Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Gatestone Update :: Hisham Jarallah: Palestinians: Salam Fayyad "The Moderate", and more


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Palestinians: Salam Fayyad "The Moderate"

by Hisham Jarallah
June 12, 2012 at 5:00 am
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Fayyad often comes across in the international community as a "moderate" man who believes in peace and coexistence with Israel; but his actions reveal that the Palestinian prime minister is anything but liberal or moderate.
The Salam Fayyad government has just punished a school principal for allowing his pupils to dance with Israelis during a trip to the beach in Jaffa.
Because of his "crime," Mohammed Abu Samra, principle of the Al-Slama [peace] Secondary School in the West Bank city of Kalkilya, was reassigned to a remote school.
Fayyad's ministry of education decided on the move after the principle organized a picnic for 45 Palestinian pupils to the beach. "My pupils were attracted to the music and I could not say no to them," Abu Samra told the Gulf News newspaper. "My pupils started dancing and I also joined them." He said that at one point some Israeli men and women joined the dance.
It is hard to imagine, however, that the measure against the school principle was taken without Fayyad's knowledge or approval.
This is the same government that continues to combat all forms of "normalization" with Israel. Many Palestinian groups and political factions in the West Bank have banned their members from participating in meetings with Israelis and the Fayyad government seems to have endorsed this policy.
The most recent "anti-normalization" decision was taken by the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate, which operates under the jurisdiction of the Fayyad government in the West Bank. The syndicate issued a warning to all its members against holding any form of contact with their Israeli counterparts, and threatened punitive measures against those who violate the ban.
The Fayyad government has also banned Palestinians from dealing directly with Israeli "liaison" offices in the West Bank. These offices, belonging to the Israeli Civil Administration, were created, among other reasons, to assist Palestinians in obtaining permits to work and receive medical treatment in Israel.
Fayyad was one of the first Palestinian officials to lead a campaign to boycott products of Israeli settlements. His office even invited journalists to cover an event where Fayyad personally set fire to settler products that were confiscated by his police forces in the West Bank.
The Fayyad government is also responsible for the continued crackdown on Palestinian journalists and bloggers in the West Bank. In recent weeks, more than 15 journalists and bloggers were imprisoned or summoned for interrogation for exposing corruption scandals or posting critical comments on Facebook. The crackdown was ordered by Fayyad's attorney-general, Ahmed al-Mughni.
Fayyad's TV and radio stations in Ramallah continue to glorify terrorists and suicide bombers, referring to them as heroes and martyrs and dedicating songs and poems in their honor.
In addition, the Fayyad government continues to hold dozens of Palestinians in prison without detention and is refusing to carry out court orders to release some of the detainees. As one PLO official said, "The judiciary system in Palestine has become a joke under Salam Fayyad and President Mahmoud Abbas."
Fayyad supporters have defended him by blaming Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah faction for human rights violations and the clampdown on journalists and bloggers. They claim that Fayyad has no real powers over the various security forces or the Palestinian Authority media. Nor, they say, does Fayyad have control over the decisions of the attorney-general.
So if Fayyad is not responsible for anything that goes wrong in the Palestinian Authority, why hasn't he, for example spoken out against the violations perpetrated by Abbas and his lieutenants? Or, if he is opposed to the arrest of journalists and the closure of news websites, why hasn't he resigned?
Fayyad often comes across in the international community as a "moderate" man who believes in peace and coexistence with Israel; but his actions in the past few years reveal that the Palestinian prime minister is anything but liberal or moderate, even if he did receive a doctorate at the University of Texas.
By punishing the school principle for allowing his pupils to dance with Israelis on the beach, Fayyad's government is telling Palestinians that their children must not have any contact with Israelis, even if it is intended for entertainment.
If Fayyad does not want Palestinian children to mix with Israelis, why does he continue to live in an Arab neighborhood in Jerusalem that is under Israeli sovereignty? And why does he continue to meet with Israelis on different occasions? If, as his aides say, he despises Mahmoud Abbas and believes that he is leading the Palestinians toward the abyss, why doesn't he tell this to the president in his face? Or is it possible that Fayyad and Abbas are playing the good cop and bad cop?
Related Topics:  Hisham Jarallah

