Middle East Post

In the last minutes before the conference, still the Israeli and the Palestinian teams are trying at Washington to come out with one statement about what is agreed on until now. But it seems that it will be difficult for them to get such a statement while still they didn’t make it clear to both of the teams about what should be agreed on or lets say what can they agree on without facing difficulties back home in their governments and specially the Israeli government. Actually today I was discussing the Read more…

Ziad Khalil Abu Zayyad Palestinian, Israeli Conflict Annapolis, israel, negotiations, palestine, peace, ziad abu zayyad

Days are counting and the November peace conference is becoming closer. In these days the Palestinians and the Israelis are still negotiating in order to agree on something before going to Annapolis, so they can declare the achievement they want to reach. The real danger is what the extremists are doing from the both sides in order to make the people feel there is no chance for this conference and that its only an other meeting like all the ordinary meetings that cant bring any benefit Read more…

Ziad Khalil Abu Zayyad Palestinian, Israeli Conflict Abu Mazen, Israe, olmert, palestine, peace, ziad abu zayyad

Today Olmert assured that any deal with the Palestinians about withdrawing from any lands that are considered a part of the Israeli lands should be brought to the Knesset in order to get its approval. This statement made me think again about Olmert’s personality and whether he is able of making any serious decisions that needs a strong leader that may risk a little in order to achieve.

If we look at this decision from the Israeli side, it is a part of the Democratic process that Israel uses in making any serious decisions, although some times this process was directed and even forced into a wanted direction. As Ariel Sharon did when he withdrew from Gaza; he made pressure on his ministers so they vote for his plan. Sharon’s Plan succeeded when he worked upon his own strategies but also made sure that he stays inside the democratic process that Israel always asks for. At the time Ariel Sharon was preparing his self to withdraw from Gaza from one side, a few attempts were made to accuse him of corruption in order to slow his withdrawal from Gaza and make him return on his decisions. Exactly nowadays, we hear some accusations of Olmert being involved in corruption especially in the Bank Leumi case, only at the time he started his meetings with Abu Mazen and talked about leaving some lands for assuring the security of the Israeli state and also do something to give a chance for the November Peace Conference.

All of these accusations were done only because of the Democracy field that gives the chance of accusing a prime minister or investigating him of any corruption that he may be a suspect of. It is quiet amazing to see how this democratic process moves in the Israeli state and shows the clarity of its steps, but sometimes democracy could be leaded and directed and here it ends itself. If the Law system is studied well, it would be easy to direct and take control of the Democracy system and use it to achieve benefits and personal needs.

So here again Olmert goes upon the democratic process and brings any agreement to the approval of all the Israeli people including their extremist and also their peace believers, but on the other side when we look at the Palestinians and how Abu Mazen acted since the Gaza chaos until know, it is clear that he was not acting upon the democratic needs and demands. After Hamas took control of Gaza, Abu Mazen made a decision of making his own government and prevented any negotiations or even meetings with any of the Hamas leaders although they represent a big part of the Palestinian people, saying that he will never sit with them again because of what they did in Gaza and until they return everything as it used to be before. But also one of the real hidden reasons was his need of not sharing any decision he will take to make an agreement with Israel with Hamas, because he knew that Hamas will immediately refuse any kind of an agreement with the Israelis, and in order to show that he is working upon the Law and democracy, Abu Mazen always reminded us that the Negotiations with Israel are under the responsibility of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) that Hamas is not part of, and to my opinion will never be permitted to be part of it. But it seems that Abu Mazen forgot about the need of the Palestinian council approval of any agreement with Israel or lets say is not paying attention to this important matter, because he knows that the majority of this council is filled with Hamas members that will prevent any kind of a peace agreement to pass. One of the reasons that made Abu Mazen use this strategy was the pressure he had from the Americans and also Israel as a condition in order to start any negotiations. So do you think that there is a chance for any agreement to be achieved and at the same time must include some sacrifices that for sure a part of the people that will vote on it will refuse?

