Palestinian Bullet Magnets

The fast fraying thread that once tethered The Australian's Middle East correspondent John Lyons to some semblance of reality (I'm being generous here) finally snapped on Tuesday, June 11.

The evidence is all there on page 10 under the banner WORLD NEWS.

A photograph of Palestinian and Syrian refugees fleeing under a hail of tear gas (I don't even want to know what's in the new 'improved' variety) carries the caption: Demonstrators flee from teargas fired from Israel at the Syrian border yesterday. The Palestinians say they were protesting against 44 years of 'occupation'.

That's right, occupation in inverted commas. The definitive verdict of international law - that Syria's Golan Heights, just like the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, is under military occupation - matters not a whit to Lyons or his editor. And notice too the Palestinians say. Never take the Palestinians at their word. At News Limited, only the Israelis are accorded that privilege. Nor do the words Syrian border have any basis in reality, the real Syrian border with Israel being on the other side of the Golan Heights. Every inch of land here is nothing if not Syrian, Israel's illegal-under-international-law annexation notwithstanding.

Beneath the thoroughly dishonest caption comes a headline: Palestinians' deadly strategy is doomed to fail.

Reality is of course inverted, and fantastically, the problem has become not deadly Israeli bullets, but deadly Palestinian strategy!

Now to the nitty gritty - Lyons' quote/unquote "analysis," so dense with spin it requires a near line-by-line deconstruction:

"The new strategy of Palestinian refugees in Syria to try to break through the border with Israel is deadly and doomed to fail."

Again, this so-called 'border' is no border with Israel, merely a border with that part of Syria occupied by Israel in 1967. And again, note that it's the so-called Palestinian strategy that's deadly, not the Israeli gunfire, resulting in up to 20 deaths.

"What is meant to draw attention to the plight of Palestinian refugees in fact allows Israel to argue that it cannot agree to a Palestinian state while it has so much instability on its borders."

It's borders! There he goes again! And that all-purpose instability - if even so much as a blade of grass raised its head within 50 km of Israel's advancing borders, there'd be instability. But that's a mere bagatelle! The real whopper here is the risible notion that Israel is agreeable to a Palestinian state. That's a given with the likes of Lyons. But there's more. Notice how, whatever the Palestinians do, the klutzes always manage somehow to spike Israel's alleged agreeableness to a Palestinian state.

And now some gratuitous advice from our expert analyst: "For Palestinians looking for a resolution to their 63-year-old conflict with Israel, the best course they could take is to follow the non-violent nation-building strategy of Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyed: argue and show that they are ready to be a Palestinian state rather than confront Israeli bullets, as they did again at the weekend."

Here we go again. Suspend your disbelief, reality's doing a headstand: unarmed Palestinian refugees (or maybe Syrian Golani refugees), despite appearances, aren't really being cut down by Israeli bullets.

No, they're confronting Israeli bullets. There's a world of difference here. You see, the Israeli army has never been known to actually shoot Palestinians. What is really going on is that these unbelievably bone-headed Palestinians position themselves provocatively in front of Israeli guns, which just happen to be pointing at them, and by some mysterious process unknown to science, somehow induce reluctant, peace-seeking Israeli bullets to emerge from even more reluctant, peace-seeking Israeli gun barrels and penetrate their heads, chests, stomachs, arms, and legs. And you know what the really amazing thing is? No Israeli soldier actually pulls a trigger - ever. I mean Rupert Murdoch may be a chick magnet - check out Wendy! - but these Palestinians are surefire bullet magnets, know what I mean?

But there's more! There's Salam Fayyad's hot-to-trot non-violent nation-building strategy, the very last word in how to reclaim your occupied homeland. (Or should I have said 'occupied' homeland?)

I mean, look at the progress so far:

In 2009 Fayyad said, "The horizon [for peace] continues to recede."*

Then in 2010 our non-violent nation-builder "forecast a 'moment of reckoning' in the coming weeks when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is forced to explain what kind of state he has in mind for the Palestinians."**

And back in March this year he said, "It is time for the international community to ask Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: does he accept the establishment of a Palestinian state on all the lands occupied in 1967 - yes or no?"***

After which, on 22 May, the great man suffered a heart attack. The good (?) news is that Bibi wished him a "speedy recovery," but the bad is that he told the AIPAC conference 2 days later that "Israel cannot return to the indefensible 1967 borders," which must have done Fayyad a power of good!

"The crash-through-or-crash approach is also undercutting a rising mood in Israel that the lack of a Palestinian state is against Israel's interests."

