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It’s Not Time for a Palestinian State
PA President Mahmoud Abbas gestures during a meeting in Ramallah, in the West Bank August 18, 2020. Photo: REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman/Pool
JNS.org – There he was, the Palestinian Authority’s Mahmoud Abbas, lying on the floor kicking his feet in anger over the U.S. veto of a resolution for Palestinian statehood at the U.N. Security Council. Of course, I am exaggerating about the 88-year-old on the floor, but his reaction to the American veto was not too far from a 2-year-old’s tantrum.
Notwithstanding that the Biden administration pressed Abbas not to go ahead with the bid for statehood, the administration’s veto must have come as somewhat of a shock to the Palestinians because, after all, it was U.S. President Joe Biden’s and Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s talk about establishing a Palestinian state as part of the planning for the “day after” Israel vanquishes Hamas in Gaza.
In the aftermath of the vote, Abbas told the official Palestinian Wafa news agency that “the hostile [U.S.] positions” … “have generated unprecedented anger among the Palestinian people and the region’s populations, potentially pushing the region towards further instability, chaos and terrorism.” As if he wasn’t angry enough, he threatened: “The Palestinian leadership will reconsider bilateral relations with the United States to ensure the protection of our people’s interests, our cause and our rights.”
Trying to soften the blow, U.S. deputy ambassador Robert Wood told the U.N. Security Council that the veto “does not reflect opposition to Palestinian statehood but instead is an acknowledgment that it will only come from direct negotiations between the parties” and that there are “unresolved questions” on whether Palestine meets the criteria to be considered a state.
The creation of a Palestinian state now would be dangerous for Israel—an indefensible border being the main reason—but also bad for the United States for several reasons.
• Fomenting instability. The Palestinians have a long record of fomenting regional instability. In 1970, they provoked an armed conflict with King Hussein of Jordan that resulted in the deaths of thousands. They instigated a civil war in Lebanon that resulted in the deaths of thousands. It’s only a matter of time before a Palestinian state would stir up turmoil and mayhem throughout the region. That kind of chaos in such a sensitive part of the world is the last thing that America needs.
• Proxy for rogue states. The Palestinians have always allied themselves with the most extreme and aggressive regimes in the world. In the old days, it was the Soviet Union; today, it’s Iran, China, Putin’s Russia and North Korea. How long before a state of “Palestine” invites Iranian “volunteers,” and obtains Iranian and North Korean missiles and drones? It would become a proxy state for the world’s worst rogue regimes. How would an Iranian, Chinese or Russian port in Gaza be good for America?
• Against American values. For almost three decades, we have seen what kind of state it would be from the P.A.’s practices. Islam will be the state religion. Elections will be held rarely, if ever. (Mahmoud Abbas is in the 19th year of a four-year term of office.) Critics of the regime will be suppressed. Labor unions will be harassed. Prisoners will be tortured. Christians will be intimidated. Women will be second-class citizens. The Islamist and authoritarian values embodied by the Palestinian state will be the exact opposite of the democratic and pluralistic values that we Americans cherish.
• Enemy of America. A Palestinian state would be an actively anti-American state in word and deed. How do we know? Just look at what the P.A. has been teaching its people—and especially, its children—for the past three decades. Its media and schools portray the United States as racist, colonial and war-mongering. They accuse the United States of carrying out the 9/11 attacks, spreading disease and immorality, and conspiring against Islam.
A Palestinian state will promote hatred of America, vote against the United States in international forums and align itself with radical Third World regimes. The world already has plenty of America-hating countries. Why do we need yet another?
One of the more remarkable things about the P.A.’s behavior has been its habit of taking $500 million from the United States every year, and then turning around and paying salaries and pensions to terrorists in Israeli prisons and their families, as well as naming streets, parks, schools and sports competitions after terrorists who have murdered Americans. If this is how the P.A. acts now, when it desperately needs U.S. support for its statehood campaign, just imagine how it will act when it has a sovereign state and no longer needs such aid.
• Undermining America’s ally. Israel has always been America’s closest friend and most reliable ally. As a matter of principle, and as a matter of strategic wisdom, the United States should always stand by its friends. To set up a Palestinian state along Israel’s borders would pose a grave danger to our ally. It would also undermine the confidence of all of America’s allies and call into doubt the value of its promises.
• Dragging America into overseas conflicts. Israel is certainly grateful for U.S. moral and logistical support since Oct. 7 but will never ask the United States to put American soldiers’ boots on the ground. But if a weakened, shrunken Israel would be in danger of being overrun by a Palestinian-Iranian-Chinese-Russian-North Korean onslaught, causing tremendous pressure on the United States to take direct military action rather than see its closest ally destroyed. Thus, Washington could find itself dragged into an overseas conflict that was entirely preventable.
