Between all these oppressions the Gazan people are smothered, which prompts talk in Gaza of the “two occupations.” These indignities and oppressions highlight the absurdity of having all the responsibilities of associated with governing a state but without sovereignty—usually the first requirement for a government, at least, roughly speaking. And that’s why Palestinian political analysts are now talking about dissolving the governments in Ramallah and Gaza. They’re useless: once a resistance movement becomes a government it can become directly responsible for oppression. That’s reasonable. What’s less reasonable is that it becomes responsible for welfare, and we see how that turns out with the ridiculous back-and-forth over Gaza’s electricity, which is Israel’s responsibility and no one else’s. If Israel wants to occupy, let it at least do the occupying itself.

*Plus the Empire.

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And for the last few weeks there has been very little grid power. Gisha statistics show that from June 13 to June 19, 741,000 liters of fuel were allowed in. From June 20 to June 26, 592,000 liters were allowed in. The Israeli High Court of Justice ruled that the humanitarian minimum is 2.2 million weekly liters, far less than the 3.4 million weekly liters that the Gaza Strip needs to fully fuel its sole electric plant, near Nuseirat Camp. Last week they left in 1/6^th of the amount actually needed. Gaza was very dark for huge portions of the day. I have an itinerantly-on generator, but most of the population does not, and was in darkness amidst roiling heat for 14 or 16 hour stretches, far longer than the 8-to-10 hour rolling blackouts to which we’re all accustomed. Now, we are back to the “normalcy” of those long rolling blackouts. According to the Palestine Center for Human Rights, the Israeli occupation forces let in 94,000 liters of industrial fuel on 30 June, and 230,000 liters more on 1 July.

Most of the blame for the severity of the fuel shortages during the last two months should be on the government in Ramallah, according to what I have heard from people from PCHR, who are in the process of revising their position paper on the current fuel crisis. The two governments in Ramallah and Gaza apparently have an arrangement wherein the Electricity Distribution Company in Gaza transfers at least 4 million dollars per month to the Energy Authority in Ramallah so as to contribute to the costs of the industrial fuel. In turn the Energy Authority is supposed to provide the full quotient of fuel, or whatever Israeli bothers to let in, whatever Israel permits its own fuel company, Dor Alon, to sell to the PA. (Correct: Israel profits off the fuel that it pumps into Gaza).

That quantity changes constantly. Part of this is because the Electricity Distribution Company in Gaza has trouble collecting fees, because no one in Gaza has any money. In turn the PA doesn’t transfer enough money to Dor Alon, and so it of course isn’t able to buy even the 2.2 million liters it is supposed to buy.

Gisha says:

Gisha asserts that as the occupying power in the Gaza Strip, it is incumbent upon Israel to provide for the regular supply of electricity to residents there. Even inasmuch as agreements were signed with the PA regarding that duty, Israel maintains a residual responsibility.

Gisha’s lawyers know the relevant case-law better than I do, but my understanding is that the duties incumbent upon occupying powers are positive ones, that is it Israel’s responsibility to make sure that enough power and diesel get in to Gaza. Gisha basically agrees but soft-peddles it a bit, adding that “for three and half years the EU took upon itself to fund the supply of industrial diesel for Gaza’s power plant and by doing so "fulfilled" the duties of Israel and the PA towards the civilian population of the Gaza Strip. Even though the EU was not obligated to do so, its undertaking created a dependence on EU funding,” another absurd instance of another parastate entity lubricating the occupation for Israel since exerting itself to end it is not on the agenda—not yet.

And now power is back to “normal” in Gaza, within the surreal parameters of normalcy that accept that Gaza City should be in darkness while Ashkelon shimmers at night nearly within eye-sight. And never forget who “accepts” those parameters.

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It would be a first.

Netanyahu told Mitchell, in front of the cameras: “I call on President Abu Mazen to come to Jerusalem. I’m prepared to go to Ramallah. I think that this is the only way that we’ll solve the intricate problems that we’re discussing between us”… This statement was sent around by email from the Israeli Government Press Office, part of the Prime Minister’s Office.

Mitchell is currently conducting a fourth or fifth round indirect, or “proximity” talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders.

But Ramallah is Area A (a category dating from the Oslo Accords, designating where Palestinian Authority security forces have nominal control) — and Israelis are barred from entering Area A…

There are big red signs around the West Bank [ sometimes in the wrong places, actually, such as just after passing through Qalandia Checkpoint, on the way to Ramallah, where there are areas that are still legally Jerusalem by Israeli definition, such as Qafr Aqab and Semiramis, and that still must pay Jerusalem taxes, though they get virtually no services], warning Israelis — who can otherwise roam freely, say, to visit friends in the settlements — that they are approaching an Area A [usually a "built-up" Palestinian city -- though even they can have parts which are classified Areas B or C -- such as Abu Mazen's house above Balloua...]

No Israeli can enter Area A without facing fines (5000 shekels, for endangering him/herself and the rescue services that would have to be called up if he/she calls for help or, G-d forbid, gets in trouble. There have been stories about people heading to weddings in the settlements who ended up in the middle of Qalandiya refugee camp while relying on their car’s Israeli GPS systems, which do not acknowledge either political reality or even the actual geography of the West Bank — in many areas of which the Israeli GPS simply goes blank…

Perhaps Netanyahu has been inspired by all the recent almost-irresistable media stories about cafes + malls + more in the “Tel Aviv” of the West Bank.

Meanwhile, there are still regular IDF and Border Police incursions in the West Bank — mainly at night, which is believed to be more protective to the Israeli forces on the prowl, but also during the day.

After midnight, but before dawn this morning, for example, the IDF arrested 8 “wanted” Palestinians overnight in the West Bank. The way the IDF spokespersons unit just described this on Twitter is: “Overnight, IDF forces arrested 8 wanted Palestinians suspected for terrorist activity in J + S [Judea + Samaria, meaning the West Bank] region”

These incursions happen at least several times a week, sometimes almost every night. Both Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad have complained about this, publicly and reportedly privately as well, for months and more.

