Monday, June 18, 2012

Gatestone Update :: Khaled Abu Toameh: Is the Palestinian Authority Losing Control in the West Bank?, and more


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Is the Palestinian Authority Losing Control in the West Bank?

by Khaled Abu Toameh
June 18, 2012 at 5:00 am
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The security crackdown in the West Bank has nothing to do with combating terrorism. The arrests and confiscations of weapons are part of an effort by the Palestinian Authority to fight crime and dissension within its own ranks.
In recent weeks, the Palestinian Authority security forces have been launching a massive crackdown on anarchy and lawlessness in various parts of the West Bank.
The crackdown was ordered by Abbas after he discovered what many Palestinians have known for a long time: that his security forces and Fatah loyalists are responsible for the chaos and anarchy.
Palestinians say this is the biggest operation to be carried out by the Western-funded security forces since Mahmoud Abbas was elected to succeed Yasser Arafat as president of the Palestinian Authority in 2005,
Dozens of Palestinian security officers, some of them holding very high ranks, have thus far been rounded up and transferred to a Palestinian prison in Jericho.
The officers, who were trained and armed by US and EU security experts over the past years, are suspected of involvement in various types of crime, including extortion, armed robbery, kidnappings, physical assaults and fraud. Some of them, according to Palestinian sources in the West Bank, are also suspected of involvement in trafficking weapons and drugs, The clampdown was ordered by Abbas following a series of incidents in Jenin, which reached their peak when unidentified gunmen opened tried to assassinate the Palestinian governor of the city, Kadoura Musa, who was not hurt in the assassination bid, but died a few hours later of a massive heart attack.
Jenin residents said that the assassination attempt provided further evidence that the Palestinian Authority has lost control over their city. They said that for the past few years, Jenin has been under the control of local gangs whose members consisted mostly of former Fatah militiamen and security officers.
The ongoing security crackdown has also resulted in the arrest of scores of Fatah gunmen who were part of the faction's armed wing, Aqsa Martyrs Brigades.
These security officers and Fatah gunmen have been imposing a reign of terror and intimidation on Palestinians not only in Jenin, but in other parts of the West Bank, including Nablus, the largest Palestinian city, and its nearby Balatta refugee camp.
Palestinian security sources say that the crackdown has also resulted in the confiscation of dozens of rifles and pistols, as well as large amounts of ammunition, that were found in the possession of clans, armed gangs and unruly security officers.
But while many Palestinians have expressed satisfaction with the decision to restore law and order, others have, meanwhile, criticized Abbas for acting in a "hysterical" manner.
Abbas's critics complain that the weapons that his security forces have confiscated were being kept for use against Israel.
In Balatta refugee camp last week, dozens of Palestinians took to the streets, chanting slogans against Abbas and his security forces. The protest drew a harsh response from Abbas, who instructed his security personnel to expand the crackdown inside the camp.
In the short term, the Palestinian Authority may succeed in restoring law and order to areas under its control in the West Bank. But in the long term, the clampdown will increase bitterness and frustration among a large number of Fatah gunmen and security officers who feel betrayed by Abbas.
Abbas loyalists argue that their president if facing an "international conspiracy" aimed at undermining and isolating him because of his refusal to resume peace talks with Israel. According to these loyalists, Abbas's enemies have been arming and funding disillusioned Fatah gunmen and security officers in a bid to spread anarchy and lawlessness in the West Bank.
Sources close to Abbas have identified the primary enemies as Mohammed Rashid, a former aide to Yasser Arafat, and Mohammed Dahlan, a former Fatah security chief. Both Rashid and Dahlan are currently waging a smear campaign against Abbas and his two businessmen sons, Tarek and Yasser, accusing them of financial corruption and abuse of power.
The security crackdown in the West Bank has nothing to do with combating terrorism. The arrests and confiscation of weapons are part of an effort by the Palestinian Authority to fight crime and dissension within its own ranks.
The clampdown could last for weeks or months. Abbas is fighting to regain control over refugee camps and other Palestinian communities that have fallen into the hands of gangsters and thugs.
In the last week, Abbas has renewed his threat to go back to the UN to ask for recognition of a Palestinian state if Israel does not comply with his demand for a freeze of settlement construction and acceptance of the pre-1967 lines as the future borders of the state. But before he heads back to New York, Abbas will have to prove that he has not lost control over certain parts of the territories which are supposed to be under his jurisdiction.
Related Topics:  Khaled Abu Toameh

