more on Gaza...

[Stramash]

European Jewish aid ship bound for Gaza ready to sail

Kate Katzenstein-Leiterer, a leader of the German Jewish Voice organization, said the trip being managed by Jews for Justice for Palestinians (JfJfP), a British group. The Jewish activists were already on board, she said, but would not reveal their port of departure.

By DPA

She said detailed information about the voyage would be released the day the boat casts off, but she did not say when this was.

Katzenstein-Leiterer grew up in the former East Germany, to where her committed Communist parents returned after fleeing Hitler's regime in World War II.

Her organization is part of the European Jews for a Just Peace movement, a 10-country peace-activist network.

Jewish Voice in Germany says that it has gathered the funds for its aid ship project from personal donations, loans, and a donation from the Left Party, a party with strong support in the former East.

Earlier, Katzenstein-Leiterer said her group's stance has caused them to be ostracized by the mainstream German-Jewish community, which numbers a little over 100,000.

On May 31 nine people were killed when Israeli naval forces boarded ships in a flotilla carrying aid and activists - some of whom Israel says were armed - bound for the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.

http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/european-jewish-aid-ship-bound-for-gaza-ready-to-sail-1.314005

:salute:

[DANNO]

I am buying the popcorn :shock:

[SoBeIt]

I'll pray for them.

[eagle]

I hope they make it but would expect them to be treated with the same suspicion as any other boat. I hope they allow themselves to be boarded and follow a peaceful path to get supplies to the people of Gaza.

[CiaranM]

I hope they make it but would expect them to be treated with the same suspicion as any other boat. I hope they allow themselves to be boarded and follow a peaceful path to get supplies to the people of Gaza.

well i would hope israel would cease their blockade of gaza and stop their piracy in international waters .... but i don't hold out much hope of it any time soon.

i also hope that something comes from the ongoing peace talks between israel and palestine .... but going on past history and the fact that hamas r being excluded i am dubious that anything will be resolved any time soon .... if they could even agree to a long term cease fire and a halt to ALL settlement building that would be a start, but i doubt they will manage even that !!!

[eagle]

I hope they make it but would expect them to be treated with the same suspicion as any other boat. I hope they allow themselves to be boarded and follow a peaceful path to get supplies to the people of Gaza.

well i would hope israel would cease their blockade of gaza and stop their piracy in international waters .... but i don't hold out much hope of it any time soon.

i also hope that something comes from the ongoing peace talks between israel and palestine .... but going on past history and the fact that hamas r being excluded i am dubious that anything will be resolved any time soon .... if they could even agree to a long term cease fire and a halt to ALL settlement building that would be a start, but i doubt they will manage even that !!!

The same **** is starting already with Israeli developments and Hamas on the other side. Cease fire would be nice but then the development goes on and then a rocket or a bomber. A shame for the people of both sides to live with it all.

[CiaranM]

a fairly simplistic summary of the issues that need to be resolved .... so close, but yet so f**king far away !!! from BBC !!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-11138790

Middle East peace talks: Where they standAs the Obama administration relaunches direct Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, the BBC's Paul Reynolds outlines where the three parties stand on the core issues of the conflict.

Middle East talks: Core issues

Jerusalem

Israel

The Israeli government is unwilling to divide Jerusalem, held to be the political and religious centre of the Jewish people. It stands by the 1980 basic Israeli law that "Jerusalem, complete and united, is the capital of Israel". In the past there has been room for manoeuvre on the margins. In talks in 2000 and 2007, the then Israeli governments proposed exchanging some outlying annexed districts.

Palestinians

The Palestinians want East Jerusalem, which was controlled by Jordan before being captured by the Israelis in 1967, as the capital of a Palestinian state. The Old City contains the third holiest place in Islam, the al-Aqsa mosque, and the Dome of the Rock, from where Mohammed is said to have visited heaven on his winged steed Burak.

United States

The US does not recognise the Israeli annexation of East Jerusalem and maintains its embassy in Tel Aviv. President Barack Obama has opposed the building of housing for Israelis in East Jerusalem though he said before becoming president that dividing the city would be "very difficult to execute".

