Protest tent, Nablus, May 11, 2012. (Photo: Ahmad Al-Bazz/ActiveStills)

Did you know that two thousand plus imprisoned Palestinians have been on an hunger strike for months demanding basic human rights and an end to detention without trial?  Did you know that two of them have not eaten since February 28 and are hovering between life and death? Did you know that thousands of Palestinians have been protesting in support of the strikers in growing demonstrations throughout the West Bank?

Alas, while it’s been reported fairly regularly via the world media, there’s been a near-total silence from the American government on the matter.  Actually, that’s not quite correct – at a recent press briefing, spokesperson Victoria Nuland remarked that the State Department doesn’t “have anything to say (about it) one way or the other.”

As journalist Robert Naiman recently observed, the State Department did manage to speak out in support of Bahrainian Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, also on hunger strike to oppose his unjust detention. Yet 2,000 Palestinian hunger strikers do not rate even an official acknowledgement?

At present, Egypt is attempting to broker a solution – and as Naiman rightly points out, “a few words from the State Department could help tip the balance toward a more positive resolution.”  I encourage you to join me in signing this petition urging Hilary Clinton to end her silence and use her good offices to help save the lives of these nonviolent Palestinian protesters.

For a deeply moving meditation on the hunger strikers campaign, I commend to you this post by Vicky at Bethlehem Blogger:

Through the hunger strike, the prisoners have demonstrated that there are some things that can never be taken from them – dignity first of all. Maher Halahleh, whose brother Thaer is in a critical condition after seventy-four days without food, said today, “This is a new weapon that is stronger than a nuclear bomb. Israel is fighting people who have no weapons, only their will.”

My latest column for The National, on Egypt's presidential race and its political context, is here. I'm on a trip, so there will be very little posting in the next few days.

• Transcript of round 1: Mousa vs Fotouh Debate #monazarat | moftasa.net
• Syria Comment » Archives » Main Pillars of the Syrian Regime Collapsing
• Syria Crisis: A Firsthand Look at a Devastated Country | PRI's The World
• From Google: Mahmoud Mokhtar's 121st Birthday - Google Doodle May 10, 2012
• A Man for All Seasons - By Shadi Hamid | Foreign Policy
• Great piece on Aboul Fotouh.
• Report
  Tunisia: Combating Impunity, Restoring Security -- another good ICG report
• Egypt gets US$1 bn from Saudis, clearing IMF hurdle | Egypt Independent
• AP: Polls open in Algeria elections amid voter apathy
• Egypt presidential elections to proceed as planned, SPEC says - Ahram Online
  Ay kalam.
• Egypt Launches Security Operation to Purge Sinai of Militants - Businessweek
• Egypt candidates deride vote committee suspension | Reuters
• The MB And Female Circumcision/FGM
  Left a comment there.
• Egypt Court Challenges Election Commission Over Law - Bloomberg
  More legal twists and turns.
• It's not just why Heglig, but why now? - Opinion - Al Jazeera English
• Egypt's "blessed" Salafi Votes - By Khalil al-Anani | The Middle East Channel
  Salafis and Aboul Fotouh.
• Egyptians Remain Optimistic, Embrace Democracy and Religion in Political Life | Pew Global Attitudes Project
• François Hollande propose que "la dette tunisienne soit convertie sous forme de don par la communauté internationale"
• Mubarak Still Has His Billions - IPS ipsnews.net
• Security Source: Tribesmen release kidnapped Sinai peacekeepers - Egypt - Ahram Online
• Algeria's new Islamists won't rock the boat | Reuters
• Morocco minister won't stop trial of YouTube rapper - chicagotribune.com
• The Emperor Has No Clothes: Palestinians and the End of the Peace Process - International Crisis Group
• Fatah says Cairo meetings with Hamas over reconciliation failed | Egypt Independent
  You don't say.
• Abouel Fotouh calls former regime figures' candidacies 'effrontery' | Egypt Independent
• Saudi financial aid to Egypt will continue: Minister - Economy - Business - Ahram Online
• Egyptian Chronicles: Is not this conflict of Interest ?
• ‘Voting Early’: Kamel Daoud on Algeria’s Legislative Elections (Translation) | The Moor Next Door
• Does God Permit a Muslim to Break a Promise? « A Sense of Belonging
  Religious opinions on the MB's reversal on contesting the presidency.
• Egypt's Brotherhood Gains in Presidential Opinion Poll - Businessweek
  I expect the MB's upward trend will continue.
• Saudi Arabia's quandary
  Bernard Haykel.
• From Abroad, Trying to Mold a Post-Assad Syria - NYTimes.com
  On Syrian MB.
• Egypt heavily in debt for natural gas - The National
• North Africa's Berbers get boost from Arab Spring - seattlepi.com
• Disarmament Sparks Violence in South Sudan - IPS ipsnews.net
• Congressman Endorses Apartheid, Ethnic Cleansing for Palestinians - Robert Wright - International - The Atlantic
• Egypt's Mishandling of Sinai Could Risk Unwanted Confrontation With Israel - Steven A. Cook - The Atlantic
  He's right- Egypt has to get Sinai under control ASAP or the issue becomes internationalized.
• Egypt Offers $662 Million of T-Bills as Saudi Aid Nears Arrival - Bloomberg
• CSF conscripts on mutiny « 3arabawy
  Important.
• Egypt bans foreign embassy personnel from checking passports in airports
  To my knowledge only Israel did this for Cairo-Tel Aviv flights.

