US crisis of irresponsibility – debt ceiling scandal – food for thought…

On Friday, August 5, 2011, one of the most prestigious credit rating agencies: Standard & Poor’s downgraded the status of the USA from the “AAA”, to “AA+”. 

It happened after (lasting several months) bickering about rising of the US debt ceiling.  What is guaranteed by the 14th amendment to the US Constitution (honoring of the public debt, which has already incurred), and what has been done by every US President (disregarding their party affiliations) suddenly became a problem to the Tea Party controlled Congress, and in fact, became a threat to the American status in the World, and the World’s Economy at large, in consequence.

One cannot overstate the importance of what has happened, even though by itself it may be belittled and overlooked by many.  However, the fact of downgrading of the USA by S&P is just a resultant of the few decades of the US government bad economical decisions.  I would go as far as calling it a SYSTEMIC ERROR.  American form of the aggressive capitalism has slipped out of control.  It has created the mess we are in now.   

It’s time to connect the dots and try to understand what has led a great country like the USA to the state of disarray we experience right now.  Let’s step slowly backwards looking at the milestones of the demise…

            1.             Let’s look at the misunderstood and misleading at the same time, downgrade of the US status from AAA to AA+.  Reducing of the rating is just a simple indication, that the creditors’ confidence in the US ability to pay timely the principal debt, and the financing charges is somewhat compromised.  The US downgrade was followed today (Monday, 08.08) by farther downgrade of the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, also to AA+ status. 

It is not surprising that when the US debt is approaching 100% of the GDP, our stellar credit rating couldn’t survive.  However, what is really surprising (and not only to me) is, that sliding in the debt with an ever increasing speed, and having barely survived the recession of 2008 – in which we were pushed in part by uncontrolled behavior of the aforementioned Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the “sub-prime mortgage crisis” – didn’t rise the credit rating agencies alarms flags.  It seems like America’s policy makers, along with the administrators of the credit rating agencies, lived in the “all American Happy Bubble” or other sort of “parallel reality”.  America of 2008 wasn’t the same country, which as ELDORADO, appeared in the dreams of all “would be” immigrants around the world.

Where were these credit rating agencies when “all hell broke loose” and the country dived, head first, in the strongest recession in our lifetimes?  (Hopefully we won’t need to downgrade it to the status of the “second strongest” recession, when the one in the making right now “exceeds all expectations”).

            2.            As I mentioned at the beginning, the obligation to honor all, already committed to debts is a Constitutional requirement.  America has never defaulted on its obligations, even though the congress had to vote on raising of the debt ceiling every time it happened.  It worked without a ”hiccup” no matter who was at the White House, or who controlled House or Senate.  President Reagan raised the debt ceiling 18 times (*2), George W Bush did it 5 times (around $4 Trillion) (*3).  And suddenly, when President Obama needed to raise the debt ceiling to cover already approved by the Congress expenses… the Tea Party Republicans threatened to force the country into the DEFAULT instead.  

The Fiscal Responsibility – the slogan by which the Tea Party members allegedly “live and act” – by itself, is a very noble idea.  It’s actually the only right idea, which should govern the actions of the Washington politicians on both sides of the isle. 

All countries in the World have some debt.  Credit is one of the fundamentals of the ‘free market economies’.  However in general a certain level of the debt becomes the unsustainable debt.  The economists do not agree on any arbitrary numbers, but definitely the public debt approaching the amount of the GDP in the case of most of the countries is UNSUSTAINABLE. 

In January 2001, at the end of the second term of the President Clinton (D) the US National Debt was $5.7 Trillion (*1) – what corresponded with 55.3% of our GDP ($10.3 Trillion).

Right after that the “911” reset our dreams, and reset the economy – the instability era commenced – enhanced by two wars - unwanted, and leading to nothing (except exhausting our Treasury.

In January 2009, at the end of the second term of the President Bush (R) the US National Debt was $10.6 Trillion (*1) – what corresponded with 75.2% of our GDP ($14.1 Trillion).

President “Bush the Second”, without hesitation placed us on a slippery slope of spending beyond our means. 

President Obama has been dealt the very unattractive hand of cards.  Fully blown recession… plummeting markets… “sub-prime mortgage” toxic assets leading to the collapse of the banking system… fall of the automotive industry…  It was the end of the World we all knew.  We were sailing in the uncharted territories.

According to the principles of the Keynesian economy the only thing, which might have had any positive effect on the ailing (read: dying) US economy was “the transfusion” of money pumped directly in it. 

The plan bailing out the banking system (and the automotive industry) suggested by the previous president economical team, was implemented by Obama.  It was supposed to work… but did it work?   

No one can actually tell if without it we wouldn’t slip in even deeper recession than the one we experienced.  No one can tell, and yet the Republicans haven’t lost a single moment without bickering about it and accusing Obama of socialist tendencies (since the “people” had a stake in the “helped” industries – at least until the loans were paid off). 

At the same time the Republican Party (who for decades already was leaning toward the protection of the wealthiest layers of the American Society) forced the President to extend the, so-called, Bush Tax Cuts for the next few years, depriving the economy of additional $800 Billion (the bush Tax Cuts cost the economy roughly of $2.5 Trillion – through 2010) (*4).

As a result of the slow recovery, and the partisan tag-of-war, the country ended up where it is right now – with $14.3 Trillion of the outstanding Public Debt (Republicans do not compromise on the tax cuts, but have a great appetite to reduce or totally cancel the entitlements like Social Security, MedicAid, and MediCare, which, although expensive, provide a safety net for those who are not in the 1% rich margin of the society). 

In 2010 the people spoke… America voted for a change… any change.  The voters brought to the Congress young and aggressive Tea Party members who have only one goal:  lowering taxes, lowering spending – by any means, sacrificing anything and anybody in the process.  These young Republicans do not care if they would be reelected.  They are on a mission – reduce the government spending and force the new law preventing the government from doing what the government is elected for – taking care of the country’s citizens, including those who are the most vulnerable:  poor, elderly, students…

Recently Senator McCain felt offended after Senator Kerry blamed the Tea Party for the S&P’s downgrade saying: "Lately the Democrats have been calling us terrorists, so we need to lower that level of rhetoric." (*5)

Well, the whole country was held hostage by a group of unscrupulous Tea Party, inflexible members – it wasn’t a ‘fiscal responsibility’, but extortion.

             3.            When I was growing up I learned about the “American Dream”, about the “land of prosperity”, about the “land of endless opportunities”…  It was a place, where in the sixties, Herb & Dorothy Vogel (a librarian and a postal worker), could live on one, modest salary in New York City, spending the other on purchases of the modern art from the emerging artists (about 4000 works over 45 years). 

Unemployment was low, almost not present in “all white” neighborhoods…  it was a time when the “economical” cars had “only” 302 cubic inches engines, to save on gas… Yes it was a fuel crisis, but otherwise all the principles of the American dream were accessible, and unshaken.

In 1969, the top tax bracket was 77% of the income with 14% in the lowest bracket.  And America didn’t have a revenue crisis. 

