What Obama will discover in Jerusalem and Ramallah

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

http://972mag.com/what-obama-will-discover-in-jerusalem-and-ramallah/66273/

Obama wants to speak to the Israeli people, but has nothing to tell them. He wants to speak to the PA, but will discover his appeasement of the Israeli Right has nearly killed it.

---

In March, after Bibi Netanyahu forms Israel’s new government, U.S. President Barack Obama intends to arrive for a first historic visit to Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Obama wants to talk with the Israeli people, but has nothing of note to tell them. First on the American president’s crowded agenda will be Iran, and then Syria. Last will be the Palestinian issue, concerning which he has no new initiative.

That Obama is distancing himself from the Palestinian question is unsurprising. He has already crashed and burned on that one, when he named George Mitchell his special envoy, in vain. In response to Obama’s demand, Netanyahu did freeze settlement construction for ten months, but then he renewed it with greater vigor. Meantime another term in office has passed, both in Israel and in the United States, without even the semblance of an Israeli-Palestinian political process, and four more arid years lie ahead. Netanyahu committed himself to the principle of two states, but his actions belied it – the settlements expanded and the would-be Palestinian state continued to shrink.

[elleng]

1. Yacov Ben Efrat is the General Secretary of the DAAM Party in Israel.

This article was first published on Challenge Magazine and is re-posted here with permission.

[oberliner]

2. Arab woman leads Israeli Daam Party

An Arab woman who's been toiling on the fringes of Israeli politics for nearly two decades has broken out of obscurity in this year's election with a nonconformist message that's resonating with protest voters.

The message of the Daam Party is as unconventional as its leader, Asma Aghbaria-Zahalka.

She preaches for the nationalization of key industries - a rare idea in this capitalist land. She calls for coexistence with Israel's Jewish majority as fervently as she demands Palestinian statehood. She's a Palestinian woman who heads a Jewish-dominated party even though she hails from a conservative Muslim family.

Although she's a long shot for a seat in parliament, the 39-year-old Aghbaria-Zahalka has capitalized on exposure she gained during last year's massive social protests across Israel. She has gone from talking to near-empty rooms to drawing standing-room-only crowds at parlor meetings and bars, where she urges listeners to cast their ballots for her party in Tuesday's election.

http://www.sfgate.com/world/article/Arab-woman-leads-Israeli-Daam-Party-4204401.php#ixzz2LNWoRByt

[azurnoir]

4. well that is indeed nice did you know that Bethlemham has a woman Mayor?

When the leadership of the Fatah movement nominated little known Bethlehem University English literature Professor Vera Baboun to run for mayor of the city, few expected her to win. She ran against well-known male candidates as well as individuals supported by Islamists and left-wing Palestinians. But she surprised all on Oct. 20 and won the office of mayor along with the majority of the city’s 15 council seats.

Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2012/al-monitor/christmas-bethlehem-palestine.html#ixzz2LNr3UMDt

[oberliner]

5. Not only a woman, but also a Christian

In a city whose Christian population is dwindling, to say the least.