What are the implications of a new Sharon-Peres coalition government? I notice some people tend to think of Peres as a “dove,” and he probably is compared to Sharon, but this is the man who authorized the Grapes of Wrath operation against Lebanon… will the coalition in any sense water down Israeli militarism?
Answer
This coalition is primarily aimed at rescuing Sharon's administration from collapse. The Israeli Labour Party has been enormously weakened and is seeking any opportunity to resurface. As far as the Palestinians are concerned both Likud and Labour are equally Zionist though they may at times seek to achieve the same objective in two different ways. Israel is today in panic. This is the explanation for the extreme militarism; this is a phenomenon that existed in the cases of all former colonial project. Israeli is nothing but a colonial project that is desperately struggling to stay on. Whether it is Likud or Labour, the attitude will be the same.
Name
Mohamed
- Australia
Profession
Question
Asalamu aleikum
What are the most important events in the Palestinian case in the year 2004?
Answer
Every day is an eventful day in Palestine. On the one hand, the Israelis are continuing their oppression of the Palestinians, assassinating them, destroying their homes, and uprooting their olive trees; on the other hand the Palestinians are putting up a heroic resistance against occupation.
The world media may not be interested at times, or may be too busy covering other events at other times, but things happen on an hourly basis throughout Palestine. So, every day and every event has been of great significance.
Name
Pim
- Denmark
Profession
Question
Is it possible to concede, even in a very cynical and manipulative way, Arafat’s death is really a reason for optimism, in light of Israel’s absolute refusal to deal with him? Perhaps now things will move ahead, once the elections have taken place?
Answer
Those who convinced themselves and the world that Arafat was the obstacle to peace do show signs of optimism. This is an illusion; Yassir Arafat was never the obstacle. Sharon was and continues to be the real problem.
The forthcoming elections of a president for the Palestinian Authority is a desperate attempt on the part of the Israelis and their supporters in the Western world to bestow legitimacy on a man they think will deliver what they hope for, namely, control of the Palestinians so that the Israelis can sleep comfortably at night.
The real key to ending the current conflict is the end of occupation and not the election of another Karazai for Palestine.
Name
Mansur
- India
Profession
Question
Have there been any sort of opinion polls conducted to give us any hint of who the next Palestinian president will be? Is their a candidate who can actually control things on the ground? And how will Hamas deal with the new leader if he begins to crack down on their people?
Answer
There is no need for any polls; we already know who the next “president” will be; it will be Mahmoud Abbas, who is the candidate put forward by the Israelis themselves.
The majority of the Palestinian people today are united in their resolve to struggle for an end to Israeli occupation. Therefore, whoever is named leader of the Palestinians will only acquire legitimacy if his objective is to end the occupation, rather than provide security for the Israelis at the expense of his own people.
All previous attempts to crack down on Hamas have failed; every future attempt will fail too. Hamas is not alone; its position today is the position adopted by the majority of the Palestinians.
Name
Abu Omar
- Malaysia
Profession
Question
Will the new Palestinian president adhere to the “red lines” (right of return, sovereignty over East Jerusalem, Israeli withdrawal, etc) or is there an understanding among the opportunistic politicians that they will have to compromise (read “sell out”) to get anywhere with the US and the Israelis?
Answer
The next "presidential" elections are designed to produce a “leader” who is supposed to provide the Israelis with security and end what the Israelis and their allies in America call "Palestinian terrorism."
Mahmud Abbas, who is the choice of the Israelis and the Americans, has already destroyed his chances of rallying the Palestinians behind him. His condemnation of the Intifada and his outpouring of sympathy for Israeli victims lost him all credit.
The Israelis and their allies are simply hoping to be able to repeat the experiments of Afghanistan (Karzai) and what they intend to do in Iraq (Allawi). Clearly they are failing everywhere, and that is because they are avoiding the real issue: give justice to the Palestinians first and then talk about peace making.