And then in 1981 came the Republican President Ronald Reagan and in 8 years of his presidency reduced the top tax bracket to 38% with 11% of the lowest bracket.  It is the time, when the America started having the fiscal downturn.  The previous president, President Carter passed America to Reagan with only 35% of GDP debt.  It is rather symptomatic that the most praised by Republicans President (who’s famous one liner has been repeated since, zillion of times by the young Republicans – “The Government is the problem”) is responsible for the beginning of the demise of fiscal statue of the country.

I was observing the months of “debt ceiling scandal” with total disbelief…  I would like to have a trust in the elected public servants.  However, they have proved that it is completely impossible.  I still hope that it may change, that the American Voter is smart enough to see who is on the side of the 300 Millions of the US Citizens and wants to preserve the benefits for those who worked their whole lives, and need them at their Golden Age. 

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Everybody understands (or they should), that there are no issues sacred enough not to be touched.  The country needs ravenous, not only cuts, so the TAX REFORM has to happen, and has to happen soon.  The Richest and the most privileged have to start, again, paying their honest share.  As far as I know – many members of this group do not mind repaying the society for their fortune.  It’s just a good karma…

We have to get rid of the subsidies to the oil industry, finally, when the barrel of crude is between $80-110.

Both MedicAid and MadiCare have to be reformed, because the bureaucracy inherited from the period when these programs were incepted, kills the effectiveness of these programs. 

We have in America the most expensive, and yet, not working properly health care industry.  This requires an overhaul.

The credit rating of the country has been downgrading to AA+.  The biggest US creditor, China, impatiently reminded the US of its obligations.  Are the finance charges going to be raised – probably not.  So hopefully, with a slap on the wrist, we can start putting our fiscal house in order. 

It’s not going to be easy, since the question remains: Are we going to experience the double dip recession?  After the American Debt Ceiling crisis, and the European Euro-Zone near collapse – the World’s economy may be in such a vulnerable shape that the current CORRECTION of the major market indices may be a beginning of the long lasting DEPRESSION.  Corrections happen, sometimes deep, and painful, but they are needed to deflate overbought industrial sectors.  Especially in the times as uncertain as nowadays the “market bubbles” are dangerous and have to be periodically removed. 

The market sold off across the board.  All markets in the World lost a lot of their value.  However, the US Treasury Bonds seem to be an attractive article, suggesting that the S&P downgrade has been already calculated in the market, and right now the whole World’s economy is the main concern of the traders.

Unfortunately, the Stock Market in general, as regulated as it is nowadays, driven by the resultant of the individual idiosyncrasies of the traders, is a very negative force in any economically unstable situation.  In such times an old rule: “Anyone’s loss is Someone’s gain”, doesn’t really apply.  Overacting market can and often does deepen the economical crisis. 

For some reason, a common knowledge of this fact doesn’t prevent that from happening. 

One may just hope…

____________________________________________________

*1 - http://www.treasurydirect.gov

*2 - http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/171871-democrats-cite-reagan-in-arguing-for-debt-ceiling-increase

*3 - http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2011/04/14/158424/republican-leaders-debt-limit-hypocrisy/

*4 - http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/06/07/237560/10-years-bush-tax-cuts/

*5 - http://interaksyon.tv/article/10376/us-lawmakers-trade-blame-for-credit-downgrade

US crisis of irresponsibility – XIV Amendment solution?

Clock is ticking, counting out the last days of the era of the US superiority in the World.  What we have been witnessing in the recent weeks in the American political theater is nothing short of the PARTISAN FISCAL IRRESPONSIBILITY. 

America is in debt.  Most of the countries are.  This is nothing new, nor exceptional.  But when the publicly owned debt approaches the amount of the GDP – it puts us in the position not much better than the one of Portugal, Ireland, and Greece (with the newest shaky member – Cyprus).

All our Presidents so far have raised the “debt ceiling” repeatedly (president Reagan did it 18 times in his 8 years of presidency) without as much as a cry from the Congress.  Although the fact of increasing of the Government debt is not something we should be proud of, the obligations, which have been already approved must (I stress the word MUST) be honored and paid.  We can argue as long as the political climate allows, on the budget and the ways of reducing the crippling debt (43 cents of each Dollar spent are borrowed), but it shouldn’t have any bearing on fulfilling the obligations, to which we are already committed.

As President Obama said yesterday, “there are many ways of getting out of this crisis”, some might have breathed easier.  But until the actual, constructive plan for resolving this congressional impasse is approved by the politicians on both sides of the isle, we are getting dangerously closer to the World’s Financial Armageddon.

This crisis has been belittled by many who couldn’t understand it’s true gravity.  Some even came out with the “silver bullet” solution.  This mysterious “silver bullet” is supposed to be the “XIV Amendment to the US Constitution”. 

Let’s have a look at the document, in question:

Section 4:
“The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by the law, including debts incurred for payments of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. (…)

Section 5:
The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.”

This is the letter of the law.  Although is reassures the legality of the public financial obligations, it leaves the matter in the hands of the Congress. 

It would be completely unconstitutional (and thus open for any challenges in court) for the President to invoke the XIV Amendment and unilaterally raise the debt ceiling.  The matter has to go through its normal, congressional channels.

The impasse continues… Clock is ticking…

Let me end this short note paraphrasing the lyrics of the popular in the eighties song by Sting:
“I am sure the Republicans love their children too…”

Gaza Strip - victim of an illegal siege...

Gaza Strip has become one of the most discussed topics among the progressive crowd.  There have been many aspects of Palestinian people situation, which stirred the public opinion in the recent years. 

To name a few:

Israeli occupation of Gaza Strip and West Bank and its legality;

Oslo 1993 and the shift of security responsibilities to the Palestinians;

Yasser Arafat, and the PLO;

Road-map to the Two-State-Solution;           

Hamas and Fatah in the context of security threat;

Intifadas and the right of Palestinian people to oppose the occupation;

Israeli “deterrence policy” and issue of “disproportional force”;

Naval Blockade of Gaza and a land siege of Gaza…

The Gaza Blockade and its legality has been a subject argued by scholars, legal experts, and many other non-professionals.  It has been discussed as long as it lasts, already more than 4 years. 

While the discussions continue, the inhabitants of the Gaza Strip are deprived of the fundamental, human rights.  They do not have the running water for many hours daily, along with the rolling blackouts.  They do not have enough supplies.  They do not have the right to build or repair their dwellings when the houses are destroyed by gunships during the frequent raids of IDF (with a “crown achievement” at the turn of 2007 and 2008 – Operation Cast Lead – during which 1460 Palestinian civilians were killed, and the whole infrastructure of the country ruined). 

The Gaza Blockade was originally imposed by Israel on Gaza to prevent the weapon smuggling into Gaza. 

At least it was it’s official explanation fed to the World’s media.  The true meaning of the Blockade however, and its effect on the people who are subjected to it, was conveniently belittled and/or omitted from the main stream of World’s news feeds. 

And then, in May 2010, the international “Gaza Freedom Flotilla” consisting of 6 ships departing from the Turkish ports attempted to break the Blockade.  The ships carried international supplies, tones of humanitarian aid, and hundreds of the Pro-Palestinian activists who were determined to educate the public opinion about the issue, break the Blockade, or…

…on May 31, many died trying.  After unsuccessful trials to intimidate the Flotilla crews, and stop the advancement, under the cover of night, the IDF boarded the biggest of the six ships MV Mavi Marmara, descending the commandos from the helicopters.  In the result of this raid, 9 of the activists have lost their lives.  All ships were hauled to the Israeli ports and the activists were interned for weeks.

