might provide some indications but nothing that provides enough to really know for sure. Obama's National Security Adviser, retired General James Jones, reiterated remarks made by other senior US officials linking the resolution of the Iranian nuclear threat to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Netanyahu has stated that Iran is the main problem in the Middle East, not the Palestinians.

Since speculation has become an accepted form of journalism, I would like to add my own to what has already been written. Reports have indicated that he will tell Obama that the Iranian threat must be dealt with before any real action can be taken on the issue of Syria or regarding the Palestinians.

Insisting that Iran is the main problem, Netanyahu will assert that the Palestinian house is divided and their leadership is weak and no “top-down” progress can be made.  Look at Olmert – he really wanted to reach an agreement and couldn’t.  I, Netanyahu, don’t believe that it is possible to reach any agreement with the Palestinians.  They won’t even recognize our rights to exist as a Jewish state.

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Will Israelis ever accept the Arab Peace Initiative?

Gershon Baskin

Public opinion research into what would motivate Israelis to accept making significant concessions, such as those called for in the Arab Peace Initiative, take us back to a notion of a ‘true partnership'.

6 - 05 - 2009

 

After 16 years of Israeli-Palestinian bilateral negotiations for peace there is a growing realisation that there is very little likelihood of a bilateral Israeli-Palestinian negotiated agreement. This realisation seems equally evident in Jerusalem, Ramallah, Brussels, Moscow and now in Washington.  Everyone appears to be searching for a new formula for peace and in that search the Arab Peace Initiative has once again reappeared as a possible saviour. The positive statements regarding the Arab Peace Initiative (API) by President Obama and members of his team have again placed it centre stage.

 

Six years after it was first presented, the Arab peace initiative may finally be coming of age. Previous Israeli leaders have basically trashed the API in its present form for many reasons. One of the main reasons is that it mentions UN Resolution 194 which is the foundation of the Arab claims for the right of return of refugees from the 1948 war to their homes inside of Israel.

 

Additional Israeli objections include the direct reference in the Initiative to the June 4, 1967 borders. Israel rightly claims that in negotiations regarding these with the Palestinians, the principle of territorial exchange has already been accepted, so why as far as Israel is concerned go back to 1967 borders which ignore any of the new realities on the ground and consequently can have only a very tenuous nature? The new Israeli right-wing Government of Binyamin Netanyahu completely rejects the idea of return to the 1967 borders.  The most objectionable and perhaps the most misunderstood aspect of the API for Israelis is the sense that this is a ‘take it or leave document' and if this is the case, the majority of Israelis say ‘leave it'.
 

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Encountering peace: Education for peace - who will stand up to the challenge? Part II

Apr. 27, 2009
Gershon Baskin , THE JERUSALEM POST

A peace process occurs between nations transferring them from a state of war between enemies to a state of peace between partners. A successful peace process requires a shift of attitudes in a cross section of the society and must be built between the peoples. This lengthy process also requires formal education that should take place through the educational system.

 

Education is a powerful agent of change and socialization into society's values; unfortunately, it sometimes also acts as a transmitter of conflict-producing and conflict-sustaining myths. Hence the need for serious and systematic educational approaches that teach conflict-solving values and skills and brings together Israeli and Palestinian teachers and students, on equal footing, to encourage discussion, to empower both sides and to emphasize the role of education as an agent of change. This process empowers the teachers to use their newly learned skills in their classrooms with generations of students to come.

 

Textbooks and curricula are determined and issued by governments. Textbooks reflect the official values that societies wish to impart to their citizens. Beyond the main task of ministries of education to provide the young people with international standards and high levels of academic education, the Israeli and Palestinian Authority ministries of education also face the significant task of providing their children with a strong values-based education aimed at building their respective society and the future of their states. An essential aspect of this values-based education is imparting and building the national identity with all of its many facets. This kind of task is complicated under the best circumstances, and when faced with a 100-year violent conflict with the neighbors, it becomes extremely problematic and difficult.

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Encountering Peace: The first in a two-part series on what Israelis and Palestinians teach their young

Apr. 20, 2009
Gershon Baskin , THE JERUSALEM POST

One of the most amazing things about the Oslo peace process is that since the creation of the Palestinian Authority in 1994, the ministers of education of Israel and the PA have never met. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will meet with President Mahmoud Abbas. Defense Minister Ehud Barak will continue to meet with PA Prime Minister Salaam Fayad. Other Israeli and PA ministers will continue to meet, but the ministers of education - no meetings will take place between them.

 

Former education minister Yuli Tamir was more than willing to meet her PA counterpart, Dr. Lamis Alami. But Alami replied that she is serving in a technocrat government whose job is to make sure that the educational system is working, not to get into matters of a controversial nature, such as curriculum content. Even peace-minded Fayad was approached to assist in arranging a meeting, but no progress took place.

 

Former PA minister of education Naim Abu Hummous told me, as I was leaving a meeting with Yasser Arafat where I raised the issue of peace education, that the issue of Palestinian textbooks and how they present Israel is a matter in the hands of the PA president, not the minister of education.

 

It is important to note that the issue of Palestinian textbooks has been highly exaggerated. The textbooks are more problematic in what they do not contain rather than how they actually present Israel, Jews, history, maps, etc. From this standpoint, Israeli textbooks are not much better.

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Encountering Peace: Multilateral engagement, involvement and imposition

Apr. 7, 2009
Gershon Baskin , THE JERUSALEM POST

Is the new government on a collision course with the US? It would seem so. President Barack Obama and his secretary of state have let Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu know in no uncertain terms that the two-states-for-two-peoples solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the only plan on the table. In a statement appearing on the Web page of the Foreign Ministry, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman stated: "We will act exactly according to the road map, including the Tenet document and the Zinni document. I voted against the road map, but that was the only document approved by the cabinet and by the Security Council - I believe it was Resolution 1505. It is a binding resolution and binds this government as well."

Lieberman further stated in interviews that he is obligated to the "road map as the government of Israel voted" implicitly referring to the 14 reservations decided by the Sharon government on May 25, 2003. Those reservations emptied the road map of its primary content and watered down all of Israel's obligations. In response, US officials, including president George W. Bush and secretary of state Colin Powell declared that both sides would be obligated to fulfill the road map as it was drafted.
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IPCRI Founder and Co-CEO Dr. Gershon Baskin is coming to the US

on a cross-country speaking and fundraising tour

May 2-21, 2009

Call to help set up speaking engagements and meetings

 

 

READ MORE...>>>

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Think tank says battle against works at Museum of Tolerance not over yet

Mar. 30, 2009
Etgar Lefkovits , THE JERUSALEM POST

A Canadian-funded Israeli-Palestinian think tank held a public event Monday against the construction of the Museum of Tolerance at its planned central Jerusalem site, despite a High Court ruling allowing it to be built there.

