MEMRI: Former Palestinian Prisoner Affairs Minister Advocates Non-Violent Resistance: Attacks On Civilians, Like Murder Of Teen In Her Sleep, Play Into Israel's Hands
Following the release on July 1, 2016 of the Quartet report on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which called for the cessation of violence and advancement of the two-state solution, Ashraf al-'Ajrami, a former minister for prisoner affairs in the Palestinian Authority (PA) and a columnist for the PA daily Al-Ayyam, penned an article responding to the report. 'Ajrami condemned the report for holding the Palestinians and Israelis equally responsible for the impasse in resolving the conflict. At the same time, he also directed criticism at the PA leadership for allowing such a report to be released as well as for its governing of the West Bank. He noted that the security situation there is steadily deteriorating, and that popular support for the PA is considerably low. He stressed that the Palestinians should avoid targeting civilians – such the action of the Palestinian who broke into a home in a West Bank settlement and stabbed a young girl to death as she slept – because such attacks tarnish the Palestinian's image and benefit Israel. He advocated sticking to non-violent resistance that places Israel in a difficult position and advances the Palestinian cause in the world.
The following are excerpts from his article:
"We can no longer distinguish between the mistakes that do us considerable damage and must be pointed out – such as attacks on civilians, like the murder of the girl in her sleep – and measures that confront the occupation efficiently and effectively. We are dragged into doing [precisely] what the Israeli government wants, namely into the rubric of armed struggle, especially against civilians. This not only places us in conflict with the Israeli army, which has [military] superiority over us and is able to do us considerable damage, as happened in the Second Intifada. It can [also] absolve Israel of political responsibility and make us just as responsible for the situation as Israel [itself]... The violence of the Israeli authorities is aimed at preventing us from engaging in non-violent popular resistance that causes Israel distress, embarrasses it in the international arena and places it in conflict with a defenseless people that is demanding its rights of an occupation machine, armed to the teeth, that is persecuting it.
The Truth About ‘Settlement Growth’
There are four common myths or misconceptions that infuse U.S. and European peace process diplomacy when it comes to the Israel-Palestinian conflict. The first is that there are millions of Palestinian refugees. This number is arbitrary, the result of UN sleight-of-hand. After all, the United Nations uses a different definition with regard to Palestinians than it does everywhere else in the world. The late University of Illinois Professor Fred M. Gottheil tackled this issue a decade ago in Middle Eastern Studies.
Then, there is the issue that demographic reality means that Israel must make peace now lest Palestinian population growth mean that Israel will lose its democratic character. At the root of this view, however, is blind acceptance of Palestinian Statistics Agency numbers, as Yakov Faitelson definitively showed in the Middle East Quarterly.
A third myth appeals to the humanitarian impulses embraced by so many across the political spectrum. It holds that the plight of the Palestinians (and especially the Gaza Strip which hasn’t been under occupation for a decade) is a humanitarian tragedy. And while the Palestinian leadership may be tragic in its disdain for life, liberty, and the bettering opportunities and freedoms within society, the simple fact of the matter is that living standards in the Gaza Strip are better than those in Turkey and many other developing countries.
The fourth and perhaps most pernicious myth is that settlements are the chief impediment to fruitful peace talks. A bit of background: The Obama administration entered office putting Israeli settlements in the disputed West Bank front and center. In contrast to his predecessors, President Obama made freezing the expansion of settlements and towns in disputed territories—both in terms of area and population—a prerequisite to further peace talks rather than a subject for diplomatic discussion. In effect, by acting as the zoning commissioner for Jerusalem rather than the leader of the free world, Obama gave Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas a free pass on his refusal to respond to previous Israeli peace offers, be they from 2000 or 2008. The Israeli government might offer talks anytime, anywhere but the Palestinian Authority could and did use Obama’s initial statements as a reason not to engage.