The atmosphere is … almost indescribable, especially to people used to feeling secure in their homes and in their beds, who will not really understand the tension and terror this sows.

Netanyahu offers to go to … Ramallah.  Why not?  Everybody is: two Haaretz journalists [not Amira Hass, who has lived in Ramallah for more than a decade, since 1997 as it happens] bylined a story published today, datelined Ramallah. Actually it was part of the outreach program of the new Palestinian Presidential media advisory team at the Muqata’a — six Israeli journalists were specially invited, given lunch, allowed to see the man close-up, and ask whatever questions they wanted for three hours.

One can only imagine the security arrangements [well beyond the usual IDF waiver form they would have been required to sign]…  But, then again, the IDF and Israeli security services have reportedly long been involved in coordination of all movements — and even escorting — of President Abbas and his Prime Minister Salam Fayyad around the West Bank. There is, after all, the great threat of the bitter enemy, “Islamic fundamentalism”…

Actually, some Israeli journalists, but more often some well-connected Israeli analysts, have been coming to Ramallah without any fanfare [for security reasons too, let's not forget]. And not just from the Israeli “left”, which means not Marxists but those opposed to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory, but also from the right. One of the more active analysts from former Israeli diplomat Dore Gold’s Jerusalem Center for Policy Affairs told me in 2009 that he had been coming on a weekly basis for a while, and if I remember correctly he was being briefed in the Palestinian Civil Affairs office run by Fatah’s Hussein ash-Sheikh (in the same building, just a bit more than a stone’s throw from the Israeli “Civil Administration” and Military Court at Beit El, where Fatah’s Mohammed Dahlan now has the entire top floor for his own media outreach operation).

The Haaretz story, co-authored by Aluf Benn and Akiva Eldar, that is one of the products of this Palestinian media outreach invitation is published here.

In it, we learn, for example, that Abu Mazen noted, with mild reproach, that the head of Palestinian Television [who is also the Secretary of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization or PLO], Yasser Abed Rabbo, invited Netanyahu for a PALestinian TV interview but got no response.

Perhaps Netanyahu is now ready to respond?

The Jerusalem Post’s report, which called this an “apparent charm offensive aimed at the Israeli public” is here, authored by Herb Keinon.

The JPost reported that Abbas “is willing to enter direct negotiations with the Netanyahu government, as soon as he hears from Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu regarding Israel’s position on borders and security issues. Abbas, in the briefing with Israeli journalists Tuesday in Ramallah, said that originally he wanted to hear from Netanyahu whether he was willing to accept the understandings agreed upon by his predecessor, Ehud Olmert …

The JPost notes that “Abbas, who has come under pressure from the US to speak directly to the Israeli public, last spoke with the Israeli media when he gave an interview to Channel 2 at the end of April … When no answer from Netanyahu was forthcoming regarding the Olmert offer, Abbas said at Tuesday’s briefing, he sent a message through US envoy George Mitchell saying that he would suffice with an answer on only two of the issues: borders and security. ‘Answers like these are necessary to see if we are speaking the same language, and then it will be possible to continue. It is preferable that direct talks will not explode after 10 minutes, and then who knows when we will be able to renew negotiations again’, Abbas said.  Abbas said he would be willing to engage in direct negotiations with Netanyahu as soon as he received an answer”.

This apparently American-inspired Palestinian “charm offensive”, sullen though it may be at times, has been going on since the indirect or “proximity” talks presided by Mitchell have gotten well underway.

We may — or may not — be at a Sadat moment.

Abbas’ deputy as chief negotiator, Sa’eb Erekat, spoke to the INSS [Institute for National Security Studies] in Tel Aviv several weeks ago, and debated Israel’s Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor in Washington more recently. In the same line, Abbas himself recently met with members of the American Jewish community in the U.S.

On all occasions, it is safe to say, the two Palestinians had considerably more rosy assessments of the encounters than did their more-distrustful Israeli counterparts.

On top of that, Abbas’ Prime Minister Fayyad is about to meet the Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who is the effective rule of the West Bank in the Israeli government and practice — supposedly to discuss “security” [even though there was an uproar when his er formEconomic Minister, Basim Khoury, caused a storm of criticism when he spoke to Silvan Shalom at a meeting in Tel Aviv -- but that was before indirect talks began].

Fayyad is a legal permanent resident of [East] Jerusalem, of course — like the four elected Hamas-affiliated Palestinian parliamentarians who residency is about to be revoked [and they will be "deported", unless a court intervenes].   But Fayyad is not affiliated with Hamas.  So, he could easily meet Barak in either East or West Jerusalem, or anywhere in Israel.  Alternatively, Barak could easily make arrangements to show up somewhere in Ramallah [though no doubt with a huge and very obtrusive security escort], and take in all the supposedly glittery sights…

Article from UN-Truth read more here

Hamas officials claim that a Gaza court had ordered the release of the frozen funds.

Ma’an noted that it was “the second time this year that Hamas-affiliated police entered a bank and demanded [that] cash from charity accounts be handed over”…

This story can be viewed in full here.

This development came at the same time that Gaza’s Power Plant has virtually shut down in Gaza City (where 500,000 people, one-third of the population of the Gaza Strip, live). Gaza’s electrical technicians are apparently doing dangerous and difficult maneouvers to re-route the available electricity — coming now only from Israel with some from Egypt via Rafah — to serve all the population as best as possible. This means, in practical terms, that there are now power outages for 12-16 hours a day for everyone…

The problem is a shortfall in the special industrial diesel fuel needed to run Gaza’s Power Plant.

From November 2006 until the end of 2009, the European Union paid for this fuel, which must be ordered from Israel.