 Ziad Khalil Abu Zayyad

Ziad Khalil Abu Zayyad Palestinian, Israeli Conflict conference, middle east, olmert, peace, ziad abu zayyad

The Russian, American last Statements about the Iranian Nuclear Project.

In his last meeting with Ihud Barak, the American President, Bush made it clear that everything should be done to prevent the Iranians from holding a nuclear weapon, he said that if the Iranians get nuclear weapons in there hands, a third world war could start. It is not a new thing to hear this statement from the American president, specially that it is a common thing to see the cooperation between the United States and Israel to prevent any improvement in the Syrian-Iranian weapon filed, that could be a direct threat to the American-Israeli interests in the region.But the real weird statement was the Russian president one that is not clear. Putin, the Russian president, visited Iran yesterday, and said that Russia would never accept on any strike on Iran, and that no force should be used in solving the Iranian Nuclear issues. Putin invited Ahmadi Najad, the Iranian president to come and visit Russia. The press said today, that Putin introduced a new plan to end the Iranian Nuclear problem, but the Iranians are still denying it. After this friendly visit to Iran, and promise not to use force against it, the Russian president met with Ihud Olmert, the Israeli Prime minister yesterday. In this meeting, Putin made a promise to Israel, that Russia would not support the Iranians in building and obtaining a nuclear weapon. Another sources said that Ihud Olmert asked from the Russians to end a planned deal with the Syrians, to give them rockets that could become a threat on the Israeli aircraft. Russia made promises to the both sides, the Israeli and the Iranian, so what is this clever president trying to do by this. Putin is known for his well planning of returning Russia to the first class super powers in the world, and that he strongly refuses the moves that the United States does in order to make the Russian influence less in the former Soviet Union states. So would he really be a good friend of Israel, the best friend of the United States in the region, or would he start thinking of supporting a new power in the Middle East like Iran. Putin even started planning for his position in the Russian Government after the coming elections; he is planning to be the Prime Minister and support a weak President so he can stay in control in an appropriate legal way.

The Iranians only care now to obtain Nuclear Weapons with any price they will be paying for it, because they are sure that once they get these weapons, it will be hard for any State to face them.

I do believe that Russia will keep on being Neutral at the moment, as it always did since the Soviet Union collapsed, in order not to mess up with anyone, BUT if there would be a good moment to make a real shift and return to the first class powers, it wont hesitate in supporting any new upcoming power. Maybe it will follow the secret work plan until things become clearer.

Are the Syrians doing any Nuclear or Atomic Activities?

Today some Press sources like the Washington Post, was talking about the remains of the body or aim that Israel hit in Syria a few weeks ago. It said that the Syrians hided these remains, and misled the press by taking them to shoot another place, claiming that what Israel destroyed was nothing, and that no military activities are being held in this area. The Washington Post said, that satellite pictures were captured and shows a small atomic or nuclear active body that is similar to the North Korean Nuclear items, and that was what Israel really wanted to destroy in the Syrian lands.What I believe is that Israel and the United States are starting a press campaign, accusing the Syrians of attempts to hold Nuclear or atomic weapons in order to make it easier or lets say more convincing when they take a decision of attacking it.

The November Peace Conference, is there a chance?

On the other side, the faith in the November Peace conference is become weaker and weaker every day. Today Saeb Erekat, the Palestinian negotiator says for the first time, that there will not be a final peace paper in this conference, and only a plan will be wrote of how to reach a final agreement. Even Condoleezza Rice said that it is better not to hope much improvement from this Conference. Abu Mazen said that it will be even difficult to go to this Conference, and the reason I think is that how he would explain to his people the failure or lets say not getting the minimum from this conference after all the promises he gave to his people if they follow his program, the peace program. Lets not lose hope, still there are secret negotiations happening between the both sides, and no one knows what did each side offer to the other, the door is still opened and there may be a chance for a change, but not in November.