The event, organized by the Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information, came five months after construction resumed at the site, which partially covers a Muslim cemetery, in keeping with last year's unanimous ruling.

The two-hour discussion, which was held at an east Jerusalem hotel and included a four-member panel that opposed the construction, was part of an afternoon discussion series "made possible by the support of the government of Canada," according to an e-mail the organization sent out.

An Israeli lawyer for the Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center, which is building the museum, was not allowed to be part of the panel and was only permitted to voice his opinion in the question-and-answer session that followed the event.

A spokeswoman for the Canadian Embassy in Tel Aviv had no immediate comment on Monday.

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Encountering Peace: Far-fetched - but not beyond imagination

Mar. 30, 2009
Gershon Baskin , THE JERUSALEM POST

Welcome Prime Minister Netanyahu. Your recent statements indicating your intention to be a true partner to the Palestinians in advancing peace through negotiations is what the international community wants to hear. But more than wanting to hear positive statements on your intentions to make peace, the international community want to see progress on the ground.

 

The international community is quite united on this issue, more than you remember from the last time you sat in the PM's chair, and it's not only those anti-Israeli Europeans. US President Barack Obama also wants to see your commitment to making peace with the Palestinians and beware, Obama is truly interested in a multilateral foreign policy. The Quartet - the invention of the Bush administration to provide the US with a veto vis-à-vis Israel, will now act in a very different way. The US is determined to work in full cooperation with the other Quartet members - the EU, the UN and Russia. The US will even encourage the other partners to take initiatives - in coordination with each other, so that the Israeli-Palestinian peace process can be resumed, and this time, completed.

 

The international community is not interested in another long, drawn out Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Israel might be in love with peace processes and negotiations, but this time the world wants to see results, not more negotiations. After 18 years of peace processes since the Madrid Conference, there are some issues which, in the eyes of the international community, are no longer under negotiation - they are clear and must be expressed already in peace agreements.

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Encountering peace: Olmert's scorecard - failure!

Mar. 23, 2009
Gershon Baskin , THE JERUSALEM POST

Israel's prime ministers are judged by their performance on issues of peace and security. On these issues, Ehud Olmert was one of the worst prime ministers in Israel's history. Ironically, this statement, as harsh as it is, probably finds great deal of consensus across Israel's divergent political map. Each part of the political map in Israel has its own reasons for giving Olmert such low grades. I will focus on mine.

Is Israel closer to peace following Olmert than we were prior to his falling into the prime minister's chair? The answer is a definite "no." Before the 2006 elections Olmert promised that by 2010 he would set Israel's final borders. This was a promise that Israel would have internationally recognized borders on its east, with the Palestinians and in the north, with Syria. Olmert promised to make every effort to negotiate with the Palestinian Authority President in search for an agreement.

 

In the Bush-initiated Annapolis summit of November 2007 Olmert delivered one of the best Israeli peace speeches ever made by an Israeli head of state. Here are some of his best remarks: "I came here today not in order to settle historical accounts between us and you about what caused the confrontations and the hatred, and what for many years has prevented a compromise, a settlement of peace. I want to tell you from the bottom of my heart that I acknowledge… your people, too, have suffered for many years; and there are some who still suffer. We know that this pain and this humiliation are the deepest foundations which fomented the ethos of hatred toward us. We are not indifferent to this suffering. We are not oblivious to the tragedies that you have experienced.

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Encountering Peace: Political dead ends

Mar. 10, 2009
Gershon Baskin , THE JERUSALEM POST

There are those who want and can't, those who don't want and can, those who don't want and can't, and there are those who want and can. Mahmoud Abbas has been one of those who wanted and couldn't, as was Ehud Olmert. Binyamin Netanyahu is probably one who doesn't want but can. A Palestinian national unity government, should it come to life, will also be one that doesn't want but could. The Obama administration is definitely one that wants and can, but what will it do in the face of those in the Middle East who so clearly don't want?

Netanyahu offers us his plan of "economic peace" - the logic is sound and rational, but it completely ignores the fact that there is nothing logical at all about Middle Eastern politics. He says, let's allow and encourage the Palestinians to develop their economy. Let's ensure that they have jobs and a chance for prosperity, so that the Palestinians have something to lose, a reason to fight terror and to become peaceful neighbors. Only once the Palestinians provide Israel with security will Netanyahu be ready to speak to them about other political issues like statehood with limited sovereignty.

 

But who will invest in Palestine without a political horizon? With the global economic crisis, who has money to invest and risk in a place with almost no hope? Will Netanyahu remove the roadblocks and open up movement and access for Palestinian businesses - the same ones that Ehud Olmert and Ehud Barak refused to open? We all know that he has a short historical memory - perhaps he should be reminded that the two intifadas exploded on us at times when there was more economic growth, more jobs, more investments and a more promising economic horizon that at any other time prior to that.

 

Despite the economic promise, Palestinians were willing to lose those personal economic gains for national goals, pride and dignity. They chose to fight for real statehood and freedom from occupation. Netanyahu may be able to make a few Palestinian collaborators richer, but his economic "peace plan" will never provide security if it is detached from a genuine political peace plan that will end the occupation and enable the Palestinians to establish their independent state next to Israel.

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Encountering Peace: Bibi or Tzipi, Bibi and Tzipi - what does it really matter?

Feb. 23, 2009
Gershon Baskin , THE JERUSALEM POST

Does it really make a difference what the various potential coalition partners believe on cardinal issues facing the country today? The government of Ehud Olmert believed in a negotiated peace process based on the road map, eventually leading to the creation of a Palestinian state as articulated at the Annapolis Conference. All of the parties that made up the Olmert government supported this goal, yet the government under Olmert didn't even begin to implement its road map obligations.

 

The road map stated: "Israel takes all necessary steps to help normalize Palestinian life. Israel withdraws from Palestinian areas occupied from September 28, 2000 and the two sides restore the status quo that existed at that time, as security performance and cooperation progress. Israel also freezes all settlement activity, consistent with the Mitchell Report."

 

On settlements the road map states explicitly: "Government of Israel immediately dismantles settlement outposts erected since March 2001. Consistent with the Mitchell Report, GOI freezes all settlement activity (including natural growth of settlements)."

Olmert's government did redeploy outside of some of the Palestinian cities, but kept its right to enter those cities unilaterally at any time it chose, in addition to demanding that Palestinian security forces disappear every evening after midnight. On settlements, the government didn't do anything. Instead, the Olmert government continued intensive settlement growth, even in areas beyond the separation barrier.

