Editorial Note: The following news reports are summaries from original sources. They may also include corrections of Arabic names and political terminology. Comments are in parentheses.

 

Kerry's Economic Plan Jeopardizes the Palestinian National Rite of Return

Nunu: Kerry's economic plan jeopardizes the Palestinian national project

[ 28/05/2013 - 09:54 AM ]

GAZA, (PIC)--

Spokesman for the Palestinian government Taher Al-Nunu criticized the economic peace plan of US secretary of state John Kerry, saying it greatly endanger the Palestinian national project.

In a press release on Monday, Nunu said that Kerry's plan was not different from earlier US pledges to turn the occupied Palestinian territories into the Singapore of the Middle East, adding that such pledges were the biggest deceitful scheme used by the US to promote the Oslo agreement that led to serious subsequent concessions and a decline in the national project.

He also noted that similar pledges were also made during the 2007 Annapolis conference that ended up with more settlement and Judaization activities in the occupied territories.

He warned that there is a risk of turning the Palestinian cause into a humanitarian issue rather than a question of occupation and political conflict.

The spokesman of the government noted that the renewed US economic plan goes in line with the ambitions of the sycophants from Fatah faction, especially Mahmoud Abbas's entourage who have unlawfully accumulated millions of dollars because of their business relations with the Israeli occupation.

"They could sell out the remaining Palestinian rights in exchange for money, and they are no stranger to such attitude," he added.

Kerry bullies Abbas to cede right of return for 4b. dollars

[ 28/05/2013 - 09:53 PM ]

By Khalid Amayreh

During the recently held World-economic Forum in Amman , U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry revealed that the U.S. would offer the Palestinian Authority (PA) $4 billion dollars for reactivating the Palestinian economy.

However, Kerry made it unmistakably clear that the implementation of the American inducement package was dependent on the resumption of the stalled peace process between an imperial Israel, armed to the teeth and in tight control of the American government. And the PA, a vanquished supplicant whose very survival depends on Israeli good will as well as western handouts.

Some gullible observers have hailed the American "gesture," ignoring the poisoned chalice the Palestinians are being urged to drink as part of the deal. The PA has denied that it would sacrifice Palestinian rights in return for some transient economic benefits. However, from early Palestinian reactions it is noticed that a majority of Palestinians have deep suspicions as to whether Abbas will be able to withstand and resist America's bullying.

It is vital we make things amply clear for our people. The U.S. simply wants to bribe the easy-going easy-coming PA leadership into giving up the paramount right of return for Palestinian refugees, East Jerusalem and accept a deformed state-let on parts of the West Bank, all in order to enable the resumption of the so-called peace process.

In other words, Kerry wants to get Abbas, et al, to agree to liquidate the essence of the Palestinian national cause in return for some financial inducements. They just want to reproduce the same false optimism and euphoria that accompanied all peace conferences ever since the Oslo Accords. And as we all know, all these conferences ended up in a gigantic fiasco, with the main reason being Israel's adamant refusal to give up the spoils of the 1967 war and allow for the repatriation of the refugees to their homes and villages from which they were expelled at gunpoint when Israel was created 65 years ago.

It would be a huge disaster if the Palestinian leadership were to relate seriously to the American proposal. It would amount to a kind of committing an act of lewdness with the enduring national cause, something the Palestinian people would never allow to happen.

In fact, one could claim that the very American offer carries with it a great deal of naivety if only because everyone knows that economic prosperity is impossible under a sinister foreign military occupation. Indeed, one doesn't have to be a great economic expert to realize that in the absence of sovereignty and freedom of movement, there is a little chance for sustained economic development. It would be lamentable if the PA failed to realize this point after all the lessons of the past 20 years.

Peres: notorious liar, war criminal

During the economic conference mentioned above, the elderly Israeli President Shimon Peres, a certified war criminal par excellance, tried to cajole Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas into coming to terms with the fait accompli which Israel created ever since 1967.

Peres, a figurehead head of state, delivered a "moving speech" urging the Palestinians to return to the peace table without conditions. He claimed that a majority of Israelis wanted peace. However, Peres didn't say why Israel was building dozens of colonies in the West Bank and transferring hundreds of thousands of fanatical settlers to live on land that belongs to another people,

Abbas, notoriously known for his complacency, seemed overly eager to respond positively to Peres' tricks and deception. He told reporters in Jordan that there was still a chance for the two state solution.

The Palestinian leader simply didn't know what he was taking about. Well, in order to give Abbas the benefit of the doubt, one would have to disbelieve one's eyes and up all his mental faculties.

This is so because Israel has killed any remaining possibility for the establishment of a viable Palestinian state as dozens of Jewish settlements have been created in and around East Jerusalem, the contemplated capital of the contemplated Palestinian state.

This is not to mention the estimated 150-200 other settlements and settlement outposts which Israel built all over the occupied territories.

In short, the Palestinian people must not be duped into being bitten by the same snake again. Some people learn from other people's mistakes, others learn only from their own mistakes. Unfortunately, there are certain people with the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah who learn neither from their nor from other people's mistake. This is really a disaster.