Why does the Palestinian Authority continue its security collaboration with Israel even today, when Israeli-Palestinian political relations are at an all-time low? What is the nature of this cooperation? Who are the Palestinian security forces? How sustainable is their law-enforcement and counter-terrorism assignment? How long can they continue collaborating with Israel at the absence of any progress toward a political accord between Israel and the Palestinians?

Our current episode addresses these questions with the help of two experts, Ghaith al-Omari and Neri Zilber, who just published a report on this topic.

Two leading U.S. human rights lawyers were denied entry into Israel Sunday, detained at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport, and deported back to the United States.

The two are Columbia University’s Katherine Franke, who is the Chair of the Board of the Center for Constitutional Rights, and the Center’s Executive Director Vincent Warren. The two reported that they were repeatedly questioned about their associations with groups supporting boycotts, divestment and sanctions against Israel. They were part of a delegation of American civil rights activists heading to Israel and the Occupied Territories to learn about human rights situation there and to meet with local activists.

Update: this action, now closed, ran in May 2018.

Urge your senators to sign the letter, being circulated by Senator Bernie Sanders, that calls for action by the Trump Administration to alleviate the humanitarian disaster in Gaza. The crisis in Gaza not only makes life virtually unlivable for the two million residents of the Gaza Strip; it also endangers Israeli security by creating a breeding ground for the radicalization of Gaza’s residents.

The letter, addressed to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, calls on the Trump Administration to:

• restore US funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA)
• encourage easing of restriction on movement of people, goods, and equipment in and out of Gaza, especially for water projects and health essentials
• ensure greater electricity flow into energy-starved Gaza
• pursue proposals to build Gaza’s economy, including the proposed Gaza Seaport

More than this is needed to address the situation in Gaza. In particular, Secretary Pompeo and the Trump Administration should take steps to bring about a political solution which would facilitate an end to the Israeli and Egyptian siege on Gaza. This letter is, at least, a positive and necessary step – and one that should be entirely uncontroversial.

The Honorable Mike Pompeo
Secretary of State
Department of State
Washington, DC 20520

Dear  Secretary Pompeo:

We write regarding the urgent need to alleviate the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. The territory’s lack of power, clean water, adequate

A 2012 UN report predicted that, if current trends continued, Gaza would become unlivable. A follow-up report last year said that that day might have already come. According to the Israeli human rights group B’tselem, “The coastal aquifer, which Gaza relies on as its primary water source, has been polluted by over-pumping and wastewater contamination. As a result, 96.2% of the water pumped from the aquifer and supplied for domestic use in Gaza is unsafe to drink.” According to Oxfam, this water pollution is among the factors causing a dramatic increase in kidney problems among Gaza’s population.

As Israel Defense Forces officials warned earlier this year, the humanitarian crisis increases the chances of incidents at the border fence that can turn deadly. Israeli security officials also believe conditions in Gaza could worsen to the point of a total collapse of order in the territory, leading to all-out confrontation between and among various Gazan factions and Israel.

There is much blame to go around for the horrific conditions in Gaza. Hamas – due to its ongoing repression, corruption and insistence on pursuing a violent struggle against Israel – bears significant responsibility for the deteriorating situation. While Israel withdrew its forces from within Gaza in 2005, its continuing control of Gaza’s air, sea, and northern, southern, and eastern borders, and its restrictions on the freedom of movement of people, legitimate goods and equipment in and out of Gaza, have made the humanitarian situation worse. Egypt and the Palestinian Authority must also play a more constructive role.

The United States can help avoid further conflict and bloodshed by taking and encouraging steps to improve both the quality of life for Palestinians in Gaza as well as Israeli security. As a first step, the United States should restore its funding of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). Israeli defense officials specifically stated that U.S. withholding of UNRWA funding could worsen the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and even spark an uprising in the territory.

The United States should also encourage the easing of restrictions on the movement of people, goods and equipment in and out of the territory, especially for materials and supplies related to critical infrastructure such as water projects, and health essentials such as medicine and hospital supplies. Multiple parties should also be engaged to ensure greater electricity flow into Gaza to meet the territory’s desperate need for energy.

The United States should also put its weight behind proposals to build Gaza’s economy through bold initiatives such as the proposed Gaza Seaport. Supported by a broad range of Israeli security and cabinet officials, the new port facility could boost Gaza’s economy by vastly improving the territory’s access to goods and markets worldwide. This access to regular commerce is critical to ensuring that Palestinians in Gaza can reduce their reliance on aid and build a sustainable future for themselves.

The political and security challenges in Gaza are formidable, but support for the basic human rights of its people must not be conditioned on progress on those fronts. For the sake of Israelis and Palestinians alike, the United States must act urgently to help relieve the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. We stand ready to work with you on this important matter.

Sincerely

Following claims by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Iran is violating the terms of the multilateral deal designed to prevent it from obtaining nuclear weapons, Americans for Peace Now insists that diplomacy, inspections, and verification are more vital now than ever. If anything, Netanyahu’s revelations regarding the history of Iran’s nuclear program highlight how essential the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) is, providing the international community with a tool to curb Iran’s ambitions to build nuclear weapons.

Yossi Alpher is an independent security analyst. He is the former director of the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University, a former senior official with the Mossad, and a former IDF intelligence officer. Views and positions expressed here are those of the writer, and do not necessarily represent APN's views and policy positions.

This week, Alpher discusses the dynamics between Israel and the Eritrean/Sudanese asylum seekers, and between Israel and the Gazan refugees; the legal and moral issues in the African asylum seeker crisis; Tom Friedman's quote in the NYT:"How can Israel turn them away? But how can Israel take them all, which will only invite more, and the supply is now endless?"; how Israel is responding differently than Europe to issues with African migrants and refugees; why the confrontation with Gaza is escalating even though the numbers of dead and wounded Palestinians are decreasing from week to week; other mid-May events; and the Iranian threat from Syria.

Lag B’omer is coming – the 33rd day between Pesach and Shavuot, a day traditionally for throwing off mourning and instead celebrating with music, weddings and bonfires. Lag B’omer is a minor holiday that not many American Jews are aware of. Paradoxically, Palestinians in the West Bank town of Hebron have it circled on their calendars.

It has become a Lag B'omer custom of some Jewish settlers in Hebron to vandalize and loot Palestinian property for wood with which to build bonfires. And unlike the Israeli military authority, which regularly shuts down the West Bank during Jewish holidays to minimize the possibility of a terrorist attack, the Palestinians don’t have the means to protect their communities come Lag B'omer.

Support APN and help fight back against extremist "price tag" attacks.

As Jews and friends of Israel, we recognize the dread of an approaching holiday. Those closures during Passover and other holidays are Israel’s response to horrific terrorist attacks like the suicide bombing by Hamas of a seder at a Netanya hotel in 2002. The attack killed 30 Jews and wounded 140. A similar attack was perpetrated in 2006, killing 11 and wounding 60 at another Passover seder. A number of years have passed since an attack like this has occurred, but the threat remains.

Still, we can’t leave unremarked this twisted Lag B'omer practice of terrorizing Palestinians on a day dedicated to joy and relief. Preying on Palestinians has become so routine that it is no longer newsworthy. But this can’t be the way of Jewish “celebration”: breaking into Palestinian shops and homes, damaging and looting them. And these can’t be the actions of God-fearing Jews – terrorizing Palestinian and Israel Arab towns by torching cars, slashing tires, and spray painting Stars of David and racist slogans, as was done as recently as a week ago.