I never imagined that watching leaders address the UN General Assembly would turn out to be gripping when such diplomatic-speak is usually more soporific than counting sheep. But on September 23, the speeches of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu kept me on the edge of my seat.
Frankly, I didn’t anticipate anything earth-shattering from Abbas who’s been obeying White House diktats for far too long. Although he defied Obama to lodge his people’s application for statehood, it was believed he would appease him by requesting that the actual UN Security Council vote be placed on the back-burner. Indeed, I half expected the slippery Israeli leader with the gift of the gab to outshine him. How wrong I was. Abbas received the kind of rousing welcome reserved for Oscar winners. The hall was packed with dignitaries; the applause often deafening. And when he’d finished speaking, he seemed surprised to receive a prolonged standing ovation.
It was a rather grey and uninspiring politician who stepped up to that podium but the man who left it was a hero in the eyes of all present, with the exception of the Israelis and the US delegation that couldn’t bring themselves to clap. His delivery lacked drama but it was forthright and honest. The man who was criticised for failing to use the word ‘occupation’ now spoke of the victims of Al Nakba (the Catastrophe) as well as Israel’s colonial military occupation and apartheid policies.
Most importantly, he showed that the days when the Palestinian Liberation Organisation would accept a few slivers of non-contiguous land peppered with Israeli colonies were over. “The goal of the Palestinian people is the realisation of their inalienable national rights in their independent State of Palestine, with East Jerusalem as its capital” based on 1967 borders, he announced. The most convincing sign of his new-found defiance was his confirmation that he had asked UN Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon to fast-track UNSC recognition of Palestinian statehood.
Abbas expressed his willingness to return to the negotiating table upon the cessation of all colony activity while warning that if colonies destroy the two-state solution, the Palestinian National Authority may collapse. In that case, the occupying entity would be responsible for the needs of the people under its occupation. The Palestinians could then demand citizenship of Israel, a move that would signal the demographic demise of ‘the Jewish state.’
Egocentric tale
By contrast, Netanyahu’s message delivered to a half-empty chamber was hackneyed, negative and, as usual, stressed Israel’s contrived victim status. He began by slamming the General Assembly, calling it “the theatre of the absurd” for casting Israel as the villain. It’s ironic that it’s ‘thanks to’ the UN that the Jewish state was legitimised. He made certain that Americans knew he had placed a wreath on the September 11 Memorial before laying-in to “the insatiable crocodile of militant Islam.” He accused the Palestinians of wanting a “Jew-free” state before admitting that Israelis want Palestinians “to give up the fantasy of flooding Israel with millions of Palestinians.”
Tellingly, while pretending to hold out his hand in peace, he referred to the West Bank as ‘Judea’ and ‘Samaria’ prior to launching into an egocentric tale about a 2,700-year-old signet ring found near the Al Buraq Wall inscribed with the name . . . wait for it . . .”Netanyahu.” “That’s my last name,” he said without admitting that Netanyahu is the family name selected by his Polish father Benzion Mileikowsky.
His most ridiculous utterance was “The core of the conflict is not the settlements [colonies]. The settlements [colonies] are as a result of the conflict” seconded by his insistence that before the Palestinians get their state they must make peace with Israel. Didn’t Arafat win a Nobel Prize for just that?
Netanyahu defended the colonisation of occupied east Jerusalem saying, “I often hear them accuse Israel of Judaising Jerusalem; that’s like accusing America of Americanising Washington.” Native Americans whom foreign colonisers once called ‘Red Indians’ might argue that point.
Just as preposterous was his vision of a Palestinian state. He thinks Abbas is unreasonable to refuse a demilitarised state with ‘a long-term Israeli military presence in critical strategic areas in the West Bank’ without control over its own air-space.
He also blamed Abbas for not responding to the ‘sweeping offer’ of former Israeli president Ehud Olmert in 2008, disingenuous when Olmert’s peace proposals were made just months before the end of his term of office and, like Netanyahu, he had insisted on a demilitarised Palestinian state.
The smattering of applause his speech elicited illustrates that he and his army of propagandists are past their sell-by date. Barak Ravid writing in Ha’aretz under the banner “Israel’s political tsunami has arrived” says, “This is what international isolation feels like.” He needn’t lose any sleep. As long as Israelis can keep the US grovelling at their feet against the interests of the American people, they won’t be entirely alone.
The all-important UNSC vote is expected to take place within weeks rather than months. The Palestinians need nine of the 15 member votes. But the Obama administration has not only declared it will use its veto, it is currently “pressuring, cajoling, even blackmailing” fellow UNSC member states to vote against Palestine, says Palestinian legislator Hanan Ashrawi. No wonder French President Nicolas Sarkozy wants the US to move aside to make way for the Quartet!
Linda S. Heard is a British specialist writer on Middle East affairs. She welcomes feedback and can be contacted by email at heardonthegrapevines@yahoo.co.uk.
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Abbas versus Netanyahu: And the winner is . . .