Gene was out of the bottle.  The public opinion in the whole world (including Israel) responded firmly condemning the typical for all recent IDF actions – disproportional use of force. 

A year later, in June 2011, the new “Freedom Flotilla 2 – Stay Human” was formed, with the same humanitarian goal in mind, attempting to deliver the much needed supplies and medicines.  Initially the new Flotilla consisted of 10 ships with a 1000 activists on board, but due to the constant intimidation, and sabotage, the number of participant’s shrunk to fewer than 300, with a few dozen journalists.  All acts of sabotage were alleged to the IDF operatives, since in many cases, trained divers damaged the ships propellers, and in other cases the hauls got compromised.

For a long time before the organizing the flotilla, Israel unleashed the PR campaign warning the World about the “collective responsibility” if any of the activists taking part in the attempt gets hurt.  They announced also intention of stopping the Flotilla by the non-military means.

Several complains about the technical state of the ships were filed, alleging the non-sea-worthiness of the ships participating in the action.  Rigorous inspection proved it to be just an attempt to prevent them from the departure.

The Flotilla was supposed to set sail from the Greek ports.  Unfortunately the Greek authorities succumbed to the Israeli warnings and took action against the docked ships, forbidding them to exit.  The “Audacity of Hope” – the American flagship carrying a few dozen of American activists have been stopped by the Greek Coast Guard shortly before reaching the International waters, and it’s captain has been arrested (*1).  A French ship whose voyage originated in Corsica was stopped and interned while refueling in Crete.

To add the insult to the injury, several Western governments, also joined Israelis in piling the obstacles in front of the participants.  While the Great Britain, Netherlands, France, Canada, limited themselves to officially discouraging the activists from taking part in the Flotilla, the U.S. State Department warned Americans taking part in the flotilla that they may violate U.S. civil and criminal statue against delivering material support to terrorist organizations, and may face prosecution (*2).  In a travel warning, the State Department further advised U.S. citizens that they could face arrest, prosecution, and deportation by Israel if they join the flotilla (*3).

Is the Freedom Flotilla 2 going to get to Gaza eventually?  I doubt it.  But, did it achieve any of it’s goals?  The answer to this question is certainly positive.  It raised the World’s awareness of this severe and prolonged problem, again.

________________________

As I mentioned at the beginning, the legality of the Blockade itself has been debated vigorously, since it’s inception.  So, is it legal or not legal in the light of the international law?  Like in the criminal cases tried in the court of law, the judges (the public) have been influenced by the media and the spokespersons of the involved parties, for years. 

We know the reason, why originally the Gaza Blockade has been imposed – to prevent arms trafficking to the Hamas, who is recognized as a terrorist organization by the Israel (and America, but recognized as a legitimate Palestinian authority, democratically elected, by many other countries).

We all heard about a few Israeli soldiers who were kidnapped, tortured, and killed by the Hamas (or sometimes other extreme militant group), one of them is still in captivity today.  At the same time there are tens of thousand guerrilla fighters and civilians imprisoned for many years already in the Israeli prisons – without the hope for the timely release.

We all heard about a number of crude rockets fired from Gaza inside the territory of Israel, and the resulting from that deaths… a very small number of deaths, since the rockets are crude, imprecise, and do not go too far, and the Israelis can hide to the already built concrete bunkers when the attack starts (whereas when the Palestinian territory is attacked in retaliation, no one can hide anywhere – no one can build a bunker, since there is a ban on the concrete and other building materials, imposed by Israel). 

The Goldstone report, which findings shook the World’s opinion, brought up the accusation of the human rights violations and the war crimes allegations – all committed by the Israeli IDF troops during the Cast Lead campaign.  Israeli troops used the helicopter gunships and high precision bombs, and the civilian casualties just kept piling up – some say: purposely targeted.  But even the Goldstone report found that Hamas racket barrages (resulting in killing civilians), by their rudimentary design, and inability of the precision targeting, targeted civilians (since they could not discriminate between targets), and qualified as war crimes.

We all see, that both sides are guilty in this conflict.  Who is more guilty: to me the answer is simple – the side which uses disproportional force as a deterrence tool.  The Israeli Government officials have stated very often, that “they want to use enough force, so the future generations of the Palestinians will think twice before attacking any single Israeli target”.   This is the strategy, which has been efficiently appropriated from… the Nazis.  This is the strategy, which was used during the Second World War by the army of Adolf Hitler in Poland, Russia, and then in the Western countries as well.  For every attack on the Nazi property or a soldier, a group (might have been 50-100) of civilians was rounded up and stood up against a wall, and shot dead.  

This is the same deterrence strategy.  Did it work for Germans during the WWII?...  Is it so appealing, that any sane politician can have a desire to implement it?

For people who are familiar with the WWII, there are some other analogies, quite obvious, between what is happening to Gaza with it’s inhabitants, and the Jewish Ghetto in Warsaw (*4), where about 400,000 Jews were placed, without the right to travel, nor getting out of Ghetto.  Nazis also blocked any supplies to the Ghetto; there was a scarcity of food, no running water, and rolling blackouts.  There were countless raids of the soldiers, and systematic destruction of the infrastructure and the inhabitants…  It truly resembles the Blockade we observe now in case of Gaza.  Time has changed.  Roles have changed.  Now the Oppressed are the Oppressors.

_________________________

But what about the original question – is the Gaza Blockade, imposed in 2007 by Israel on the Gaza legal, or not?

Unfortunately, even before considering the Blockade itself the question about the legitimacy of the occupation of the Gaza and the West Bank arises.  We struggled with this issue already (I talked about it on May 22, 2011, in the article: “Does Palestine have a future? USA – Israel relationship – addendum”).

I will just quote again a fragment from the paper “Israel’s Borders Under International Law” (01.2007) by Anthony D’Amato, who is the Leighton Professor of Law at Northeastern University School of Law:

Point 9:    “(…) undeniable fact that the Kellogg-Briand Peace Pact of 1928, as definitively interpreted by the International Tribunal at Nuremberg in 1948 has abolished forever the idea of acquisition of territory by military conquest.  No matter who was the aggressor, international borders cannot change by the process of war.  Resort to war is itself illegal, and while self-defense is of course legal, a successful campaign of self-defense cannot extend so far as to constitute a new war of aggression all its own.  And if it does, the land taken may at best be temporarily occupied, but cannot be annexed. (…)  The legal boundaries of Israel and Palestine remain today exactly as they were delimited in Resolution 181.”(*5)

For argument’s sake, let’s disregard the conclusion of this paper, and numerous other studies. 

Putting the illegality of the Gaza occupation aside, let’s look at the other aspects related to the Blockade itself.