Ah yes, a rising mood in Israel. And so easily spoilt by a bunch of Palestinian bullet magnets. When are these Palestinians ever going to learn that the best strategy is to have no strategy - except for a reliance on Israeli mood swings?

"The next few months are vital. Israel can handle threats to its borders but what it is finding more difficult is the looming vote in the UN in September, when as many as 130 countries are set to vote in favour of a Palestinian state. The vote will not be binding but it will put pressure on Israel."

Seems the only vote in the UN that Israel didn't find difficult (after the US twisted a few arms to help out) was Resolution 181 of November 29, 1947 which partitioned Palestine and handed the larger chunk to the Jewish colon minority. And which, BTW, isn't binding. But, hey, how touching is Lyons' concern?

[* Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad says time is running out for peace, James Hider, timesonline.co.uk, 25/8/09;
** Fayyad: Netanyahu must explain his definition of 'Palestinian state', Natasha Mozgovaya, Haaretz, 30/8/10;
*** Fayyad to Israel PM: Define a Palestinian state, blade, france24.com, 10/3/11]

Cops Are Tops

We'll get rid of the dictator, rebuild your country
Make sure all your kids go to school
We'll clean up the cities, get the sewage plants running
Institute parliamentary rule
We'll bring you autonomy, senators & judges
And a shiny new blue banner
We'll bring you pride & prosperity, food in your bellies
In every home a phone, fax & scanner
After we torture our prisoners

We'll bring you decades of peace, spiritual release
Free religious expression
You can say what you want in the papers you run
We'll never force a confession
After we torture our prisoners

The oil will flow just where it should go
Across the desert and into the sea
And you'll thank your God & the CIA
That finally you are free
After we torture our prisoners

You'll all be safe with us to protect you
And keep you out of harm's way
You'll thank creation & your liberation
From the dark into a new day
After we torture our prisoners

You can all jump for joy, each girl & boy
And look boldly into the distance
You'll be so happy for all that we've done
For such invaluable assistance
After we torture our prisoners

You won't have to worry about tyrants & bullies
Now that you have sovereignty
You can hold your head high, kiss Saddam goodbye
Say hello to democracy
After we torture our prisoners

(After We Torture Our Prisoners, David Rovics)

"Keeping watch over us that evening were policemen in dapper navy-blue uniforms... [T]hese new Palestinian police officers had American gear. They are sometimes known as Dayton soldiers, after [US general Keith] Dayton... [who, beginning under Bush,] set out to overhaul the fragmented and battered Palestinian forces. His first goal was to find better people. All new police applicants were screened by the CIA, the Israeli Security Agency, the Jordanians and the Palestinian services to weed out potential criminals, Islamists and troublemakers. The new recruits were then trained in Jordan... In the northern summer of 2008, Israel finally allowed the first battalion into Jenin, the most chaotic and violent city on the West Bank and the one hardest hit in the 2002 Israeli offensive. It was a success... They do everything the police should do: they fight crime; they chase crooks; they treat people with civility. As of yet, I have found no instance of them angling for baksheesh (bribes) or protection money... Political will is not enough to combat violence and corruption. Improved policing usually takes generations. But, even though Dayton's solution for West Bank security is a temporary fix, it is still a remarkable turnaround. To get out of a swamp you must hold onto something outside it, and the Americans provided the handle... So why has this good news been kept quiet?" (New Order: Nathan Shachar discovers a West Bank success story everyone wants to keep secret, The Financial Review/Prospect, 18/12/09)

"Palestinian security agents who have been detaining and allegedly torturing supporters of the Islamist organisation Hamas in the West Bank have been working closely with the Central Intelligence Agency, new evidence suggests. Less than a year after the US President Barack Obama, signed an executive order that prohibited torture and provided for the lawful interrogation of detainees in US custody, evidence is emerging the CIA is co-operating with security agents whose continuing use of torture has been widely documented by human rights groups. There is a close relationship between the CIA and the two Palestinian agencies involved, the Preventive Security Organisation and General Intelligence Service - so close, say some Western diplomats and other officials in the region, that the American agency appears to be supervising the Palestinians' work. A senior Western official said: 'The [CIA] consider them as their property, those two Palestinian services'. A diplomatic source added that US influence over the agencies was so great they could be considered 'an advanced arm of the war on terror'." (CIA 'guides' torture of Hamas activists in West Bank, Sydney Morning Herald/Guardian, 18/12/09)

"[Palestinian Prime Minister Salim] Fayyad is a strange politician in this part of the world, seemingly not content with siphoning public assets into his relatives' bank accounts... Fayyad's competence is much resented by the old-school, pocket-stuffing, back-door dealers of the Fatah movement. But the effect he has had on Nablus is remarkable. The town's revival - and in particular the overhaul of its police force by Dayton has been little reported in the Western media. But it is a giant step forward for the people of this region and the first move towards reversing the devastating effects of the violence that derailed the peace process in 2000." (Shachar)