[In June 2006, in retaliation for the capture of IDF Corporal Gilad Shalit near the Kerem Shalom crossing, the Israeli Air Force bombed and badly damaged Gaza's Power Plant. It was offline until November -- repairs were difficult because of Israeli restrictions. Once it was back online, the EU funded the special industrial diesel fuel, until the PA decided to take over, in exchange for the salary support. This does not appear to have been a good deal for Gaza]

Over the past two years, the Gaza power plant shut down several times because Israel restricted deliveries as part of the military-administered sanctions that it imposes on Gaza, and kept the power plant running on a very short leash, then didn’t deliver on some days because of fighting and clashes between Israel and Palestinian groups in Gaza.

At the beginning of 2010, the Palestinian Authority said it would take over payments for the fuel, if the European Union would be responsible for paying the salaries and pensions of Palestinian Authority personnel.

Since then, the fuel deliveries have been cut down drastically — apparently because the Palestinian Authority is ordering less than the Gaza Power Plant needs to operate correctly.

This has now become a dispute over payments.

Gaza’s technicians say they have paid for the special industrial diesel fuel that must be imported from Israel to run the power plant, but the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah says that they are paying nearly 80 percent of the cost of the industrial diesel fuel — and won’t pay for a larger quantity until Gaza contributes more.

UPDATE + POSSIBLE CORRECTION [but who really knows?]: The Jerusalem Post, and Ma’an, report that the Palestinian Authority (or PA) says it has been paying 95 percent of Gaza’s electricity bill [since the PA started paying in January, instead of the EU.]

UPDATE TWO: Ma’an reported Monday night that the PA says it will pay only 75 percent, and that Gazans must pay 25 percent.

Earlier today, the Jerusalem Post reported that UNRWA’s Director of Operations in Gaza, John Ging, said that “It’s an unbearable situation here at the moment, and it needs to be solved very quickly. It’s a Palestinian problem, made by Palestinians, and causing Palestinian suffering. So let’s have a Palestinian solution”. This was reported here.

Article from UN-Truth read more here

She said that when Israeli soldiers fired stun grenades very near her car, the airbags reacted, the way they should in a major crash — they puffed or blew up. She said she was bruised, and shocked. And she cannot drive her car until the airbags are repaired.

Meanwhile, the U.S. White House says that there has been no new high-level contact with the Israeli leadership … U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called Israeli Prime Minister almost a week ago to express American displeasure with the Israeli government announcement about the advancement in planning for 1,600 new housing units in the Jewish settlement of Ramat Shlomo in East Jerusalem, very near the Palestinian village of Shuafat. State Department spokesmen have said that the U.S. is waiting for a response from Israel, but there apparently has been none so far. After Clinton’s phone call, Netanyahu did have a subsequent long and late-night phone call with U.S. Vice President Joe Biden — but apparently still not the response the U.S. is looking for…

UPDATE: The U.S. State Department piled it on with their briefing in Washington today (Thursday 18 March 2010) — here is an excerpt of the exchange between Gordon Duguid, Acting Deputy Department Spokesman, answering questions from journalists:

“QUESTION: All right. Okay. Thanks. Moving on to the Middle East, has the Secretary heard from Prime Minister Netanyahu yet?

MR. DUGUID: I believe the Secretary, you may have seen, had a press conference in Moscow just over an hour ago –

QUESTION: She didn’t answer the question.

MR. DUGUID: — and she has said that when we have something to say on the particular communication with Prime Minister Netanyahu, that we’ll let you know. As to my knowledge, just before coming in here, I did not have any word that a communication had been received. But when we do have one, we will let you know.”

UPDATE TWO: Netanyahu called Clinton! They agreed to meet in Washington next week…
AP has just reported that “Netanyahu called Clinton on Thursday. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley declined to provide details of the conversation, which he described as the Israeli prime minister’s response to Clinton’s call last week in which she harshly criticized Israel’s announcement of additional Jewish settlement housing in east Jerusalem. ‘They discussed specific actions that might be taken to improve the atmosphere for progress toward peace’, the department said in a statement released by Clinton’s traveling party. Crowley said U.S. officials will review Netanyahu’s response and ‘continue our discussions with both sides to keep proximity talks moving forward’. Netanyahu’s office said the prime minister clarified Israeli policy in the call with Clinton and suggested ‘mutual confidence-building measures’ by Israel and the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. Netanyahu planned to be in Washington next week for the annual gathering of the premier pro-Israel lobby, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Clinton was scheduled to speak to the group on Monday. Crowley said Mitchell will fly to the Mideast this weekend and hold separate talks with Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas … In public comments Thursday while in Moscow for talks on a range of international issues, Clinton appeared to be seeking to calm U.S. relations with Israel, saying the U.S. has not changed its approach to championing an Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Last week Clinton denounced the Israeli housing announcement. The Israeli move was seen by the Obama administration as an insult and a repudiation of U.S. efforts to get Israel to halt construction of additional Jewish settlements. ‘Our goals remain the same’, Clinton said Thursday during a joint news conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. ‘It is to relaunch negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians on a path that will lead to a two-state solution. Nothing has happened that in any way affects our commitment to pursuing that’.” This AP report can be read in full here.

Article from UN-Truth read more here

[Brazil's President Luiz Ignacio Lula da Silva was also in Ramallah on Wednesday -- but he wasn't wearing anything especially green.  At one point, when he was in Abu Mazen's office, he had a black-and-white checked kuffiyah draped around his shoulders... It has been predicted that President Lula was bringing a new peace proposal, but there was no word of anything like that - although Abu Mazen dropped a broad enough hint, saying he is "keen to reach peace through talks".]

YNet reported that “According to chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, Abbas ‘gave Ashton a letter asking her to pressure Israel to completely halt construction in the occupied Palestinian territories’. He added that the letter included maps and documents presenting the volume of building in the settlements since September 2009″.    This YNet story can be read in full here.