Borders

Israel

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accepts that there should be a Palestinian state and that there will have to be an Israeli withdrawal from parts at least of the West Bank (captured by Israel in 1967) to accommodate this. Israel has already withdrawn from Gaza. Israel would like the borders to include Jerusalem and the major Israeli settlements that have grown up on the West Bank.

Palestinians

They want the talks to start from the basic position that all the land occupied by Israel in 1967 belongs to a future Palestine. Any land given to the Israelis would have to be compensated for by a balanced land swap.

United States

The US agrees that the starting point but not the end point should be the 1967 lines and that a land swap will have to be the basis of any agreement. It will encourage this.

Settlements

Israel

The Israeli government insists on keeping the major Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. Any departure from this would break up the coalition which forms the government. An immediate problem is that an Israeli moratorium on West Bank settlements is due to run out on 26 September.

Palestinians

Ideally, the Palestinians would like all settlements to be abandoned as they were in Gaza. However, they appear to accept that some will have to stay but they will argue for a minimum number and a land swap for any that are left. They threaten to leave the talks if the Israeli moratorium is ended on 26 September.

United States

As with the annexation of East Jerusalem, the US has not recognised the international legitimacy of the Israeli West Bank settlements. But it accepts their reality and will press for compromise. It is also trying to reach a compromise on the moratorium problem.

Refugees

Israel

Israel rejects the idea that Palestinian refugees from previous wars should be allowed any "right of return" to their former homes. They say that this is a device to destroy the state of Israel by demography in order to re-establish a unitary state of Palestine. For that reason Mr Netanyahu has called for Israel to be recognised as a Jewish state.

Palestinians

Formally, they maintain the "right of return", arguing that without it a great injustice would not be put right. However, there has been regular talk among Palestinians that this "right" could be met by compensation. They refuse to recognise the concept of Israel as a "Jewish state", saying that this is unnecessary and that it ignores the Israeli-Arab citizens of Israel.

United States

The US understands the Israeli refusal to take back refugees and hopes that this can be resolved by compensation and development aid for this whose cannot go back to their previous family homes.

Security

Israel

The Israeli government is afraid that a Palestinian state might one day fall into the hands of Hamas and will be used as a stepping-stone to turning Israel into Palestine. Therefore it is insisting that it keeps a large measure of security control, including in the Jordan Valley, and that a state of Palestine be largely demilitarised.

Palestinians

They argue that security will come from a stable two-state solution not the other way round. They want as many attributes of a normal state as possible. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas fears that client-status would be untenable and open to a Hamas takeover.

United States

The US accepts the Israeli need for security but also the need for Palestinian statehood and reconciling these is the aim of its diplomacy. It is unlikely, however, to recognise a state of Palestine which has not emerged from negotiation.

[eagle]

good article Ciaran. I read it and then an article from Yahoo news saying a mortar attack from Palestine and an air-strike from Israel as the talks are going on.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100916/ap_on_re_us/mideast_talks

[CiaranM]

good article Ciaran. I read it and then an article from Yahoo news saying a mortar attack from Palestine and an air-strike from Israel as the talks are going on.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100916/ap_on_re_us/mideast_talks

growing up in northern ireland where 2 different types of christians fought with each other, bombed each other and murdered each other i despair at what's going on in palestine (and israel) now ..... hopefully the situation there will get resolved, but i just can't see it happening any time soon !!!

[CiaranM]

could the women of israel and palestine show the way forward .... from this mornings guardian.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/16/palestinian-women-smuggled-israeli-beaches

Sun, sea and grit: Israeli and West Bank women risk jail for day at the beach. Illegal day trips challenge laws governing the movement of Palestinians

Rachel Shabi in Jerusalem guardian.co.uk, Thursday 16 September 2010 19.45 BST Article history

The day starts early, at a petrol station alongside a roaring Jerusalem road. The mood among the 15 Israeli women is a little tense, but it's hardly surprising – they're about to break the law and with it one of the country's taboos. They plan to drive into the occupied West Bank, pick up Palestinian women and children and take them on a day trip to Tel Aviv.

Today's is the second such trip – another group of women went public with a similar action last month. It is hoped that these will become regular outings, designed to create awareness of the laws that govern movement for Palestinians, and to challenge the fears that Israelis have about travelling into the West Bank.