Ziad Khalil Abu Zayyad

Ziad Khalil Abu Zayyad Iranian Issues, Israeli, Syrian Issues, Palestinian, Israeli Conflict iran, middle east, Nuclear, ziad abu zayyad

The last meeting between Abu Mazen and Olmert surprised so many people from the Palestinian authorities because of the level of discussion in this meeting. Saeb Erekat, the head of the Palestinian negotiating team said that the meeting discussed some serious matters but did not include any discussions about the main and central subjects including the Palestinian state and its boarders or Jerusalem or the refugees, it means it didn’t include anything about the preparations for the November conference for peace in the Middle East. What it really included was Olmert thanking Abu Mazen because of the Jenin incident and how the Palestinian forces rescued an Israeli Soldier that entered Jenin by mistake and could have been killed or kidnapped if the Palestinian forces didn’t protect him. Tseepy Levni the Israeli minister said that this incident showed that the Palestinians are really becoming stronger against terror and this encourages the Israelis to go towards peace with the Palestinians. Well again the Israelis liked the idea of having strong Palestinians returning their soldier, but forgot to think about a better way of how to improve the situation so the Israelis could have the ability to go the Palestinian territories to make trade free without any dangers as they once did when peace was between the two peoples. Aljazeera News channel said that it was able to get a secret paper that the Israelis offered for Abu Mazen including the preparations for The November meeting. In this paper, Israel offers the Palestinians an independent state with the boarders of 1967 with no weapons, Refugees are not mentioned at all, and Jerusalem should be under the Israeli charge but also admitted as a capital for the three religions. No comments were mentioned about the paper because neither of the Israelis or the Palestinians admit that it exists. But the Palestinians did say that in the last meeting, there was nothing discussed about such a thing called a temporary Palestinian State, and that Abu Mazen could never accept such a state, They also said that Abu Mazen was clear concerning the Final Solution by which only an independent state in the 1967 boarders with Jerusalem the capital and an end for the suffering of the Palestinian refugees as it is mentioned in the United Nations decisions, could make peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians. This means that the Israeli paper is dying before it is even discussed with the Palestinians because actually what Abu Mazen is demanding is the minimum that any Palestinian could accept.

On the other side Hamas offered for Fateh to give it back the control in Gaza and end the situation of Only Hamas control in it, on one condition that a unity government is to be established including Hamas again. There is no answer for this offer until now from Abu Mazen and Fateh, the reason simply is that they don’t trust Hamas and does not want to risk their chances with the Americans for a real peace agreement in the coming months. To my opinion both the Israelis and Abu Mazen are making a serious mistake; One can notice that since Fateh leaved Gaza, Israel got the green light to strike and enter Gaza as much as they want and they are not only striking military activities but sometimes they are injuring civilians as what happened today, again as I said before this affects the people that are living their to hate more any existence for Abu Mazen people in Gaza and also empowers Hamas and its beliefs. Instead of using this method of striking Gaza, another tools could be used such as the people pressure on Hamas, a few days ago a huge demonstration went out to the streets including fifteen thousand people demonstrating against Hamas and this really could affect on Hamas to return back from what it is doing their. Another tool is the Arabic pressure on them; Even the Iraqi president went to Syria in order to seek their help in stopping violence in Iraq, so why don’t they use them too in a smart way. The Israeli army is returning again to its policy of striking Gaza even though that civilians are also their and could be injured, in which they believe that using power could also make the people afraid and make them force Hamas to stop its activities, although that this policy was proved to be failing in the past and instead of weakening Hamas, it empowered it and brought it to take control all over Gaza at these days.

Yesterday Bush described Iran as a disaster for the Middle East if it will have any nuclear power and also said that it is important that the world should keep on punishing Iran economically and in any way it can be in order to make Iran stop its Nuclear activities. Bush mentioned an important thing about the ARAB allies that are working with the United States in order to stop Iran. This as I also once mentioned shows the high level of cooperation between the Arab States and the American United States facing the Iranian threatens which are also dangerous for Israel that is also cooperating with the United States and maybe its Arab allies secretly in order to stop this power that is becoming dangerous for them in every new day.

