‘You will never break our will’ – Palestinians to Netanyahu after Jordan Valley annexation pledge

middleeastmonitor.com September 11, 2019

“It’s our parents’ and grandparents’ land. We will hold onto it no matter what it costs.”

‘You will never break our will’ – Palestinians to Netanyahu after Jordan Valley annexation pledge

Palestinian protesters hold placards prior to the arrival of the Israeli prime minister to attend a state memorial ceremony at the Ibrahimi mosque, in the West Bank city of Hebron on 4 September 2019. [Mosab Shawer-Apaimages]

Palestinians tilling the fertile Jordan Valley said on Wednesday they have been rooted for generations to the West Bank land that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to annex, and they vowed never to give it up, Reuters reports.

“We tell Netanyahu, and whoever follows him, you will not break the Palestinians’ will, you will never break our will, never, never,” said Hassan Al-Abedi, a 55-year-old farmer who lives in the village of Jiftlik.

“It’s our parents’ and grandparents’ land. We will hold onto it no matter what it costs.”

Drawing condemnation from Palestinian and other Arab leaders , the right-wing Netanyahu announced on Tuesday that he plans to “apply Israeli sovereignty” to the Jordan Valley and adjacent northern Dead Sea if he prevails in what is shaping up as a tough battle for re-election on Sept. 17.

Palestinians seek to establish a state in all of the Israeli-occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and their leaders said Israeli annexation would violate international law and effectively nullify interim peace deals from the 1990s that included security cooperation.

Against the backdrop of Jordan’s desert mountain range to the east, Palestinian farmers tended their crops and worried about their future in an area where the town of Jericho and the River Jordan are reminders of a biblical past.

“This is not Netanyahu’s land to give,” said Ismael Hassan, a 75-year-old Palestinian from Zbeidat village. “Whether or not Netanyahu succeeds (in the election) we won’t accept it. This land is for Palestine, for the Palestinians.”

In Israel, which captured the West Bank in a 1967 war, Netanyahu’s declaration was widely seen as a bid to sap support from far-right election rivals who advocate annexation of Jewish settlements, and from a centre-left that for decades has argued that the Jordan Valley should be kept on security grounds.

Retaining the Jordan Valley would effectively leave Israel encircling any Palestinian political entity that emerges.

CRAFTING OPINION

Following up on his speech with remarks on Facebook on Wednesday, Netanyahu took credit for having persuaded U.S. President Donald Trump to recognise Israeli sovereignty over another strategic slice of occupied territory – the Golan Heights, captured from Syria in 1967 – and to relocate the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem.

The White House was informed in advance of Tuesday’s annexation announcement, Netanyahu said, adding that he was “crafting opinion in favour of recognition of Israeli sovereignty in Judea and Samaria and the Jordan Valley”.

U.S. President Donald Trump (L) and Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu (R) show members of the media the proclamation Trump signed on recognising Israel’s sovereignty over Golan Heights after their meeting outside the West Wing of the White House 25 March 2019 in Washington, DC. [Alex Wong/Getty Images]

A U.S. official confirmed Washington had been pre-notified but said the announcement was not coordinated between the sides.

“He (Netanyahu) is a politician making a political statement,” another U.S. official said.

Netanyahu’s decision to issue the promise showed, however, that he had little reason to fear any pushback from the Trump administration, which has hewed to a heavily pro-Israel policy and backed him at almost every turn since taking Trump took office in 2017.

BREADBASKET, BORDER

Some 53,000 Palestinians and around 12,800 Israeli settlers live in the Jordan Valley, according to monitor Peace Now. The main Palestinian city in the region is Jericho, with around 28 villages and smaller Bedouin communities.

Palestinians often refer to the Jordan Valley as their “breadbasket”. In his speech on Tuesday, Netanyahu described it as Israel’s eastern border with Jordan.

“Even Netanyahu’s main rivals believe that any Palestinian entity that is established in the West Bank should be completely encircled by Israel, having no border with Jordan,” said Nathan Thrall, an International Crisis Group analyst.

“The annexation plan shouldn’t be dismissed as election bluster. If re elected, Netanyahu will be under tremendous pressure to implement it.”

The valley, which at 2,400 square kilometres (926 square miles) accounts for nearly 30% of the West Bank, has dozens of Palestinian farms as well as open areas that the Palestinian Authority has sought to develop for solar energy projects and industrial zones.

There are some 30 mainly agricultural settlements in the area, along with 18 smaller Israeli outposts, Peace Now says.

“It’s impossible to have a Palestinian state without the Jordan Valley,” chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told Reuters in an interview from his office in Jericho.

“My prosperity can come (only) if I can control my natural resources, my shores on the Dead Sea, my shores on the Mediterranean, my water, my land.”

Erekat said the Palestinians would welcome “a third party presence” such as NATO or the European Union but said: “A Israeli military or civilian presence in the state of Palestine is not okay. Because this will not make peace.”

Israeli leaders have ruled out such a foreign peacekeeper force, citing the failure of a similar proposal for Gaza after Israel quit that territory in 2005.

“We did not get an era of peace. We got three wars. We’re not going to allow that to happen to our east,” said Dore Gold, a Netanyahu confidant who runs the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs think-tank.

POLITICAL GAMBIT

The last round of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks broke down in 2014.

The Trump administration is expected to release its long-delayed peace plan after Israel’s election, and it is still unclear the proposal will adhere to previous U.S. support for the creation of a Palestinian state alongside a secure Israel.

