With all of the unrest sweeping the Middle East, one place long-associated with bullets and bloodshed has so far been remarkably calm: the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
I recently traveled there for the first time in a decade and so much had changed. Cities once racked with violence like Ramallah, Hebron and Jericho are now bustling. Peaceful. Vibrant. Where Israeli bullets and Palestinian rocks used to fly, the biggest danger I felt was getting trampled by herds of shoppers or struck by taxis racing to their next fare.
The purpose of our visit was to look at what is behind this new security and prosperity in the West Bank -- and whether it could hold. One of the cornerstones of the new West Bank -- and the focus of our upcoming report -- is a little-known U.S. program that for about five years has been providing training and equipment to Palestinian national security forces. There are now some 3,500 of these freshly trained, professional and disciplined troops standing watch on West Bank streets.
The very idea that United States is supporting Palestinian troops would have been unthinkable not long ago -- these very troops previously existed to resist occupation of Israel, America's closest ally in the region. But what makes this story even more interesting is that these newly-trained Palestinian forces are now working shoulder to shoulder with Israeli soldiers against a common enemy: the Islamist group Hamas. Hamas is intent on wiping the Jewish state off the map; but it also wants to usurp the Palestinian territories from the Palestinian Authority. And in 2007, it had some success -- violently seizing control of Gaza Strip, which borders Egypt, from the Palestinian Authority and using the territory to launch rockets into Israel.
Both Israel and the Palestinian Authority fear Hamas' ambitions to extend to the West Bank. But the unlikely cooperation between their forces has managed to keep the group at bay there. This means the internecine street fights between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority are over for now. And the average Palestinian on the street has noticed -- filling Ramallah's coffee shops, restaurants and freshly-built shopping centers. Israel also has reaped the benefits. Notably, there hasn't been a suicide bomb attack there for about three years.
A great deal of credit for this cooperation goes to the Palestinian Authority's prime minister, Salam Fayyad. Peace talks between Palestinians and Israelis remain stalled at the starting gate -- and a more than 200-mile barrier and Israeli-manned checkpoints now divide much of the West Bank from Israel. But while the West Bank is not yet an official Palestinian state, it's sure starting to act like one.
Under Fayyad, the Palestinian Authority has been rooting out endemic corruption, building new roads and schools, and putting the security forces in charge of policing streets instead of the unpredictable local militias that once ran the show. The new security and stability has paid off: As much of the world economies are struggling, the West Bank's is growing at a healthy annual clip of about 8 percent. Much of this progress stems from Fayyad's simple strategy: Show Israel that Palestinian statehood is inevitable and beneficial for both sides of the barrier dividing the two lands.
"If we put together those institutions of state, who is going to be able to deny us that right to live as free people?" Fayyad told me. "Get that reality of state to grow in everyone, and -- and for it not to be seen as a threat to anyone."
But when we scratched beneath the surface, we found many West Bank residents uneasy with the idea of Palestinian forces working so closely with Israel -- especially when Israeli occupation interferes with their day-to-day life. Thousands of Palestinians spend hours each day waiting at checkpoints on their way to work; getting shouted at and searched by nervous young Israeli soldiers is part of the routine.
By working with the Israelis, the Palestinian National Security Forces will be the subject of intense public scrutiny. The average Palestinian will want to know that these new security forces are for their benefit and not exclusively for the Israelis.
This uneasiness is palpable in Hebron, one of the most volatile cities in the West Bank. When a family of Israeli settlers was killed there last year, Palestinian security forces rounded up some 700 West Bank residents with ties to Hamas. Many were held for months at a time, and we spoke to several who claimed they were tortured. But none were charged in the murders.
There's no doubt that Israel is under constant threat from its neighbors and that its leaders would be remiss in not obsessing over this fact. But the question that must be asked -- especially in the context of what's happening in Egypt -- is whether long-term stability is being sacrificed for short-term security. Will the West Bank -- and Israel -- be truly secure as long as its residents continue to feel their destiny is being determined by outside influences?
Dan Rather Reports airs Tuesdays on HDNet at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. ET.
Security offices there should be able to patch one through to the internet. But this may be the only way to get over the "too good to be true" attitude among 50% of the comments.