Name
Abdul Qahar
- United Arab Emirates
Profession
Question
Isn't it about time our Palestinian brothers came to the realization that negotiations with the Zionists will get them nowhere, and that the corrupt cowards who represent them in the PNA are no more than Israeli agents and cronies? Isn't it time they realized that the only path, as the true Palestinian hero Dr. Abdullah Azzam put it, is "Jihad and the rifle alone. No negotiations, no talks, and no dialogue"?
Answer
I guess most Palestinians agree with you.
Name
Oguz
- Turkey
Profession
Question
In an earlier response, you described Israel as a colonial project "desperately" trying to fight on. Do you think there's any question, with their military might and the support of their American patrons, that Israel looks like it's a permanent addition to the Middle East?
Answer
Military might on its own is never sufficient as a means of permanent existence.
Right is more important than might; otherwise how do we explain the withering of so many powers throughout history? They lost the ethical grounds for their existence.
The South African Apartheid regime was so mighty, much more powerful than Israel, but it lost and had to be dissolved. The United States of America lost its battle in Vietnam because the Vietnamese people were right and America was wrong. All the might of America is incapable today of imposing on the Iraqi people what they do not like.
The Palestinians have very little power in terms of material but they have the right and that is why Israel is in real trouble. No, my friend, Israel's days are numbered; Israel is on the decline and soon it will come to an end, insha Allah.
Name
Nance
- United States
Profession
Question
What do you foresee happening in the short term in Palestine? What will happen in the immediate aftermath of the elections?
Answer
Unless the Israelis sign a truce agreement with the Palestinians that would entail an end to Israeli occupation of all the areas occupied in 1967, the release of all Palestinian detainees (about 8000 of them), and the removal of all illegal Jewish settlers from the West Bank and Gaza, the Palestinians have no choice but to continue the struggle.
The election itself is not likely to help, because it is being conducted on Israeli terms. The bloodshed must first be stopped through a bilateral agreement to a ceasefire. Without that the future will be much the same as the present.
Name
Ricardo
- Philippines
Profession
Question
I worry that things in Palestine will degenerate into a civil war between an authority recognized as corrupt and illegitimate and the more popular resistance forces... your thoughts on this?
Answer
The Israelis wish to see the Palestinians fight each other. So far the Palestinians, despite their political and ideological differences, have disappointed the Israelis, and I hope they will continue to do so.
Hamas in particular has demonstrated a great level of responsibility in this regard. Even when the Palestinian Authority, under instructions from the Israelis and their allies in Washington, arrested a thousand or more of its members and tortured several to death in detention, Hamas refused to be dragged into military confrontation with any Palestinian faction or authority, no matter how corrupt.
Name
Embittered
-
Profession
Question
We've all heard accounts of how corrupt the Authority is, how they sell cement used in the building of settlements to Israel, how they torture and rob, taking advantage of their people's misery... the question is this: Why do the Palestinian people accept this? Why haven't they definitively thrown their lot in with Hamas, for example? Why are they such fans of Arafat, who headed this corrupt organization?
Answer
Increasingly, the Palestinians are realizing the bitter truth about those who have for many years claimed to fight on their behalf.
Yassir Arafat is a special case; he is a man of history, and no matter how much people disagreed with him he remains for many a symbol of some sort. That is the real predicament of the Israelis; they could only rely on him. No one after Arafat can tell the Palestinians to do things in the way Arafat could.
The Israelis stupidly thought Arafat was the obstacle to peace making; in fact he was the only person they could conclude a humiliating peace with. Neither Abbas nor anyone else has the kind of credibility Arafat had, at least in the eyes of Fatah affiliates.
Undoubtedly we can conclude from the recent partial municipal election that Hamas today is the real representative of the Palestinian people.
Name
student
- Canada
Profession
Question
Asalamu aleikum,
Do you think the death of Arafat will lead to the beginning of a new, stronger Palestinian leadership that would breakthrough the present obstacles to finally form a Palestinian state?
Answer
The death of Yassir Arafat could have ushered in a new era, whereby a better, cleaner, and more accountable leadership of the Palestinians could have emerged. However, the Israelis and the Americans are not interested in seeing this happen. All they want is a leadership that is willing to contain and control the Palestinian population. They hope that Abbas and those who see eye to eye with him will be able to do that.
