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September 26, 2005 - Vol. 7, Issue 9

Peace Now Petitions For Outpost Action: The Israeli Peace Now movement petitioned the High Court of Justice to order the dismantling of two illegal settlement outposts in the West Bank.

New Settlement Slated For Jordan Valley: The evacuees of the Gaza settlement outpost called Shirat Hayam will move to a new settlement in the Jordan Valley. In late October, about 20 families who lived in the Gaza settlement are supposed to establish the Maskiyot outpost in the northern part of that region. Until about four years ago, Maskiyot served as a military outpost, and since the IDF evacuated it, pupils of a pre-military program have lived there. Now about 20 prefabricated buildings that were evacuated from the northern West Bank and Gaza will be moved there and serve as temporary homes. In addition, families that have expressed interest in working in agriculture are supposed to receive suitable land. "The only thing I couldn't give them was a beach, but besides that they will be able to realize their pioneer spirit in a place of national importance such as the Jordan Valley," said local council chairman Dubi Tal. He said that government officials have given the Gaza settlers a verbal promise that they can move to Maskiyot, and that final approval should come within two months. At least two Defense Ministry officials have also given commitments to the settlers, Tal said.

One of the officials, Ron Shechner, denied there was a plan to establish a new settlement. "I don't know about a new community being established," Shechner said. "If we're talking about anything, we're considering expanding an existing settlement." When asked what is located at Maskiyot, he said, "an educational facility," but acknowledged that no families live there. Mark Regev, an Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman, said, "The Israeli government is committed to not building new settlements, so there can be no new legal settlements in the West Bank." [Editor's Note: Apparently Regev has not read the Sasson report and the sorry history of the Israeli government's complicity in building illegal settlement outposts.] The Shirat Hayam settlers are the only evacuees who will be able to establish an independent community of their own and shape it according to their worldview. Last week, the Settlement Division toasted the event-after many years, a new settlement has been established in the Jordan Valley. Such a move, of course, would violate Israel's promise to the U.S. not to establish new settlements and not to encourage Gaza settlers to move to the West Bank. Under the Road Map, Israel is required to freeze settlement construction. (Yedioth Ahronoth & AP, 9/21/05)

Peace Now Petitions For Outpost Action: The Israeli Peace Now movement petitioned the High Court of Justice to order the dismantling of two illegal settlement outposts in the West Bank. In its petition against Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz, Peace Now demanded that the Civil Administration be ordered to evacuate and demolish the six permanent houses in the outpost of Harsha and the 12 permanent houses in the outpost of Yuval. Peace Now also demanded that, pending the destruction of the houses, both the IDF and the Civil Administration outlaw any resettlement in the outposts. It also called for the houses to be disconnected from electricity and water sources. The houses in question were built illegally on private Palestinian-owned land, according to the attorney who submitted the petition. The Civil Administration has admitted that these outposts are illegal. It also said that it had previously ordered the destruction of the outposts, and that the houses were currently standing against this order. "The Civil Administration has ordered to destroy or to stop building. The problem is that it is necessary to get permission from the state level to enforce these orders," said Lt. Col. Uri Mendes, head of the Civil Administration's infrastructure department. Thirty families live in the Harsha outpost, while 22 families live in Yuval. (Ha'aretz, 9/22/05)

Sgt. Schultz Syndrome: Touring the West Bank with senior army officials, Knesset Member Ephraim Sneh said he had discovered widespread violations of the law at illegal outposts north of Ramallah. Regarding the government's failure to act to block the building of outposts, Sneh said, "Sharon talks like Yossi Sarid, but acts like Effi Eitam." IDF officers and Civil Administration officials accompanied Sneh, visiting illegal outposts near the settlement of Eli. In the outpost of Shkunat Hayovel, Sneh discovered extensive homes and infrastructure construction by Palestinian workers taking place. The officers said that in recent patrols, they had not noticed anything happening, despite the fact that the buildings are intended to be permanent structures. In another outpost near Eli called Givat Haro'e, the officers expressed shock-yes, shock-at discovering the settlers were pirating electricity from nearby electric utility poles without the knowledge of the Electricity Company or the Civil Administration. The officers, again, said this development must be recent since they had not been aware of it. Since the publication of Talia Sasson's report on illegal outposts, no steps have been taken against continued construction. The government said that it was waiting for the completion of the disengagement to take such steps. No time like the present. (Ha'aretz, 9/18/05)