This is a blatant lie - and schilling for the rogue state should be a crime as it puts America and Americans in danger. As normal, the 180-degree rule is in effect here, where it is israel who constantly threatens and invades neighboring countries - even former prime ministers of israel have stated it was israel that started the '67 and '73 wars, not what's written in American school childrens' history books. But to pass the course, school kids have to learn (and believe) a blatant lie.
Really? Please provide your sources so I can verify.
a threat for at least 30 year's, quite good relations with Israel considering how it has
treated them and the West Bank.... Egypt, more interested in tourist's than fighting too...
Lebanon, a mess but hardly a real threat either.....Syria, content for the most
part with it's dictatorship and wanting no disturbance to it....
I would argue that the nations of the Middle-East are most threatened by their own right-wing, ultra-conservative, militaristic factions. Netanyahu, Lieberman, Ahmadinajad, Hamas, etc, are the people obstructing peace in the Middle-East.
Fact: Hamas has only done so during times of open conflict with Israel, and only based on Israeli actions against the people of Gaza. Mark Regev of the Israeli government admitted as much!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SILJxPTqjAM
The fact is, Hamas tries to police its own people to stop even those not associated with Hamas from launching rockets against Israel. They even fought a pretty long, pitched, costly battle against supporters of Al Qaeda who wanted to break the cease-fire!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/aug/15/hamas-battle-gaza-islamists-al-qaida
The simple fact is, Hamas is not some fringe group. They have made lear strides towards being a responsible, legitimate political organization, but are being systematically ignored by the governments of the West, despite the fact that they represent the wishes of many, if not most, of the Palestinian people.
"they represent the wishes of many, if not most, of the Palestinian people." That would include the following views taken from their lengthy Charter:
"Israel will rise and will remain erect until Islam eliminates it as it had eliminated its predecessors"
" For our struggle against the Jews is extremely wide-ranging and grave,"
"The Islamic Resistance Movement is one of the wings of the Muslim Brothers in Palestine"
"Have made annihilation the equivalent of life."
" The prophet, prayer and peace be upon him, said: The time will not come until Muslims will fight the Jews (and kill them); until the Jews hide behind rocks and trees, which will cry: O Muslim! there is a Jew hiding behind me, come on and kill him! "
"Peace] initiatives, the so-called peaceful solutions, and the international conferences to resolve the Palestinian problem, are all contrary to the beliefs of the Islamic Resistance Movement. For renouncing any part of Palestine means renouncing part of the religion; the nationalism of the Islamic Resistance Movement is part of its faith,"
and much much more.
And these are "the wishes of the Palestinians people".
"Under the wing of Islam, it is possible for the followers of the three religions - Islam, Christianity and Judaism - to coexist in peace and quiet with each other. Peace and quiet would not be possible except under the wing of Islam. Past and present history are the best witness to that.
"As to those who have not borne arms against you on account of religion, nor turned you out of your dwellings, Allah forbiddeth you not to deal kindly with them, and to behave justly towards them; for Allah loveth those who act justly."
In the 2006 elections, Change and Reform (Hamas) won a decisive majority in the Palestinian Legislative Council or Parliament. Of the 132-seat Parliament, Hamas won 74 seats, thereby ending the Fatah party's control of the Palestinian Authority. Fatah managed to win only 45 seats with the remaining 13 seats divided among smaller parties. Voter turnout was 77.7 percent.
International observers judged the elections fair and free of corruption.
The 2009 elections have been held up by Fatah, first because they attempted a violent coup (mounted by Dhalan with Israeli and U.S. aid). There has been a lengthy reconciliation process.
Hamas have accepted the Saudi brokered reconciliation document. It is Fatah who are dragging their feet - evidenced by the fact that Abbas' term was up two years ago and he has refused to step down.
Support for Change and Reform remains high (among Palestinian Christians also) because they remain steadfast in their refusal to trade away the rights of those Palestinians who were dispossessed by Israel but have offered Israel a ten year truce during which the refugee problem is to be negotiated.
Fact: Hamas won the last election decisively., winning the most seats in what is supposed to be a parliamentary democracy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinian_legislative_election,_2006
All direct US aid was suspended on 7 April 2006 as a result of the Hamas victory in parliamentary elections. Shortly thereafter, aid payments resumed, but were channeled directly to the offices of the Fatah Party in the West Bank, which lost the elections. Fatah imposed a corrupt, repressive politician to oversee security in Gaza. People were routinely rounded up, tortured, and even killed.