Earlier, the Chief Palestinian Negotiator Sa’eb Erekat told Ma’an News Agency that “he has been mandated by President Mahmud Abbas to travel to Moscow, carrying with him written messages, documents, and maps for Quartet members, which shed light on the inflammatory Israeli practices in Jerusalem. He further argued that the Israeli policies are playing with fire and adding fuel to it. Therefore, the written messages urge the international community to intervene immediately in order to curb the Israeli occupation and force it to halt its practices and unavailing policies”.

Then, it was later announced that there would be no Palestinian representative attending the Quartet meeting in Moscow…

Catherine Ashton knows the Palestinian position in detail now … as does U.S. Special Envoy George Mitchell, who also received a “letter” when he visited the Muqata’a just over a week ago…

Ashton was also in Israel meeting Israeli officials.

In Cairo on Saturday, Ashton said that “The region does not need more conflict. It needs peace. Peace based upon international law … Our aim is a viable State of Palestine in the West Bank including East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, based on the 1967 lines. If there is to be a genuine peace, a way must be found to resolve the status of Jerusalem as the future capital of Israel and Palestine. And we need a just resolution of the refugee issue … The EU position on settlements is clear. Settlements are illegal, constitute an obstacle to peace and threaten to make a two-state solution impossible … The decision to list cultural and religious sites based in the occupied Palestinian territory as Israeli is counterproductive … But Palestinians must get their house in order … Palestinian reconciliation is more crucial that ever. The PLO must take its responsibilities in this regard, and face the challenge of renewal and reform … Our position was set out clearly in our statement of principles last December. This could serve as the terms of reference for negotiations — for example, a Palestinians state on the 1967 lines with agreed changes, including with regard to Jerusalem”.

In Washington, before leaving for the Quartet meeting in Moscow, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton took note of the occasion, and said:  “I offer best wishes for a safe and happy holiday to everyone celebrating today in Ireland, in the United States, and around the world”.

Later Wednesday, U.S. State Department Acting Deputy Spokesman Mark C. Toner told journalists in Washington, meanwhile, that the U.S. was still waiting for a “response” from Israel…

[Response to what?  It hasn't been publicly disclosed.  Clinton did call Netanyahu last Friday, reportedly warning him that his government had sent a "deeply negative signal" about its commitment to renewed peace talks.  The phone call lasted 45 minutes ... Glenn Kessler reported more details (without sourcing) in the Washington Post yesterday about three specific U.S. demands:  "In an effort to get peace talks back on track, the Obama administration is pressing Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to reverse last week's approval of 1,600 housing units in a disputed area of Jerusalem, make a substantial gesture toward the Palestinians, and publicly declare that all of the 'core issues' in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including the status of Jerusalem, be included in upcoming talks, U.S. officials said.  The three demands, relayed on Friday by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in a tense phone call with Netanyahu, have not been publicly disclosed by the administration. But Israel is expected to provide a formal response on Tuesday. U.S. officials are casting it as a test of Netanyahu's commitment to the relationship between the United States and Israel. 'We have to have guarantees that these kinds of things will not happen again', said a senior U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.  'If he is unwilling to make that kind of commitment, it raises the questions of how committed he is to negotiations -- and it raises the question of how committed he is to the relationship between Israel and the United States'. The official said that the Obama administration views the success of the Middle East peace talks as central to the national security interests of the United States and that any failure by Netanyahu to fully embrace the talks would be viewed negatively.  'He says he is serious about engaging in peace talks', the official said.  'We are putting that to the test' ... Publicly, Netanyahu on Monday was giving no quarter. In remarks to parliament, he said Israel has been building in East Jerusalem for more than four decades.  'The building of those Jewish neighborhoods in no way hurt the Arabs of East Jerusalem and did not come at their expense', he said.  The Obama administration had originally sought a halt to all settlement activity in the West Bank -- and also in East Jerusalem, which Palestinians want as the site of a future capital but which Israel annexed in a move not recognized by other nations. The United States accepted a 10-month moratorium, with caveats that excluded East Jerusalem and existing projects in the West Bank. But U.S. officials believed they had extracted a secret promise from Netanyahu not to allow any provocative steps in East Jerusalem. Now, in effect, the administration wants Netanyahu to make that deal public -- and stick to it. 'He has to take a firm stand to prevent similar kinds of announcements that will have a negative effect on negotiations', the official said ... The demand that Netanyahu declare core issues such as borders, refugees and Jerusalem part of the indirect talks could split Netanyahu's fragile coalition government.  Some members refuse to give up any part of Jerusalem in talks with the Palestinians and would not accept the status of the holy city as part of negotiations.  The requested gesture to Palestinians could take several forms, such as releasing prisoners or turning over more of the West Bank to Palestinian control".   This Glenn Kessler report is in the Washington Post here.]

Here is the exchange from today’s State Department briefing:
QUESTION: So how is the – Prime Minister Netanyahu’s phone call to the Secretary? Did – how’d it go? Did he come up with positive responses to her recommendations, suggestions, demands that she made to him on Friday?

MR. TONER: Well, thanks for asking, Matt. We’re still looking forward to a response. It hasn’t happened yet. There hasn’t been a call yet. But as Secretary – we’re really in no – we’re really in the same place we were yesterday. As Secretary Clinton said, we’re engaged in active consultation and we’re looking for, really, both sides to represent – to demonstrate the requisite commitment to this process.

QUESTION: Do you think you’ll get one today, a call today? I mean it’s already in the evening there now.

MR. TONER: Well, she’s up in the air. So it’s hard to predict.

QUESTION: Well, so she’s just basically sitting there by the phone like a lonely teenager on Saturday night waiting to Bibi to give her a call. Is that the impression you’re trying to leave us with?