Ovadia's Tears: Shas leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef broke down in tears during his conversations with Israeli cabinet ministers about the possible demolition of buildings in Gaza that formally served as synagogues, leading to the Israeli government's reversal of its earlier decision to take down the structures and to various officials denouncing the Palestinians' lack of respect for holy sites after several of the buildings were torched by Palestinians in the wake of the Gaza withdrawal. Last week, a different approach was taken with the synagogue located in the now evacuated West Bank settlement of Sa-Nur. The structure, whose construction was completed only a few days before the withdrawal, was covered with earth because it could not be dismantled. By the way, before this building in Sa-Nur was turned into a synagogue by the settlers, it served as a mosque. (Yedioth Ahronoth, 9/21/05 & Ha'aretz, 9/20/05)

EuroCops: Israeli officials said last week that Israel has agreed in principle to a European Union (EU) role in policing Gaza's volatile border crossing with Egypt-a turnabout after years of opposition to an EU security mission. The deal would go beyond EU monitoring already discussed. Israel has long been reluctant to allow outside involvement in its conflict with the Palestinians, perceiving Europe, and indeed the world except its U.S. ally, as pro-Palestinian. Securing the border took on more urgency when controls collapsed after Israel's pullout from Gaza, when tens of thousands of Palestinians swarmed into Egypt. An EU presence would help resolve a dispute over Israel's demand to retain some control over crossings via the Rafah terminal, rejected by Palestinians as tantamount to continued occupation. Senior Israeli officials said a deal in principle had been reached with the EU for its personnel to work with Palestinian security forces and Egyptian police who sealed the frontier to end days of chaos.

"This would be an EU security role, to prevent terrorists or their weaponry entering Gaza as part of the EU's role in the global war on terror," said one Israeli official. Israeli officials said the pact had to be fleshed out, and it remained unclear whether it would entail a full-scale European border guard mission. Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said his side had agreed in principle to an EU presence on the Gaza-Egypt border, "but the modalities and the definition of their role will have to be discussed and agreed." EU officials said Israel is also considering an EU offer to supervise customs at the Gaza port and airport to encourage Israel to relinquish external controls. (Reuters, 9/19/05)

Zone Defense: Prior to the barge of Qassam rockets fired from Gaza by Hamas and Islamic Jihad into Israel last weekend, the Palestinians warned Israel against establishing a buffer zone in the northern Gaza Strip, saying such a move was tantamount to Israel's continued control of the disputed Shaba Farms along the border with Lebanon. Concerned over chaos in Gaza and the incapability of the Palestinian Authority to enforce law and order, Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz called for a security belt to be established on the Palestinian side of the northern Gaza security fence to distance Israeli communities from the chaos in, and potential infiltration from, Gaza. Israeli security officials said the planned security zone would cut 150 meters inside northern Gaza and would be surrounded by an electronic fence. In response to the recent Qassam attacks, the Israeli cabinet accepted Mofaz's proposal. The zones will include neighborhoods as well as open areas. "If necessary, we will create ghost neighborhoods, we will use artillery to prevent the rocket launchers from entering, even at the price of removing civilians from their homes," said an Israeli military source. (Jerusalem Post, 9/18/05 & Ha'aretz, 9/25/06)

Creeping Moderation? According to Mohammad Ghazal, a West Bank political leader of Hamas, the terrorist group could one day amend a charter calling for the destruction of Israel and hold negotiations with the Jewish state. "The charter is not the Koran," he told Reuters, before the latest round of Qassam rocket attacks. "Historically, we believe all Palestine belongs to Palestinians, but we're talking now about reality, about political solutions.The realities are different." Ghazal's unprecedented comments clashed with militant pronouncements from more senior Hamas officials in Gaza. But they reflected an apparent shift in Hamas toward the political mainstream and to winning greater world acceptance in the run-up to parliamentary elections. Ghazal said it was still early to talk about recognizing Israel "while Israel doesn't recognize me as the victim." He said any Hamas talks with Israel would still depend on its withdrawal from the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem to allow an independent state, as well as a "right of return" for Palestinian refugees who fled in 1948 and their descendants, conditions that he acknowledged were never likely to be met. "The Israelis should reach that stage when they feel they should negotiate with us and at that time I don't think there will be a problem of negotiating with the Israelis," he said. "The idea of negotiating is not something problematic and is not a dogma." (Reuters, 9/21/05)