(Readers: this appears under a different headline, not mine, at Open Zion here)

Is the two-state solution for Israel-Palestine still viable? Perhaps it is time to admit, in the spirit of Voltaire, that the two-state solution was never about two states, nor was it a solution, nor could it ever be viable. 

It was not about a Palestinian state, because a state’s fundamental purpose is to provide security and a sense of security to its citizens. But even the most far-reaching of the two-state proposals did not allow the Palestinians to have a strong army. After a century of Zionism, security and the sense of security are what the Palestinians crave most. That is why in poll after poll, what Palestinians on the West Bank oppose most is “an independent Palestinian state that would have no army, but would have a strong security force and would have a multinational force deployed in it to ensure its security and safety.”

Ahmad Gharabli / AFP / Getty Images

That there are Palestinian leaders who were compelled, out of weakness and fatigue, to agree to a non-militarized Palestine is irrelevant, as is the very sensible belief that developing countries should not invest heavily in a military. A people that has always relied on the “kindness of strangers” must be able to defend itself. That is valid for the State of Israel, and it is equally valid for the State of Palestine. 

It was not a real solution, because it did not meet the minimum set of reasonable conditions for statehood.  For example, the proposed borders of the state, even after land swaps, would finalize the Judaization of the greater Jerusalem metropolitan area, providing Palestinians with a hole in a Jewish bagel. The settlement blocs would divide the Palestinian state from North to South and the Negev would divide the Palestinian state from  East to West. The other elements of the Clinton proposals or the Geneva Initiative, i.e. security arrangements, refugees, etc.,  all favor the Israelis at the expense of the Palestinians. 

Advocates of the two-state solution will respond, “Yes, but at least the Palestinians will have a state. Had they accepted the partition plan in 1947, they would have had a larger state without refugees.” Really? Had the Palestinians joined the Zionists in accepting the partition plan in 1947, it is more likely that neither side would have honored it. Even the Zionists, who accepted it, discarded it at the earliest opportunity.  Both sides years later failed to honor the Oslo Accords they signed, and Israel was quick to appeal to security concerns in order to justify territorial gain in 1956 and 1967.

What really determines the security of the Israelis and the Palestinians is, not surprisingly, the balance of power between the peoples. And, under any of the proposed two-state solutions, the Palestinians would be dependent to a large extent on Israel’s largesse. 

For the two-state solution to be a viable option, there must be a fair and equitable division of the land and resources of Israel/Palestine, a division that provides for a symmetry of power and resources between the two peoples, including room for immigrants from their respective  diaspora communities. The current two-state proposals, justified entirely by facts on the ground, and by a desire to solve the Jewish “demographic problem,” distribute land and resources in a grossly inequitable manner. This is a sure recipe for breeding terrorism, vigilantism, and irredentism. Even the accepted US formula for two states: “a secure Israel alongside a viable, contiguous Palestine” is humiliating. If you don’t understand why, just switch the two names.

How about a one-state solution? Or, to be more precise, how about a different “one state” from the current one state ruled by Israel, in which the Palestinians of Israel are excluded from the nation-state, rendering them politically impotent, and in which Palestinian subjects of the West Bank and Gaza, are under Israel’s control?  A more equitable binationalist state may be the solution for the future, but it is presently thwarted by opposing nationalist narratives, hardened by the occupation and by the Israeli policy of "hafrada" (segregation), which fosters mutual ignorance and distrust.

