Nahida Izzat, Exiled Palestinian

Who Wags Whom?
That is the Question!

"In a redemptive state the Jewish People will reassume their more natural role as the head, leading the world to a new age"

"The natural inclination of the Jewish People is to elevate themselves to the level of mind and leadership, which naturally uplifts the entire world"

"Israel is associated with the three upper sefirot of the intellect. Though the head must always be connected to, and at times, draw inspiration and guidance from the emotions, its main task and responsibility is to lead"

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Stephen Lendman

On June 9, Haaretz writer Barak Ravid headlined, "Palestinian leadership divided over plan to seek UN recognition," saying:

Senior Palestinian Authority (PA) officials are "sharply divided over the unilateral move to seek" UN General Assembly recognition in September. Abbas wants it. Others don't "because they believe (it) could do more harm than good to their cause," hurting Israel perhaps but not helping themselves.

Those opposed include Prime Minister Salam Fayyad (a former World Bank/IMF official closely tied to Israeli/Washington/Western interests), former Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia, and former Palestinian UN envoy Nasser al-Qudwa.

Ravid said al-Qudwa's "opposition is particularly significant because he is considered the most experienced Palestinian official (in) dealing with the United Nations." He's also a possible presidential candidate.

At issue is strong Israeli/Washington opposition in contrast to most other countries. Last March, in fact, Israel told UN Security Council members and other prominent EU countries it will act unilaterally if the General Assembly grants de jure membership in September inside 1967 borders, 22% of historic Palestine.

At the same time, Rafael Barak, Director General of Israel's Foreign Ministry, cabled over 30 Israeli embassies, telling them to lodge high-level diplomatic protests against Palestinian efforts for recognition, claiming (without justification that) doing so violates Oslo and may cause internal violence.

Foreign Ministry sources also said no response decision was taken on if de jure membership is granted. Some sources suggest it will refuse recognition and more, including annexing West Bank settlements, all East Jerusalem, closed military zones, restricted tourist locations, and Israeli commercial developments, leaving isolated urban areas and worthless scrub land for Palestine.

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William T. Hathaway

From the Book RADICAL PEACE: People Refusing War by William T. Hathaway. Published by Trine Day 2010.

Better to go down resisting. Better yet to change it while we still can.

"That must be them." Petra took one hand off the steering wheel and pointed to a group of soldiers about two hundred meters away, standing along our road next to a high chainlink fence topped with barbed wire.

Traffic was light, but Petra said, "I don't want any other cars around." She pulled off the road and stopped. "Get everything ready."

I crawled into the back of the car and opened the rear hatch to give access to the interior and to raise the license plate out of sight. We wore caps and sunglasses to be less recognizable.

When the road was empty, she started driving again. We approached the soldiers, who were walking in the grass, stopping often to pick things off the ground and put them in sacks they were dragging.

"There's Rick." Petra slowed and drove along the shoulder. A man turned his head at the sound of our car crunching gravel, dropped his bag, and ran towards us with a slight limp. While the guards shouted for him to stop, I thrust my arm out, grabbed Rick's hand, and pulled. He lunged forward and dived into the open hatch, banging his leg on the edge. A guard was swearing and groping at the holster on his belt. Rick scrambled in, knocking off his glasses, and Petra floored the gas. Our spinning tires hurled gravel behind us then squealed over the pavement. The car slid halfway across the road before Petra brought it under control, and we sped away.

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