Gaza Strip is a tiny piece of land, 28 miles long, with the area of roughly of 139 sq miles and inhabited by circa 1.66 Million people.  It borders with Israel on 2 sides (North and East), with Egypt on 1 side (South),

and on the fourth side (West) is the shore of Mediterranean See.  In 2007, after the Hamas (democratically elected) became the Gaza’s Government, Israel established a complete naval blockade, as well closed all the borders with Israel (to stop and prevent the arms traffic to Gaza, as official statement read).  Egypt, participating in this siege closed its border with Gaza (Egyptian Vice President Omar Suleiman also cooperated with Israel on destroying numerous tunnels breaching the Egypt-Gaza border).

Israel claims that it imposed the blockade on Gaza in accordance with the international law - the law of blockade, which was derived from customary international law and codified in the 1909 Declaration of London.  It was updated in 1994 in a legally recognized document called the “San Remo Manual on International Law Applicable to Armed Conflicts at Sea”.

Shortly after the “boarding of MV Mavi Marmara by IDF commando” incident, the Reuters published one of the probably most cited articles on the issue (although very conveniently forgetful of facts): “Q&A: Is Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza legal?”, by Jonathan Saul (*6).  The article based its conclusions on loose interpretation of the “San Remo Manual on International Law Applicable to Armed Conflicts at Sea”.

General public never heard, nor read the document referred to, in this article.  Using it as a legal ground for the explanation, omitting the certain aspects of this, concise and not complicated paper, is just manipulative and misleading (*7).

And again, before we look at the particular points of this “Manual” and their application, we should ask if this Manual applies to the situation of the Gaza Blockade.  The San Remo Manual governs the behavior of the

hostile parties in the situation in which the LAWS OF WAR are in force.  It requires the actual proclamation of the war between states. 

According to mentioned already Anthony D'Amato, a professor of international law at Northwestern University School of Law, this is not a case.  Israel is in conflict with Hamas, and Hamas is not even a state.  D’Amato (quoted after The Washington Post - *8) stated that instead, the law of the Geneva Conventions would apply (*9).  

Putting this technicality aside (although it, by itself resets the view on the Blockade) we may examine the application of the particular points of the San Remo Manual.

A violation of any of the sections of this Manual would be a Violation of the International Law by the party imposing such a blockade (Israel) – deeming the Blockade itself illegal.  One cannot ‘chose and pick’ some regulation, while disregarding other, less convenient rules (*7).

PART I : GENERAL PROVISIONS

SECTION I : SCOPE OF APPLICATION OF THE LAW
1. The parties to an armed conflict at sea are bound by the principles and rules of international humanitarian law from the moment armed force is used.
2. In cases not covered by this document or by international agreements, civilians and combatants remain under the protection and authority of the principles of international law derived from established custom, from the principles of humanity and from the dictates of the public conscience.

***** The application of this section already shows shortcomings.  The article stipulates the necessity to adhere to the Humanitarian laws – like the Fourth Geneva Convention, which specifies that the belligerents cannot restrict food supplies, medicines and other aid; cannot obstruct medical evacuations; cannot prevent civilians from leaving the war zone; and cannot prevent civilians from pursuing their livelihoods.  The Israeli blockade violates all of these precepts.  In addition, neutral organizations including the International Committee of the Red Cross and Amnesty International have declared the blockade to be a form of “collective punishment” and a clear and flagrant violation of Israel’s obligations under the Geneva Convention.

PART IV : METHODS AND MEANS OF WARFARE AT SEA

SECTION II : METHODS OF WARFARE
Blockade

102. The declaration or establishment of a blockade is prohibited if:
(a) it has the sole purpose of starving the civilian population or denying it other objects essential for its survival; or
(b) the damage to the civilian population is, or may be expected to be, excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated from the blockade.
103. If the civilian population of the blockaded territory is inadequately provided with food and other objects essential for its survival, the blockading party must provide for free passage of such foodstuffs and other essential supplies, subject to:
(a) the right to prescribe the technical arrangements, including search, under which such passage is permitted; and
(b) the condition that the distribution of such supplies shall be made under the local supervision of a Protecting Power or a humanitarian organization which offers guarantees of impartiality, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross.
104. The blockading belligerent shall allow the passage of medical supplies for the civilian population or for the wounded and sick members of armed forces, subject to the right to prescribe technical arrangements, including search, under which such passage is permitted.

*****             102a – The Gaza population HAS BEEN DENIED objects essential for its survival.

Dov Wiesglass, the Israeli official and aid to Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert stated the intention of the blockade was "to put the Palestinians on a diet, but not to make them die of hunger." (*10) – violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention – Part III, Article 55 (*11).

102b – the damage to the population IS EXCESSIVE in relation to the concrete and military advantage.

103 – the blocking party HASN’T PROVIDED FREE PASSAGE of the foodstuffs and other essential supplies – the ships are not allowed in and on land transports are denied entry.

104 – Israel CONTINUOUSLY BLOCKS the medical supplies - violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention – Part III, Article 56 (*12).

_____________________________

Even if it may be argued that the implementation of the Blockade on Gaza wasn’t in violation of the International Law, and even if it may be argued that attack on MV Mavi Marmara on international waters wasn’t in violation of the International Law (according to the San Remo manual – the ships clearly manifested the desire to breach the blockade) – the abuses of the Humanitarian Law in all aspects of the Blockade are in clear violation of that International Law. 

Gene is out of the bottle. 

The Public awareness grows with every highly publicized, new detail of the conflict.

The World’s Public Opinion (including Israeli) recognizes that the most basic rights of the Palestinians have been affected, revoked, by the occupier, and the secure and peaceful lives of the Palestinians, subjected to the Blockade and other atrocities, have been disturbed.  The Public pressure on the governments grows day by day. 

Although discouraged by the stiff statements of the US and British Government officials, the Palestinians will seek the political recognition for the State of Palestine during the September Session of the UN.  The World’s Public opinion is already on their side.  How is it going to influence the UN decision? 

The UN Secretary General, serving his second term at this point, sided with Israel on the issue of the Freedom Flotilla.  Is he going to be more open on the issue of the recognition of the State of Palestine – before the “Two State Solution” is successfully implemented (if ever)?

Time will tell. 

However, when dealing with ‘unwilling’ party (like the Israeli government of PM Netanyahu), even the simple and logical solutions become impossible. 

It’s time for the Public Opinion to be heard stronger and louder. 

It’s the only hope of THE SUPPRESSED.

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*1 - http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/07/02/israel.gaza.flotilla/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

*2 - http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-28/u-s-lawmakers-say-americans-in-gaza-flotilla-may-be-prosecuted.html

*3 - http://www.voanews.com/english/news/middle-east/US-Warns-Americans-Against-Joining-Gaza-Aid-Flotilla-124393009.html

*4 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsaw_Ghetto

*5 - http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=%20956143

*6 - http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/06/02/us-israel-flotilla-gaza-idUSTRE65133D20100602

*7 - http://www.icrc.org/ihl.nsf/FULL/560?OpenDocument

*8 - http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/01/AR2010060102934.html?sid=ST2010053101699

*9 - http://www.icrc.org/ihl.nsf/WebList?ReadForm&id=380&t=art

*10 - http://sabbah.biz/mt/archives/2010/06/08/gaza-blockade-legal-hardly/

*11 - http://www.icrc.org/ihl.nsf/WebART/380-600062?OpenDocument

*12 - http://www.icrc.org/ihl.nsf/WebART/380-600063?OpenDocument

Weiner affair – what does it say about us…

After a short Sunday stroll in the Central Park, where I had an excellent New York Frankfurter at one of the numerous vendors stand, I came home for dinner.  A delectable “wiener schnitzel” appeared on my plate…  It’s name (and a recollection of the previous snack) obviously triggered some thoughts about the chain of events which have plagued the National political scene for quite a while.