Riki is a 63-year-old from Tel Aviv who, like the other women did not want to give her surname. She said it took her time to sign up to the trips. "I was resistant to breaking the law. But then I realised that civil action is the only way to go forward, that breaking an illegal law becomes legal."

The women take off in a convoy of cars, through an Israeli checkpoint used by settlers and into several villages around Hebron. There are dozens of Palestinian women waiting for them and each Israeli driver is allocated passengers.

As two young Palestinian women climb into the car, they remove hijabs, scarves and floor-length coats to reveal skinny jeans and long hair – a look that ensures they pass through the Israeli settler-only checkpoint without scrutiny. "I am afraid of the soldiers," said 21-year-old Sara, nervously. But she and 19-year-old Sahar, visibly relax as the car breezes past the checkpoint.

They pull CDs out of bags and are soon listening to loud Arabic dabke music as the car heads along a road that joins the main highway to Tel Aviv. "It's like we are using the tools of the occupation," said Irit, one of the drivers. "It just wouldn't occur to the soldiers at the checkpoints that Israeli women would want to do this."

As Tel Aviv nears, the Palestinian passengers silently survey the tall buildings and outdoor cafes and seem especially taken with the ubiquitous motorcycles and mopeds that speed around the city. "I would like to ride on one, like that," said Sara, pointing to a woman in shorts perched on the back of a bike. But all the Palestinian women have just one request: to go to the sea. For most, it's their first trip to the seaside, even though it is a short drive from home.

The passengers join another carload and head to the promenade in Jaffa, the mixed Arab-Israeli city stuck to the tail-end of Tel Aviv, where the Palestinian women race to greet the waves crashing against the bright rocks. "It is so much more beautiful than I thought," said Nawal, watching her gleeful seven-year-old daughter skipping backwards to avoid being sprayed by the waves. "It is more beautiful than on TV, the colour is amazing."

Fatima, 24, gazes out at the horizon. "I didn't know that the sound of the sea is so relaxing," she said. Sara asks for a sheet of paper, speedily folds it into a paper boat and writes her name on it, intending to set it out to sea. "So that it will remember me," she said.

The group convenes at a Jaffa restaurant – about 45 of them in total, including seven children. They are a cheerful party stretched across two long tables. From afar they seem just like any other restaurant party, as the women chat about children, weight gain and health.

But the excursion is far from ordinary. All Palestinians need permits to enter Israel and the penalties for not doing so can involve imprisonment. It is also against the law for Israelis to "smuggle" Palestinians without a permit across the Green Line.

A few months ago Ilana Hammerman, an Israeli journalist, wrote an account of her day trip to Tel Aviv with West Bank Palestinians in Haaretz newspaper. That prompted a criminal investigation against her, for violating Israel's law of entry. But it also inspired a group of women to take the same trip and then take an advertisement in the newspaper to publicise the fact. Since then, there have been hundreds of signatories to a petition of support and many women, on both sides, ready to defy the law.

That's one of the purposes of the action, said Esti, who has been on both trips. "We want more Israelis to realise that there is nothing to be scared of. We want more people to refuse to accept the ideology that keeps us apart – and to just refuse to be enemies."

Restrictions

Before 1991, Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza could move freely and restrictions on travel into Israel were the exception.

Then Israel began a permit regime, whereby Palestinians cannot travel without a permit issued by Israel's civil administration, set up by military decree to operate in the West Bank.

The permit system wasn't seriously imposed until the mid-90s, as response to a wave of terrorist attacks inside Israel. Since then, Israel has introduced increasingly restrictive criteria for obtaining a permit and constructed physical barriers – such as the separation wall – that have made enforcement of the system more effective.

West Bank Palestinians granted permits include a quota of workers, who must be over 35 and married; medical patients; students, although under restrictive circumstances; and older persons for religious reasons, such as to pray or to visit family during religious holidays. Some traders and VIPs are also given permits to travel into Israel.

Gisha, the legal centre for freedom of movement, estimates that around 1% of Palestinians are given permits to enter Israel. Some 24,000 Palestinian workers are permitted to enter Israel from the West Bank.

From Gaza, entry for Palestinians to Israel is exceptional and mostly for medical or humanitarian cases.