The U.S. Politics of the Eurocrisis

by Peter Martino
June 18, 2012 at 4:00 am
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The problem is, however, that that even if Britain and the United States join in, European economies such as Greece and Spain keep contracting, making it ever more difficult for them to overcome their debt problems. Consequently they will keep on needing one bailout after another.
The eurocrisis has been festering for well over two years. What initially looked like a small problem, involving relatively small peripheral countries such as Greece, Portugal and Ireland, is now dragging the entire European economy into a recession.
During his first three and a half years in the White House, Europe was not high on Barack Obama's priorities. Belatedly, however, Obama seems to have realized that his own reelection next November might be in jeopardy if the eurocrisis leads to worldwide financial instability and global economic depression. Europe is the world's largest trading bloc. Thousands of American jobs depend on trade with Europe. Obama's chances of reelection are bound to diminish as soon as Americans start to lose jobs as a result of a eurocrisis spun out of control.
Nicolas Sarkozy, the former President of France, hoped that he would be reelected by the time that the eurocrisis would begin to affect France. He was wrong. France was hit sooner and deeper than Sarkozy expected, and he lost the elections. Similarly, Obama hopes that the eurocrisis will not begin to affect America before November. Play for time is the only thing he can do. And playing for time means the same for Obama as it meant for Sarkozy: He needs to persuade Germany to buy time by bailing out the bankrupt economies in Southern Europe.
During the past weeks, Obama has spent many hours on the phone with European leaders – and in particular with German Chancellor Angela Merkel -- to find a way to contain the eurocrisis. At this week's G-20 summit in Los Cabos, Mexico, more pressure was exerted on Frau Merkel.
Germany, Europe's economic powerhouse, is the only country in Europe capable of bailing out insolvent countries such as Greece and providing enough financial backing to prop up Spain's collapsing banks.
The problem is, however, that even if Britain and the United States join in, the European economies along the Mediterranean such as Greece and Spain keep contracting, making it ever more difficult for them to overcome their debt problems. Consequently, they will keep on needing one bailout after another, without the prospect of improvement in the foreseeable future. In 2010, Greece received a first bailout of €110bn. Germany provided the bulk of the money. Earlier this year, Athens received a second bailout of an even more staggering €130bn. Again, Germany provided the bulk of the money. This summer, Greece will need a third bailout. Meanwhile, last week, the eurozone countries decided to give Spain €100bn to bail out its banks. As usual, Germany will have to pay most of the money. But analysts say that another €200bn might be needed to save the Spanish banking sector.
As long as the Germans believe that it is in their interest to save the euro, the common European currency which ties Germany to countries such as Greece and Spain, they are prepared to keep paying the euro's rising price tag. But the German people are becoming exasperated and angry.
A growing number of Germans is losing faith in the eurozone. Others feel betrayed. Even ten years ago, when the euro was introduced as the common currency of several European countries, a majority of Germans was reluctant to give up the D-mark for the euro. They were reassured, however, by their politicians' promise that there would be no bailouts. Bailouts between European countries are, in fact, prohibited by the European treaties. Nevertheless, Europe's politicians have found legal loopholes to impose them anyhow. Reluctantly, national parliaments have consented to the bailouts out of fear that the bankruptcy of one eurozone country would drag the entire monetary union down.
A poll last week suggested that 69% of the Germans want Greece to leave the euro and return to the drachma, and 29% of the Germans want Germany to leave the euro and return to the D-mark. Either event – a Greek exit or a German exit – is expected to have enormous repercussions and dramatic consequences, not just for Europe but for the entire global economy. The cost would be enormous, but some Germans reckon that ultimately the price tag for Germany might be less than the price of continuing with the present policies of seemingly endless bailouts.
To secure his own reelection, Obama has to persuade Merkel to keep footing the euro bill at least until his own reelection is assured in November. Obama is fortunate that Merkel is a staunch believer in European integration and seems prepared to continue the present policies, even in disregard of her own rising unpopularity among the German electorate.
Last Thursday, however, Merkel warned that Germany is not strong enough to prop up the rest of Europe. "Germany's strength is not infinite. Its powers are not unlimited," she said in a speech delivered in the Bundestag, the German Parliament, but meant for her colleagues of the G-20 and especially for Barack Obama. Merkel wants the G-20 to help the Germans prop up the collapsing economies of the European periphery. "It is a herculean task, but it is unavoidable," she said, but hinted that Germany cannot continue to do it on its own.
Consequently, if Obama and other world leaders want Merkel to keep propping up the euro with German taxpayers' money, they will have to share some of the burden. Soon, the world will have to come to the rescue of Europe, and help to bail out the eurozone. Merkel knows that Obama needs reelection in November and that, if she wants to be successful in her effort to persuade America to assist her in her euro rescue effort, she needs to do it now. Until November, the euro's problems are Obama's problems, too.
Related Topics:  Peter Martino

Letter from Imprisoned Journalist Baris Pehlivan

by Baris Pehlivan
June 18, 2012 at 3:00 am
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"I have been sitting in prison for 17 months without any final verdict. The foundation of the case is based on fraudulent digital documents proven to have been planted on our computers by hackers. Nevertheless, my detention continues."
My dear colleagues,
I have been imprisoned for 17 months with the Odatv case, the clearest proof of the pressure on the freedoms of press and expression in Turkey. Hidden behind the prevarication of a "terror organization," journalism itself is being tried. Indeed: in the 134-page indictment, the word "news" appears 361 times; the word "book," 280 times; the words "column/editorial " 53 times; the word "interview," 26 times, and the word "article," 5 times. These are the most common words used to accuse the detained journalists in the Odatv indictment.
Along with these, in the 134-page indictment, the words "Fethullah Gülen" and "Cemaat"[1] were used 111 times. These figures clarify the essence of the indictment. News reports, books, and articles have been presented as "criminal evidence."
The foundation of the Odatv case is based on fraudulent digital documents proven to have been planted on our computers by hackers. Three Turkish universities (Yıldız Technical University, Middle East Technical University, and Bosphorus University) and one USA-based IT company have verified that these digital data did not belong to us and were uploaded by viruses.
Nevertheless, my detention continues.
My dear colleagues,
In conclusion, due to my activities as a journalist, I am unfortunately deprived unlawfully of freedom in my own country. I have been sitting in prison for 17 months without any final verdict. Journalism is a universal profession. Wherever a journalist is arrested and thrown into prison for doing his or her job, all of the world's journalists are under threat. Within this context, I hope the sensitivity you have shown against the trial of journalism in Turkey will continue until the end.
Thank you very much for your attention and support.
Sincerely,
Baris Pehlivan
Odatv.com Editor in Chief
[1] "Cemaat' is an Arabic word, used in Turkish, which translates to "community." It is the word used to describe the followers and supporters of Fethullah Gülen, a very controvesial figure in Turkish society.
Related Topics:  Turkey

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