Middle East

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the Israeli plan to build 455 housing units in settlement blocs in the occupied West Bank is unacceptable. The plan approved by Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak has the opposition of many countries. The proposal contravenes urgent appeals by the White House and the European Union to end construction of new houses in the West Bank.

Former President Jimmy Carter and South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu visited the construction sites of the Israeli separation wall in the West Bank and criticized Israel’s settlements in the region. Carter and Tutu are both part of The Elders, an organization of former global leaders trying to pressure Israel and the Palestinians to relaunch peace talks.

Chief Palestinian Negotiator, Saeb Erakat, said today, 25th August, that a just and lasting peace between Palestinians and Israelis was possible. “International law and United Nations resolutions clearly outline how to resolve this conflict. The Road Map and the Arab Peace Initiative provide a clear way forward”, said Erakat.

The official list published Saturday of winners in elections to the Revolutionary Council of the Palestinian Fatah movement included 67-year-old Dr. Uri Davis, a Jerusalem-born Jew. He was elected number 31 of 80 members. When his name was announced, members in the auditorium of the Bethlehem school where the conference was being held, applauded long and loud.

Israel has promised to build no new settlements on the West Bank until the beginning of 2010. The Israeli government says the decision should be seen as a gesture towards the United States. US President Barack Obama reacted positively to the offer, which he described as “a step in the right direction”. He hinted that he now expects a similar gesture from the Palestinians.

In other Mideast news, the Israeli military has declared the shooting of an unarmed American peace activist “an act of war.” The activist, Tristan Anderson, was critically injured when Israeli soldiers fired a tear gas canister directly at his head in March. According to Anderson’s family this would mean that Israel’s government admits that it is at war with civilians.

Iraqi’s government is backing a vote that could force an early US withdrawal. On Monday, the Iraqi cabinet said it would support holding a national referendum over the US-Iraqi Status of Forces Agreement. The agreement calls for a US withdrawal by the end of 2011. But if Iraqis reject the timetable, US troops would be forced to begin pulling out nearly one year earlier.

Human Rights Watch released a report last week detailing new evidence of possible Israeli war crimes committed during last winter´s operations in Gaza that left over 1400 Palestinians dead. The report says Israeli soldiers unlawfully shot and killed at least 11 Palestinian civilians, including 5 women and 4 children, who were in groups waving white flags.

The self-appointed Inter Action Council, IAC, chaired by German ex-Chancellor Helmut Schmidt had its 27th Annual Meeting in King Abdullah Economic City, Saudi Arabia 10-13 May, with 20 other former prime ministers and presidents, many right wing social democrats, attending. They issued a Final Communiqué with a Present State of the World. My comments follow.

The new magazine ‘Israel-Kurd’ has caused a stir in northern Iraq. To the surprise of many in the Arab world, the second edition also recently made it into the kiosks. A third edition expected for september. Kurdish Iraq is increasingly positioning itself between Israel and the Arab world. It is known that the late Kurdish leader Moustafa Barzani made two visits to Israel.