A few weeks ago, when a friend asked me if I had written about the Dominique Strauss-Kahn scandal in my blog, I dismissed such a notion, since “I didn’t even want to ‘legitimize’ this kind of events by writing about it”.
Oh, well… when one thinks about the avalanche of “sexual scandals” in the recent, American history, one can’t help but notice it as a symptom of a bigger issue.  It’s 2011, but some of the changes in the fabric of the American society are not progressive, quite a contrary…

Indiscretions, extra marital affairs, prostitution, and any imaginable ‘kinkiness’, however unacceptable they might have been to others, have been a part of the everyday day life for many.  Sometimes such acts, or rather knowledge about them, stirred masses in the general contempt, other times they were just absorbed and forgotten.

However, one cannot forget the infamous Pope Alexander VI, whose illegitimate daughter Lucrezia Borgia became an epitome for the corruption of Renaissance Papacy. 
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Groups of Pilgrims and Puritans, escaping the religious persecution in the XVII century England established the settlements on the American Continent.  The modern day America (the USA) it’s the result of the evolution of the society, when subjected to the numerous, external factors (however, in 2011, “evolution” itself is often denied and considered a sacrilege by many, who after more than 200 years haven’t shed their ‘puritan mentality’). 
Those suppressed Protestants, with addition of later huge immigration of the Catholics from Europe, and (until today) from Latin America, forged our society to be strict and unforgiving on the sex related issues, especially pre-marital, and extra-marital sexual experiences.

When the lack of the media coverage and a ‘puritan shame’ of talking about these issues, put these events under the ‘unpronounceable’ social blanket, the society lived it’s life happily, skillfully avoiding the troubling subjects.  The politicians were the “champions of virtues”, and readily gave the ‘example’ of how to live “honest” life to the millions of the “little people”.  What was going on behind the closed doors of their residencies, and in the ‘red districts’ of their happy cities, never, or almost never saw daylight.

After the country shook itself from the horrors of the WWII, and the war hero who served as a president of the USA vacated the post, the new breed of politicians came to the front line.  Young and energetic, living the proverbial “American Dream” and enjoying the new Virtue – EXCESS, thriving on the high testosterone level, these new politicians often involved themselves in more or less public sex-capades.  The new media, being more aggressive and socially conscious, trained on the fights for the ‘human rights’, anti-war campaigns, and minority rights, didn’t leave “these stones unturned”.
A new President – JFK, was involved in many such stories, with one which was probably the most broadly publicized scandal of them all – an affair with the actress Marilyn Monroe.  And yet, the society didn’t react.  The country was about to change.

And then, suddenly, without any warning, the “sixties”, and “seventies” came with their sexual revolution, and gay awakening.  The phenomenon didn’t last long in it’s extreme form, but the new sexual standards, and approved behaviors made the deep and lasting change in the way sex have been treated afterwards in America.
Sex has been a powerful weapon in politics and business for a long time.  So, even in the sexually loose “seventies” movie director Roman Polanski was arrested and charged with a number of sexual offenses, resulting in his escape from the USA, and never returning here, where the outstanding warrant for his arrest is still in force.  America readily condemned him, even though the conspiracy theories were widely considered.
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The mid-eighties with it’s beginning of the HIV / AIDS epidemics calmed down the ‘seventies’ spirit and the puritan America returned to it’s “don’t ask – don’t tell” policy.  Growing, HIV infected part of the population, according to the general views, was nothing more than “gays, ‘IV’ drug users, and all other degenerates”.  Conveniently pushed in oblivion the HIV epidemic related research didn’t get public recognition, nor sufficient funding.  When Rock Hudson as a first celebrity AIDS victim died, the society breathed with a relief – he was Gay, thus in the ‘normal’ society there was nothing to worry about.
When Magic Johnson – one of the most successful basketball players, came out with a confession of his HIV infection as a hetero-sexual man, the confusion of the society was limitless… 

AIDS, considered by the most of the conservative, evangelical Christians, the God’s punishment for the amoral behavior, just added to the hypocritical treatment of sex as a part of human life.

In 1995, after years of a relative calm on this front, the sexual behavior of the US politician became a headline issue in all the media.  Both the Republicans and the Democrats conducted a crusade against the President Clinton, for his relationship with the White House intern Monica Lewinsky, with whom he had a “documented” relationship.  The President was forced to have a series of public, televised speeches denying the affair.  The congressional hearing was arranged in which he committed perjury claiming that he “didn’t have any sexual relationship with this woman…”, when the stains on the blue dress (later sold on eBay for thousands of Dollars) said otherwise. 
It was interesting to watch how righteous America became, even in New York City, even among the people who could have been brought on similar charges… Eventually the budget surplus and apparent growth of the country prevented the President from being impeached, but the seed was planted in America’s mind.

Unlike in other Western Democracies, like France, Italy, Germany etc, the private life of an American politician became a property of the Nation, and a subject to the public scrutiny, and occasional investigations.

However the result of such investigations differed based on the period “the crime” was perpetrated and the current political leaning of the Congress Majority.

Newt Gingrich has a “wonderful” history of indiscretions – he proposed to his 2nd wife when the first was recovering from treatments for uterine cancer (not yet divorced).  He proposed to the 3rd wife when his second wife had just been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.  So, a 3rd time married scruple-less politician is running to be a president of the USA on a “family values” ticket (he quits, comes back to the race, hard to keep track…).
John Edwards (who was a runner in the Presidential elections in 2008) came out about his affair and fathering a child during his long marriage with the wife Elizabeth, who was for a few last years fighting terminal cancer (she finally succumbed to it’s merciless force) - the America was appalled.
For some reason Newt Gingrich (R), having such a track record, is still eligible to have a political career, and dreams to become the most powerful politician in the World – the President of the USA.  At the same time John Edwards (D) became the target of investigation to prove that he might have misappropriated the campaign funds to pay the affair and it’s cover up. 
In this case the Democratic politician is taken out of the political equation for an affair, which in the previous case was conveniently dismissed and not accounted for.   

In March 2008, the New York Governor Eliot Spitzer (D) was forced to resign from his post (preventing the impeachment proceedings) for his involvement in a ‘prostitution scandal’.  Besides that particular flaw, he was considered a good governor, and a previous Attorney General of an impeccable record.  He wasn’t legally charged, since the public funds were never a subject of the scandal. 