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Encountering Peace: Spins and lies: Schalit, Hamas and Olmert

Feb. 9, 2009
Gershon Baskin , THE JERUSALEM POST

Several weeks ago I wrote that the war in Gaza "may have really been a 'war of no choice.'" Following the recent leaks from the talks about the "imminent" release of Gilad Schalit, I have decided to expose what I already knew before the war began.

 

Two weeks before Israel launched its attack on Gaza in response to a breakdown of the tahadiyeh (the cease-fire) with three weeks of barrages of Kassam rockets and mortar shells against its civilian population, I had met with a senior Hamas personality in a European capital. This person is connected and in contact with the Hamas leadership in Gaza and in Damascus. Over the past 950 days since the abduction of Schalit, he has transmitted messages for me back and forth to the Hamas leadership in Damascus, including a letter from Noam Schalit to Khaled Mashaal on September 8, 2006 that led to the release of the first sign of life from Gilad, which was received by the Egyptians on September 9, 2006.

 

We spent several hours talking about the conditions to renew the tahadiyeh. Since the abduction of Schalit on June 25, 2006, my involvement behind the scenes has been in holding unofficial talks with various Hamas leaders in Gaza, Damascus and elsewhere, all seeking to advance the negotiations to bring Gilad home. For two and half years I have been trying to bring about a direct secret back-channel bypassing third party mediators in order to speed up the process.

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לו גלעד היה בבית

קשה לדעת כיצד גלעד שליט היה מצביע, אילו היה בבית. ספק אם היה נותן את קולו למי מהפוליטיקאים, שהיו מעורבים במגעים על עסקת שליט. למשמע הסיפור הבא, ייתכן שהיה מצביע לתנועה הירוקה-מימד - שאחד ממייסדיה גרשון בסקין -המנכ"ל המשותף של איפקר"י (מכון מחקר ישראלי-פלסטיני) - העמיד במשך כשנתיים את מרצו וקשריו עם כמה מראשי החמאס לרשות משפחת שליט.

"שבועיים לפני המלחמה נפגשתי באירופה עם גורם בכיר בחמאס", משחזר בסקין, "ארבעה ימים לפני המלחמה העברתי לראש הממשלה, לשר הביטחון ולשרת החוץ הצעה שקיבלתי ממנו לפתיחת ערוץ ישיר וחשאי עם החמאס. ההצעה נועדה לקדם הסכמה לגבי חידוש הפסקת האש לפרק זמן ארוך, פתיחת המעברים, כולל רפיח, ושחרור שליט כנגד שחרור אסירים פלסטינים. איש מהם לא הגיב. יומיים לפני פתיחת המבצע הקרקעי העברתי להם שוב את ההצעה, ושוב לא זכיתי לתגובה".
עוד...>>>

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If Gilad were home

It's hard to know how Gilad Shalit would be voting today, had he come home in time. It is doubtful that he would be casting has ballot for any of the politicians who have been in on the secret of the contacts with the enemy concerning the Shalit deal. Upon hearing the true story, it is quite possible that Shalit would in fact be voting for the Green Movement-Meimad, of which one of the founders is Gershon Baskin.

For the past two years and more, the co-CEO of the Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information has put his energy and his connections with some of the heads of Hamas at the disposal of the Shalit family.

"Two weeks before the war," relates Baskin, "I passed along to the prime minister, the defense minister and the foreign minister a proposal that I had received from it to open a direct and secret channel with Hamas. The proposal was aimed at advancing agreement with regard to renewing the cease-fire for a long period, opening the crossing points, including Rafah, and Shalit's release in return for the release of Palestinian prisoners. None of them responded. Two days before the ground operation began I transmitted the proposal to them again, and again I was not granted a response."
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עסקת שליט: לא נתנו, קיבלו

פרשנות

_{מאת עמוס הראל ואבי יששכרוף}

שאלת המפתח בעניין העסקה המתגבשת על הפסקת אש ממושכת ברצועת עזה והחזרת גלעד שליט נוגעת ללוח הזמנים: האם מדובר בימים או בשבועות? ראש הממשלה, אהוד אולמרט, עשה שלשום מאמץ מכוון להנמיך את הציפיות לחזרתו המהירה של החייל החטוף. שלושה שרים בקבינט, שהתראיינו בכלי התקשורת, היו גלויים ואופטימיים יותר, אולם הסתפקו בהערכה ששליט ישוב בתוך שבועות. קיימת עדיין, כמובן, האפשרות שהמו"מ יעלה על שרטון ברגע האחרון. אך מבחינת התקשורת הערבית, לעומת זאת, הסיפור כמעט גמור. עיתונים ערביים מדווחים על פערי עמדות קטנים בין הצדדים ומעריכים שההסכם הסופי יגובש בתוך ימים אחדים.
עוד...>>>

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ИЗРАИЛЬСКИЕ АНАЛИТИЧЕСКИЕ ЦЕНТРЫ ЗАНЯЛИ ВЕДУЩИЕ МЕСТА В МЕЖДУНАРОДНОМ РЕЙТИНГЕ

02.02.2009

Впервые составленный международный рейтинг “Go-To Think Tanks” охватил 5456 исследовательских центров по всему миру. Экспертный совет отобрал 407 лучших исследовательских центров для включения в рейтинг. 48 израильских аналитических центров, специализирующихся на политических и экономических исследованиях и на проблемах безопасности, вошли в этот список. 9 из них вошли в список 25 лучших исследовательских центров Ближнего Востока и Северной Африки.

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Encountering Peace: Get ready for internationalization

Jan. 26, 2009
Gershon Baskin , THE JERUSALEM POST

Senator George Mitchell, the newly appointed Obama Administration Special Envoy to the Middle East will arrive this week in Israel and Palestine. He will present his credentials to get an update on the status of the negotiations, focusing on the aftermath of the war in Gaza. Mitchell is not new to the region or to serving as an official mediator of conflicts for an American president.

 

Mitchell's last attempt at mediating between Israel and Palestine began in the end of October 2000 following the outbreak of the second intifada. The Mitchell report which investigated the reasons behind the intifada and what steps should be taken to revert back to a non-violent peace process was published in May 2001, some eight months after the violence erupted and three months after Ariel Sharon was sitting in the Prime Minister's office. By that time (beginning in February 2001), Hamas and other terror groups had begun the barrage of suicide attacks inside of Israel and the mantra of "no partner for peace" was heard on both sides of the green line.

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IPCRI - One of the leading Think Tanks in the Region

 

In what is believed to be the first-ever ranking of the world's leading public-policy research organizations, nine Israeli think tanks have been placed among the top 407. Out of 48 Israeli think tanks considered for evaluation, the nine best also made the top-25 think-tank list in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

The 2008 Global Survey of Think Tanks, published by the University of Pennsylvania, studied 5,465 think tanks worldwide. A panel of experts nominated 407 think tanks to a list of global "Go-To Think Tanks."