Ahmadi Najad, the Iranian president said in his last speech that he is sure that the Americans don’t want to face him military because of the difficulties that they are facing in Iraq and Afghanistan. He also offered to help in the Iraqi situation and cooperate with any Arab state such as the Saudi Arabia in order to calm down things in Iraq on one condition that the Americans leave it. And as usually he described Israel as a bunch of criminals ruling the world with their money and economy, and that it should be destroyed if the world wants peace. Actually whenever I hear his comments, I do believe that he is strong leader with all his speeches that moves the emotions of those who are suffering because of his enemies, but on the other side I do believe that he will fail in the future because he is using the closed ideology, which means that he has so many enemies because of his diplomacy that believes only in force and also the ability to survive depending only on his own self although he has some friends such as Syria, Hezballah and Hamas. He is not making any progress in his relations with the west because he keeps on refusing any offer they bring him to end the Nuclear crises. Even North Korea that followed the self-reliance diplomacy did sometimes accept American offers in order not to make the situation bad to a level of a military facing.

 Ziad Khalil Abu Zayyad

Ziad Khalil Abu Zayyad Palestinian, Israeli Conflict Abu Mazen, israel, olmert, palestine, ziad abu zayyad

A good question to ask at the time that so many are suspicious about if they can do such a thing. Some are asking why the media is ignoring the talks between the two leaders and instead focusing on other stories especially in the Israeli media. Even the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange that used to rise when signs of peace showed is also ignoring them and reacting instead to events on Wall Street according to a writer in the Haaretz Newspaper. Actually after reading a post that talks about these questions in the Haaretz Newspaper, it really interested me to think about how and why and when can the Israeli and Palestinian leaders do something strong new and able to live and whether if they are able to do.Is it that the people are relying on them and have faith in what they are doing? Or they don’t believe in what they are doing and are not taking their talks seriously? Or maybe the two leaders are acting in a smart way by following the way of keeping their talks and ideas secret so no surprising act of one of their extreme parties could happen and make it more difficult for them?

Well its not easy to say that their people are supporting and relying on them because of the history of the both leaders; Olmert was in danger to lose his command for so many times because of what happened in Lebanon war and the internal Israeli issues that he faced for so many times. Abu Mazen situation is even worst with all the chaos in Gaza and the rebuilding state of his forces in the West Bank. Beside that a high percentage of the Palestinian people lost faith in his program of peace with Israel because of the promises he and the Fateh leaders gave in the past since Oslo to reach an agreement and bring them good life with an independent state, and were never achieved.

So we only have another two questions that could give us the real answer of why all of what is going on is not clear for the public. Either almost no one believes in what they are doing and they don’t have a chance to achieve something or they are planning good and preparing something that will surprise us as once their former leaders did in Oslo. To my opinion what is really going on is a mixture of both of the two questions; people are not optimistic because of what they suffered from since almost eight years and that’s why the Media is searching for better stories for the public. Concerning the strike exchange and ignoring the signs of peace as my friend says in the Haaretz, well still we didn’t see any sign of peace so it can change! Gaza is still in a state of war, the Israeli army is still striking there and the rockets are still launched from Gaza to the Israeli territories. Checkpoints are still made up in all the west bank and the Palestinians didn’t get any chance to taste a better thing in their daily life. Signs of peace appear after signing a peace agreement and taking actions to make this peace become real. I do believe that Olmert and Abu Mazen are working slowly and good for the first time. If they just came out together and declared the end of any violence from the both sides in ten minutes and said that they made peace, on the other day it will be like nothing happened. Abbas is still rebuilding his forces in the West Bank and searching for a solution for the Gaza issue. Olmert is weak from the inside because of his unity in the government with some right extreme parties and that’s why he is afraid of declaring anything concerning Jerusalem and the refugees (which are a part of any final agreement). Olmert actually is building his self to face the difficulties in signing any agreement, Ihud Baraq joined him in his government and he is showing to his people that he is rebuilding his army again to make them believe that he can obtain their security in facing any danger that could face them. On the other side they formed two groups to negotiate secretly on the final issues and they are meeting almost weekly to discuss how they can improve things. It is really similar to Arafat – Rabin negotiations before Oslo, but the only difference between them and these is the publics support that Olmert and Abbas did lose and are working to regain. So will they succeed with all of these difficulties? In November we will know, but if we take a quick look on some of the main difficulties they would face that are embodied mainly in those who are working against them politically; Hamas made some acts to prove that it is strong In Gaza and can control their, they wanted to prove this for the west so they can talk with them; proving for the west means the acceptance of the west ideas of peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians, so maybe Abu Mazen could find a way to join them in his program if he gives them what they want concerning the government and the ministries, and also finding a way to make it similar between what they are asking for as a condition for not signing a peace agreement but at least to stop violence. Olmert chances are with his public support and there are so many smart Israelis that were used in the Oslo time to convince the Israelis to make peace and this could be used as a pressure on the Extreme right wings. Give them a chance and we will see if they will succeed at least in changing the situation for another period.