In the recent years we had a number of sex scandals in the Congress in Washington DC, raging from the Congressmen on both sides of the Isle engaging in the sexual relationship with the staffers, to the homosexual relationship of some Congressman with the male Pages.  We can mention them ‘en mass’ but writing about them in detail would be a complete waste of time and energy. 
No matter how stupid, and inappropriate it is, if it happens between consenting adults, it shouldn’t be a subject to the public interest of any sort (unless a crime is committed).
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In the recent weeks we have all learned about a teenage son of Arnold Schwarzenegger.  Schwarzenegger until recently was a Governor of California (an actor, and bodybuilder before that).  The scandal wouldn’t be a newsworthy fact, if not for two details:
1. The mother of the boy has been employed by Arnold Schwarzenegger household for many years.
2. He has been (oh, well - not for long) married to Maria Shriver (from Kennedys’ clan).
Of course in case of the actors who are not politicians any more, the laxity of the public opinion is much greater, than in case of politicians. 
Although, not always.  In 1989, a very promising actor, Rob Lowe was ostracized for his amateur sex tape featuring a sex act of himself with two young women.  At that point the Studios couldn’t forgive him for a ‘bad publicity’ he received afterwards.  It cost  Rob Lowe many years of exclusion from the main stream of Hollywood.

In May 2011, the International Monetary Fund head, Dominique Strauss-Kahn was arrested at the JFK airport to which he rushed (forgetting his cell-phone in the hotel).  He was charged with several counts of the sexual assault.  The victim of the alleged crime was a maid from the hotel he stayed in while in New York.
He was a very powerful man.  He was a very rich man.  He was a candidate to the Presidency of France in the coming elections.  He was a man who in 2008 was involved in a hushed sex scandal.  
He had a sexual relationship with the aforementioned hotel maid.  For this alone, he has proven to belong to this exclusive group of Powerful Idiots, who exercise their powers to get sexual favors (paid one way or another) from the strangers (professional prostitutes or not).  This is a proven fact.
    Everything else is to be proven in court. 
       If he is a rapist – please – maximum penalty for the crime and the power abuse.
I am writing about it only because this man (beside being an amoral IDIOT) has been already condemned by the American society - because he did it with a maid, while on a business trip, while being married.  Before being proven to be guilty of a crime, he already lost the position of the Head of IMF, lost a chance to run in the elections etc.

I am not sympathetic to him in any way, but condemning him publicly for being an Idiot, before the court verdict, is wrong.
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Mentioned at the beginning of the article “wiener schnitzel” was tasty, but it’s a matter of the past.

We are still stack with the newest sex scandal of the Democratic Congressman Anthony Weiner.
It would be a completely negligible, not news worthy event if it wasn’t for an absolutely idiotic attempt to hush things up by the Congressman himself. 
As far as it was reported by the major networks, the Congressman Weiner (NY, D) sent an inappropriate, “revealing” image of his private areas to one of his admirers… via Twitter. 
When he realized what he did, he pulled the Tweet out, and instigated a false campaign, claiming the outrage from “his Twitter account being hacked in, and a picture of the sort sent out in his name…”. How detached from reality one has to be, to attempt a cover-up like that? 

Until this event I admired the Congressman Weiner for his political stand, and for the wisdom. 
Well, the last term of the previous sentence, at this point is a very questionable quality. 

The Twitter hacking is a crime, so the proper investigation has been conducted.  The media already have learned about the history of Internet relationships he was involved in.  By itself, this testosterone instigated activity of a vain, self centered individual, however disgusting it might seem, shouldn’t be neither judged publicly, nor even brought to the public knowledge. 
As it is in many other countries, until the behavior is illegal, or causes harm to others, or to the cause, it should stay in the “non public” realm.  Everybody is responsible to one’s peers for one’s behavior, and is judged by the peers on constant basis.  There is no point to make a public Inquisition trial of a non-criminal mater, just to cause the political punishment, end of the career etc.
Congressman Weiner has been asked by the Democratic Party to resign from his post - even though 65% of his constituency opposes doing so.

What is the future of the Congressman Anthony Weiner (whose name has been always a target of tasteless jokes, and probably always will be)?  What is the future of American sense of Morality and the public abuse of it?  What is the future of American Political System (no matter what side it’s leaning to) if the politicians are subjected to so deep scrutiny of their private (I stress the word: private) lives?

Let’s make it clear: I do not defend a morally wrong behavior of any individual (no matter if a private citizen, or a politician).  Many of the aforementioned affairs caused the families of the involved to suffer.  This is not acceptable.  However, moral judgment is a matter of one’s conscience, not the law, and it should remain private.  It shouldn’t be used as a tool of any political leverage.

America, contrary to it’s Constitution (which clearly states the separation of the State and the Church) is a very religious country.  So, “He That Is Without Sin Among You, Let Him First Cast a Stone ...”

Does Palestine have a future? USA - Israel relationship – addendum.

I believe that at this point certain details pertaining to this subject need some additional clarification:

1.    Let’s make it clear, the right of Israel to exist, and the Israelis to live in peace and prosper is undeniable.  No one can question that right.  Like no one can deny or question the same right in case of Palestine and the Palestinians.

2.    When President Obama called for the Two-State solution, that permanent borders should be based on the pre-1967 borders, he didn’t ask for anything extraordinary.  These borders were warranted by the Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338.  UNSR 242, passed in November 1967, calls for the “withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict.” (referred to the Six-Day war of 1967).

3.    The International law may be confusing for many, as any other kind of law is for non-lawyers.  It’s interpretation given sparingly by the politician like Michelle Bachman, or other ‘eagles’ of the Republican Party are in most cases not only “slightly distorted and bent” to fit their agenda, but flatly WRONG.

Researching the subject, recently I came by, an essay by Anthony D’Amato (*1). ANTHONY D'AMATO is the Leighton Professor of Law at Northwestern University School of Law, where he teaches courses in international law, international human rights, analytic jurisprudence, and justice.
The title of the paper is: ISRAEL’S BORDERS UNDER INTERNATIONAL LAW  (January 2007).

Let me bring a few excerpts from this paper:

“Abstract:   
Israel cannot obtain legal title to any territory by conquest. Thus Israel's borders were legally established by the United Nations Partition Resolution of 1947, which ended Great Britain's power as a trustee on condition that an Arab State and a Jewish State would be established with borders as demarcated in the text of the resolution. Those borders remain the legal boundary of the State of Israel.”

point 8:    “(…) As far as the Israeli settlements are concerned, they are clearly illegal; an occupying power has no right to engage in de facto annexation of portions of the occupied territory by way of population transfers.”

point 9:    “Overshadowing the arguments in Paragraph 8 above is the undeniable fact that the Kellogg-Briand Peace Pact of 1928, as definitively interpreted by the International Tribunal at Nuremberg in 1948, has abolished forever the idea of acquisition of territory by military conquest. No matter who was the aggressor, international borders cannot change by the process of war. Resort to war is itself illegal, and while self-defense is of course legal, a successful campaign of self-defense cannot extend so far as to constitute a new war of aggression all its own. And if it does, the land taken may at best be temporarily occupied, but cannot be annexed.(…) The legal boundaries of Israel and Palestine remain today exactly as they were delimited in Resolution 181.”