"A number of residents of al-Jabryat neighborhood in Jenin complained that they can no longer bear hearing the cries of prisoners being tortured in a neighboring prison that is run by the General Intelligence [Service] of Mahmoud Abbas. Local residents said that a number of residents have actually moved out of the neighborhood because they could not sleep at night hearing those cries, saying that as the prisoners were being physically tortured in the said prison, they were being psychologically tortured. 'We cannot sleep at night because of the cries of the Hamas detainees. We have been like this for the past 2 years and every day we say this problem will end tomorrow, but it seems this story is going to take a long time', said one of the residents. He also pointed out that the prices of property in the area around the General Intelligence headquarters have plummeted as a result." (Residents of al-Jabryat: we cannot sleep because of the cries of prisoners in PA [prison], The Palestinian Information Center, 14/8/09)

Geraldine Doogue Meets the Palestinian Ben-Gurion

It'd be fascinating to know the circumstances surrounding the interview of the Palestinian Authority's puppet prime minister Salam Fayyad by ABC Radio National's presenter Geraldine Doogue on Saturday Extra on 12/9/09. After all, as someone now being promoted by Israeli president Shimon Peres as a "Palestinian Ben-Gurion*," that must open quite a few doors. Just listen to Doogue's introduction:

"I'd like to introduce you to a man you may not have heard too much about but he's really coming into his political prime and earning himself considerable international respect because his basic day job is super tough. Dr Salam Fayyad's official title is Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority. He's an independent member of the Palestinian parliament, ie he's neither ffrom the Fatah or Hamas party and he comes to this post via an unusual route and an unusual suite of skills. He has a Doctorate in Economics from the University of Texas; he's worked for the World Bank and as a private banker and some argue that even the Israelis are enchanted by him and he certainly seems to be presiding over some much wanted economic successes. Now he's started to throw down some googlies though, as he tries to change the whole strategic discussion in this arena. He's started talking about a 2 year program of change after which he'll expect an independent state to be created in Palestine and he wants to persuade the international community that if he runs a proper state, well he can demand that Israel treat it as such. So how does the prime minister plan to do all this?" A strutter on the world stage? Respected by all the right people? A winner of Israeli hearts? A magician who has to do no more than expect an independent Palestinian state for it to materialise (provided, of course, that he can show Bushama and the Israelis that he's the very model of a modern Palestinian Quisling). Wowee! [*EU sources: Terms set for renewal of Israel-PA talks, Akiva Eldar, Haaretz, 13/9/09]

Before proceeding further, it should be pointed out that Fayyad is merely a pawn of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his prime-ministership is actually illegal under Palestinian law: when the democratically-elected Hamas government of Palestine managed to pre-empt a coup conceived in Washington and led by Fatah security forces chief Muhammad Dahlan in June 2007* [See my 6/3/08 post Mainsewer Media Clueless in Gaza], Abbas violated the interim Palestinian constitution (the Basic Law) when he declared a state of emergency, dismissed the Hamas-led Palestinian unity government of Prime Minister Ismail Haniya, and appointed a new government under Fayyad without parliamentary approval. Article 113 of the constitution stipulates that the legislature cannot be "dissolved or suspended during the emergency situation." The Haniya government, therefore, should have been retained as a caretaker government pending parliamentary approval for a new government. [See Abbas challenged over new cabinet, anisalqasem.com, 8/7/07]

