[WCUSP] A link to International Crisis Group re: Security.
Odile Hugonot Haber
odilehh at gmail.com
Thu Jul 24 09:24:38 EDT 2008
A link to the latest report that I have received from International
Crisis Group.
I want to remind our members that this is not a WILPF position or statement.
http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=5574&l=1
Tittle Ruling Palestine II: The West Bank Model?
Odile Hugonot Haber
On 7/24/08, Odile Hugonot Haber <odilehh at gmail.com> wrote:
> When we toured the West Bank with WILPF International delegation about
> 5 years ago, we visited the police headquarter in Ramalah, a beautiful
> complex, probably built with EU money,that had been bombed to shred by
> the Israelis. ( I still have a power point presentation about this
> tour.) The main Palestinian TV station also had been bombed to shred.
>
> This was when the Israelis were saying repetitively that Arafat was
> not doing enough to control the security situation.!
>
> The security headquarter was bombed to pieces, and we could see all
> the file cabinets destroyed, glass everywhere, ruins..we met with the
> security chief that was besides himself. Before they did have the CIA
> coming in and doing trainings, I would think it was a program very
> unpopular with the local population.The Palestinian population is very
> aware of where the weapons come from, the US and the money to upkeep
> this intense militarization, occupation of which they are victims. In
> the Palestinian hospital the medical director showed us a jar of US
> bullets that were taken from the bodies of the children with missing
> limbs lingering in his hospital' beds, that is small compared to the
> bombs having destroyed many neighborhood, F 16 and assassination of
> the leadership.
>
> The problem is not about the lack of security in the West bank but
> about the lack of will for sharing land and peace on the part of the
> Israeli government and the increased militarization, occupation, that
> keep the Palestinian crippled. The Palestinian violence is called
> resistance to the occupation. Think of France during second world war,
> occupied by Germany, we also had German police: the Gestapo, training
> French police to up keep the occupation: tranfer jews to concentration
> camps and find the resistants to jail and torture them, erradicate the
> resistance.
>
>
> Odile Hugonot Haber
>
>
>
>
> On 7/23/08, Barbara Taft <beejayssite at yahoo.com> wrote:
> >
> >
> > I have long had problems with commentaries by Anthony Cordesman, as
> >
> > he is actually a militarist. Although he has long been looked to as an
> >
> > advisor on governmental issues, I have found much of his advice to be
> >
> > rather frightening. I agree with Carol that there are other viewpoints
> >
> > about how to solve this situation.
> >
> >
> >
> > I receive regular mailings from contacts in Brazil, some of which are
> >
> > not available here. A recent one of these indicated that Israel has been
> >
> > pulling back from Gaza so that they can organize for further attacks.
> >
> > They have no chance of "winning" there--whatever that means!?--and
> >
> > they're not used to being in a losing position. Perhaps the reason
> >
> > they are not winning is because the Palestinians recognize that Hamas
> >
> > is a legitimate leader, having won in the elections. And this would
> >
> > indicate that Abbas and his government are not the "address" to which
> >
> > discussions of eventual peace should be addressed.
> >
> >
> >
> > Barb Taft
> >
> >
> >
> > --- On Wed, 7/23/08, Carol Urner <carol.disarm at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > From: Carol Urner <carol.disarm at gmail.com>
> > Subject: Re: [WCUSP] NYT editorial on US assistance to Isr-Pal security...
> > To: "C.J. Minster" <cjminster at gmail.com>
> > Cc: "Int ME Committee" <middle_east at wilpf.ch>, "National Middle East"
> > <wcusp at wilpf.org>
> > Date: Wednesday, July 23, 2008, 2:30 PM
> >
> >
> >
> > Hello C.J. and WCUSP list,
> >
> > I saw your comment and editorial on the WCUSP list to which I have
> > subscribed almost from its inception. Just a comment:
> >
> > I would think the WILPF position could include support for viable police
> > forces in both Israel and Palestine, but not security forces (such as the
> > U.S. seeks to build elsewhere) that could be used in aggressive warfare. We
> > would also support, I should think, training in the least violent methods of
> > crowd control, etc. and restorative justice such as we support (but haven't
> > achieved yet) in the United States.
> >
> > Also I would think our position would be that the U.S. military forces
> > should not participate in this training. The U.S. military has not been
> > operating in the Middle East with a peace keeping or peace building agenda
> > and would certainly be distrusted in Palestine because of previous support
> > for the harsh tactics of the Israeli occupation, and for known abuses
> > arising from special forces and CIA covert actions. Canada (and even
> > Britain) would be more trusted because of their own past records in training
> > for peace keeping.
> >
> > Surely WILPF would support moving Israel as well in the direction of
> > disarmament, including nuclear disarmament under a no WMD treaty as already
> > proposed. That process must include an end to occupation and will be
> > difficult and complex, but that is the direction in which we must go.
> > Allowing U.S. soldiers to train Palestinian security forces would be a
> > dangerous policy and extricating the U.S. from aggressive military
> > cooperation with Israel is a necessary one.
> >
> > DIscussion among those on the WCUSP list serve of this article (or other
> > ones shared) and U.S. policies could be fruitful, I think, rather than just
> > posting articles without active inter change of ideas in search of common
> > directions and ways to proceed.