4.    On July 9, 2004, the International Court of Justice (in Hague) ruled that the planned 425-mile barrier that slices into occupied Palestinian territory on the West Bank and annexes East Jerusalem is illegal under international law and should be torn down.
Norman Finkelstein in January 2008 in his lecture in Edinburgh (*2), UK, summarized the decision of the ICJ from July 2004:
“(…) On the question of Israeli borders the ICJ was unequivocal. Since, according to international law, land may not be acquired by force, and since Israel acquired land in Gaza and the West Bank this way, it is, ipso facto, illegal.  There is, therefore, in effect, no dispute regarding the disputed territories: international law is clear and straight forward – the land does not belong to the Israelis.  Therefore, following on from this judgment, Israeli settlers are settled on land that was obtained illegally, and are thus in flagrant violation of international law.  (…)”

5.    It leaves just on issue to be clarified – the role of the United States in the process leading to the creation of a viable, self-determined, contiguous, Palestinian State.
America and Israel are a long time allies, being also long time friends (if this word means anything in the international relationships).  Their interests in the stabilization in the Region are also very similar.  With one difference:  it is Israel, which receives the annual allowance, going on in Billions of Dollars from the USA… not other way around.
One would think, that a “friend” like the US could influence a “friend” like Israel, to comply with the international law, and finally allow this, tiresome for the whole World, feud to end peacefully, and permanently, with the benefit of all parties involved... 
Otherwise, our – American, friendly advice, and pressure is just an empty campaign slogan. 
Romans used to say: DURA LEX, SED LEX (harsh law, but it’s law).  

Shouldn’t we expect one of the “World’s leading Democracies” (like Israelis like calling their country) to follow it and obey it?


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*1 - http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=%20956143
*2 - http://thegulfblog.com/2008/01/26/finkelstein-on-the-israeli-palestinian-situation-its-not-complicated/

Does Palestine have a future? USA - Israel relationship.

When considering the most important issues, which influence the World’s politics, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict rises to the top of the list.  During the last sixty years, this conflict has been used by many as an important bargain chip, ground for “extortion”, or sometimes a sheer pretext for the individual, or state instigated acts of violence, in all sorts of forms and dimensions.
As mentioned in my previous post on the subject (April 29, 2011 – “Egypt, Israel and Palestine – volatile mixture…”), this conflict is probably the best known conflict in the World, the same time being one of the most difficult to define and systematize, let alone solve.

Launched repeatedly, heavy handed and un-proportional Israeli responses to the Palestinian militants assaults, along with the consistent policy of spreading new settlements to the occupied Palestinian territories, have been greatly ignored by the World.  This denial hasn’t changed even after the independent body of experts came back from the fact-finding mission, and created a report revealing the crimes against humanity committed by the occupying forces (Goldstone Report – on late 2008, early 2009 “Cast Lead” Israeli Military Campaign – in Gaza).
It’s worth noting that the report itself has been a target of attacks and dismissal both by the Israeli, and American legislative bodies.
Solving of the Palestinian-Israeli “problem” has been on the agenda of many American administrations.  Most of the time the efforts have been limited to the “lip service”, yet a few American leaders pushed the normalization process closer to the lasting peace solution, treading carefully between the mutually exclusive demands of the interested parties.

Our previous Administration brought the “lip service” to the new, unprecedented level of “excellence”. 

Since Barack Obama took the office of the President of the USA, the new hope has been brought by his numerous speeches on the subject.  The most famous was his Cairo University speech in 2009 in which he promised the new, completely revised US policy toward the Middle East and the “notorious” Palestinian-Israeli relationship.

Mistrust toward America in the Arab World is nothing new.  Unfortunately it hasn’t changed with the Arab Spring.  While the Arab “Street” counted on a decisive from the White House, during the Tunisian, and Egyptian Revolutions, the support hasn’t happened in a timely manner.  In such dramatic, and dynamic times “timing” is everything.  However, the American Administration waited with the support of the movement until the Dictator (Mubarak) was already on his way out.  It didn’t go well with the highly emotional, and hungry for recognition, crowd.
During the revolution, there were no Anti-American (and no Anti-Israeli) demonstrations.  No flag burning, no inflammatory rhetoric.  Had the support from the Obama Administration been strong and timely, we would have seen by now the American flags waving proudly on the streets of Cairo…  And yet, we do not see them now.  One of the decisive factors leading to this ‘cold-shoulder’ is, and has been for a long time, the Palestinian-Israeli issue.
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The split in the Palestinian factions, which lasted since 2005, has been ended recently, when both parties agreed to end hostilities, and join forces to organize the parliamentary elections within a year.  The SPLIT, while lasted, was a very convenient factor, for all whose interest lay in de-legitimizing the Palestinian authorities. 
As per old Roman war rule: “divide and conquer” – two, little Palestinian territories, divided by a body of Israel proper, with the governments actively fighting with each other, were much easier to handle.
The historic moment of Hamas-Fatah agreement shook the delicate equilibrium of the region. 
It was met with the aggressive negation and threats of the Netanyahu Government who still considered Hamas a terrorist organization, and wouldn’t negotiate with it.
It was met with cautious, and hopeful position of the American Administration.
It was met with an ecstatic approval of the “Arab Street”, and all the pro-Palestinian activists around the World.
________

On May 19, 2011, President of the USA, Barack Obama, in his televised speech, spoke to the Americans (and anybody who listened) on his Middle East policy.  It would be a great exaggeration to say that the World waited anxiously for what President Obama had to say.  No, after 2 years in office, and numerous failures to deliver on promises given during his pre-election campaign, or on other occasions (including the Cairo speech), the World, especially the Arab World developed certain “immunity” to the round, and promising statements of such speeches.
However, the significance of this particular speech is not to be diminished – it was televised a day before a scheduled meeting between Obama and the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

It has been obvious to all the political observers, that the American Principles of Democracy, along with championship for the Civil Freedoms, and Human Rights, are not necessarily in accord with the short-term, and/or long-term interests of the United States and it’s allies, especially considering the stabilization in the region, counter-terrorism, as well as oil resources.  President Obama acknowledged that the resulting from it policy has to be a compromise of all these factors.

Obama quickly summarized the American position in consideration of the Arab Spring, emphasizing the American involvement in the Libya crisis, remembering the decisive support (although quite late, too late, according to the ‘street’) for the democratic movements in Tunisia and Egypt.  He expressed the strong disapproval for the Yemeni President, and called him to step down.  When addressing the Syrian uprising, his judgment fell much shorter than in the previous case, leaving up to the President Assad, either to lead the country through the democratic process, or step down. 
It leaves the Bahrain, where the government forces cracked down on protesters, with hundreds of dead, and others dying without help (since the ER services were prohibited to take the casualties for treatment).  Since the Bahrain is a home to our 5th Fleet, a simple advice to refrain from the violence and a call for the dialog sufficed (?).  He remarked though: “you can’t have a real dialog when part of a peaceful opposition is in jail”.

A week before the G-8 Summit, Obama promised the strong support for the economies of the “new countries” like Tunisia and Egypt, including a $1 Billion relief of the Egypt’s debt, and pressing for the investment opportunities.