To understand why alleged prime minister Fayyad isn't all he's cracked up to be, one needs to take a long hard look at Washington's main man in Ramallah: "Abbas... long ago placed all of his eggs in the Israeli-American basket. Acting as if his chickens had already hatched, his inability to deliver any tangible achievement has instead meant they came home to roost with a vengeance. Key to this is Abbas' relationship to his people: simply put, it never existed. Arafat saw the Palestinians as the ace in the deck to be played when all else failed, and understood that his leverage with outside actors derived from their conviction that he represented the Palestinian people. If he consistently failed or refused to properly mobilise this primary resource, he at least always held it in reserve. Abbas has by contrast been an inveterate elitist, who seems to have regarded the Palestinian population as an obstacle to be overcome so that the game of nations could proceed - there are after all only so many seats at the table where great statesmen like Abbas, George Bush and Ehud Olmert together create the contours of a new Middle East. For Abbas, legitimacy meant the leverage you have with your voters by convincing them you represent others. Cursed with exceptional self-regard, Abbas has always shown disinterest in the opinions of others. From the moment he convinced himself of the sincerity of Bush's visions, which put the onus on the Palestinians to prove they qualify for membership in the human race and are worthy of being spoken to by Tsipi Livni and Condoleezza Rice, there was no turning back. Henceforth the Palestinian security forces would point their weapons exclusively at their own people, and only Saeb Erakat would be aimed at Israel. At the United Nations, once a primary arena for the Palestinian struggle, Abbas's emissary Riad Mansour was too busy drafting a resolution declaring Hamas a terrorist entity to deal with more trivial Palestinian concerns. It was simply simpossible to steer Abbas towards a change of course, let alone a national dialogue that could produce a genuine strategy. By the expiration of his presidency on January 9, his constitutional status had become the least of his problems. Each and every one of his policies had failed. In the West Bank, settlement expansion was proceeding at an inprecedented pace while the Wall neared final completion, rendering talk of a two-state solution all but moot. After Hamas triumphed in the 2006 parliamentary elections, Abbas's ceaseless scheming to remove the Islamists from office and overturn the election's results - characteristically in active partnership with outside forces rather than the Palestinian electorate - was a vertiable carnival of folly and incompetence. When Hamas acted first in 2007, it took the Islamists only several days to dispose of those few forces still prepared to fight for Mohammed Dahlan. While many are arguing that Abbas is now paying the price for his passivity while Israel slaughtered Palestinians in Gaza, this is only one part of the story. At least as important is the manner in which he conducted himself since December 27 - comprehensively out of touch with his own people, as if deliberately so, and dealing with the Gaza Strip as if it is a foreign country he has never heard of. In his initial response Abbas laid responsibility for the conflict at Hamas's doorstep, in one stroke reducing his role to that of a factional leader opportunistically siding with his cousin against his brother. More to the point, he unleashed the full power of his security forces against his own people. Not to prevent a Hamas coup in West Bank, or even attacks against Israel, but to suppress pro-Palestinian demonstrations of the kind permitted even within Israel. He responded to Israel's launching of a land offensive on January 3 by announcing that he was delaying for one day his vist to the UN Security Council. Not to lead his people, but rather to meet Nicholas Sarkozy. Since then he has barely visited Palestine; on his last sojourn he stayed only long enough to inform the Qataris that he could not attend their emergency meeting to discuss the war." (Out of the rubble, Mouin Rabbani, thenational.ae, 23/1/09)

But I digress - it wasn't really this Palestinian Ben-Gurion who made me sit up and listen. It was Doogue's farcical, and profoundly colonial, questions and interjections: "Now you are known as someone who can get on very well with many in the Israeli political establishment. What do you think it is that makes the Israelis comfortable around you?" Fayyad, of course, did not reply, Well, Geraldine, maybe it's got to do with the fact that I don't bring my bomb-belt and Kalashnikov to our meetings, but could have. For Doogue, it's all about the natives making their Zionist sahibs comfortable. Fayyad's utterly forgettable response was followed by this prattle: "What I've read is that they feel that they can trust you and you're a man of your word and that you're interested in efficiency which is, you know (laughs), the Israelis don't say that very often about the people from the Palestinian territory." Fayyad, of course, whose response was utterly foregettable, did not respond, No they don't, Geraldine, as befits people who have been wiping Palestine (and Palestinians) off the map for the past 60 years, they haven't actually paid us any compliments whatsoever.

Then it was vintage Doogue, whose all-consuming interest, from the snatches of Saturday Extra that have filtered through to me while taking a shower, seems to be $$$: "Are you getting Israeli money? Who is financing your development - because you've got 70% growth rate in the 12 months past; wages are up 24%. There's all sorts of new developments. There's a Palestinian city that could rise in the West Bank... Who's financing this?" Are you getting Israeli money? for Pete's sake! Again, Fayyad did not explain (but could have) that, while the Palestinians were getting heaps of goodies from the Israelis, like bullets in the brain, walls, checkpoints, uprooted olive trees, Israeli colonies (West Bank), and the privilege of being on the receiving end of state-of-the-art Israeli/US ordnance etc, etc (Gaza), they weren't getting anything remotely resembling the proverbial brass razoo.

Doogue was clearly intrigued by Fayyad. He was so wonderfully unPalestinian: "What I think is interesting about you is that you speak in this very pragmatic way. In fact, you haven't really mentioned, you're not held up [sic] on the fact of the occupation... How have you flipped your mind around to a different approach?"

Palestinian Che Guevaras hung up on the occupation are sooo boring, right, Geraldine?