As for Hamas' violent seizure of control in Gaza, in 2008, evidence came to light proving that the US government was conspiring with the Palestinian Authority and Israel to attempt the violent overthrow of Hamas, and that Hamas pre-empted the coup. David Wurmser, who served as Cheney’s chief Middle East adviser until his resignation in 2007, a month after the attempted Gaza coup by Fattah and the successful counter-coup by Hamas, accused the Bush administration of “engaging in a dirty war in an effort to provide a corrupt dictatorship [led by Abbas] with victory. . . It looks to me that what happened wasn’t so much a coup by Hamas but an attempted coup by Fatah that was pre-empted before it could happen.”
http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2008/04/gaza200804
Hamas wants to wipe out the Jewish state? A dubious claim, based on the old Hamas Charter, which was actually modified by Hamas' political party, who removed all references to replacing the Jewish state with a Palestinian one. Hamas leaders have called the old charter "a piece of history and no longer relevant", while Brit diplomat/ former ambassador to the UN Sir Jeremy Greenstock stated that the Hamas charter was "drawn up by a Hamas-linked imam some [twenty] years ago and has never been adopted since Hamas was elected as the Palestinian government in 2006".
Indeed, Hamas has stated that they are willing to accept peace with Israel.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2002/04/28/MN222422.DTL
Just because the people of Gaza elects a government democratically doesn't mean we have to support it. We can (and should) use everything at our disposal to destroy and de-legitimize Hamas, because its goals are inimical to our national interests, and its methods are offensive to our national values. The point of democracy is informed choice, so let's inform those misguided Palestinians who support Hamas about the consequences of that choice.
I am not sure which country you are in but Israel's behaviour toward the Palestinians does not accord in any way with my "national values".
Why do you think the Palestinians voted for Hamas? Instead of blithely labelling millions of people "misguided", don't you think it is a good idea to examine why they made that choice?
especially on HP......most simply point out Israel also has a lot of terrorist
history, and especially so over the recent year's from
radical settler's......and that the Arabs,
Christian and Islamic, have some valid
points...
Please give a reference which attests to this claim.
and nurtured, and as you say, expected from even
fairly liberal US media, and much worse
from the right like Fox...
Israel's people have accomplished a lot, and with ton's of foreign money
and all kinds of other assistance. They deserve respect for that,
even admiration and interest in their developments.
But that simply can not excuse the bad aspects of
their policies, by most of their government's, just as
so many of us oppose the same in the US or Europe.
The invasion of Gaza and killing of over 300 children
is overkill and all too common by Israel for example.
And this would be so much easier to solve if the
media reported in a more balanced way, maybe
the internet will make up for it.
there is NO mainstream liberal media
stop the lie
"The publication in Jerusalem of Occupation of the Territories: Israeli Soldiers’ Testimonies 2000-2010—unprecedented first-hand accounts by over one hundred Israeli soldiers of their experiences while serving in the IDF—coincides with an appalling yet unsurprising incident I learned of only a few days ago. On Tuesday, December 28, 2010, at 3:00 AM, Hajja Sara Nawaja, a Palestinian grandmother living in a tent with her family in the arid hills of south Hebron, on the occupied West Bank, woke to the sound of dogs barking. She smelled smoke. She discovered that two adjacent tents, which the family used as kitchens, were on fire. She woke her son Ahmad, who managed to remove the gas cylinders from the tents just in time, before they exploded. The two tents were burned to the ground. A car was seen driving away from the scene in the direction of the nearby Israeli settlement of Susya."
http://jfjfp.com/?p=20268
It may take more years, more revolutions, but I do believe the people of the Middle Eastern countries will find their voices and will we then be the only country supporting Israel with money, arms and equipment? Yes, Israel has nuclear weapons - but so does Pakistan and other countries may not be far behind in their quest.
Aren't we about the only country supporting Israel now?
Your post reminds me of how glad I am for all the support given to Israel by the USA.
http://www.gallup.com/poll/126155/support-israel-near-record-high.aspx
Elijah Rising