Instead of focusing on impractical political solutions, friends of Israel and Palestine should adopt more fundamental principles. Here are two:

Joint Struggle for Civil Rights and Self-Dermination. Recently, several prominent Israelis have called on Israel to withdraw unilaterally from parts of the West Bank in a move they termed, “Peace Without Partners.” Yet this return to Zionist unilateralism will achieve neither peace nor the minimum of justice required by both peoples for coexistence. Rather, people of good will from around the globe should become “Partners Without Peace” in a struggle for the civil rights and self-determination of Palestinians (and Israelis, who already have them.) 

Re-education and Fostering Understanding of the Other.  Both sides, as unequal in power as they currently are,  have to be re-educated to understand that at the heart of the Israel-Palestinian conflict are conflicting foundational claims that can no longer be adjudicated. Their goal should be to work gradually towards a reasonably fair compromise between the parties that will allow both peoples security and flourishing. The ultimate goal should not a sanctification of the status quo, including the Israeli regime established in 1948, but rather a willingness to re-think how both the Israeli and the Palestinian peoples can have equal opportunities to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. 

This is a herculean task for more than one generation. But there are no short-cuts.  During the very long night ahead of us, the joint struggle of people from Israel/Palestine and from around the globe should continue to focus on civil and political equality, until more come to realize that the problems between the two sides are foundational. Non-violent tactics that exert pressure on both sides, including boycotts and sanctions,  should be considered and adopted if they will further the aforementioned goals. 

The “We-all-know-what-the-solution-will-look-like–we-just-don’t-know-how-to-get-there” attitude may be comforting to liberal Zionists—but it is just another messianic illusion that allows them to sleep soundly while the oppression and injustice continues. Indeed, the messiah will come before an equitable two-state solution is implemented. And Zionism is not about waiting for the messiah.

Visiting the Institute for Middle East Understanding site this morning I recognize the friendly familiar face of blogger/activist Morgan Bach in this video by Haitham Katib. It's self explanatory.  As thousands of Palestinians protested all across the region yesterday in solidarity with prisoners on hunger strikes, settlers continued their scorched earth policy this week. And so the actions of Israel's armed forces perpetuates the toxicity of the occupation both literally and figuratively in Bil'in:

Haitham Katib:

Weekly demonstrations continued in Bil'in village West of Ramallah. Many citizens and foreign activists suffered from cases of suffocation by poison gas during the weekly march organized by the Popular Committee Against the Wall in Bil'in. Many local, foreign and Israeli activists came to show solidarity with the prisoners on hunger strike and to support Palestinian prisoner Bilal Diab and Thaer Hlahalh for entering the day 75 of the open hunger strike by participating in the march called by the People's Committee, and the people of Bil'in and in solidarity.

Tweet

An Israeli UAV operator

Among the worst of Israeli journalism there’s a sort of gung-ho, testosterone-infused reporting style about military and security stories that makes my blood curdle.  It’s super-credulous about virtually anything and everything offered by security sources.  Examples of this sort of journalism can be found in the reporting of Eli Lake, Ami Issacharoff, and now Amir Mizroch.  He’s the editor of Yisrael HaYom’s (Bibiton) English edition, who does some freelancing for Wired.

He’s pumped out a piece of breathless boilerplate boosterism about an IDF exercise to envision the air force of the future, IAF 2030.    It includes nano-drones the size of butterflies,robot-piloted helicopters, flight simulation and training using a helmet in your office–the sky’s the limit.  Most of this is blue-sky hasbara: the joys of drone warfare and all the rest.  The primary theme is how to create the air force of the future to better protect our boys in uniform from taking unnecessary risks, but still being able to get the bad guys.

However, the following passage really caught my attention.  It deals with the IAF’s supposed mission to decrease harm it causes to civilians.  Laudable stuff, right?  Maybe not:

[Maj. Nimrod] Segev did open about one of the more controversial ideas that came up…the notion of “mathematical formulas that solve even the difficult ethical dilemmas in place of human pilots.” The air force has been developing technologies for quite some time now that can divert missiles in midair if all of a sudden a civilian pops up near the target, but often this kind of thing happens too quickly even for the most skilled operators. It’s part of an uneven, decade-long IAF effort to try to bring down collateral damage — a necessity, since the air force fights asymmetric enemies in densely populated areas. But this is something the IAF is keen to develop even more.

The concept of a computer taking over almost all the functions of this kind of thing is very tricky, though; you can’t very well say at a war crimes tribunal that you’re not responsible for unintended deaths, or tell the judge it was all the algorithm’s fault.