> >
> > in peace,
> > Carol Urner
> >
> >
> >
> > On Wed, Jul 23, 2008 at 10:38 AM, C.J. Minster <cjminster at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > >
> > >
> > > Does WILPF international, WILPF Palestine, or WILPF Israel have a position
> > on American military personnel involvement, specifically in the use of
> > American (or other international forces) to train Palestinian security
> > forces?
> > >
> > > A friend emailed me the following op-ed.
> > >
> > > The New York Times
> > > July 22, 2008
> > > Op-Ed Contributor
> > > Help the Palestinians Help Us
> > > By ANTHONY H. CORDESMAN
> > > Washington
> > >
> > > HAVING just returned from the Middle East, I find it hard to have much
> > > optimism about peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
> > >
> > > Israel sees Hamas's control of Gaza as a situation it cannot do
> > > anything about, a weak and divided Palestinian Authority on the West
> > > Bank, increased arms smuggling and a growing threat from Israeli
> > > Arabs. Palestinians see a steady growth in Israeli settlements and
> > > restrictions, a weak Israeli government and faltering international
> > > assistance. And all sides seem to see Secretary of State Condoleezza
> > > Rice's visits as an end-of-administration effort in résumé building.
> > >
> > > There is, however, one potential chance to move forward. It centers on
> > > an American-led mission, based in Jerusalem, that is trying to build
> > > new security forces on the West Bank that will support stabilization
> > > efforts by the Palestinian Authority's president, Mahmoud Abbas,
> > > prevent a Hamas takeover there and end the corruption and abuse of the
> > > older intelligence forces, Yasir Arafat's Mukhabarat.
> > >
> > > The importance of this effort cannot be overstated: unless there are
> > > effective Palestinian security forces, Israel will never trust in a
> > > Palestinian state or be able to act on the quiet progress being made
> > > toward reaching a final settlement. And we've had some promising
> > > signs. With assistance from Jordan, Britain and Canada, the Americans
> > > have activated the first battalion of the so-called Presidential
> > > Guard, and it's had some success in bringing order to the refugee camp
> > > at Jenin. There are more battalions to come, and a real possibility
> > > that this aid effort could create effective new security forces.
> > >
> > > As became all too clear on my visit to Israel, however, this
> > > American-led effort is being crippled by decisions within the State
> > > Department. The small mission, called the office of the United States
> > > Security Coordinator and under the leadership of Lt. Gen. Keith
> > > Dayton, is effectively locked into a building in Jerusalem. While it's
> > > a military mission, the State Department and the consulate in
> > > Jerusalem are in charge of Palestinian affairs and General Dayton's
> > > advisory teams.
> > >
> > > There are several reasons for this — from not wanting the American
> > > government to appear to be favoring any faction in a complicated
> > > situation to good old-fashioned turf wars — but the result is that the
> > > Dayton team has to rely on British and Canadian officials and private
> > > contractors to do its work in the field and develop critical personal
> > > relationships with Palestinian officers and officials. In fact, even
> > > the American military attachés at the embassy are forbidden by the
> > > State Department to go into the West Bank and Gaza to carry out
> > > liaison efforts with Palestinians or develop human intelligence on the
> > > threat of Hamas.
> > >
> > > Admittedly, letting the American military take on a greater direct
> > > role raises risks. All of those involved know they will be targets of
> > > violence and may pay with their lives. Many in the Israeli forces and
> > > government fear that any American military presence in the West Bank
> > > would undermine Israel's status there and become, in effect, direct
> > > military support for the Palestinians from Washington. And Mr. Abbas
> > > has failed to abolish the older Palestinian security services like the
> > > Mukhabarat, which specialize in corruption, repression and
> > > incompetence, and will resist the new Palestinian units.
> > >
> > > There is, however, no lack of courage among the American military
> > > personnel, and they know they cannot succeed without freedom of
> > > movement, embedding with fledgling Palestinian security units, and
> > > forming personal relations with Mr. Abbas's officers.
> > >
> > > It's a shame that at such a pivotal moment in the peace negotiations,
> > > a key barrier to the first real step toward peace — and an effective
> > > war on terrorism in the West Bank and Gaza — is a set of State
> > > Department decisions.
> > >
> > > Anthony H. Cordesman is a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic
> > > and International Studies.
> > >
> > > --
> > > ------------
> > > C.J. Minster
> > > Intl Communications Committee Convener
> > > Women's International League for Peace and Freedom
> > > railing against the military industrial complex since WWI
> > > http://www.wilpf.org
> > >
> > > ~Social Upheaval~
> > > political analysis from a feminist, activist perspective
> > > http://www.socialupheaval.com
> > >
> > > ~angelheaded hipster~
> > > cotton candy for the brain
> > > http://www.angelheadedhipster.com
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > Wcusp mailing list
> > > Wcusp at wilpf.org
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> > > To post a message to all the list members, send email to Wcusp at wilpf.org.
> > > To unsubscribe send a message to Wcusp-leave at wilpf.org
> > >
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > in peace, Carol Urner
> > cell: 503 320 9108
> > _______________________________________________
> > Wcusp mailing list
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> >
> >
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