The nine best Israeli think tanks that made it to the top 25 in MENA and the top 407 worldwide are: 1. The Institute for National Security Studies (No. 3 in MENA); 2. The Economic Cooperation Foundation (N. 12 in MENA); 3. The Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies (No. 15 in MENA); 4. The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute (No. 16 in MENA); 5. The Israel-Palestine Center for Research and Information (IPCRI) (No. 17 in MENA); 6. The Jerusalem Institute for Market Studies (No. 18 in MENA); 7. The Israel Center for Social and Economic Progress (No. 19 in MENA); 8. The Reut Institute (No. 20 in MENA); and 9. The Rabin Center for Israeli Studies (No. 21 in MENA).

 

READ THE FULL REPORT

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A presentation by Gershon Baskin presented to world leaders in the US, EU, UN and Russia

(Adopted by Javier Solana and now known as the “Solana Plan”)

 

 

To READ THE PRESENTATION GO TO:

 

http://www.ipcri.org/files/ending.pdf

 

 

 

 

Encountering Peace: Oh no, Jerusalem

Jul. 21, 2009
Gershon Baskin , THE JERUSALEM POST

Israel Radio reported that the Obama administration has demanded an immediate halt to the construction of a Jewish housing project in an east Jerusalem neighborhood. The report said that Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren was summoned to the State Department and told that the project, which is being developed by an American citizen, must stop. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is at odds with the White House over the issue of building in post-1967 communities, but successive governments have held that land inside of Jerusalem's municipal boundaries does not fall within the discussion of other post-1967 lands.

"I read the newspaper headlines today about the construction of a neighborhood in Jerusalem and I would like to reemphasize that the united Jerusalem is the capital of the Jewish people and of the State of Israel. Our sovereignty over it is cannot be challenged..." That is Netanyahu's response. But he is quite mistaken. Israel's declaration of sovereignty over east Jerusalem has never been accepted by the world. In fact, the international community has not even officially recognized west Jerusalem as the capital. Not one government has its embassy in Jerusalem today. Netanyahu's statement of our sovereignty in Jerusalem not being challenged is at best wishful thinking.

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EU's Foreign Minister Adopts IPCRI's Plan

Click here to read IPCRI's plan shared with Solana and other world leaders

First Published:	16:38 , 07.12.09
Latest Update:	23:40 , 07.12.09

Print   International Arena   Javier Solana Photo: Reuters   click here to enlarge text click here to reduce text				Israel rejects Solana's call for deadline on Palestinian state European Union's foreign policy chief urges Security Council to set tangible deadline for formation of Palestinian state, endorse overall solution for issues of border parameters, refugees, control over Jerusalem; Israel says proposal 'undermines peace efforts' Roni Sofer, Reuters Jerusalem dismissed Sunday evening European Union Foreign Policy chief Javier Solana's call for the UN Security Council to recognize a Palestinian state by a certain deadline even if the Israelis and Palestinians have not reached agreement among themselves.   The Foreign Ministry released a statement saying "Resolutions 242 and 338 of the United Nations, the roadmap (peace plan) and agreements between Israel and the Palestinians all cautiously determine that the solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will only be reached through negotiations by the sides.     "Israel has declared its willingness for the immediate resumption of the peace talks with no preconditions. Any other approach, including one that calls for setting an artificial deadline for the negotiations, undermines the efforts to reach an agreement between (Israel and the Palestinian Authority)," the statement read.   Solana made his comments on Saturday at a lecture in London while Palestinian and Israeli peace talks remain stalled.   The Palestinians have said they will not revive peace talks unless there is a halt to Israel's settlement activities in the West Bank: "After a fixed deadline, a UN Security Council resolution should proclaim the adoption of the two-state solution," Solana said, adding this should include border parameters, refugees, control over the city of Jerusalem and security arrangements.   "It would accept the Palestinian state as a full member of the UN, and set a calendar for implementation. It would mandate the resolution of other remaining territorial disputes and legitimize the end of claims," Solana went on.     Advocating a return to Israel's borders before the 1967 war with Egypt, Syria and Jordan in which it took the West Bank, Solana said mediators should set a timetable for a peace agreement.   "If the parties are not able to stick to it (the timetable), then a solution backed by the international community should be put on the table," He said. The EU, along with the United States, Russia and the United Nations, is part of the Quartet of Middle East Negotiators.   Earlier Sunday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas rejected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's call to return to the negotiation table, saying Israel must halt all settlement construction in the West Bank before the talks are to resume.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Click here to read the story

 

 

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Encountering Peace: It's the occupation, stupid!

Jul. 6, 2009
Gershon Baskin , THE JERUSALEM POST

Many voices here are already pondering the question how are we going to deal with at least three more years of an anti-Israel administration in Washington. These are the people who think that pressuring Jerusalem to meet its road map obligations is empowering the Arabs and weakening the country.

 

One such person, and he defined himself as pro-peace, told me that until the Arabs recognize Israel as the Jewish state, freezing settlements sends the wrong message; it tells the Arabs they don't have to do anything and that all of the pressure will only be on Israel.

 

But the government knows that it is obligated to the road map, which states quite explicitly it must "immediately dismantle settlement outposts erected since March 2001... and consistent with the Mitchell Report, freeze all settlement activity (including natural growth of settlements)." While it is true that the Sharon government issued 14 reservations to the road map, the US never accepted them, except for what appears to be an unwritten understanding between Sharon and president George W. Bush regarding growth in the settlement blocs and in Jerusalem. But the Bush administration was voted out of office and with it those unwritten understandings, as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has indicated so clearly.

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Jews and Muslims unite against Jerusalem Museum of Tolerance By Nir Hasson
A new Jewish-Muslim initiative is seeking to derail the planned Museum of Tolerance, which is currently being built in Jerusalem on the site of a former Muslim cemetery.

The initiative's hopes to get the site declared ritually impure under Jewish law, due to the fact that the construction has involved unearthing the remains of hundreds of Muslims. Such a declaration would keep religious Jews from visiting the museum.

The proposal has already received the blessing of Rabbi David Schmidl, head of the ultra-Orthodox Atra Kadisha organization, which fights against the desecration of Jewish graves. Its Jewish sponsors - who include two left-wing activists plus one activist from the ultra-Orthodox Shas party - are also seeking support from Chief Sephardic Rabbi Shlomo Amar, but he has not yet replied to their letter.

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Common Ground News Service - Middle East
 

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The Palestinian-Israeli Textbook War

by Gershon Baskin

25 June 2009

JERUSALEM - Over the years, significant criticisms have been levelled at Palestinian textbooks for carrying messages that are not conducive to creating a culture of peace. Much less attention has been paid to Jewish-Israeli textbooks but they too deserve in-depth analysis and criticism.