Turning On The Taps: World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz and Israeli Vice Premier Shimon Peres agreed last week that the World Bank will grant a series of financial incentives to entrepreneurs and investors who set up enterprises, businesses, and civilian infrastructures in Gaza. At the same time, the EU announced new aid for the Palestinians, raising its 2005 total to 280 million euros. If assistance from the 25 EU governments is added, Europe's total annual aid to the Palestinians amounts to some 500 million euros. The aid package includes help to upgrade the airport, develop the seaport, and build housing in Gaza. Aid for water supply, transport, sanitation, and social services is also part of this package. Finally, former U.S. President Bill Clinton announced he is seriously examining setting up a new $300 million fund to insure investments in Gaza and neighboring areas. The new fund would provide guarantees to private investors in the Gaza region and its environs. Clinton said such a fund would encourage multinational companies and private investors to take part in the historic process of advancing peace and in building a new Middle Eastern economy in Gaza. (Globes, 9/19/05; AP, 9/19/05; & Ha'aretz, 9/20/05)

It's Huge In Japan: A joint Israeli-Palestinian-Japanese venture for exporting olive oil, backed by the Japanese Agency for International Cooperation and Stef Wertheimer's Industrial Entrepreneurship Course was launched last week. 20 Israeli and 20 Palestinian owners of olive presses and olive oil production facilities are participating in the venture. The initiative got underway only after the Palestinians obtained entry permits to Israel two weeks ago. The parties plan to set up a joint company for the production and export of olive oil to Japan and other countries. The first stage of the venture will be a course at Tuval in the Galilee led by experts from Israel, the Palestinian Authority (PA), and Italy. Participants will tour oil presses in local villages, sit in on joint workshops, and attend lectures on cooperation in the Middle East. The program director, Oded Salmon, is a graduate of Wertheimer's entrepreneurship course. He said the joint venture's goal was to create olive oil production and export channels in both Israel and the PA under a joint brand. A second goal is to improve the professionalism of regional olive oil production, which would raise farm income. He said until 15 years ago, olive oil was never used in Japan, but growing awareness of health food is boosting its use there. (Globes, 9/21/05)

Greenhouse Jobs Continue To Flourish: While anarchy continues to rein throughout the Palestinian Authority, one area exists in Gaza that has almost returned to routine: work in the greenhouses. Thousands of Palestinian workers, who before the withdrawal worked for Jewish settlers, began immediately afterwards to operate the greenhouses that the settlers left behind. The greenhouses were purchased before disengagement by American aid organizations and have now been transferred to the Palestinian Authority's (PA) industrialists' association. An Israeli security official who works with the PA said that it appears that the greenhouse workers' salaries will be paid on time because the greenhouses are a profit-making enterprise. However, the many investments promised to the PA after the pullout are still nowhere in sight, and it appears that months will go by until the first invested dollars reach the area. Therefore, the economic situation in the PA does not look like it will improve within the next several months. (Ma'ariv, 9/18/05)

Trains, Planes, & Automobiles: Israeli Transportation Minister Meir Shetrit and Palestinian Transportation Minister Saed-Eddine Khurma signed an agreement on establishing a joint transportation office, assisted and financed by the European Union. According to the accord, the EU will provide 2.5 million euros to establish the office, the objective of which will be to initiate and plan joint Israeli-Palestinian transportation projects. Shetrit said, "Transportation infrastructures are critical toward promoting economic growth. I hope that via this agreement the EU will be able to assist in financing projects that will build these infrastructures, such as-for example-railways between Haifa and the West Bank and between the Gaza Strip and Ashdod." Shetrit added that he hoped the first project proposal would be submitted to the November EU meeting in Morocco. Khurma requested Shetrit's assistance regarding easing restrictions and conditions at the border crossings and in rehabilitating the airfield. Shetrit replied that he would personally check the issue and agreed that since it is very important for the Palestinians, Israel should try to render as much assistance as possible. (Globes, 9/21/05)

