Gaza War

Accepting peace prize Obama makes case for unending war

January 1, 2013July 25, 2013

By David Walsh

(source: World Socialist Website)

In the most bellicose Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech within living memory, President Barack Obama made an argument Thursday in Oslo for ever-widening war and neo-colonial occupation, putting the world on notice that the American ruling elite intends to push ahead with its drive for global domination.

Obama defended his dispatch of tens of thousands more US troops to Afghanistan, and ominously referred to Iran, North Korea, Somalia, Darfur in Sudan, Congo, Zimbabwe and Burma, any or all of which may become targets for future American military intervention.

New york times delusional call for resumption of dead peace process

January 1, 2013July 25, 2013

By Ali Abunimah

(source: Electronic Intifada)

A remarkable editorial in The New York Times this morning calling on President Obama to resume the “peace process” between Israelis and Palestinians (President Obama and the Peace Process). It’s remarkable for how detached it is from reality. It is time for Mr. Obama — alone or, better yet, in concert with Europe, Russia and the United Nations — to put a map and a deal on the table.

The outlines of a deal are no secret. They were first proposed by President Bill Clinton in 2000. But neither side has been willing to make the necessary concessions — on land swaps, how Jerusalem can be shared and how many displaced Palestinians can go home, or not. The Israelis need to know that their closest ally won’t enable more inaction. The Palestinians need to know they will have American support so long as their demands are realistic. Mr. Obama needs to speak up before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel pre-empts the debate with what is certain to be an inferior proposal when he addresses a joint meeting of Congress next month.

Mr. Netanyahu has made some concessions, most notably giving Palestinians more control over their own security in the West Bank. But he has long insisted that the Palestinians aren’t serious about negotiating a final deal, and he is now hinting that he will unilaterally offer them an interim, step-by-step arrangement that will put off statehood to some undefined future.

President elect Obama and the prospects for Isaraeli palestinian peace

January 1, 2013July 25, 2013

United States President-elect Barack Obama’s election victory has revived hopes that stalled Palestinian-Israeli peace negotiations could finally lead to a two-state solution. Few new presidents have been greeted with such optimism and associated high expectations.

However, the chances for progress depend on more than a new American president. There are several interrelated factors: US engagement, the availability of a viable peace agreement, Israeli and Palestinian internal politics and the broader international situation.

An examination of these factors indicates that the optimism is unjustified and that President Obama will not be more successful in bringing about a two-state solution to the conflict. This does not however mean that the situation will remain static or that those pursuing a just peace have no recourse for action.

Tutu calls for accountability over Isaraeli war crime shelling

January 1, 2013July 25, 2013

By Laura MacInnis

Geneva – Israel’s deadly shelling in the Gaza Strip in November 2006 may constitute a war crime, Desmond Tutu has said in a report to the United Nations.

Tutu, who serves as an independent UN human rights envoy, said Israel must be held accountable for its strike that hit two homes in the Gaza town of Beit Hanoun, killing 18 people.

"In the absence of a well-founded explanation from the Israeli military – which is in sole possession of the relevant facts – the mission must conclude that there is a possibility that the shelling of Beit Hanoun constituted a war crime," he said in the report released yesterday to the UN Human Rights Council.

Tutu said his mission had also made clear to leaders of the Palestinian faction Hamas that "the firing of rockets on the civilian population in Israel must stop".

The Israeli military has said it decided to fire artillery against launching sites in the Beit Hanoun area on November 8 2006 on the basis of intelligence information that Gaza militants were planning rocket attacks on Israel.

An Israeli military committee that investigated the shelling decided in February that "the injury of the Palestinian civilians was not intentional and was directly due to a rare and severe failure in the artillery fire control system".

Tutu, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1985 for his non-violent struggle against apartheid, expressed regret that Israel did not co-operate with his investigation because it alleged it was biased.

He visited the occupied Palestinian territory in May, travelling through Egypt, after three requests to travel through Israel and interview Israeli officials and those living near the Gaza border were refused.

"The effective ban on visiting Israel and meeting with Israeli actors – including victims of Kassam rocket attacks in southern Israel – has itself been an obstacle to the balance that Israel seeks," the report said.

Tutu said there should be an "independent, impartial and transparent investigation" of the shelling of Beit Hanoun, a town of 35 000 inhabitants, of whom about 70% are registered refugees.

"Regardless of whether the casualties at Beit Hanoun were caused by a mistake, recklessness, criminal negligence or wilful conduct, those responsible must be held accountable," he said.

Israel and the West tightened restrictions last year on the Gaza Strip, attempting to isolate Hamas after the group’s fighters seized the territory. The Islamist group opposes Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s peace talks with Israel.

Israel and Hamas entered an Egyptian-brokered truce in June. The lull has held despite occasional violations on both sides. – Reuters

Published on the web by Star on September 15, 2008.