Pakistan: Fatwas Against Women

by Anna Mahjar-Barducci
June 12, 2012 at 4:00 am
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Women using a cell phone will have acid thrown in her face." — Maulana Abdul Haleem, Islamic cleric.
Fatwas against women's rights are being issued on an almost daily basis in Pakistan now. One of the most outspoken misogynist clerics, Maulana Abdul Haleem, a former Islamist legislator, recently issued a fatwa against formal education for women and another fatwa calling for the abduction of non-married female NGO workers. In May, Maulana Abdul Haleem also justified to the media killing women in the name of "honor" as a "local custom and a religious practice." In a similar tone, a Pakistani cleric issued a fatwa justifying acid attacks on women who use cell phones. A list of recent fatwas issued in Pakistan includes:
Fatwa: Women Using a Cell Phone Will Have Acid Thrown in Her Face
In an article published in the Pakistani media outlet The Express Tribune, Pakistani feminist writer Faouzia Saeed reported that in Noshki, a town in the region of Balochistan, a fatwa was announced in a mosque on May 11, stating that any woman using a cell phone will have acid thrown in her face.
Fatwa: Formal Education for Women Is Un-Islamic
The Express Tribune also reports that Maulana Abdul Haleem, former legislator and member of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazlur Rehman, a religious conservative party in Pakistan, came up with several misogynist fatwas.
In the beginning of May, the nonagenarian Islamist leader launched a fatwa stating that formal education for women is un-Islamic and reprimanding parents who send their daughters to school. In the fatwa, Maulana Abdul Haleem asks parents to terminate their daughters' education, threatening that those who keep sending their daughters to school will be burn in hell.
When approached for comments, The Express Tribune reports, Maulana Abdul Haleem stressed that according to Islamic tradition, it is forbidden for girls to receive degrees and certificates in a "secular education system," as formal education paves the way for girls to enter into the job market. "When they permit their women to work," he said, "they give them a free hand to mix with na-mehrum [men they are not related to by blood] – by doing so, the girl's father, brother or husband become dayoos [someone who accepts female family members' wrongdoings, and hence liable to be condemned to hell] in the eye of shariah law." Maulana Abdul Haleem also stated that women should stay at home and look after their children and family members.
The Express Tribune reports that the cleric claimed that 97% of girls schools in the Kohistan district, in North-West Pakistan, were closed, and the few girls that were enrolled only visited their schools to collect cooking oil, which the Education Department was distributing with the support of foreign donors.
The idea that women should not receive a formal education is widespread among Pakistani Islamists. In April, Islamist militants bombed a government girls' middle school in the north of the country.
Fatwa: Abduction of Female NGO Workers
Maulana Abdul Haleem recently issued another fatwa, targeting female NGO workers in the Kohistan district, in North-West Pakistan, again according to The Express Tribune. It reports that the fatwa declares all NGOs working in the region as "hubs of immodesty." "Some women from these NGOs visit our houses frequently, mobilizing naïve Kohistani women to follow their agenda in the name of health and hygiene education," he said, adding that this is "unacceptable to Kohistani culture." He then stated that married female NGO workers should go back to their husbands, whereas the unmarried ones will be forcibly wedded to Kohistani men to make them stay at home. "If women working in NGOs enter Kohistan, we won't spare them and solemnize their nikkah (marriage) with local men,", he said.
Reactions to Fatwas
Pakistani civil society reacted in the media against these fatwas. In particular, several petitions were launched on blogs and on social networks, but on the political level, no initiative has been taken.
Pakistani columnist Tazeen Javed complained about both the government's inaction and that issuing fatwas has became a normal Pakistani habit. "[Maulana Abdul Haleem] a former legislator issues fatwas during a Friday sermon inciting hatred against a group of people [NGO workers] and declaring the constitutional rights of getting an education for half of the population forbidden, and no one, barring a few bloggers and tweeters, raises even an eyebrow. […] Fatwas are so commonplace that even a power utility company resorted to seeking one a few years back to get people to pay for their electricity. Since that utility is still burdened with thousands of unpaid bills, we know how useless that fatwa turned out to be," Tazeen Javed wrote, adding that Pakistan can ill-afford adventurism of any kind but that most dangerous is the practice of resorting to fatwas to get a point across. "Not only does this breed a narrow and rigid view of issues, it also leaves no room for dialogue, debate and consultation, making us an increasingly 'stunted' and intolerant society."
Related Topics:  Pakistan  |  Anna Mahjar-Barducci

