The Report and the riots
There were riots in the Old City on Sunday amid rumors in the Palestinian community that Jews were taking over the Temple Mount. The fact that this was not happening did not prevent several hundred Palestinian men from invading the area and clashing with Israeli police. Stones and bottles were thrown and arrests were made. The police brought up reinforcements and closed the area from Sunday afternoon.
There was a large police presence there Monday, for the annual Birkat Hacohanim service, the annual priestly blessing that takes place at the Western Wall below the Temple Mount. Meanwhile riots continued in areas of East Jerusalem, and one policeman was stabbed in Shufat.
One reason for the Palestinian rioting and the rumors of a Jewish takeover of the holy site was the decision by the UN Human Rights Committee not to endorse the Goldstone Report that highly criticizes Israel, but rather to allow the Report to remain before the Committee until the next meeting in March 2010. This means that the Report will not be submitted to the Security Council for action for at least another three months. Many Arabs think that this was a mistake and a defeat for their side when the pressure was on against Israel for carrying out "war crimes" during Operation Cast Lead in Gaza in 2006. How did this deferment come about?
Media reports are that the Israeli Government warned that if the Committee endorsed the Report, then Israel would withdraw from negotiations with the PA, and this would end current efforts by Pres. Obama to get the peace process going. Actually, the US also strongly criticized the Goldstone Report and were apparently not ready to deal with it in the Security Council, and may have pushed for a deferment of the vote for this reason. As a result, the US pressured the PA not to push the issue and other Arab Governments fell into line, allowing the Report vote to be postponed.
But, then there was a wave of indignation and criticism in the Arab world that Israel had been let off the hook, and questions were asked as to who was responsible for this mistake. The criticism of Pres. Abbas of the PA was so severe from all sides that he has established a Commission of enquiry to look into the matter to find out what really happened.
Some Palestinians say that this is the greatest failure of the PA since Pres. Abbas took over after Yasir Arafat died. The majority opinion seems to be that Pres. Abbas was himself responsible for this decision, but he is trying to deflect the criticism by establishing this Commission and by inciting the riots in Jerusalem. This is a time honored tactic by the Palestinians, whenever the Government wants to take attention away from their actions they incite the masses against the Jews by starting a rumor that the Haram al Sharif, the Temple Mount, is in danger.
This Palestinian scandal could have far-reaching consequences, at a time when Hamas is about to be rewarded by the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails in exchange for Gilad Schalit, and before a meeting in Cairo in October to discuss a joint Fatah-Hamas agreement to allow PA elections to take place in six months.. If it is perceived that Abbas deliberately allowed the consequences of the Israeli attack on Hamas in Gaza to be temporarily buried at the UN, this could be a body-blow for Abbas and for Fatah credibility. The Palestinians will always choose the more extreme jihadist option, in other words Hamas over Fatah and Abbas. This does not augur well for future peace efforts.
There was a large police presence there Monday, for the annual Birkat Hacohanim service, the annual priestly blessing that takes place at the Western Wall below the Temple Mount. Meanwhile riots continued in areas of East Jerusalem, and one policeman was stabbed in Shufat.
One reason for the Palestinian rioting and the rumors of a Jewish takeover of the holy site was the decision by the UN Human Rights Committee not to endorse the Goldstone Report that highly criticizes Israel, but rather to allow the Report to remain before the Committee until the next meeting in March 2010. This means that the Report will not be submitted to the Security Council for action for at least another three months. Many Arabs think that this was a mistake and a defeat for their side when the pressure was on against Israel for carrying out "war crimes" during Operation Cast Lead in Gaza in 2006. How did this deferment come about?
Media reports are that the Israeli Government warned that if the Committee endorsed the Report, then Israel would withdraw from negotiations with the PA, and this would end current efforts by Pres. Obama to get the peace process going. Actually, the US also strongly criticized the Goldstone Report and were apparently not ready to deal with it in the Security Council, and may have pushed for a deferment of the vote for this reason. As a result, the US pressured the PA not to push the issue and other Arab Governments fell into line, allowing the Report vote to be postponed.
But, then there was a wave of indignation and criticism in the Arab world that Israel had been let off the hook, and questions were asked as to who was responsible for this mistake. The criticism of Pres. Abbas of the PA was so severe from all sides that he has established a Commission of enquiry to look into the matter to find out what really happened.
Some Palestinians say that this is the greatest failure of the PA since Pres. Abbas took over after Yasir Arafat died. The majority opinion seems to be that Pres. Abbas was himself responsible for this decision, but he is trying to deflect the criticism by establishing this Commission and by inciting the riots in Jerusalem. This is a time honored tactic by the Palestinians, whenever the Government wants to take attention away from their actions they incite the masses against the Jews by starting a rumor that the Haram al Sharif, the Temple Mount, is in danger.
This Palestinian scandal could have far-reaching consequences, at a time when Hamas is about to be rewarded by the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails in exchange for Gilad Schalit, and before a meeting in Cairo in October to discuss a joint Fatah-Hamas agreement to allow PA elections to take place in six months.. If it is perceived that Abbas deliberately allowed the consequences of the Israeli attack on Hamas in Gaza to be temporarily buried at the UN, this could be a body-blow for Abbas and for Fatah credibility. The Palestinians will always choose the more extreme jihadist option, in other words Hamas over Fatah and Abbas. This does not augur well for future peace efforts.
posted by Jack Cohen at 9:46 AM
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