That rollout is unlikely to be affected even if Netanyahu goes ahead with the Jordan Valley annexation plan after the election, a U.S. official said.

Palestinians have boycotted the Trump administration, accusing it of pro-Israel bias.

A far-right coalition partner of Netanyahu hinted at doubt about the premier’s sincerity, saying there had been no movement on the Jordan Valley question during his decade in power. “How come this matter (annexation) is coming up now, a week before the election?” Bezalel Smotrich told Israel’s Army Radio.

Netanyahu also reaffirmed a pledge to annex all of the settlements Israel has established in the West Bank. But he said that broader step could take longer and required “maximum coordination” with Washington.

Netanyahu is fighting for his political life after an inconclusive election in April. His right-wing Likud party is running neck and neck in opinion polls with former armed forces chief Benny Gantz’s Blue and White. 

"Operation Yellowhammer" - The Document

Wales On Line  11 SEP 2019

By Ruth Mosalski Political Editor

 "Operation Yellowhammer" - The Document

Government publishes secret Operation Yellowhammer plans for a no-deal Brexit

The Government has released documents relating to Operation Yellowhammer - its contingency plan for a no-deal Brexit.

MPs won a vote to force the Government to release the documents on Monday.

Only one section of the document is redacted. The rest shows:

• 'Low-income groups will be disproportionate affected by any price rises in food and fuel'
• Disruption at ports will last three months before it starts to improve
• Lorries could face delays of up to 2.5 days
• As Brits will face immigration checks, there will be delays at airports, train stations and ports
• Electricity prices will increase "significantly" to consumers and businesses
• Medicines are "particularly vulnerable" to extended delays
• It will be harder to prevent and control disease outbreaks
• Supplies of fresh food will decrease - there is a risk of panic buying
• UK nationals overseas will lose rights and access to services
• Protests and counter-protests will take place across the UK - 'there may be a rise in public disorder and community tensions'
• Trade with Ireland will be "severely" disrupted with "agri-food" hardest hit
• There is a likelihood of clashes between fishing vessels as EU nations fishing vessels will be in UK waters
• Care for the elderly services are vulnerable.

The document is titled: "Operation Yellowhammer: HMG Reasonable Worst Case Planning Assumptions"

On Wednesday, business secretary Andrea Leadsom said that Operation Yellowhammer documents were a "worst case scenario" about leaving without a deal rather than a "prediction".

"I actually do not think that it serves people well to see what is absolutely the worst thing that could happen."

The Prime Minister's spokesman said MPs demands to see Operation Yellowhammer, and messages by Downing Street staff about prorogation were "disproportionate and unprecedented".

The documents are here .

இலட்சோபம் மக்கள் திரண்ட கற்றலான் ஆர்ப்பாட்டம்

By Associated Press September 11, 2019 

Massive Rally for Catalonia's Secession in Barcelona

BARCELONA, SPAIN - Hundreds of thousands of Spaniards who support the secession of Catalonia gathered in Barcelona on the region’s main holiday Wednesday, just weeks before a highly anticipated verdict in a case against 12 leaders of the separatist movement.

Supporters of Catalan secession came from all parts of the wealthy northeastern region to its main city. Many carried flags or wore T-shirts supporting Catalan independence as they met for the rally in a large public square.

Protesters hold esteladas or independence flags as they take part in a demonstration during the Catalan National Day in Barcelona, Spain, Sept. 11, 2019. 

The Sept. 11 holiday memorializes the fall of Barcelona in the Spanish War of Succession in 1714. Since 2012, it has become the date of massive rallies for the region’s secessionist movement.

The Barcelona police said that around 600,000 people turned out for the event.

Polls and the most recent election results show that the region’s 7.5 million residents are roughly equally split between those in favor and those against breaking with the rest of Spain.

Spain’s caretaker prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, who has tried to thaw tensions with Catalonia since taking power last year, wrote on Twitter that “Today should be a day for all Catalans. For the path of dialogue within the Constitution, harmonious coexistence, respect and understanding.”

This year’s rally comes while a dozen leaders of Catalonia’s 2017 failed attempt to secede await a verdict from the Supreme Court on charges that include rebellion. They face spending several years behind bars if found guilty, and a heavy punishment would most likely spark public protests in Catalonia. The verdict is expected this month or next.

The movement, however, is going through its most difficult period since separatist sentiment was fueled by the previous decade’s economic difficulties, from which Spain has only recovered in recent years.

The pro-secession political parties have yet to agree on what the response to a guilty verdict by the Supreme Court should be. That has earned the criticism of the leading grassroots groups which have fueled the secessionist drive.

Regional Catalan president Quim Torra says that a guilty verdict would provide an opportunity to make another push for independence, without specifying how that could be carried out.

“The objective of independence should be the horizon of this country after the verdict,” he said in a recent interview on Catalan public television.

Other separatist politicians think the best move is to call regional elections in an attempt to increase their representation in the regional parliament and focus on gaining the backing of more than half of Catalans. Those against independence complain that the separatists have monopolized the holiday for their political ends.

But some activists have accused all their political leaders of not taking concrete steps to achieve their goal. Radical activists recently expressed their anger by throwing garbage and excrement on the doors of the offices of pro-secession parties.


“Not only have we not advanced, but we have taken some steps backward,” Elisenda Paluzie, the head of the influential pro-secession grassroots group ANC, told the crowd. “We demand that our leaders don’t let us down.”