Palestine Spring In The Making?

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

A Third Palestinian uprising is simmering slowly, fuelled by the denigrating policies of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.

With the chances for a political resolution steadily diminishing, and lacking other options, the conditions are ripe for a new Palestinian Intifada.

While the Palestinian leadership has repeatedly committed to a peaceful settlement, Israeli governments in parallel are building “Jewish only” settlements and taking steps to undermine the prospects for an independent, viable Palestinian state.

A combination of internal and external Palestinian factors could result in the street hijacking the endless process and ending the de facto peace for Israelis.

Internally, the peace process has produced a class of VIP Palestinians who appear to have lost touch with the public’s pulse. Externally, and after 20 years of perpetual negotiations, Palestinians have seen their land disappearing before their own eyes – more so than when they started what was supposed to be an interim peace process.

Since the Oslo accords, Israeli governments without exception have been in a race to create “Jewish only” facts on the ground – making any future Palestinian state physically and economically unliveable.

The Palestinian economy has become subordinate to the Israeli economy and Palestine is becoming a nation surviving on the conditionality of foreign aid and taxes collected by its enemy.

Last month’s Israeli vote for a new anti-peace government hammered the last nail into the coffin of an already comatose peace process.

The deteriorating health conditions of hunger-striking administrative detainees and the recent death of a prisoner could ignite the spark, transforming long-suppressed frustrations into an outright anger on the streets.

Longest hunger-striking prisoner Samer Al Issawi was released as part of prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas last year, but soon afterwards was re-arrested for ostensibly violating his release terms by travelling outside his hometown of East Jerusalem.

Al Issawi has refused food for more than 200 days and his weight has dropped to 48kg. Three other administrative detainees joined in the hunger strike 90 days ago.

There are approximately 200 Palestinians – including several elected parliamentarians – incarcerated under the misnomer of “administrative detention”.

This term is used illegally to deny prisoners basic rights to due process in violation of international law.

Israel misuses it to circumvent its own judicial system by holding Palestinian prisoners indefinitely without charge, refusing them an opportunity to defend themselves in court.

Earlier this week, Arafat Jaradat died in an Israeli jail.

He was arrested on midnight of February 18 when the Israeli army raided the house of the 32-year-old father-of-two for throwing stones at cars driven by Israeli colonists in a small village near Hebron.

He was led to the interrogation unit at Megiddo prison.

Last Thursday he told his attorney he was suffering from back pain as a result of being hung up for several hours and beaten during interrogation (physical torture is a court-sanctioned practice in Israeli jails).

His attorney asked the court to look into his allegations and to provide him with proper medical attention.

Two days later, Israeli prison authorities announced that Mr Jaradat had died of cardiac arrest.

An autopsy conducted in Israel in the presence of Palestinian officials concluded that extreme torture was the likely cause of Mr Jaradat’s death.

Medical examiners revealed that the deceased suffered six broken bones in his neck, spine, arms and legs.

At least 207 prisoners have died while in Israeli custody.

The international community’s gutless stance on the continued building of “Jewish only” colonies in Palestine – combined with daily racist humiliations at the hand of illegal settlers, Israeli checkpoints, torture and extra-judicial detention – means it is only a matter of time before the Palestinian street takes matters into its own hands and starts managing relations between occupied and occupier itself.

- Jamal Kanj (www.jamalkanj.com) writes weekly newspaper column and publishes on several websites on Arab world issues. He is the author of “Children of Catastrophe,” Journey from a Palestinian Refugee Camp to America. He contributed this article to PalestineChronicle.com. (A version of this article was first published by the Gulf Daily News newspaper.)

The timing with Obama's visit this month could be significant.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Tensions Threaten To Complicate Obama’s Middle East Listening Tour

Husam Zomlot, a senior official in the Palestinian Authority’s ruling Fatah faction, told the Forward that he believes the unrest in the West Bank “should help, and it should affect the agenda for the visit, taking it from something ceremonial to something that could look at the real issues.”