MR. TONER: I think I said we’re looking forward to a response. I didn’t say waiting expectantly by the phone … And in fact, she’s not waiting by the phone. She’s on her way to Russia where she’ll meet with her Quartet partners.

QUESTION: Why didn’t the call happen? What’s your understanding of why the call didn’t happen. I mean we were told to expect it by now.

MR. TONER: I truly don’t know, Matt.

QUESTION: And so is this why Vice President Biden felt the need to call Prime Minister Netanyahu, to ask him why he’s not calling the Secretary of State back? [n.b. - one Israeli media report said that the call ended at 0200 am Wednesday morning, presumably Jerusalem time]

MR. TONER: You’ll have to ask the Vice President’s office.

QUESTION: Do you know anything about that call?

MR. TONER: I don’t.

QUESTION: Do you know if the Secretary got a readout on the Vice President’s call?

MR. TONER: I don’t know. I frankly don’t know that – has the Vice President’s office confirmed the call? I mean I saw press reports. So you’ll have to go the Vice President’s office.

QUESTION: Is it fair to say that the Israeli Government is digging in? I mean Avigdor Lieberman says the demands that the U.S. is making are unreasonable. He said that today. There’s no sign of any change there.

MR. TONER: Again, Lach, I just would repeat what I just said, which is that we’re still looking forward to a response. We’re pretty much in the same place we were yesterday; looking for both sides to take the steps, to show determination, and to reassert their commitment to the process. She’s on her way to Russia. There will be Quartet meeting there. I don’t want to get ahead of the diplomacy that’s going to take place there, but I also don’t want to characterize various responses coming from various corners.

QUESTION: Does the lack of a response to date sort of hinder the Secretary’s ability to effectively deal with the Quartet? I mean, she isn’t informed by any Israeli position on this. So how are they going to talk about the way forward when they don’t even know what Israel is saying in response?

MR. TONER: Well, it’s a regular consultation. I mean, there will be input from all the different players and parties and, again, we’re looking forward to the response. So we’ll just wait and see if it comes. I don’t want to prejudge something that’s happening on Friday.

QUESTION: Can you … tell us about Senator Mitchell’s travel plans, why he’s not on the plane with
the Secretary if, as P.J. said yesterday, it’s a logistical reason that he did not go to the region himself? I mean why wouldn’t he take (inaudible).

MR. TONER: Karen just told me. I didn’t realize he wasn’t on the plane with the Secretary. I can try to get an answer for you.
…
QUESTION: Did the Israelis actually indicate that they would call back? I mean is it Netanyahu who said, ‘I will get back to you. So you’re waiting for this call?’ Or was it just implied that eventually you would get their response?

MR. TONER: Sure. It’s hard for me to say. I mean I wasn’t obviously on the call and I don’t want to get into the substance of the call, but the expectation is that there will be a response”.

Article from UN-Truth read more here

Qalandia checkpoint cuts off what was the main road between Jerusalem and Ramallah — and it used to take about 15 minutes to travel between the two cities.

Today, it took my friend and colleague two hours, in the middle of the day — usually, a quieter time. Driving from Jerusalem to Ramallah, she got all the way up to the traffic circle at the entrance to Qalandia, before trouble started. Apparently because some stones were being thrown, the Israeli forces at the checkpoint opened up with what they call “crowd control measures”: rubber bullets, tear gas, and stun gas.

And, they closed the checkpoint. With the unfortunate drivers who had entered at that time stuck in the middle. Thousands of people were stuck…

My friend’s car was one of many hit and damaged by two stones thrown by Palestinians. [The Israeli soldiers are usually protected by their gear, or in armoured cars. But Palestinian television nightly news showed one Israeli soldier suffering the effect of blown-back Israeli gear gas, while nevertheless maintaining his hold on his rifle, which he was aiming at the Palestinians].

It is a terrifying, infuriating, and exhausting experience.

Yesterday, she crossed at the same time, and told me then: “It was eerily quiet”.

She had just come back from covering clashes between Palestinian protesters and reinforced Israeli Border Police and National Police in East Jerusalem — but said: “Qalandia is the most volatile and scary place of all”.

The Israeli soldiers say they are only responsible for protecting themselves, and for screening prospective entrants into Israel, NOT for anything else — they say they are not responsible for the child beggars who assault waiting cars who are trying to enter from the Ramallah side lives, they are not responsible for the lack of traffic control for cars coming from the Jerusalem side. They are not responsible for the delays. They are not responsible for the fighting at the checkpoint. They are not responsible for the lives, property, time or well-being of the people they oblige to use this checkpoint.

Today, there were three episodes of fierce clashes between Palestinians and Israeli forces at Qalandia checkpoint — morning, midday, and at 8 pm at night.

Qalandia is especially bad around 7 in the morning and around 6 in the evening, every day. It is especially bad on Thursday evenings, and on Saturday afternoons. It is very bad on Israel Independence day (as marked on the Jewish calendar). It is very especially bad on Friday mornings during the special month of Ramadan, when Palestinian Muslims long to pray at Al-Aqsa Mosque in the Old City of East Jerusalem. And it is very, very, very bad when there are clashes between Palestinian boys and Israeli soldiers.

Article from UN-Truth read more here

This suggests that Mitchell is leaving — and will not participate in a second meeting with the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) on Wednesday, when U.S. Vice President Joe Biden is expected to pay a visit to the Muqata’a presidential compound in Ramallah, after 36 hours of talking in Israel — about Iran.

What happened today? Mitchell was in the Muqata’a in Ramallah, meeting President Abbas and Chief Palestinian negotiator Sa’eb Erekat — who are the two people who are now charged with any negotiations, according to one informed Palestinian official. Mitchell’s aide David Hale was apparently also present. The meeting lasted approximately three hours.