Now I’ve heard everything.  As it is, Israel causes a massive amount of harm to civilians through its attacks.  Now they plan to “assist” pilots to make “more humane” decisions by allowing ethical algorithms to determine when and whether to fire on targets.  This sounds like a sure-fire recipe not for superior ethical decisions, but for an even greater toll in human suffering.  The notion that a major portion, or any portion of the IDF’s mission engages with issues of ethics or the value of human life (of the enemy, that is) is patently false and an element of Israel’s ongoing hasbara war for hearts and minds of the international community.

Of course, everything is in the execution.  If a computer can sense after a rocket is fired that a civilian has come into the impact zone and abort the missile’s mission, then that would serve a humane purpose.  But how and why would we presume, given the IDF’s poor record of protecting civilians, that a computer coded by those who are so willing to risk the lives of civilians, would indeed offer more protection to them than is now afforded?

Mizroch’s article also offers up the Tom Terrific notion that the IAF is going to recruit teenagers to write code for it.  The idea seems to be to take kids who would otherwise turn into hacker/slacker types and turn them into heroes of the nation.  Instead of breaking into e-commerce sites, they’ll develop code for the next big thing in electronic warfare:

Another off-the-wall idea: farming out complex coding and other technical tasks to a network of six technical high schools run by the IAF across the country. These technical schools already exist. But by 2030 — when today’s infants will be enrolled — these teenagers could be at the core of a revamped Israel Air Force.

I did a double-take when I heard that the IAF has its own farm team in the form of high schools (here’s another promotional website, both in Hebrew) where it can get kids at an early age and turn them into stick jockeys.  If the U.S. armed forces tried anything like this there would be an uproar.  But not, apparently in Israel.  The idea of the technical high school is nothing unusual.  But the idea of beginning to train children at the age of 13 , 14, or 15 how to become the best air warriors Israeli shekels can buy seems troubling at best.  There are six such schools in Jerusalem, the Golan, Nahariya, Haifa, Eilat, and the Carmel.

The IAF website makes clear that it has created special programs to recruit Druze students, who serve with distinction in other branches of the service.   Presumably their knowledge of Arabic would make them especially valuable in the war against Israel’s Arab “enemies.”  One has to wonder though, what will Israeli society offer these same Druze when their military service is done.  Will it offer them the same opportunities available to Jewish personnel once they leave the service?  Or will it send them back to the same impoverished communities offering little in the way of opportunity or upward mobility?  It’s particularly cruel that the IDF exploits its Arab minorities on behalf of the nation’s security, but when it’s done with them it offers little or nothing in return.

Danger Room, which published Mizroch’s article, also features some decent reporters like Spencer Ackerman and Noah Shachtman, who just broke the story of the Navy War College instructor who taught a course advocating all-out war against Islam.  But why would Wired bother publishing self-promoting hasbara like this?

Hummus, a chickpea dish from the Middle East, is slowly becoming popular in the West.  Eaten throughout Middle Eastern countries, Hummus has special significance in Israel and the Palestinian territories where both Israelis and Palestinian enjoy the filing dish as a centerpiece of their day.  In my latest piece for Monocle 24′s The Menu, I visit two humus restaurants, one in Tel Aviv and one in Ramallah to find about the differences and similarities of this beloved food.

As Hummus gains popularity in cities from London to New York, there will surly be renewed interest in its origins in the Middle East. For the adventurous food traveler, seeking out the small Hummus places that hid in forgotten ally’s of West Bank cities and near the beaches of Tel Aviv can be a satisfying and delicious way to explore the cultural differences which exist between Israelis and Palestinians.

You can listen, stream or download this episode of The Menu (Episode 30) by clicking here. 

The Palestinian economy is characterized by a reliance on huge sums of international foreign aid – they are one of the largest recipients in the world. But where exactly this money gets spent is not always so obvious. In a small town just outside the boundaries of Jerusalem, a construction project is nearing completion which has been funded by the president and emir of the United Arab Emirates, Shiekh Khalifa bin Zayed al Nahyan. When finished it will be one of the largest mosques in the Middle East,  and it’s raising questions among local residents about the role and necessity of donor aid in the West Bank, as I report in my latest audio piece for Monocle 24.

It’s hard to ignore the fact that the Khalifa mosque exudes excess in a area which is otherwise characterised by a lack of municipal services. The 25,000 residents of  the small town have access to only one underequipped  health clinic. For some, it’s an example of the complexities and contradictions often underlying the donor aid which pours into Palestine. And while on one hand the mosque will bring prestige and beauty to the town of Azaiyah, critics may be left wondering whether other very real problems faced by the area are being ignored

You can listen, stream or download the piece here (Episode 139 Minute 101:00)