Ziad Khalil Abu Zayyad

Ziad Khalil Abu Zayyad Palestinian, Israeli Conflict Abu Mazen, israel, olmert, palestine, peace, ziad abu zayyad

I have been thinking lately about all the news and events that have been going on concerning Syria-Israel threatening war, and the November peace conference that the United States is preparing.

Israel lately carried out an air strike inside Syria, and until now non-Israeli official statement was said about it, except for what Binyamin Netanyahu said about his involvement in it since the beginning and the planning, but also said that everything will be clarified at its time. Some were talking about a nuclear project being held in the place Israel attacked, that the Syrians were establishing with the help of North Korea. Others said that weapons were hidden there and Israel had pictures captured of this area by satellites. Actually I do believe that nothing of these statements says the truth about what is going on. Syria said lately that Israel should forget about peace with it especially after what Israel did. Iran keeps on preparing itself with Rockets and threatening to destroy anyone who thinks of attacking its lands, they even talked about attacking the American forces in Iran and Iraq. Well what I think is that Israel wanted to check how Syria would react after attacking its lands and see if they are really prepared to face it. The Syrians are still in the middle of taking a decision about whether to face Israel and bring all the middle east to an opened violence state that could involve Lebanon, Iran, and even make it worse in Iraq, or to hold their breath and try not to start a war until they are really sure that they can win it. Syria said yesterday that they wont participate in the November peace conference even if the United States asks from it to participate…why? Because Iran should decide and Iran should be asked so they can have the permission to go to this conference. Another statement that Ihud Olmert said and really confused me, is what he said today when he met the Arab kenneset members about the November conference and that it wont be as serious as some people think and that it would be only a start for negotiations but not a final one that could really change from the roots. He also said that any bomb attack inside Israel could destroy everything. The reason for what he said was the strong objection and disagreement of Kadeemah party to talk about dividing Jerusalem for two capitals. Still the Israelis are not ready for this and he doesn’t want to risk by talking about it. Hussni Mubarak, the Egyptian president said that if this Conference wont succeed, then this time really all the middle east will go to war and violence and it would be difficult to stop it this time.

I really agree with what he said, and I add that the chances for this conference are really low, what we should think about is how bad it would be, if both the Israelis and the Palestinians didn’t reach the minimum that is needed to make the people return back again to believe in peace in this conference. And how would this be used by Syria and Iran as a support for them in fighting their enemies and becoming loved by the Arab people? If this conference doesn’t succeed, then you can be sure that things will become worse, and that’s why Bush and Condoleezza rice are doing their best to make sure that it will give what is needed to gain the support of the Arab countries and the Palestinians in order to start facing Syria and Iran. One other thing is don’t be surprised if we wake up on a day and you see on the television that Israel attacked Syria because the Americans and the Israelis wont give Syria a chance to become a direct threaten on Israel by bringing more dangerous weapons or making movements on the boarders…it’s a matter of time but cant be known if it is going to be a matter of days or months because it all depends on what is hidden under the table; the Syria- Iranian power to face any attack or even to attack and the Palestinian Israeli situation that could again become critical if it wont be solved or pushed towards peace.

Ziad Khalil Abu Zayyad

Ziad Khalil Abu Zayyad Israeli, Syrian Issues israel, middle east, Syria, ziad abu zayyad