Ramallah-based Zomlot, who is deputy commissioner of Fatah’s International Relations Commission, claimed that recent actions by Israel have created a situation “on the edge of explosion.” He cited in particular numerous detentions of Palestinians without trial, Israel’s re-arrest of some prisoners it released in the October 2011 deal that freed Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit and the detention and unexplained death of Jaradat.

In fact, many Palestinians believe that a backdrop of unrest will focus the presidential visit on Israeli-Palestinian peace. But widespread speculation among Israelis that the unrest has been orchestrated for this reason is being met with disdain.

The idea is “extremely cynical,” P.A. spokeswoman Nour Odeh said. “Palestinians don’t use their lives as a way to promote their cause.”

Odeh said the unrest is spontaneous. She insisted: “Nobody is interested in an escalation on the Palestinian side. That’s certainly not in the best interests of our people and certainly not the policy of our president or leadership.”

http://forward.com/articles/172092/tensions-threaten-to-complicate-obama-s-middle-e/

[Caryh 5,206]

"Palestinian leadership has repeatedly committed to a peaceful settlement"

^^^^^^

Someone should get that memo to Hamas and guys launching missiles

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The Palestinians want peace... on top of the dead bodies of every Israeli Jew.

[PalestineMyHeart 1,897]

[quote name=' timestamp='1362156930' post='6014256]

The Palestinians want peace... on top of the dead bodies of every Israeli Jew.

Leftard assclowns are at it again! This week your humble Atla exposed them plotting to destroy the precious free speech of patriotic anti-jihad bloggers with the constrution of a towering Ground Zero mega mosque looking down on the cemetery of 911, and the call to prayer heard by our precious children in every city. Leftard assclowns may try to tell you otherwise, but these vile traitors are all as bad as Hitler! That's why we need more people like the hottie Geert Wilders and Filip DeWinter of Vlaams Belang, who are not fascists, as they ban sharia law from the courts, because vile Islamic supremists are already in control of the entire US government. We will take it to the streets. We will take it to the media. We will take it to the movies. We will take it to the halls of justice.

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Yup.

[PalestineMyHeart 1,897]

[quote name=' timestamp='1362163173' post='6014459]

Yup.

Mad King Chuckie and his Little Green Traitor Balls are at it again! This week your humble Atla exposed them plotting to destroy America's public library system with the siren song of EVIL, socalistic, policies like pluralism and multiculticultuarlsm. Mad King Chuckie and his Little Green Traitor Balls may try to tell you otherwise, but these vile traitors are all as bad as Mao! That's why we need more patriots like Robert Spencer and my patriotic free speech group, Stop Islamization of America, as we stop the treason. Mad King Chuckie and his Little Green Traitor Balls are subverting our Western civilization from within. You are either with us or against us. It must be stopped!!

[^_^ 5,021]

Mad King Chuckie and his Little Green Traitor Balls are at it again! This week your humble Atla exposed them plotting to destroy America's public library system with the siren song of EVIL, socalistic, policies like pluralism and multiculticultuarlsm. Mad King Chuckie and his Little Green Traitor Balls may try to tell you otherwise, but these vile traitors are all as bad as Mao! That's why we need more patriots like Robert Spencer and my patriotic free speech group, Stop Islamization of America, as we stop the treason. Mad King Chuckie and his Little Green Traitor Balls are subverting our Western civilization from within. You are either with us or against us. It must be stopped!!

You should do this full time. You're good at it.

[PalestineMyHeart 1,897]

[quote name=' timestamp='1362166057' post='6014577]

You should do this full time. You're good at it.

http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/lgf-shrieking-harpy-generator.php

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http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/lgf-shrieking-harpy-generator.php

I am disappoint.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/lgf-shrieking-harpy-generator.php

It gets redundant after the 2nd or 3rd click.

[PalestineMyHeart 1,897]

It gets redundant after the 2nd or 3rd click.

Just like Pamela Geller.