UPDATE: Palestinian Television news at 9pm tonight showed an initial meeting between Mitchell and Abbas with four aides on each side — on the Palestinian side: Yasser Abed Rabbo, Saeb Erekat, Mr. X (unidentified), and Nabil Rudeineh; and on the American side: U.S. Consul-General in Jerusalem Danny Rubenstein, Mr. X, Ms. X, and Mr. X.

[Haaretz carried a story that earlier reported: " 'Today President Abbas will hand a written response to Senator Mitchell about our acceptance of the proposal of the proximity talks', Erekat told Reuters". This Haaretz report is posted here.]

This journalist was told this evening that Abu Mazen gave Mitchell a “letter”: “I cannot elaborate, but it contains the terms of reference [for the negotiations] that we Palestinians believe are right”, the informed Palestinian official said. “The P.L.O. gave President Abbas a mandate. We are still waiting for the American response”.

The Palestinian official said that at this point, there are not either “proximity talks” or “negotiations” — but instead “just setting the terms of reference for the negotiations”.

“We are here to negotiate to obtain our freedom. If this turns out to be just an attempt to make a good PR [public relations] campaign for Mr. Netanyahu, then of course we are not willing to do simply that”.

This Palestinian official added that “this is the problem we have with the Americans — they are speaking about ‘relaunching’ these negotiations, while we want to ‘resume’ negotiations at the point they ended on 27 December 2008 [the day Israel launched an unprecedented three-week military operation against Hamas in Gaza]. But Israel doesn’t want to do that”.

According to this Palestinian official, maps were “shown” during the Annapolis process of negotiations in 2008. But, he said, the Israeli interlocutors “refused to hand over any maps or any papers”.

So, he said, “based on some references, we know what parts of the West Bank Israel would like to keep, but we don’t know what Israel really wants”.

He said each side made an offer during the Annapolis process. The Palestinians, he said, “gave an offer to exchange [or swap] 1.9 percent of the West Bank. We also showed this to the Americans and gave them a map”.

The Israelis, he said, indicated they “had an idea of swapping 6.5 percent of the land”.

So, he said, it should be expected that “any solution that comes out of negotiations would be between these two figures”.

However, he said, Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu, who was asked to form the present government after Israeli elections in February 2009, may intend to ask for 20 percent or more: “He has said he wants to keep the Jordan Valley — this means that Israel intends to control our borders. He has said that he wants all of Jerusalem — we cannot give up East Jerusalem. And he has said he will keep [the West Bank Jewish settlement of] Ariel — which sits on the western aquifer that contains 85 percent of the water used in the West Bank, and we cannot play with our water sources”.

What will happen now? “I’m not 100 percent sure”, the Palestinian official said. “We Palestinians are not willing to accept another round of failed negotiations”. He noted that the situation is now “very tense”, and recalled that Chief Palestinian negotiator Sa’eb Erekat said earlier today that this is “the last chance for a peaceful solution”. [See the Haaretz story linked above, here: "Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said that
the indirect talks between Israel and the Palestinians would be a last chance to keep the Middle East peace process alive. 'The relationship has deteriorated to this stage where the U.S. is trying to save this peace process with the last attempt - by the way, mark my words - this will be the last attempt in order to see if it can be a tool to make decisions between Palestinians and Israelis', he told Army Radio".

Ali Waked, writing in YNet, spoke to Erekat himself after the meeting with Mitchell and reported that Erekat said "the Palestinians made it clear to Mitchell that if the Israelis increase the settlements, raids of cities and assassinations during each of his visits to the region, this casts a serious doubt over the American peace efforts." Waked also wrote that "The remark was made as the United States released an official statement saying that Israel and the Palestinians have agreed to launch indirect talks mediated by Mitchell ... The Palestinians have agreed to resume the negotiations indirectly in principle, but have asked Mitchell for several clarifications and demanded that Israel stop embarrassing the Palestinian Authority with announcements on new construction plans in the West Bank. Erekat said that the settlement issue was the focus of Abbas and Mitchell's meeting, which lasted about five hours. During the meeting, the Palestinian president expressed his resentment over the Israeli declaration on 112 new housing units slated to be built in the settlement of Beitar Illit. Defense Ministry officials say the discussed plan was approved by the Olmert government. A Palestinian source told Ynet that the Palestinians were discouraged by the inefficiency of the talks and that the American pressure on Israel has led to nothing so far. He said that the Palestinians estimate that the negotiations are only damaging the Palestinian leadership's reliability"... This Ali Waked report in YNet is published here.

Laura Rozen wrote an assessment, Parsing the Mitchell statement, published on Politico.com here, reporting that "Middle East Peace Envoy George Mitchell issued a statement from Israel today which on its face seemed a quiet victory wave on achieving agreement for Israeli-Palestinian proximity talks over the weekend. But a former Israeli official reading the statement interprets it differently, to suggest they haven't agreed on what they are going to be talking about indirectly ... 'The text indicates that he will NOT announce anything while Biden is here', the former Israeli official interprets. 'There will be a generic statement on the sides's 'willingness' to participate in 'indirect talks' but nothing on terms of reference, [specific] issues etc.’, the former Israeli official interpreted”.

Haaretz later reported that “It was unclear, however, whether the indirect talks had already begun. [U.S. State Department spokesman P.J.] Crowley told reporters he thought they had. ‘I believe they have started’, Crowley said. ‘I think they are underway’. Pressed on whether he was sure the indirect talks had begun, Crowley said: ‘I am certain’.” This Haaretz report is posted here.

Article from UN-Truth read more here

Thousands — no, millions, upon millions of words have been written about this shame.  We have written about it repetitively — just enter the word Qalandia in the search box on this page, and the stories will pop up.

But, nothing changes.  If anything, it simply gets worse.