Palestinian leader pushed for the realisation of his people’s dream while the Israeli defended his colonial enterprise
Posted on September 28, 2011 by Linda S. Heard
I never imagined that watching leaders address the UN General Assembly would turn out to be gripping when such diplomatic-speak is usually more soporific than counting sheep. But on September 23, the speeches of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu kept me on the edge of my seat.
Frankly, I didn’t anticipate anything earth-shattering from Abbas who’s been obeying White House diktats for far too long. Although he defied Obama to lodge his people’s application for statehood, it was believed he would appease him by requesting that the actual UN Security Council vote be placed on the back-burner. Indeed, I half expected the slippery Israeli leader with the gift of the gab to outshine him. How wrong I was. Abbas received the kind of rousing welcome reserved for Oscar winners. The hall was packed with dignitaries; the applause often deafening. And when he’d finished speaking, he seemed surprised to receive a prolonged standing ovation.
It was a rather grey and uninspiring politician who stepped up to that podium but the man who left it was a hero in the eyes of all present, with the exception of the Israelis and the US delegation that couldn’t bring themselves to clap. His delivery lacked drama but it was forthright and honest. The man who was criticised for failing to use the word ‘occupation’ now spoke of the victims of Al Nakba (the Catastrophe) as well as Israel’s colonial military occupation and apartheid policies.
Most importantly, he showed that the days when the Palestinian Liberation Organisation would accept a few slivers of non-contiguous land peppered with Israeli colonies were over. “The goal of the Palestinian people is the realisation of their inalienable national rights in their independent State of Palestine, with East Jerusalem as its capital” based on 1967 borders, he announced. The most convincing sign of his new-found defiance was his confirmation that he had asked UN Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon to fast-track UNSC recognition of Palestinian statehood.
Abbas expressed his willingness to return to the negotiating table upon the cessation of all colony activity while warning that if colonies destroy the two-state solution, the Palestinian National Authority may collapse. In that case, the occupying entity would be responsible for the needs of the people under its occupation. The Palestinians could then demand citizenship of Israel, a move that would signal the demographic demise of ‘the Jewish state.’
Egocentric tale
By contrast, Netanyahu’s message delivered to a half-empty chamber was hackneyed, negative and, as usual, stressed Israel’s contrived victim status. He began by slamming the General Assembly, calling it “the theatre of the absurd” for casting Israel as the villain. It’s ironic that it’s ‘thanks to’ the UN that the Jewish state was legitimised. He made certain that Americans knew he had placed a wreath on the September 11 Memorial before laying-in to “the insatiable crocodile of militant Islam.” He accused the Palestinians of wanting a “Jew-free” state before admitting that Israelis want Palestinians “to give up the fantasy of flooding Israel with millions of Palestinians.”
Tellingly, while pretending to hold out his hand in peace, he referred to the West Bank as ‘Judea’ and ‘Samaria’ prior to launching into an egocentric tale about a 2,700-year-old signet ring found near the Al Buraq Wall inscribed with the name . . . wait for it . . .”Netanyahu.” “That’s my last name,” he said without admitting that Netanyahu is the family name selected by his Polish father Benzion Mileikowsky.
His most ridiculous utterance was “The core of the conflict is not the settlements [colonies]. The settlements [colonies] are as a result of the conflict” seconded by his insistence that before the Palestinians get their state they must make peace with Israel. Didn’t Arafat win a Nobel Prize for just that?
Netanyahu defended the colonisation of occupied east Jerusalem saying, “I often hear them accuse Israel of Judaising Jerusalem; that’s like accusing America of Americanising Washington.” Native Americans whom foreign colonisers once called ‘Red Indians’ might argue that point.
Just as preposterous was his vision of a Palestinian state. He thinks Abbas is unreasonable to refuse a demilitarised state with ‘a long-term Israeli military presence in critical strategic areas in the West Bank’ without control over its own air-space.
He also blamed Abbas for not responding to the ‘sweeping offer’ of former Israeli president Ehud Olmert in 2008, disingenuous when Olmert’s peace proposals were made just months before the end of his term of office and, like Netanyahu, he had insisted on a demilitarised Palestinian state.
The smattering of applause his speech elicited illustrates that he and his army of propagandists are past their sell-by date. Barak Ravid writing in Ha’aretz under the banner “Israel’s political tsunami has arrived” says, “This is what international isolation feels like.” He needn’t lose any sleep. As long as Israelis can keep the US grovelling at their feet against the interests of the American people, they won’t be entirely alone.
The all-important UNSC vote is expected to take place within weeks rather than months. The Palestinians need nine of the 15 member votes. But the Obama administration has not only declared it will use its veto, it is currently “pressuring, cajoling, even blackmailing” fellow UNSC member states to vote against Palestine, says Palestinian legislator Hanan Ashrawi. No wonder French President Nicolas Sarkozy wants the US to move aside to make way for the Quartet!
Linda S. Heard is a British specialist writer on Middle East affairs. She welcomes feedback and can be contacted by email at heardonthegrapevines@yahoo.co.uk.