World View: Arab League Agrees on Plan to ‘End Israeli Occupation’ of Palestine

This morning’s key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com

• Hong Kong police clash with protesters, worst violence in weeks
• Arab League agrees on plan to ‘end Israeli occupation’ of Palestine
• Egypt promises troops for Palestine to assist police forces

Hong Kong police clash with protesters, worst violence in weeks

Protesters clash with police officers on the main road outside government headquarters in Hong Kong on Sunday (AP)

Police used batons and pepper spray to beat back pro-democracyprotesters trying to surround government headquarters in Hong Kong.Protesters yelled “I want true democracy!” and “Surround theheadquarters. Paralyze the government.” Protesters wore surgicalmasks, hard hats and used umbrellas — which have come to symbolizethe pro-democracy movement — to shield themselves from the pepperspray, and pelted the police with water bottles and other objects.The clashes began on Sunday and continued through the night intoMonday. The protests had been simmering down recently, but this wasthe worst violence in weeks. 40 protesters were arrested.

The renewed violence comes just one day after Taiwan’s pro-Beijinggoverning party (KMT) had a disastrous election loss, giving power toTaiwan’s pro-independence opposition party (DPP). ( “30-Nov-14 World View — Taiwan voters choose independence from China”)

Activists say that many people in Hong Kong are excited and inspiredby the results of Taiwan’s election. According to one, “If Taiwan cancreate change, so can Hong Kong in the future.”

It’s thought that China would like to end the Hong Kong protestspeacefully, so as not to further encourage the anti-Beijing activistsin Taiwan. However, the Hong Kong activists point out that they haveno other way to get their demands heard except by occupation.AAP and AFP and Central News Agency (Taiwan)

Arab League agrees on plan to ‘end Israeli occupation’ of Palestine

Saying that “Israel is no longer a peace partner,” PalestinianAuthority president Mahmoud Abbas said that “the current situation ofthe Palestinian territories is not sustainable. … We have no optionbut to internationalize the issue.” He added that in case thestatehood bid is thwarted, “we would move towards defining ourrelations with Israel by halting security coordination and calling forthe occupation to assume its responsibilities” under international lawas “an occupying power” of the West Bank. The statements weremade at an Arab League meeting in Cairo on Saturday.

Abbas laid out a specific timeline for “ending the Israelioccupation,” and gaining international recognition of Palestine:

• Turn to the UN Security Council with the draft resolution for a Palestinian state, with its capital in Jerusalem.
• Apply to international bodies, including the International Criminal Court (ICC), for “State of Palestine” membership.
• File war crime charges against Israel in the ICC.
• Prepare an international meeting in Geneva to officially declare a Palestinian State on 1949 Armistice Line borders.
• Call on countries who have not yet officially recognized the State of Palestine to do so.

Abbas noted that the parliaments of three separate Western countries(Sweden, the UK, and Spain) have recognized “Palestine,” and thatFrance will be voting on the issue.

Abbas referred to proposed legislation by Israel’s prime ministerBenjamin Netanyahu to declare Israel as a “Jewish state.” Abbas saidthat the proposal was “racist,” and that “Palestinians will notrecognize Israel as a Jewish State,” which would attempt to enshrineIsrael’s “apartheid regime.” Abbas pointed to other Israeli laws thathe considers “racist.”

Generational Dynamics predicts that there will be a new war betweenArabs and Israelis, refighting the 1948 war between Jews and Arabsthat following the partitioning of Palestine and the creation of thestate of Israel, and that there is no guarantee that Israel willsurvive that war. WAFA (Gaza) and Israel National News

Egypt promises troops for Palestine to assist police forces

The summer Gaza war made public some very bitter disagreements betweenSaudi Arabia and Egypt versus Qatar and Hamas. As we reported twoweeks ago, Saudi Arabia mediated a truce to last at least through thesummit meeting on December 4. ( “21-Nov-14 World View — Gulf nations paper over their differences for GCC Summit in December”)

At Saturday’s Arab League meeting, all the nations were able tocontinue papering over their differences by agreeing that the biggestissue facing all the Arab states is the “Israeli occupation ofPalestine.” One of the issues in resolving that conflict is to find away to provide security in the West Bank without relying on Israelisecurity forces.

This issue was not discussed at the Arab League meeting, since itwould have opened up new bitter disagreements.

Egypt’s president Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi had previously stated in aninterview that he would be willing “to send military forces to aPalestinian state” in order to reassure Israel and assist policeforces. In a TV interview on Saturday, Abbas said that there is noobjection to the presence of Egyptian troops on Palestinianterritories. “It is welcomed, as Al-Sisi wouldn’t say anythingcontrary to the interests of the Palestinian people.”

However, this agreement leaves completely unresolved the question ofGaza and Hamas. Qatar supports Hamas, while Egypt considers them tobe a terrorist group. Hamas would not tolerate Egyptian troops inGaza. Furthermore, Hamas is tolerating Abbas as president of theHamas-Fatah unity government only because of political expediency, andHamas would expect to govern the entire State of Palestine. Thismeans that Egyptian troops would not be tolerated, and there wouldimmediately be a state of war between Israel and Palestine.

Saturday’s Arab League meeting was able to maintain cordiality byfocusing narrowly on Abbas’s plans to force international recognitionof a State of Palestine. However, Abbas’s plan makes no mention ofGaza and Hamas, and the intrinsic contradiction in any plan to have afully independent State of Palestine alongside Israel. Daily News Egypt and Gulf News (Dubai)

KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Hong Kong, Taiwan, China,Arab League, Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas,Palestine, United Nations, Egypt, Abdel al-Fattah al-Sisi,Gaza, Hamas, Qatar, Saudi Arabia
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