[UPDATE: Also see Amira Hass' article published in Haaretz here: "Israel calls the checkpoint a 'terminal' and relates to it as an existing, legal border between the State of Israel and the Palestinian entity. For Palestinians, the Qalandiyah checkpoint is a physical representation of the fact that for most of them, East Jerusalem has become as far away as the moon. Most of the people who pass through Qalandiyah are Palestinian residents of Jerusalem. A minority are West Bank residents who have temporary permits to enter Israel".]

The AP story published in the WPost is entitled Checkpoint misery epitomizes a Mideast divide, and it is posted here.

This is the AP photo used to illustrate the article in the Washington Post – it was taken 15 Dec 2009:

Please note that the AP reporter who did the story wrote only about the pedestrian passage.  Crossing with a car is a different and separate nightmare, for those who are allowed.

Please note that this is only about Qalandia checkpoint, and not about the main checkpoint at Bethlehem, which, if anything, may be worse, or about the Erez crossing into Gaza.

It is not about the checkpoint on Road 443 that I was shocked to see had Palestinian men stuffed into wire-caged walkways at 4 am last Thursday after passing military inspection, but before boarding white Ford Transit vans for transportation to their jobs in central Israel.

Please note that the crossing times listed for each day the reporter was at this checkpoint — which Israeli forces like to call a “border crossing” — are just for the crossing time only, and not for the difficult transportation that comes before and after the crossing.

Please also note that every Israeli in uniform at this place is carrying at least one big gun, and that there are military reinforcements always at the ready in the immediate enclosure, and more are not far away.

The AP article reports that “The journey to Jerusalem, for tens of thousands of Palestinians [daily], begins in a dank, trash-strewn hangar. They move through cage-like passages and 7-foot-high turnstiles to be checked by Israeli soldiers from behind bulletproof glass. The soldiers often yell at them [only in Hebrew, of course, and in a muffled and incomprehensible way] through loudspeakers. They [the Israeli soldiers] are supposed to work in pairs to speed the lines through, but sometimes one of them is asleep, his feet on his desk. The Qalandia crossing, say the Israelis, is where potential attackers are filtered out before they can reach Jerusalem on the other side. Palestinians say it’s a daily humiliation they must endure to reach jobs, family, medical appointments and schools. This main checkpoint between the northern West Bank and Jerusalem is one of the rawest points of friction between Israel and the Palestinians, a symbol of the day-to-day bitterness that grinds between the two sides as the U.S. struggles to relaunch peace negotiations. Since taking office last year, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has eased Palestinian movement inside the West Bank, but not into Jerusalem … Qalandia [is] the only way for 60,000 taxpaying [legal and official Jerusalem] residents [whose homes, by Israeli military design, are now behind -- or on the West Bank side -- of Qalandia checkpoint and The Wall] to reach their city. They too must line up along with tens of thousands of West Bank residents to enter Israel for work – provided they are patient, have permits, and don’t arouse suspicion” … And God help them if they do, because there is nobody who can help them…

The article reports that “The AP reporter saw soldiers sleeping in their booths four times during five days at the crossing. When told about it, Maj. Peter Lerner, an Israeli army spokesman, said he was ’surprised’ …” though nobody would be who has ever been at a checkpoint when there were only Palestinians and internationals present, but no higher Israeli officer.

The article reports that “The line takes Abu Jalil into a 15-foot-long cage of metal bars, barely wide enough for a large man or high enough for a tall man to stand upright. At the far end, a turnstile clicks open, letting about 10 people through at a time before clicking shut again. Once inside: another line to another turnstile, this one leading to a window where Israeli soldiers check IDs. Abu Jalil waits, then a worker at the front of the line gets turned back. He tells the others they can’t carry lunches through, so Abu Jalil and others with lunches change lines, starting again at the back. It’s a common problem. Sometimes, certain lines accept only certain IDs, but the workers don’t know that until they reach the window. A soldier may close a window without announcing it, leaving people waiting in vain. There is no supervisor or hot line they can take complaints to.

The article reports that one 70-year-old Palestinian woman who returned after living in the U.S. for 11 years (there are many Palestinian West Bank residents who have American citizenship) said to the AP reporter that “I made the biggest mistake of my life in coming back here … This the worst place I’ve seen in my life”..

It may not be the worst thing I’ve ever seen, but it’s truly awful, something to be avoided, if possible, at all costs. It’s really, really bad…

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Front and center, the chief worshipper was Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen). The sermon was given by the Palestinian Authority (PA) Minister of Awqaf (Muslim Trust foundations), Mahmoud Habbash. After the eventful tension of recent weeks (particularly the extremely embarassing sex + corruption videotape scandal involving Abbas’ chief of office, Rafiq Husseini), it seemed to be a Friday prayer in penitential mode, with references to the role of the President, his duties, and the limits of his power.

(Less than two hours before the Friday prayers, Fahmi Shabaneh, the disgruntled Palestinian security officer who went to the Israeli media with the Husseini videotape held a press conference in this East Jerusalem {Beit Hanina} home, and said he had been reassured by Abbas that there would be an investigation into his allegations. Shabaneh said he would not hold a press conference this week, as he had threatened, to reveal more scandals, but would instead hand over all his evidence and documentation to Abbas… And through the grapevine, I heard this week that Rafiq Husseini told someone in East Jerusalem that the videotape was doctored with advanced techniques, that the living room and/or bedroom shown on the scandalous videotape was, in fact, his apartment — but, Husseini said, his secretary had never been with him there… proving, he reportedly argued (and as he has said before, despite much scepticism), that the whole thing was a fake.)