The U.S. veto of statehood was a good thing. In every conceivable way, a Palestinian state would be bad for America—bad for American values, bad for American interests and bad for America’s allies.
The post It’s Not Time for a Palestinian State first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Eurovision Organizers ‘Disappointed’ Jury Member Improperly Withheld Points From Israel Due to Gaza War
Eden Golan performing “Hurricane” for Israel at the Grand Final at Malmö Arena. Photo: Sarah Louise Bennett/EBU
Organizers of the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest told The Algemeiner on Monday they were saddened to discover that one of the competition’s jury members knowingly violated rules of the contest by refusing to allocate points to Israeli singer Eden Golan because of his personal bias against Israel and its ongoing war targeting Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip.
“We have been made aware by our Norwegian Member NRK about the comments made by one of the jurors regarding their voting in the Eurovision Song Contest,” the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) said in a statement. “We are disappointed if the juror in question disregarded the instructions that they confirm they had received as part of the Voting Rules of the Contest. The voting procedure is monitored in all countries and the EBU received a notarized result from NRK signed by each jury member confirming that they did vote according to the rules.”
The EBU did not address The Algemeiner‘s inquiry about disciplinary measures that might be taken against Norwegian jury member Daniel Owen for breaching rules of the competition.
Each participating member of the EBU has a national jury that votes in the Eurovision Song Contest. Jury members vote individually and are required to distribute points to Eurovision contestants based solely on their songs and performances in the competition. The final winner of the Eurovision Song Contest is chosen by combining jury votes and public votes, also called the audience’s televotes.
The Norwegian broadcaster NRK is a member of the EBU and, following the Eurovision 2024 Grand Final on Saturday, Owen said he was shocked and upset that the Norwegian jury awarded eight points in total to Israel. He admitted that he himself refused to give a single point to Golan, who ultimately finished in fifth place in the competition that took place this year in Malmo, Sweden.
“I was not involved in the allocation of points to Israel,” he said. “Although I was not involved in the awarding of points to Israel, I would like to apologize that this was shown from the Norwegian jury.”
Owen’s actions were in violation of Eurovision rules, which he admitted in a video posted on social media. He said that before the Eurovision was broadcast, the jury was shown a video detailing rules of the competition, one of which states that “you must not favor or discriminate against any participant based on nationality, gender, suitability, political views, or any other reason other than the song and performance. Do not let political views affect how you evaluate a song and/or an artist.”
Owen deliberately ignored Eurovision rules by withholding points for Israel. He said in the social media video that it was “impossible” for him not to take into consideration the ongoing Israel-Hamas war when distributing points.
“What is happening in Palestine is heartbreaking, and I cannot in any way support Israel’s actions. In my opinion, Israel should not be allowed to participate in Eurovision at all,” he said. “Eurovision promotes the motto ‘united by music.’ But when the party is over and the music has stopped, the situation remains unchanged. This is something we cannot ignore.”
He concluded by saying, “My heart and all my support go out to Palestine. Free Palestine.”
A member of the Norwegian Eurovision Song Contest jury admits that he refused to give Eden Golan and Israel any points at all due to the war in Gaza
24-y-old Daniel Owen ends his message with “Free Palestine”
How many such cases were there among jury members yesterday?
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) May 12, 2024
Leading up to the start of the Eurovision, organizers came under fire for allowing Israel to participate in the competition, anti-Israel activists urged contestants to pull out of the contest to boycott the Jewish state’s involvement, and thousands protested against Israel in Malmo, including outside Golan’s hotel room.
Gunilla Süssmann, who was also on the Norwegian jury alongside Owen, said about the jury allocating eight points to Israel: “The fact that the jury did not choose to boycott artists is not the same as us supporting war. This was a purely professional assessment where we had to assess the best song based on our musical expertise. That is what we have done.”
Stig Karlsen, head of the Norwegian delegation, said the EBU was notified regarding Owen’s breach of Eurovision rules. “The jury must judge the song, artist, and performance without being colored by politics or other non-musical matters,” he added.
Switzerland’s Nemo won the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest with the song “The Code” and a total of 591 points from jurors in each participating country and the global public. Croatian artist Baby Lasagna was the runner-up with 547 points, Ukraine was third with 453 points, and France came in fourth place with 445 points. Rounding out the top five was Israel with 375 points. Twenty-five countries competed in the Eurovision grand finals this year.