In both Palestinian and Jewish-Israeli textbooks, the historical narratives presented contain strong elements of mutual non-recognition. The problem is compounded by the fact that officials from both sides, sensing that the “textbook war” is just another means for demonising the other, refuse to accept the criticism and tend to respond defensively rather than substantively.

Palestinian textbooks do not explicitly incite against Israel or Jews, just as Israeli textbooks do not explicitly incite against Palestinians or Islam. But both contain confused messages. It is easy to infer implied assumptions on both sides that the other nation should not exist and that this is essentially the political goal of the governments of the Palestinian Authority and the State of Israel. Assuming that this is not the case, the textbooks need to be revised.

more...>>>

Click here to read the text in Arabic

Click here to read the text in Hebrew

 

 

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Encountering Peace: Dressing up the Palestinian state

Jun. 22, 2009
Gershon Baskin , THE JERUSALEM POST

OK, Binyamin Netan-yahu said the magic words "Palestinian state," now what? I want to give our prime minister the benefit of doubt and say that he even meant it; at least that is what he told US President Barack Obama. Where do we go from here? How do those words become transformed into reality? Let's try to imagine.

 

Let us assume for a moment that the Palestinians accept all of Netanyahu's conditions - their state will be demilitarized, it will have no effective control of its external borders, its airspace, seaport, electromagnetic sphere. The Palestinians will agree to define the State of Israel as the state of the Jewish people. The sovereignty of the Palestinian state will be more limited than the sovereignty of almost any other state. So be it (for the purpose of argument at least). Now Mr. Netanyahu, I have some questions for you regarding your vision of this Palestinian state.

 

You say that Jerusalem will remain the eternal undivided capital of the State of Israel. What do you propose to do with the almost 300,000 Palestinians who live in our undivided capital? Do you grant them full citizenship? Do they get a passport? Can they vote for Knesset members? They have never enjoyed equal rights in the city of Jerusalem since 1967. Municipal records clearly prove that NIS 1 is allocated for each Palestinian Jerusalemite for the NIS 7 allocated for Jews.

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Encountering Peace: What Netanyahu's peace initiative must say

Jun. 8, 2009
Gershon Baskin , THE JERUSALEM POST

US President Barack Obama's Cairo speech and subsequent remarks by him and other senior US officials have made it clear beyond any doubt that the solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is two states for two peoples. There is no other solution. Today only three countries in the world are in opposition to it: Iran, Libya and Israel.

 

I am not so sure that the people of Israel really wish to belong to this club or rejectionists. The creation of an independent, democratic and peaceful Palestinian state is in the interest of the Jewish people, the State of Israel and the Zionist movement. It is high time that the government take up the challenge of presenting its own peace initiative that will work with the international community, rather than against it, in fulfilling the will of the international community in bringing about an end to the conflict.

 

The initiative must of course not only present the threat perceptions of Israel and the real threats that a Palestinian state may create, but constructive and pragmatic proposals on how to confront those threats. The international community led by the United States, Israel's closest ally and the most powerful nation in the world, will be quite forthcoming in assisting an Israel which is willing to cooperate with it in bringing about an end to the conflict.

 

PRIME MINISTER Binyamin Netanyahu has pointed to at least four real threats that a Palestinian state would create to the security of the State of Israel and its people. There are practical solutions to all of them. The Palestinian people and the international community fully understand that there are real threats. None of the threats are existential. A Palestinian state cannot challenge the power of Israel - militarily, economically or in any other way.

More (English)...>>>

More (Hebrew)...>>>

More (Arabic)...>>>

 

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To the Obama Middle East Team
To the Leaders of the Quartet
To the Leaders of the Middle East Region

This is a telegraphic memo brief

 

The Making of a US-led International Peace Plan for Israel and Palestine

 

Assumptions

§         There is no chance at this time of reaching an Israeli-Palestinian bilateral negotiated agreement
 

§         Without a political framework (meaning a plan with a time-table) to end the Israeli occupation, no incremental progress will bring the desired results and will inevitably lead to another explosion

§         Economic peace is a myth, there is no money in the private sector around the world to invest, and without a significant change on the ground no sane person will invest in Palestine.

§         Palestinian security force building, training and deployment will not succeed without the political framework, especially as confrontations between the PA and Hamas increase

 

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Encountering Peace: Partner or pariah?

May. 26, 2009
Gershon Baskin , THE JERUSALEM POST

There is no solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict other than "two states for two peoples." Any other proposal guarantees the continuation of the conflict and the end of the Zionist enterprise, the State of Israel.

 

There are those on the Left who think that the two-state solution is no longer viable. They are suggesting that the Palestinian people be deprived of the stage of normal national development and denied the ability to take responsibility for their own future. These do-gooders and dreamers are ready to deny Palestinians the same rights that all other nation-states have (including Israel) to a territorial dimension on which they can express their culture, heritage, language and visions for their future as a people. For the most part, these people are anti-Israeli and are actively working for Israel's destruction.

 

Those on the Right who think Israel can continue to hold on to the West Bank under full occupation are damning it to become an apartheid state that will be rejected and boycotted by the international community. It will cease to be the place where anyone with an appreciation for human rights and dignity will be able to live. These people are working for Israel's destruction in the name of Zionism, but in reality they are much more like the Zealots of Masada who are leading the Jewish people and the country to collective national suicide.

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Encountering Peace: But What about Iran?

 

By: Gershon Baskin

There is a great deal of speculation around regarding what President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu will say to each other when they finally meet on May 17.  In fact, no one in the media really knows. Netanyahu has not released his foreign policy plans vis-à-vis the Palestinians. Obama’s team hasn’t yet finished their homework and has not released any details of what their plans are. 

There have been very few statements made by both sides that might provide some indications but nothing that provides enough to really know for sure. Obama's National Security Adviser, retired General James Jones, reiterated remarks made by other senior US officials linking the resolution of the Iranian nuclear threat to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Netanyahu has stated that Iran is the main problem in the Middle East, not the Palestinians.

Since speculation has become an accepted form of journalism, I would like to add my own to what has already been written. Reports have indicated that he will tell Obama that the Iranian threat must be dealt with before any real action can be taken on the issue of Syria or regarding the Palestinians.

Insisting that Iran is the main problem, Netanyahu will assert that the Palestinian house is divided and their leadership is weak and no “top-down” progress can be made.  Look at Olmert – he really wanted to reach an agreement and couldn’t.  I, Netanyahu, don’t believe that it is possible to reach any agreement with the Palestinians.  They won’t even recognize our rights to exist as a Jewish state.