Variations on the Theme of The Arab War Against Israel

by Shoshana Bryen
June 12, 2012 at 3:00 am
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The "Arab Spring" is just another phase of the Arab war against Israel, against which Israel will have to defend itself.
Amid the Arab upheaval of past 18 months, a question has crept among the speeches, demonstrations, riots, elections, battles and massacres – Is Israel better off, or worse off, for the revolution among its neighbors?
Certainly Wael Ghonim of Google, and the positive nature of the short-lived "Arab Spring" raised people's hopes. The West convinced itself that education and modern social media had created an Arab body politic ready for democratic governance. Very quickly, however, what we got was:
  • "Moderate" Islamists -- looking less moderate every day -- ruling Tunisia;
  • A split in the Egyptian Parliament between the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafists (with "Google people" barely noticeable in the constellation);
  • A horrific war in Syria where Saudi Arabia and Qatar are arming an increasingly Islamist-looking opposition (which is what you get when they are armed by a Wahabi regime);
  • Sectarian fighting in an increasingly fragile Lebanon;
  • Turkey looking increasingly stridently Islamist;
  • Muslim Brotherhood demonstrations on a regular basis in Jordan;
  • Governmental gridlock in Iraq with an increase in violence;
  • Factional fighting in Yemen, with an overlay of al Qaeda activity and American drone strikes;
  • Factional fighting in Libya and the spread of Gaddafi's arsenal across North Africa;
  • A simmering rebellion in Bahrain; and, of course,
  • Iran, which is both the same as and different from, the other threats.
The last time Israel was surrounded by this much hostility was June 1967 – with the hostility directed toward Israel.
As we commemorate the 45th anniversary of the Six Day War (on the English calendar) it is hard to remember now that Israel then faced annihilation. The forces arrayed against it were staggering: Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tunisia, Libya, and Morocco.
Israel, with 240,000 soldiers, 800 tanks and 300 aircraft, was facing 550,000 Arab soldiers with 2500 tanks and 950 planes.
Israel has been threatened since birth by Arab politics in all its forms. Sometimes they send their armies to do battle. Sometimes they use terrorism. Sometimes rockets. Sometimes BDS. Sometimes what threatens Israel is the instability or potential fallout from internecine Arab warfare – as in 1970 when Palestinians threatened King Hussein; and 1991, when Saddam used rockets against Israel during a war in which Israel was not involved.
Yes, concerns in the Gulf about Iran have given rise to a certain level of cooperation between Gulf States and Israel. And yes, Jordan and Egypt signed peace treaties with Israel. But even then, the Arab states have unswervingly refused to create conditions in which Israel could live as a normal neighbor. Mubarak "kept the peace treaty," but allowed rampant anti-Semitism to fester, and ensured that his people would never see peace with Israel as beneficial to Egypt. Egyptians, however, understood that their dictator was kept in place by American military assistance related to keeping the peace with Israel – making Israel and the U.S. perversely responsible for the dreadful dictatorship under which the Egyptian people suffered.
Regime changes in the Arab world are not moving from bad to good, or good to bad. From Israel's point of view, they are merely variations on the theme of Arab unwillingness to accept the State of Israel as a legitimate, permanent state in the region. Unless and until that changes, the "Arab Spring" is just another phase of the Arab war against Israel, against which Israel will have to defend itself.
Shoshana Bryen is Senior Director of The Jewish Policy Center. She was previously Senior Director for Security Policy at JINSA and author of JINSA Reports from 1995-2011.
Related Topics:  Israel  |  Shoshana Bryen

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