The President’s speech, although very mildly, created an unusual political situation.  Contrary to the previous administration, he stated firmly that the ground for the Two-State solution must be based on returning to the PRE-1967 borders, with some necessary ‘swaps’ (a quite fuzzy term ‘swaps’ created a lot of mistrust and aggravation in the Arab World).  This statement, unnoticed by many, and later downplayed by the Press Secretary, by itself set Obama’s plan on the different platform, than the previous ones.
Beside this changed approach all remained the same – including shifting the responsibility to the Palestinians for creating grounds for negotiating with Israel (Hamas is still considered a terrorist organization by the US and Israel).

Immediately after the speech transmission came the reports of the reactions to it throughout the region, varying greatly depending on a party responding to it:
1. The Israeli Government dismissed it angrily arguing that the border from pre-1967 shouldn’t be a part of any ‘road plan’ since this condition was already abandoned (wrongly so) by the previous US Administration.
2. the official, Palestinian Government statement was cautiously optimistic, accepting the new political atmosphere as a good turn, even accepting the responsibility to convince the opponents of their good intentions.
3. The Palestinian “street”, however, didn’t react too favorably, summarizing it as “usual empty words”, which they have heard multiple times throughout the years.
________

On May 20, 2011, President Obama met in Washington D.C. with the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.  While a day before Obama suggested the return to the pre-1967 borders for the Two-State solution talks, Premier Netanyahu announced plans to build two, new settlements in the occupied West Bank.  As summarized by a British journalist Robert Fisk on Al Jazeera yesterday, even Netanyahu was surprised by lack of demands to freeze the settlements from the President.
As expected after the violent reaction to the Obama’s speech by Premier Netanyahu, the talks between the two partners didn’t go too well today.  While President Obama, after the talks, still expressed some hope for the progress of the negotiations, Premier Netanyahu flatly rejected all of the Obama’s suggestions, both concerning the 1967 borders and the Palestinian refugees repatriation.  He actually had audacity to reject all Obama’s offer with a face of an offended child.
Netanyahu stated:
1.    Israel couldn’t return to the borders from before 1967, because these borders would be un-defendable, and because of the “certain” changes which happened on the ground – demographic changes, which happened during these 44 years. -------- Am I missing something?  These demographic changes are the result of the ILLEGAL settlements on the ILLEGALLY occupied territories!  How can anybody use them as an argument?
2.    Israel can’t negotiate with the Hamas, since it is a terrorist organization, which doesn’t accept the Israel’s right to exist. -------- According to the Hamas-Fatah statements, Hamas promised to freeze all the hostilities toward Israel and lead to the general elections in which a legitimate government would be elected.  So, where is the real problem?  Unless the peace is not in the Israel’s intentions…
3.    President Abbas has a choice now to either have peace with Israel, or a peace with Hamas – both mutually exclusive. -------- Considering point 2, no comment.
__________

Let’s draw here a line in the sand.

A few hours after the president’s speech, yesterday, in the Gould Hall in New York, lucky 500 people, who could buy the tickets to this event, participated in the panel discussion under the title: “Blueprint for Accountability: Gaza, Goldstone and the Crisis of Impunity”.
The event was organized by a couple of non-profit organizations: Culture Project (cultureproject.org), and MondoWeiss (mondoweiss.net).  Both very vocal on the subject of the human rights and their abuses.
The participants of the panel have been chosen very carefully and all brought to the discussion the passion and the expertise:
a Canadian journalist, writer, film producer, and human right activist, Naomi Klein,
Noura Erakat, a professor of international human rights law in the Middle East at Georgetown University, Palestinian lawyer and an activist,
Colonel Desmond Travers, a retired Irish Army Colonel, member of judicial panel, which created the Goldstone Report,
Currently he serves on the Board of Directors at the Institute for International Criminal Investigations (IICI).
Lizzy Ratner, who is a journalist and a co-editor of a book “The Goldstone Report: The Legacy of the Landmark investigation of the Gaza Conflict”.
The discussion was moderated by an activist and a journalist herself, Laura Flaunders.

For most of the people the term Goldstone Report doesn’t create any associations.  Since it was officially dismissed by both Israeli and the US, it fell into oblivion very fast.  However, the report itself is just a fruit of a several months of a hard work of a dedicated group of experts sent to the Gaza Strip on a FACT-FINDING mission, after the UN had been alerted about the possibilities of the human right violations and in fact, crimes against humanity, committed by the Israeli Army against the Palestinians, and Hamas against the Israeli population.

As I mentioned in the beginning of this article, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is probably the best-known conflict in the World.  Yet, at the same time is probably the most misunderstood and misrepresented, the most lied about, the most covered up, and the most unclean conflict in the World.

The Palestinian population, especially in the Gaza Strip, living on a sliver of land, less than 4 miles wide, is a subject to the Israeli occupation, resulting in the restriction on any movement, travel, extremely high unemployment, shortage of medicines, shortage of basic necessities, including water… The inhabitants of the Strip do not have a right to leave the Strip under any circumstances.  It applies also to those who seek a medical treatment abroad.  Most of the Palestinian population of Gaza is too young to know, to remember what freedom actually means and feels.  On the top of that, Gaza, from time to time, is a subject to the military intervention like the operation “Cast Lead” in December 2008, when in 22 days, roughly 1450 Palestinians were killed (as estimated - 900 civilians), while the Israeli death tall reached 13.  Along the human casualties, the whole infrastructure of the country is being destroyed.  Methodically, and systematically.
This A-SYMMETRIC warfare, disproportional use of force by the occupier’s army, rises immediately suspicions of the crimes against humanity – thus the reason for the creation of the investigative, fact-finding team, and publishing of the Goldstone Report as a base for a future criminal proceedings (if they can ever get through the “red tape” of the international politics). 

Everybody, even the strongest, and the most “alpha-male” individuals are subject to the law.  All the countries and their agencies, even the most advanced and the strongest, are subject to the international law.  There is no exception.  The international Criminal Court in Hague is quite busy with the cases of the former military leaders who have been accused of perpetrating the crimes against humanity.   On it’s benches for the accused, we have seen Military men from the Balkans, we have seen Military men from the African countries, and we are waiting to see the Colonel Gaddafi on it soon.

So far, according the old Roman rule – WINNERS ARE NOT JUDGED.  But it may change…

Osama Bin Laden killed...

Almost 10 years after the destruction of the World Trade Center and the attack on Pentagon, on May 1, 2011, Osama Bin Laden, the founder and the leader of AlQaeda was killed in the US Special Forces action, 35 miles out of Islamabad, Pakistan. It seems, that America is not going to sleep tonight.  All the US Cable channels show nothing, but the celebrating crowds.  Suddenly both Democrats and Republicans got unified and express their "joy" - however inappropriately this word may sound in such a moment associated with death.
One may only compare it to the images from Misrata or Benghazi when the Libyan Opposition celebrated the death of one of the Gaddafi's sons in a Nato air strike yesterday.

The death of "Number ONE" on the US Most Wanted list is a moment of a profound symbolic significance.  It was a man who for 20 last years devoted himself to the destruction of the America and the Western way of life.  He has failed.

AlQaeda is not yet defeated.  Far from it.  Quite possibly Bin Laden's death may not mean a lot in an actual fight with AlQaeda.  There is a long fight ahead of us.  But at least, the man who has been defying us and our efforts, who through the incendiary rhetoric was creating the ranks of new suicide bombers and AlQaeda fighters - is no more.