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Will Israelis ever accept the Arab Peace Initiative?

Gershon Baskin

Public opinion research into what would motivate Israelis to accept making significant concessions, such as those called for in the Arab Peace Initiative, take us back to a notion of a ‘true partnership'.

6 - 05 - 2009

 

After 16 years of Israeli-Palestinian bilateral negotiations for peace there is a growing realisation that there is very little likelihood of a bilateral Israeli-Palestinian negotiated agreement. This realisation seems equally evident in Jerusalem, Ramallah, Brussels, Moscow and now in Washington.  Everyone appears to be searching for a new formula for peace and in that search the Arab Peace Initiative has once again reappeared as a possible saviour. The positive statements regarding the Arab Peace Initiative (API) by President Obama and members of his team have again placed it centre stage.

 

Six years after it was first presented, the Arab peace initiative may finally be coming of age. Previous Israeli leaders have basically trashed the API in its present form for many reasons. One of the main reasons is that it mentions UN Resolution 194 which is the foundation of the Arab claims for the right of return of refugees from the 1948 war to their homes inside of Israel.

 

Additional Israeli objections include the direct reference in the Initiative to the June 4, 1967 borders. Israel rightly claims that in negotiations regarding these with the Palestinians, the principle of territorial exchange has already been accepted, so why as far as Israel is concerned go back to 1967 borders which ignore any of the new realities on the ground and consequently can have only a very tenuous nature? The new Israeli right-wing Government of Binyamin Netanyahu completely rejects the idea of return to the 1967 borders.  The most objectionable and perhaps the most misunderstood aspect of the API for Israelis is the sense that this is a ‘take it or leave document' and if this is the case, the majority of Israelis say ‘leave it'.
 

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Encountering peace: Education for peace - who will stand up to the challenge? Part II

Apr. 27, 2009
Gershon Baskin , THE JERUSALEM POST

A peace process occurs between nations transferring them from a state of war between enemies to a state of peace between partners. A successful peace process requires a shift of attitudes in a cross section of the society and must be built between the peoples. This lengthy process also requires formal education that should take place through the educational system.

 

Education is a powerful agent of change and socialization into society's values; unfortunately, it sometimes also acts as a transmitter of conflict-producing and conflict-sustaining myths. Hence the need for serious and systematic educational approaches that teach conflict-solving values and skills and brings together Israeli and Palestinian teachers and students, on equal footing, to encourage discussion, to empower both sides and to emphasize the role of education as an agent of change. This process empowers the teachers to use their newly learned skills in their classrooms with generations of students to come.

 

Textbooks and curricula are determined and issued by governments. Textbooks reflect the official values that societies wish to impart to their citizens. Beyond the main task of ministries of education to provide the young people with international standards and high levels of academic education, the Israeli and Palestinian Authority ministries of education also face the significant task of providing their children with a strong values-based education aimed at building their respective society and the future of their states. An essential aspect of this values-based education is imparting and building the national identity with all of its many facets. This kind of task is complicated under the best circumstances, and when faced with a 100-year violent conflict with the neighbors, it becomes extremely problematic and difficult.

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Encountering Peace: The first in a two-part series on what Israelis and Palestinians teach their young

Apr. 20, 2009
Gershon Baskin , THE JERUSALEM POST

One of the most amazing things about the Oslo peace process is that since the creation of the Palestinian Authority in 1994, the ministers of education of Israel and the PA have never met. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will meet with President Mahmoud Abbas. Defense Minister Ehud Barak will continue to meet with PA Prime Minister Salaam Fayad. Other Israeli and PA ministers will continue to meet, but the ministers of education - no meetings will take place between them.

 

Former education minister Yuli Tamir was more than willing to meet her PA counterpart, Dr. Lamis Alami. But Alami replied that she is serving in a technocrat government whose job is to make sure that the educational system is working, not to get into matters of a controversial nature, such as curriculum content. Even peace-minded Fayad was approached to assist in arranging a meeting, but no progress took place.

 

Former PA minister of education Naim Abu Hummous told me, as I was leaving a meeting with Yasser Arafat where I raised the issue of peace education, that the issue of Palestinian textbooks and how they present Israel is a matter in the hands of the PA president, not the minister of education.

 

It is important to note that the issue of Palestinian textbooks has been highly exaggerated. The textbooks are more problematic in what they do not contain rather than how they actually present Israel, Jews, history, maps, etc. From this standpoint, Israeli textbooks are not much better.

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Encountering Peace: Multilateral engagement, involvement and imposition

Apr. 7, 2009
Gershon Baskin , THE JERUSALEM POST

Is the new government on a collision course with the US? It would seem so. President Barack Obama and his secretary of state have let Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu know in no uncertain terms that the two-states-for-two-peoples solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the only plan on the table. In a statement appearing on the Web page of the Foreign Ministry, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman stated: "We will act exactly according to the road map, including the Tenet document and the Zinni document. I voted against the road map, but that was the only document approved by the cabinet and by the Security Council - I believe it was Resolution 1505. It is a binding resolution and binds this government as well."

Lieberman further stated in interviews that he is obligated to the "road map as the government of Israel voted" implicitly referring to the 14 reservations decided by the Sharon government on May 25, 2003. Those reservations emptied the road map of its primary content and watered down all of Israel's obligations. In response, US officials, including president George W. Bush and secretary of state Colin Powell declared that both sides would be obligated to fulfill the road map as it was drafted.
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IPCRI Founder and Co-CEO Dr. Gershon Baskin is coming to the US

on a cross-country speaking and fundraising tour

May 2-21, 2009

Call to help set up speaking engagements and meetings

 

 

READ MORE...>>>

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Think tank says battle against works at Museum of Tolerance not over yet

Mar. 30, 2009
Etgar Lefkovits , THE JERUSALEM POST

A Canadian-funded Israeli-Palestinian think tank held a public event Monday against the construction of the Museum of Tolerance at its planned central Jerusalem site, despite a High Court ruling allowing it to be built there.

The event, organized by the Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information, came five months after construction resumed at the site, which partially covers a Muslim cemetery, in keeping with last year's unanimous ruling.

The two-hour discussion, which was held at an east Jerusalem hotel and included a four-member panel that opposed the construction, was part of an afternoon discussion series "made possible by the support of the government of Canada," according to an e-mail the organization sent out.

An Israeli lawyer for the Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center, which is building the museum, was not allowed to be part of the panel and was only permitted to voice his opinion in the question-and-answer session that followed the event.

A spokeswoman for the Canadian Embassy in Tel Aviv had no immediate comment on Monday.