After arriving back home to Israel on Sunday, Golan told reporters she was not shocked when she heard the low scores given to Israel by the national juries. “I think it was understood [that it would turn out that way],” she said.
Israel performed quite well in terms of the public vote, according to the Times of Israel.
Voters in 14 different countries out of the 37 eligible to vote, as well as those in all non-participating Eurovision nations, which are grouped together, allocated the most possible points — 12 — to Israel. The Jewish state got 12 votes from countries including Australia, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, San Marino, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. It also got 10 points, the second-highest allocation possible, from Albania, Austria, Cyprus, Czechia, Moldova, Slovenia, and Ireland.
The post Eurovision Organizers ‘Disappointed’ Jury Member Improperly Withheld Points From Israel Due to Gaza War first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Police Move in to End Anti-Israel Protest at Amsterdam University
Anti-Israel protesters wave Palestinian flags as students and employees of the University of Amsterdam protest against the ongoing war in Gaza and the university leadership after police broke up a student protest camp overnight, in Amsterdam, Netherlands, May 7, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw
Police moved in to end an anti-Israel protest at the University of Amsterdam on Monday after protesters occupied university buildings in various Dutch cities to condemn Israel’s war in Gaza, ANP news agency reported.
In local media footage, the students can be heard chanting at the police: “We are peaceful, what are you?” and “Shame on you.”
Earlier on Monday, a Dutch protest group said it had occupied university buildings in the Dutch cities of Amsterdam, Groningen, and Eindhoven.
The group told Reuters via email that the occupations would continue until the police broke them up and that the protesters would keep returning until the university meets their demands “for transparency [as well as] boycotting and divesting from Israeli institutions.”
In a post on social media site X/Twitter, Amsterdam police said the university had filed a police report against the protesters for acts of vandalism.
Police are making sure no one can enter the university buildings and will ask protesters to leave the premises voluntarily.
A spokesperson for the University of Amsterdam (UvA) confirmed the occupation and said it had advised people not affiliated with the protest to leave the building.
The Eindhoven University of Technology confirmed that there were “dozens of students peacefully protesting outside next to ten to 15 tents.” The University of Groningen did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Footage from local media showed a few tents in front of one of the university buildings.
Students in the Netherlands have been protesting against Israel’s war against the Hamas terror group in Gaza since last Monday and Dutch riot police had previously clashed with protesters at the University of Amsterdam.
Students in the United States and Europe have been holding pro-Hamas demonstrations calling for an immediate permanent ceasefire and for schools to cut financial ties with companies linked to Israel.
The post Police Move in to End Anti-Israel Protest at Amsterdam University first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel Protests After Yemeni Nobel Laureate Denounces Gaza Offensive at Vatican
Nobel Peace Prize winner Tawakkol Karman of Yemen looks on during a news conference against mining in the town of Casillas, Guatemala, Oct. 26, 2017. Photo: REUTERS/Luis Echeverria
Israel‘s Embassy to the Holy See issued a protest on Monday after a Yemeni Nobel Prize winner accused Israel of “genocide” in Gaza during an event hosted by the Vatican.
The embassy said it felt “indignation and shock” over the comments from rights activist Tawakkol Karman made on Saturday evening during a conference organized by the Fratelli Tutti Foundation created by Pope Francis.
Karman, who won the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize for her role in the Arab Spring protests, told an audience in the atrium of St. Peter’s Basilica: “The world is silent in front of the genocide and the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people in Gaza.”
In an open letter posted on X/Twitter on Monday, the Israeli embassy rejected Karman’s accusations as “lies.”
“The site was contaminated by a flagrantly antisemitic speech,” it said.
“We regret that such a speech was pronounced without anyone feeling the moral duty to intervene to stop this disgrace,” it added.
After mentioning Gaza, Karman got a loud round of applause from the audience which was made up of fellow Nobel prize laureates, politicians, and church officials. The pope himself was not present.
Relations between the Vatican and Israel have grown increasingly tense since the start of the war in Gaza, with Jewish groups accusing Pope Francis of failing to describe the military campaign in the Palestinian enclave as an act of self-defense after Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel.
In March, the Israeli embassy to the Holy See criticized Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin after he accused Israel‘s military of causing “carnage” in Gaza.
The embassy initially denounced his comment as “deplorable” but subsequently said this was a translation error and that it had meant to say “regrettable.”
The post Israel Protests After Yemeni Nobel Laureate Denounces Gaza Offensive at Vatican first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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