Ground report from Gaza

Hatem Shurrab is the head of communications with the Islamic Relief Fund in Gaza. He submitted a video report depicting the aftermath of the current conflict in Gaza. Mr. Shurrab was part of the Maxwell School’s Leaders for Democracy Fellowship (LDF), a U.S. State Department program that hosts reformers from the Middle East and North Africa for months of academic training and professional affiliations. See the video here.

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Change of paradigm in Israel-Hamas mediation efforts

By Nimrod Goren

(Originally published on the I24News website, July 27, 2014)

Israel can no longer rely on Egypt to broker between itself and Hamas; a fundamentally new set-up is required.

The list of “wannabee-mediators” between Israel and Hamas is long. Those that have offered assistance in brokering a ceasefire include the UN, the Quartet, the US, the EU, Germany, Britain, France, Italy, Turkey, the Palestinian Authority, Qatar, Tunisia, China and Russia.

It was not always like that. In previous rounds of Israel-Hamas violence the overall formula was rather clear. It was the Egyptians, with American backing, that would eventually deliver. In 2012, after operation Pillar of Defense, the Egyptians were even designated as the guarantors of the Israel-Hamas understandings.

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A Call for Re-humanization of the Palestinian People

by Imran Khalid

With Palestinian deaths (overwhelmingly civilian) nearing 700, it is time for a global rethink vis-à-vis Occupied Palestinian Territories. The current crisis comes on the heels of the 2009 invasion of Gaza which resulted in over 1500 Palestinian and 13 Israeli deaths, and the 2012 crisis in which well over 100 Palestinians were killed. We don’t need a statistician to inform us of the enormous discrepancy between the two sides militarily, economically and geopolitically. Indeed, Israel’s hold on Palestinian people and land has been likened to the apartheid regime in South Africa of yore. Yet, I am increasingly shocked and awed by the heavily biased coverage of crisis by the media in the United States and beyond. While social media has been integral in highlighting their plight, major media entities in this country continue to present the Palestinians as the “other,” with lesser values.

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Israel’s Latest Assault on Gaza

by Timothy Rodriguez

(Published on the blog “Edgy World Affairs,” July 16, 2014)

It has come again. Something that comes every couple of years now – an Israeli assault on Gaza. To see images and video of the horrific bloodshed is pain enough – around 190 Palestinians killed (80 percent civilian), up to 1,485 injured; 1 Israeli killed and about 10 injured – but to make matters worse, the lack of journalistic and intellectual integrity on the topic has been appalling to listen to and read.

Contrary to the official Israeli line – which too many unquestionably follow as if it were gospel – the current assault did not begin with Hamas shooting rockets or the abduction of three Israeli teenagers.

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The Implications of Sovereignty: Revisiting the United Nations Vote on Palestinian Statehood

This essay is based on my remarks at a Shabbat Luncheon hosted by Shaarei Torah Orthodox Congregation of Syracuse, NY on September 17, 2011. I argue that despite popular views to the contrary, the Palestinians have much to lose from a United Nations declaration of statehood; it is Israel which has much to gain. Furthermore, while President Mahmoud Abbas may be sincere in thinking that Palestine’s admission to the United Nations as a sovereign member state will reinvigorate the peace process, I argue that successful conflict resolution will remain elusive—regardless of what the UN does or does not do—unless Palestinians and Israelis return to their earlier negotiating positions reflected in the 2003 Geneva Initiative.

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Alternative Policies for Transforming the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Louis Kriesberg

Clearly, the Obama administration’s mediation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has not produced any breakthroughs.  Even the earlier U.S. insistence that the Israeli government stop further construction of settlements in the West Bank and Jerusalem has now been abandoned.  The U.S. is falling back to mediating indirectly by meeting with the PA and the Israeli government independently.  A new approach is needed that is recognized to be fresh.  Some immediate effects on the ground should be produced that demonstrate progress away from the current dangerous stagnation.  Many ideas that can be elements in a constructive alternative approach are offered here.  I first consider actions that focus on the negotiation process and subjective ways of reframing the conflict.  I then discuss actions that take a longer time perspective and involve structural factors reduce the conflict asymmetry.

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