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Encountering Peace: Far-fetched - but not beyond imagination

Mar. 30, 2009
Gershon Baskin , THE JERUSALEM POST

Welcome Prime Minister Netanyahu. Your recent statements indicating your intention to be a true partner to the Palestinians in advancing peace through negotiations is what the international community wants to hear. But more than wanting to hear positive statements on your intentions to make peace, the international community want to see progress on the ground.

 

The international community is quite united on this issue, more than you remember from the last time you sat in the PM's chair, and it's not only those anti-Israeli Europeans. US President Barack Obama also wants to see your commitment to making peace with the Palestinians and beware, Obama is truly interested in a multilateral foreign policy. The Quartet - the invention of the Bush administration to provide the US with a veto vis-à-vis Israel, will now act in a very different way. The US is determined to work in full cooperation with the other Quartet members - the EU, the UN and Russia. The US will even encourage the other partners to take initiatives - in coordination with each other, so that the Israeli-Palestinian peace process can be resumed, and this time, completed.

 

The international community is not interested in another long, drawn out Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Israel might be in love with peace processes and negotiations, but this time the world wants to see results, not more negotiations. After 18 years of peace processes since the Madrid Conference, there are some issues which, in the eyes of the international community, are no longer under negotiation - they are clear and must be expressed already in peace agreements.

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Encountering peace: Olmert's scorecard - failure!

Mar. 23, 2009
Gershon Baskin , THE JERUSALEM POST

Israel's prime ministers are judged by their performance on issues of peace and security. On these issues, Ehud Olmert was one of the worst prime ministers in Israel's history. Ironically, this statement, as harsh as it is, probably finds great deal of consensus across Israel's divergent political map. Each part of the political map in Israel has its own reasons for giving Olmert such low grades. I will focus on mine.

Is Israel closer to peace following Olmert than we were prior to his falling into the prime minister's chair? The answer is a definite "no." Before the 2006 elections Olmert promised that by 2010 he would set Israel's final borders. This was a promise that Israel would have internationally recognized borders on its east, with the Palestinians and in the north, with Syria. Olmert promised to make every effort to negotiate with the Palestinian Authority President in search for an agreement.

 

In the Bush-initiated Annapolis summit of November 2007 Olmert delivered one of the best Israeli peace speeches ever made by an Israeli head of state. Here are some of his best remarks: "I came here today not in order to settle historical accounts between us and you about what caused the confrontations and the hatred, and what for many years has prevented a compromise, a settlement of peace. I want to tell you from the bottom of my heart that I acknowledge… your people, too, have suffered for many years; and there are some who still suffer. We know that this pain and this humiliation are the deepest foundations which fomented the ethos of hatred toward us. We are not indifferent to this suffering. We are not oblivious to the tragedies that you have experienced.

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Encountering Peace: Political dead ends

Mar. 10, 2009
Gershon Baskin , THE JERUSALEM POST

There are those who want and can't, those who don't want and can, those who don't want and can't, and there are those who want and can. Mahmoud Abbas has been one of those who wanted and couldn't, as was Ehud Olmert. Binyamin Netanyahu is probably one who doesn't want but can. A Palestinian national unity government, should it come to life, will also be one that doesn't want but could. The Obama administration is definitely one that wants and can, but what will it do in the face of those in the Middle East who so clearly don't want?

Netanyahu offers us his plan of "economic peace" - the logic is sound and rational, but it completely ignores the fact that there is nothing logical at all about Middle Eastern politics. He says, let's allow and encourage the Palestinians to develop their economy. Let's ensure that they have jobs and a chance for prosperity, so that the Palestinians have something to lose, a reason to fight terror and to become peaceful neighbors. Only once the Palestinians provide Israel with security will Netanyahu be ready to speak to them about other political issues like statehood with limited sovereignty.

 

But who will invest in Palestine without a political horizon? With the global economic crisis, who has money to invest and risk in a place with almost no hope? Will Netanyahu remove the roadblocks and open up movement and access for Palestinian businesses - the same ones that Ehud Olmert and Ehud Barak refused to open? We all know that he has a short historical memory - perhaps he should be reminded that the two intifadas exploded on us at times when there was more economic growth, more jobs, more investments and a more promising economic horizon that at any other time prior to that.

 

Despite the economic promise, Palestinians were willing to lose those personal economic gains for national goals, pride and dignity. They chose to fight for real statehood and freedom from occupation. Netanyahu may be able to make a few Palestinian collaborators richer, but his economic "peace plan" will never provide security if it is detached from a genuine political peace plan that will end the occupation and enable the Palestinians to establish their independent state next to Israel.

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Encountering Peace: Bibi or Tzipi, Bibi and Tzipi - what does it really matter?

Feb. 23, 2009
Gershon Baskin , THE JERUSALEM POST

Does it really make a difference what the various potential coalition partners believe on cardinal issues facing the country today? The government of Ehud Olmert believed in a negotiated peace process based on the road map, eventually leading to the creation of a Palestinian state as articulated at the Annapolis Conference. All of the parties that made up the Olmert government supported this goal, yet the government under Olmert didn't even begin to implement its road map obligations.

 

The road map stated: "Israel takes all necessary steps to help normalize Palestinian life. Israel withdraws from Palestinian areas occupied from September 28, 2000 and the two sides restore the status quo that existed at that time, as security performance and cooperation progress. Israel also freezes all settlement activity, consistent with the Mitchell Report."

 

On settlements the road map states explicitly: "Government of Israel immediately dismantles settlement outposts erected since March 2001. Consistent with the Mitchell Report, GOI freezes all settlement activity (including natural growth of settlements)."

Olmert's government did redeploy outside of some of the Palestinian cities, but kept its right to enter those cities unilaterally at any time it chose, in addition to demanding that Palestinian security forces disappear every evening after midnight. On settlements, the government didn't do anything. Instead, the Olmert government continued intensive settlement growth, even in areas beyond the separation barrier.

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Encountering Peace: Spins and lies: Schalit, Hamas and Olmert

Feb. 9, 2009
Gershon Baskin , THE JERUSALEM POST

Several weeks ago I wrote that the war in Gaza "may have really been a 'war of no choice.'" Following the recent leaks from the talks about the "imminent" release of Gilad Schalit, I have decided to expose what I already knew before the war began.

 

Two weeks before Israel launched its attack on Gaza in response to a breakdown of the tahadiyeh (the cease-fire) with three weeks of barrages of Kassam rockets and mortar shells against its civilian population, I had met with a senior Hamas personality in a European capital. This person is connected and in contact with the Hamas leadership in Gaza and in Damascus. Over the past 950 days since the abduction of Schalit, he has transmitted messages for me back and forth to the Hamas leadership in Damascus, including a letter from Noam Schalit to Khaled Mashaal on September 8, 2006 that led to the release of the first sign of life from Gilad, which was received by the Egyptians on September 9, 2006.