It goes without saying that a leader preferred by the Israelis is definitely not one that the Palestinians prefer. The Israelis fear that if clean and fair presidential elections were to be held in Palestine, Hamas would win, and they do not want to deal with Hamas.
I would like to point out that the problem is not the lack of statehood for the Palestinians. The Palestinians never had a state in their history. The real problem is that they want to be free and dignified in their own land and their own homes.
It is a reductionist approach to think of statehood; the Palestinians are struggling for freedom, for their humanity. In other words, giving the Palestinians a state on parts of their soil for the primary purpose of ending their resistance is not something any Palestinian aspires to.
Name
Malaclypse
-
Profession
Question
Whatever happened with Soha Arafat? We heard rumors she had planned to inherit several million dollars from Arafat's account, which contained all the PA's fortune.
Answer
I have no knowledge of this. I only know that she lives in Paris.
Name
Abed
-
Profession
Question
What are the implications of the results of the recent municipal elections in Palestine? What kind of powers do the winners enjoy? I understand Hamas made some gains. What is the extent of this, and what kind of authority does this grant them?
Answer
The municipal elections are seen as an opportunity to serve the Palestinian population and increase the popular support enjoyed by the various factions. Since those elected are not expected to carry out any measures pertaining to the peace process with the Israelis, the interest in these elections is high, as we have seen.
The municipal elections are being conducted in stages; the most recent first round happened in areas believed to be strongholds of the Fatah movement, which is the backbone of the Palestinian Authority. Despite that, Hamas managed to reap a large number of seats.
The authority derived from these elections is quite significant and is indicative of the popularity of the factions that took part in them.
Name
student
- Canada
Profession
Question
Asslamu Alaikum,
How can we Muslims in the West help the Palestinians?
Answer
First, by explaining the root of the conflict to the people around us. It is a fact that most people in the West do not know what the conflict is about, and most of those who sympathize with the Israelis think they are the victims.
Zionist propaganda has been successful in linking Israel to the victimization of the Jews in the Holocaust. So informing public opinion about the facts of the conflict is of great importance.
Second, we need to convince the world that the Palestinians, as oppressed people, have every right to struggle for their legitimate rights, and that in doing so they are not terrorists.
Third, the media covers very little of what the Israelis do to the Palestinians on a daily basis. We need to provide parallel sources of information that inform the public of the crimes committed by Sharon and his troops throughout Palestine.
Fourth, we need to mobilize the public to support the Palestinian families materially; many of them lose their bread earners who are either killed or imprisoned by the Israelis. There are large numbers of orphans and widows and many homeless families; all this needs to be taken care of.
Fifth, we need to be vigilant, watching and monitoring the media and responding to what appears in them. Much of media reporting in the West is biased toward Israel; this can be changed if we do something about it, that is, if more people write to the media and protest the misinforming of the public.
Name
Taz
-
Profession
Question
If the West has such a vested interest in seeing Mahmoud Abbass rule, how can we expect their support for him to manifest? Do you think Egypt's security forces will step in to assist him, or go beyond a "training role"?
Answer
It is clear that the Western countries have pledged support for the Palestinian authority if Abbas is elected. There is no more blatant interference in the election than this. In other words, if the Palestinians were to elect someone else, Western support will not be forthcoming.
Egypt is supporting of Abbas. However, it is not yet clear to what extent the Egyptians will go in order to help him and Sharon bring about an end to the Palestinian resistance. The Egyptians have their own reckoning but are susceptible to U.S. pressure, as is well known.
Name
Ahmed
- Palestine
Profession
Farmer
Question
As-salamu `alaikum.
I belong to a resistance group. From time to time, our operations may call for me to hit children as targets. Is this permisible, given that they join the occupation army when they are older?
Answer
I think Palestinian resistance fighters should never target children no matter what. Children are innocent and every effort should be made to spare them in any conflict.