Bahrain Bans Boycott: Bahrain has decided to end its boycott of Israeli goods. Its move followed the signing of a free trade agreement with the U.S. last year. A senior Western diplomat in Bahrain said the request to lift the ban on Israeli goods and normalize relations with Israel was made during the FTA talks by U.S. negotiators. Four oil emirates in the Persian Gulf-Kuwait, Dubai, Qatar, and Oman-will soon follow suit and announce that they are removing the economic boycott of Israel, also in response to American pressure. (Arab News, 9/24/05 & Yedioth Ahronoth, 9/25/05)

Feckless Force: Commenting on Israel's campaign to block Hamas participation in upcoming Palestinian elections, Ofer Shelah wrote, "In the summer of 2003, Israel launched a major offensive against Hamas. Within weeks, several senior members of the organization's military wing were assassinated, and the level of the political targets was also raised: Abdul Aziz Rantisi and Mahmoud a-Zahar, the most prominent figures in the group that surrounded Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, were saved from Israeli assassination attempts. Israeli security officials saw the offensive as a resounding success. 'We brought Hamas on its knees to the hudna,' they said in August 2003 when Palestinian Prime Minister Abu Mazen reached understandings with the terror organizations on suspending the battle against Israel. The message to the Israeli public was clear-and unnecessary, since a majority of the public believed it then and still believes it-the Arabs understand only force, and Hamas can be spoken to only with bombs. In September, when a quarter-ton bomb was dropped on a house where Yassin himself was staying, this message received the final stamp of approval. But Hamas, unfortunately, refused to go. The one who went was Abu Mazen, and with him the hope for calm. The deadlock actually moved Israel: It, along with the gloom in Israeli society it caused, was among the main causes for the great upheaval that Ariel Sharon underwent, leading him to the disengagement plan-or as the Palestinians and a large part of the Israeli public view disengagement, the flight from Gaza.

"In the first months of 2004, Israel launched a major offensive against Hamas. Yassin was assassinated, as was his successor Rantisi. Israeli security officials viewed the offensive as a resounding success. It took about six more months, but only force, they explained to us, brought Hamas on its knees to the renewed calm, which preceded the implementation of disengagement. But Hamas, unfortunately, has refused to go. It is scoring victories in the local elections in the PA, and is determined to translate the appreciation for its part in the armed struggle, its clean image, and its charity endeavors into a position of power in Palestinian politics. Israel is opposing this trend with another offensive, this time a combination of diplomacy and threat of force: If Hamas participates in the elections for the Palestinian parliament in the West Bank, the prime minister and his ministers tells us, Israel may forcibly disrupt the course of the elections. One might think that after five years of using force, someone here would internalize the message: The Palestinian public has desires and aspirations, it has a preference for organizations and parties. Israeli force can make its life miserable, but it cannot change its desires-perhaps on the contrary.

"The latest poll held by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, which is run by Prof. Khalil Shikaki in Ramallah, reveals an interesting fact: The Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, which 84% of Palestinians view as an achievement of armed struggle (which was led by Hamas), actually raised the standing of Fatah. After the confrontation, [during which] parity was nearly reached between Hamas and Fatah, which represents a secular-political option, the Israeli withdrawal and the new hope of negotiations returned Fatah to a significant advantage, 47% versus 30% for Hamas-despite the fact that Hamas continues to gain support due to the corruption in PA institutions. This is the scorching of consciousness that has not yet occurred in the Israeli public and its government: Force did not overcome us, and it will not overcome the Palestinians. Those who want to strengthen moderate forces should offer hope and not block the path of bodies who represent about a third of the Palestinian public. Physically blocking or arresting Hamas members will not only weaken Abu Mazen's rule, but will also renew the despair and the bitterness, which are the real soil upon which the terror organizations flourish. If Israel wants to fight Hamas, it must present the Palestinian public with an option of hope, which will stem from support for Abu Mazen and turning to the political path. It must support the democratic procedure and not presume to decide who will participate in it and who will not. We did not eliminate Hamas by the force of bombs, and we will not overcome it by the force of roadblocks." (Yedioth Ahronoth, 9/22/05)