 

We spent several hours talking about the conditions to renew the tahadiyeh. Since the abduction of Schalit on June 25, 2006, my involvement behind the scenes has been in holding unofficial talks with various Hamas leaders in Gaza, Damascus and elsewhere, all seeking to advance the negotiations to bring Gilad home. For two and half years I have been trying to bring about a direct secret back-channel bypassing third party mediators in order to speed up the process.

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לו גלעד היה בבית

קשה לדעת כיצד גלעד שליט היה מצביע, אילו היה בבית. ספק אם היה נותן את קולו למי מהפוליטיקאים, שהיו מעורבים במגעים על עסקת שליט. למשמע הסיפור הבא, ייתכן שהיה מצביע לתנועה הירוקה-מימד - שאחד ממייסדיה גרשון בסקין -המנכ"ל המשותף של איפקר"י (מכון מחקר ישראלי-פלסטיני) - העמיד במשך כשנתיים את מרצו וקשריו עם כמה מראשי החמאס לרשות משפחת שליט.

"שבועיים לפני המלחמה נפגשתי באירופה עם גורם בכיר בחמאס", משחזר בסקין, "ארבעה ימים לפני המלחמה העברתי לראש הממשלה, לשר הביטחון ולשרת החוץ הצעה שקיבלתי ממנו לפתיחת ערוץ ישיר וחשאי עם החמאס. ההצעה נועדה לקדם הסכמה לגבי חידוש הפסקת האש לפרק זמן ארוך, פתיחת המעברים, כולל רפיח, ושחרור שליט כנגד שחרור אסירים פלסטינים. איש מהם לא הגיב. יומיים לפני פתיחת המבצע הקרקעי העברתי להם שוב את ההצעה, ושוב לא זכיתי לתגובה".
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If Gilad were home

It's hard to know how Gilad Shalit would be voting today, had he come home in time. It is doubtful that he would be casting has ballot for any of the politicians who have been in on the secret of the contacts with the enemy concerning the Shalit deal. Upon hearing the true story, it is quite possible that Shalit would in fact be voting for the Green Movement-Meimad, of which one of the founders is Gershon Baskin.

For the past two years and more, the co-CEO of the Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information has put his energy and his connections with some of the heads of Hamas at the disposal of the Shalit family.

"Two weeks before the war," relates Baskin, "I passed along to the prime minister, the defense minister and the foreign minister a proposal that I had received from it to open a direct and secret channel with Hamas. The proposal was aimed at advancing agreement with regard to renewing the cease-fire for a long period, opening the crossing points, including Rafah, and Shalit's release in return for the release of Palestinian prisoners. None of them responded. Two days before the ground operation began I transmitted the proposal to them again, and again I was not granted a response."
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עסקת שליט: לא נתנו, קיבלו

פרשנות

_{מאת עמוס הראל ואבי יששכרוף}

שאלת המפתח בעניין העסקה המתגבשת על הפסקת אש ממושכת ברצועת עזה והחזרת גלעד שליט נוגעת ללוח הזמנים: האם מדובר בימים או בשבועות? ראש הממשלה, אהוד אולמרט, עשה שלשום מאמץ מכוון להנמיך את הציפיות לחזרתו המהירה של החייל החטוף. שלושה שרים בקבינט, שהתראיינו בכלי התקשורת, היו גלויים ואופטימיים יותר, אולם הסתפקו בהערכה ששליט ישוב בתוך שבועות. קיימת עדיין, כמובן, האפשרות שהמו"מ יעלה על שרטון ברגע האחרון. אך מבחינת התקשורת הערבית, לעומת זאת, הסיפור כמעט גמור. עיתונים ערביים מדווחים על פערי עמדות קטנים בין הצדדים ומעריכים שההסכם הסופי יגובש בתוך ימים אחדים.
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ИЗРАИЛЬСКИЕ АНАЛИТИЧЕСКИЕ ЦЕНТРЫ ЗАНЯЛИ ВЕДУЩИЕ МЕСТА В МЕЖДУНАРОДНОМ РЕЙТИНГЕ

02.02.2009

Впервые составленный международный рейтинг “Go-To Think Tanks” охватил 5456 исследовательских центров по всему миру. Экспертный совет отобрал 407 лучших исследовательских центров для включения в рейтинг. 48 израильских аналитических центров, специализирующихся на политических и экономических исследованиях и на проблемах безопасности, вошли в этот список. 9 из них вошли в список 25 лучших исследовательских центров Ближнего Востока и Северной Африки.

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Encountering Peace: Get ready for internationalization

Jan. 26, 2009
Gershon Baskin , THE JERUSALEM POST

Senator George Mitchell, the newly appointed Obama Administration Special Envoy to the Middle East will arrive this week in Israel and Palestine. He will present his credentials to get an update on the status of the negotiations, focusing on the aftermath of the war in Gaza. Mitchell is not new to the region or to serving as an official mediator of conflicts for an American president.

 

Mitchell's last attempt at mediating between Israel and Palestine began in the end of October 2000 following the outbreak of the second intifada. The Mitchell report which investigated the reasons behind the intifada and what steps should be taken to revert back to a non-violent peace process was published in May 2001, some eight months after the violence erupted and three months after Ariel Sharon was sitting in the Prime Minister's office. By that time (beginning in February 2001), Hamas and other terror groups had begun the barrage of suicide attacks inside of Israel and the mantra of "no partner for peace" was heard on both sides of the green line.

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IPCRI - One of the leading Think Tanks in the Region

 

In what is believed to be the first-ever ranking of the world's leading public-policy research organizations, nine Israeli think tanks have been placed among the top 407. Out of 48 Israeli think tanks considered for evaluation, the nine best also made the top-25 think-tank list in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

The 2008 Global Survey of Think Tanks, published by the University of Pennsylvania, studied 5,465 think tanks worldwide. A panel of experts nominated 407 think tanks to a list of global "Go-To Think Tanks."

The nine best Israeli think tanks that made it to the top 25 in MENA and the top 407 worldwide are: 1. The Institute for National Security Studies (No. 3 in MENA); 2. The Economic Cooperation Foundation (N. 12 in MENA); 3. The Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies (No. 15 in MENA); 4. The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute (No. 16 in MENA); 5. The Israel-Palestine Center for Research and Information (IPCRI) (No. 17 in MENA); 6. The Jerusalem Institute for Market Studies (No. 18 in MENA); 7. The Israel Center for Social and Economic Progress (No. 19 in MENA); 8. The Reut Institute (No. 20 in MENA); and 9. The Rabin Center for Israeli Studies (No. 21 in MENA).

 

READ THE FULL REPORT

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