The botched military operation in the Palestinian village of Assira Shamali near Nablus should never have happened. Neither should the killing a week earlier of the mukhtar of the village of Surda, near Ramallah.

In both incidents Israel got a public relations blow, and in neither incident did it achieve its objectives. In Assira Israel lost three of its soldiers and the Palestinian they were searching for escaped leaving Islamic supporters to declare a major victory. In Surda, the elderly man killed, certainly not the one the Israelis intended to kill, is the uncle of the PLO’s Washington representative Hassan Abdel Rahman. US Secretary of State Madeline Albright called Abdel Rahman to express condolences.  Continue Reading »

The grand mufti of Jerusalem didn’t have to reissue his fatwa (decree) to Palestinians living in Jerusalem not to accept Israeli citizenship, which he said, would ‘legitimize the Israeli occupation.’

Although the Israeli media has been exaggerating the fact that Palestinians are lining up asking for Israeli passports, the truth is far from that.

If the Ministry of Interior is correct 198 Palestinians applied for citizenship last year – and only 13 were approved. Although this number is said to be double the number the previous year, which stood at 98, these numbers are insignificant compared to the Palestinian population of East Jerusalem, which according to the Israelis stands over 180,000. Continue Reading »

I have a confession to make. For some time I have watched and admired the rise of the Sephardic Jewish party Shas.

I have been a fan of former Shas leader Aryeh Deri ever since reading a long interview with him following his visit with spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef to Egypt. In that interview not only was it clear that he was an astute politician but that he and Rabbi Yosef were genuine supporters of the peace process.

It was through following Shas that I realized most Jewish settlers are not from the Sephardic Jewish community and that the Shas leaders’ support for the peace process stems from the religious edict that it is better to save lives than to hold onto land.  Continue Reading »

No sooner had the Camp David talks broken up, than the finger pointing began. President Bill Clinton tried to be diplomatic by consciously praising Ehud Barak. The Israelis were more direct in putting the blame of the failure of the talks on the Palestinians. The Americans and Israelis tried to blame the Palestinians for the failure of the talks even though President Yasser Arafat was the more reluctant party to go to Camp David because he knew very well the fact that whatever the Israelis would offer would be much less than what the Palestinians could live with.  Continue Reading »

If you have still not made up your mind where to spend your vacation this summer, here is an innovative suggestion: Gaza. All you have to do is hold your nose (both literally and figuratively) as you cross the Erez checkpoint, connecting Gaza with most of the outside world, and within minutes you can be bathing in one of the nicest beaches on the Mediterranean.  Continue Reading »

For more than a year, my brother Jonathan and I have had a running disagreement over the viability of declaring a Palestinian state. He has repeatedly rejected the importance of declaring a Palestinian state under the current circumstances.

“A Palestinian state is an Israeli goal these days,” he would say to me and to anyone else who would listen. The kind of state that the Israelis are willing to allow us to have will do more to serve their purpose, by creating a buffer zone between them and the rest of the Arab world, and to announce once and for all that the conflict is over.

“They want to give us the symbolism of the state without the substance,” he would say. Continue Reading »

In the midst of hard negotiations about peace in the Middle East, an important factor is often ignored. The human factor.

For example, take the issue of Jerusalem. Negotiators are debating a host of creative ideas on the future of Jerusalem to bridge the gap between Palestinians and Israelis, but little attention is being given to the human tragedy that might result if 200,000 Palestinian suddenly find themselves cut off from their families, their jobs, and their homes.

Thirty-three years of Israeli occupation have made a number of changes to Jerusalem’s landscape, but the one change that Israel has failed to make is to cut off Palestinians in Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank and Gaza.  Continue Reading »

Newsprint and airwaves are filled with suggestions that the two issues that might make or break the Camp David summit are Jerusalem and the refugees.

While President Arafat is sure to defend the Palestinian position that Jerusalem is the capital of the Palestinian state, I do not believe that he will be able to sign any agreement on Jerusalem without having a much bigger Arab and Islamic coalition behind him. In effect any agreement on Jerusalem will need the direct or indirect approval of the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Countries.  Continue Reading »

The coming three months will witness a major push in the Palestinian-Israeli negotiations. A moment will come when the leaders of Israel and Palestine will have to choose peace or the continuation of the conflict. This could happen in a Camp David-like summit or a draft peace agreement most like to be presented to both sides by the Americans sometime in August.

Israel’s general decision-making process is well-known. It includes the mini-cabinet, cabinet, Knesset, and finally the referendum. What about the Palestinians? There is a mistaken impression that such decisions are restricted to one man.  True, the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, is the person who will ultimately make the final decision, but before he reaches a conclusion one way or another, a lot needs to happen and the opinions of many people, organizations, and countries will be involved.  Continue Reading »

With all its problems, the city of Jerusalem has a special charm about it. You feel it when walking into the Old City through the Damascus Gate or when you sit in a restaurant like the Pasha in Sheikh Jarrah.

This charm, however, is being distorted by the fact that one set of people, the Palestinians, are being excluded from deciding the city’s present or future. A simple look at the traffic on the roads in and out of Jerusalem can be the best test as to the status of Palestinians in this holy city.  Continue Reading »