There were no famous faces in the room [UPDATE: many were instead at the demonstration in Bil'in, see below]. The room used for Friday prayers is the same room which is used for press conferences and meeting such as the Palestine National Council etc… On Abbas’ right hand was a Fatah Central Committee official with a big black mustache [Mahmoud Ismail] who was involved in the recent General Assembly + long-delayed elections of the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate (in which some Fatah officials, particularly Tawfik Tirawi) were deeply involved. I didn’t recognize anybody else except Presidential press office aide Mohammed Edwan, sitting at the far right end of the frong row of worshippers. Among those praying, there was at least one Palestinian policeman in uniform, a number of Presidential guard officers in camouflage green uniforms, and others who appeared to be low- to medium-level employees. At least one armed Presidential Guard officer was standing at alert behind the worshippers (but he only had a small side arm, and not a big huge black machine gun).

Palestinian television did not immediately go to the regular Friday weekly demonstration against The Wall in Bil’in today. Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad was among those present at the demonstration. (UPDATE: Palestinian Television’s nightly news showed a number of other political figures were there as well (maybe this is why they were not praying with Abu Mazen in the Muqata’a).

The Popular Struggle Committee sent out a press release saying that thousands were expected to attend or participate in the demonstration: “Following the victory forcing Israel to begin rerouting the path of the Wall, in face of the Army’s unprecedented attempts to crack down on the popular struggle, the people of Bil’in will celebrate five years of protest tomorrow. In a show of support to the popular struggle, the people of Bil’in will be joined by thousands from across the West Bank, among them Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and leaders from across the Palestinian political spectrum. Mohammed Khatib of the Bil’in Popular Committee said today that “The Army realizes the efficiency of our struggle and believes that it can be pacified with token gestures and repressed by the hundreds of arrests in last months. After managing to force Israel to finally follow its own court order and begin rerouting the Wall last week, we will prove tomorrow that Palestinian society, its left-wing as well as right, is united behind the popular movement, and the Israeli assault only stands to strengthen us.” Last week, 2.5 years after an Israeli Supreme Court decision deeming the path of the Wall on the lands of Bil’in illegal, preliminary infrastructure work to reroute the barrier in accordance with the ruling has finally began. … Roughly 680 dunams of the 2,000 dunams currently sequestered by the Wall will be returned to the village following the court-ordered rerouting of the trajectory”.

The Mayor of Geneva, Switzerland, was also present this week …
UPDATE: Ma’an News Agency reported that the man who was almost elected Mayor of Tel Aviv (he had the entire youth vote, apparently) Dov Heinin, MK of Democratic Front for Peace and Equality, was also present … “A group of Palestinian teens and young men successfully pulled down a 30-meter length of barbed fence from the separation wall, as the crowds were met with high-pressure skunk water sprayed at them by Israeli forces in full riot gear”, Ma’an added, here.

Later, the Popular Struggle Committee reported that about 1,000 people attended, and that two demonstrators were injured in Bil’in
(”One was struck with a tear-gas projectile in the leg and another was shot in the stomach by a rubber-coated bullet”), while about ten demonstrators were injured in other villages: “Al-Ma’sara, south of Bethlehem, Ni’ilin and Nabi Saleh, where 10 protesters were hit by rubber-coated bullets, including a Swedish national who was struck in the mouth”.

Although the Popular Struggle Committee said it regards the rerouting of The Wall near Bil’in as a victory, it vowed that “protest will continue until the Occupation is over and the Wall is dismantled in its entirety”.

Afterwards, it was reported (in Haaretz, among other places) that “Demonstrators participating in rally protesting the Israel’s West Bank separation fence dismantled a section of the barrier on Friday, during a rally marking five years since the beginning of the Bil’in protests. About a thousand people took part in the rally, which was also attended by Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, Palestinian parliament member Mustafa Barghouti as well as Fatah strongman Nabil Shaath. During the rally several protesters managed to cross the barrier, placing a Palestinian flag on top of an Israel Defense Forces outpost, while others dismantled a 30-meter section of the fence itself. IDF sources claimed that the fence’s repair could cost several hundred thousand NIS“.

So, here is part of the fence that has to be moved by order of the Israeli Supreme Court, and the Israeli military is complaining that they will have to repair it at great cost …

The Haaretz article also reported that (no doubt because of Salam Fayyad’s presence — and Fayyad is one of two Palestinian officials whose movement around the West Bank is coordinated with Israeli security forces, who also reportedly escort his convoy) — Israeli security forces “were aligned in rear positions to allow the demonstrators to protest in a ‘non-violent fashion’, but began using dispersal instruments as soon as protesters commenced hurling stones. A source in the IDF’s GOC Central Command told Haaretz that the incident proved that the IDF was willing to allow non-violent protest, but that it was clear that some of the participants act violently, hurling stones and causing thousands of shekels in damages to the fence”. This Haaretz article can be read in full here…

Another weekly demonstration was expected in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem today, where an hour in advance a tight and manned police barrier appeared to bar entrance to the entire neighborhood (including the site of the tomb of Shimon Hatzadik, believed to have been a high priest in the Second Jewish Temple, which has now been taken over by Orthodox Jewish worshippers). A row of white police vans stood behind the barricade, and there were groups of police and Border Policemen in various uniforms under the warm mid-day sun.

UPDATE: Ma’an later added that “Israeli forces attempted to disperse the press and diverted protesters from attaining the residential areas closed off by Israeli police, as settlers entered the contested neighborhood”. This Ma’an report is here.

UPDATE. The Jerusalem Post later reported that “1 man was detained on Friday afternoon dozens of left-wing activists and east Jerusalem locals gathered for the weekly protest against the expansion of the Jewish enclave in Sheikh Jarrah, a predominantly Arab neighborhood. The activist was taken in for questioning after attempting to organize a march in the neighborhood without an appropriate permit”. This JPost report is here.

And, there was also supposed to be a demonstration in the Silwan area of East Jerusalem as well, around the other side of the Old City, where Jerusalem’s Mayor has ordered the demonstration of 200 Palestinian homes, if he has also to demolish one seven-story building housing Jewish settlers in the same neighborhood — also built “illegally”, without required permits, which in turn are dependent on municipal planning that is non-existent.

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