From: Sid Shniad
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1226404827209&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
UNGA head accuses Israel of apartheid
By Allison Hoffman
Jerusalem Post: November 25, 2008
A top UN official has called for "concrete action" against Israel over the
country's treatment of Palestinians in the territories.
General Assembly President Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann suggested Monday that
the international community should consider sanctions against Israel
including "boycott, divestment and sanctions" similar to those enacted
against South Africa two decades ago.
[Later in the day, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon called for an immediate
end to the blanket closure of Gaza, but also "unreservedly" condemned rocket
attacks on the western Negev.]
"Today, perhaps we in the United Nations should consider following the lead
of a new generation of civil society who are calling for a similar
nonviolent campaign," said D'Escoto, a Nicaraguan diplomat who currently
holds the one-year presidency.
"Israeli policies in the Palestinian territories appear so similar to the
apartheid of an earlier era, a continent away, and I believe it is very
important we in the United Nations use this term," d'Escoto added. "We must
not be afraid to call something for what it is."
D'Escoto's remarks kicked off an annual two-day plenary session recognizing
international solidarity with the Palestinian people. Israeli Ambassador
Gabriela Shalev was slated to speak Tuesday morning.
Israeli officials told The Jerusalem Post ahead of the session that they
planned to object to the "complete disconnect" between the "one-sided"
portrayal of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the UN forum and what
happens on the ground.
"The situation is the resurgence of terrorism, Hizbullah and Hamas -- this
is the situation in the Middle East," charge d'affaires Daniel Carmon told
the Post. "Why is this not reflected?"
In his remarks, D'Escoto called on Israel to end its blockade of the Gaza
Strip. Earlier in the day, checkpoints had been opened to allow some
humanitarian supplies to reach UN facilities.
D'Escoto, who told the Post in an exclusive interview last month that he
"loved" Israel but disagreed with its policies, explicitly said in his
speech that he had "great love for the Jewish people." He went on to say
that the Holocaust and other historical crimes against the Jews did not give
Israel "the right to abuse others, especially those who historically have
such deep and exemplary relations with the Jewish people."
He pointedly added he wanted to remind the Israelis that despite "the
protective shield of the United States and the Security Council," nothing
could excuse the failure to establish a separate Palestinian state.
"This central fact makes a mockery of the United Nations and greatly hurts
its image and prestige," d'Escoto said.
In his remarks, d'Escoto made no mention of rocket attacks into the western
Negev. Later in the day, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon called for an
immediate end to the blanket closure of Gaza, but also "unreservedly"
condemned rocket attacks on the western Negev.
Ban spoke at a reception commemorating the official Day of Solidarity,
scheduled for Nov. 29.
Their comments followed a morning of debate before the UN Committee on the
Exercise of the Inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, at which the
envoy of the Palestinian Authority read a speech from PA Palestinian
President Mahmoud Abbas accusing Israel of intentionally obstructing the
peace process.
In the statement, Abbas called for a guarantee of "the return of our land
and the rights of our refugees, and the possibility of establishing a
contiguous and viable state."
"What we mean by a just and lasting solution, which will end the violence in
this region once and for all, is not a partial solution that will create the
fertile environment for a continuation of the conflict that is more intense
and deadly and could spread in the region," Abbas wrote in the statement,
delivered on his behalf by Palestinian Authority foreign minister Riad
al-Malki.
==
Ha’aretz 14/11/2008
In 2006 letter to Bush, Haniyeh offered compromise with Israel
By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent
A few months after Hamas' 2006 election victory, leader Ismail Haniyeh tried
to start a dialogue with U.S. President George W. Bush.
Haaretz has obtained a written message from Haniyeh sent to Bush via an
American professor who met with Haniyeh in the Gaza Strip. Haniyeh asked
Bush to lift the boycott of the Hamas government and pressure Israel to
maintain stability in the region.
On June 6, 2006, Haniyeh met Dr. Jerome Segal of the University of Maryland
in the Gaza Strip.
Segal had been involved in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process for many
years and was one of the first Americans to meet Palestine Liberation
Organization leaders in the late 1980s, even passing messages from senior
PLO figures to then U.S. Secretary of State George Schultz. Segal's academic
work brought him in contact with senior State Department and National
Security Council officials throughout the Clinton administration. However,
the relationship was severed during the Bush administration.
At the time of the meeting, Hamas was trying to establish its
three-month-old government under an international boycott. The Quartet for
Middle East peace had called on the organization to recognize Israel,
disavow terror and honor existing agreements.
At the end of the meeting, Haniyeh dictated a short message he asked Segal
to transmit to President Bush. Haniyeh spoke Arabic and Youssuf translated
his words into English. Segal took down the letter in his notebook and
Haniyeh and Youssuf both signed it.
Haniyeh wrote in the missive, "We are an elected government which came
through a democratic process."
In the second paragraph, Haniyeh laid out the political platform he
maintains to this day. "We are so concerned about stability and security in
the area that we don't mind having a Palestinian state in the 1967 borders
and offering a truce for many years," he wrote.
Haniyeh called on Bush to launch a dialogue with the Hamas government.
"We are not warmongers, we are peace makers and we call on the American
government to have direct negotiations with the elected government," he
wrote. Haniyeh also urged the American government to act to end the
international boycott "because the continuation of this situation will
encourage violence and chaos in the whole region."
Upon his return to the U.S. several days later, Segal gave State Department
and NSC officials the original letter.
In his own letter, Segal emphasized that a state within the 1967 borders and
a truce for many years could be considered Hamas' de facto recognition of
Israel. He noted that in a separate meeting, Youssuf suggested that the
Palestinian Authority and Israel might exchange ambassadors during that
truce period. This was not the only covert message from Hamas to senior Bush
administration officials. However, Washington did not reply to these
messages and maintained its boycott of the Hamas government.
***
From: Jeff Warner
Tomorrow Thurs., Dec. 4, noon, DEMONSTRATION at Israeli Consulate,
themes: BREAK THE SIEGE OF GAZA NOW!
END THE OCCUPATION OF ALL OF PALESTINE!
IMPLEMENT PALESTINIAN RIGHT TO RETURN!
At: ISRAELI CONSULATE, 6380 WILSHIRE BLVD, LA, CA 90035
TIME: THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4 @ NOON
The Arab and Palestinian communities of Southern California call on their
members and all supporting organizations and individuals to demonstrate on
Thursday December 4 at noon in front of the Israeli Consulate to demand an
end to the siege of the Gaza Strip.
On November 4, Israel sent tanks into the Gaza Strip and completely sealed
the Strip's border crossings after launching an unprovoked attack that
killed six Palestinians. Most of the Gaza Strip is without power due to lack
of fuel, and the United Nations has been forced to stop food distribution to
those in need.
The humanitarian situation is dire for the people in the Gaza Strip, most
importantly the children. The strip is home to 1.5 million Palestinians, 80%
of whom are refugees denied by the Zionist state the right to return to
their homes and lands of origin from which they were expelled by the Zionist
occupation in 1948. Nearly half of the Gaza population are children who
along with the elderly and ill remain completely deprived of food, water,
fuel, electricity, humanitarian relief and medical supplies or facilities.
UNRWA Chief of Operations in the Gaza Strip, John Ging calls the situation
'very desperate at the humanitarian level'.
Join us for the demonstration this Thursday December 4 @ Noon in front of
the Israeli consulate, 6380 Wilshire Blvd in Los Angeles.
------------------------------------
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