Obama a Israel.

cartell commemoratiu de la visita oficial del President Obama a Israel. Font: Times of Israel.

El President nord-americà Barack Obama va aterrar ahir al migdia a Israel. És la seva primera visita oficial a l'exterior del seu segon mandat. Els principals temes a tractar: l'amenaça nuclear iraniana, les armes químiques de Síria i el conflicte amb els palestins. Obama va anar per feina i ahir a la tarda ja es va reunir amb el President Shimon Peres i amb el Primer Ministre B. Netanyahu a Jerusalem. Avui ho farà amb el President Abbas i amb el Primer Ministre palestí Salam Faiad a Ramallah.

Una altra de les finalitats de la visita és arreglar un malentès. Ho resumeix perfectament Jeffrey Goldberg, un veterà periodista pròxim a l'entorn del president dels Estats Units.  En el seu discurs del Caire (Juny del 2009) Obama es va centrar en reconstruir els ponts amb el món àrab-islàmic però també va parlar de l'aliança 'irrompible' entre Israel i els Estats Units, de l'Holocaust i de l'absurd discurs d'odi que implica la seva banalització-negació. No va ser suficient. Bona part de l'opinió pública israeliana es va sentir decebuda perquè Obama no va mencionar en cap moment els vincles històrics, culturals i religiosos del poble jueu -i, per tant, del modern estat israelià- amb la seva terra ancestral. Ara, el president nord-americà vol subsanar aquella ensopegada i la seva agenda és un clar indici dels seus objectius. Tot just aterrar, Obama va visitar una bateria del sistema de míssils defensiu Iron Dome - finançat pels Estats Units-. La finalitat de la visita era mostrar a l'opinió pública el compromís del seu país amb la seguretat d'Israel. Amb les seves visites al Museu d'Israel (on es troben els rotlles del Mar Mort), a la Muntanya Herzl i al Museu de l'Holocaust Yad Vashem, el president nord-americà vol ressaltar els vincles històrics del modern estat jueu amb la Terra d'Israel. Tanmateix, al igual que en el passat van fer els presidents Clinton i Bush, Obama ha evitat la visita al Kotel.  Per què? principalment per les implicacions polítiques d'aquesta visita. L'anexió de Jerusalem Est -ocupada per Israel a la Guerra dels Sis Dies (Juny del 1967)- no ha estat reconeguda per la comunitat internacional i la visita al Mur Occidental d'un president nord-americà en visita oficial a Israel es podria interpretar com un acte de suport de Washington a aquesta anexió. Obama ha preferit evitar maldecaps i ha deixat fora del seu programa aquesta visita. Però Israel no és solament història i conflicte. Obama també vol ressaltar el seu caràcter de 'Start Up Nation' i amb aquesta finalitat cal emmarcar la seva visita a una mostra de les set innovacions israelianes més destacades en els camps científic i tecnològic.

Aquest vespre Obama dirigirà un discurs a la joventut israeliana, especialment als estudiants universitaris, i ho farà des del Centre Internacional de Convencions de Jerusalem en lloc de la Knesset, el parlament israelià. Dos breus aclariments. El fet d'excloure de la invitació als estudiants de la Universitat d'Ariel, situada en l'assentament del mateix nom emplaçat al nord de Cisjordània, no ha agradat a l'opinió pública israeliana i ha estat criticada tant des de la dreta com des de l'esquerra. En aquest sentit destaca la crida al boicot del discurs d'Obma realitzada fa uns dies pel parlamentari laborista Nachman Shai. També pot sorprendre que Obama no hagi escollit la Knesset com a escenari del seu discurs, però el president nord-americà té poderoses raons per a justificar la seva elecció: d'entrada, estalviar-se les crítiques dels parlamentaris de la dreta nacionalista per situar les fronteres del 67 com a punt de partida de les negociacions de pau amb els palestins o evitar les preguntes incòmodes sobre l'alliberament de Jonathan Pollard, l'espia israelià d'origen nord-americà que compleix condemna de càdena perpètua als Estats Units des de l'any 1987 per haver passat informació classificada a Israel. De fet, en els dies previs a l'arribada del President Obama a Israel, s'han convocat manifestacions per a demanar l'alliberament de Pollard i fins i tot Gilad Shalit, captiu del Hamàs a Gaza durant cinc anys, ha enviat una carta al president nord-americà amb aquesta mateixa finalitat.

Manifestants sostenen una pancarta on es demana l'alliberament de Pollard utilitzant el Yes, We can. Font: Ha'aretz.

   
Obama visitará demà al matí l'església de la Nativitat a Betlem. Segons fonts nord-americanes, aquesta visita no s'ha d'interpretar com una mostra de suport polític a Abbas sinó més aviat com una demanda de respecte cap a les minories - en aquest cas concret la cristiana - en el marc dels canvis provocats per la Primavera Àrab.

Però Abbas no s'ha quedat amb els braços creuats esperant a Obama. Durant els darrers dies un clima de manifestacions i de Intifada ha sacsejat els territoris palestins: des del llençament de pedres als vehicles israelians que circulaven per les principals autovies i carreteres de Cisjordània (el passat una nena de dos anys va ser greument ferida en un d'aquests atacs) fins a les manifestacions de protesta per la visita d'Obama. El passat Dilluns els manifestants van destrossar un cartell commemoratiu de la visita del president nord-americà a Betlem. El missatge és clar. Obama, no ets benvingut a Palestina pel teu suport a Israel:

Sens dubte, aquestes manifestacions han estat perfectament orquestrades pels dirigents de l'Autoritat Nacional Palestina i pel propi Abbas. De fet, en els darrers dies, en un dels principals diaris afí al oficialisme palestí, s'han publicat articles amb continguts antisemites i amb teoríes conspiratives sobre l'atemptat terrorista del 11-S.  Quina és la finalitat d'Abbas? Possiblement pressionar als Estats Units i indirectament al Primer Ministre B. Netanyahu per a que acceptin les seves demandes - la total congelació dels assentaments a Cisjordània i Jerusalem Est- com a condició prèvia sine qua non per a un retorn palestí a la taula de negociacions. No serà fàcil. Especialment si la cartera del ministeri de vivenda cau en mans del parlamentari Uri Ariel, del partit HaBait Hayehudi de Naftalí Bennett, un partit que s'oposa a la creació d'un estat palestí i defensa l'annexió de la coneguda com Zona C de Cisjordània -un 60% del territori- a Israel. Per la seva banda, el Hamàs també ha volgut donar la seva peculiar benvinguda a Obama i aquest matí han impactat en territori israelià diversos Qassam disparats des de la Franja de Gaza. 
    

periodista danès desenmascara la veritat sobre Gaza: el problema no és la falta d´aliments sinó la manca de feina

La pasada setmana, el periodista danès Steffen Jensen va visitar la Franja de Gaza i d´una manera molt més honesta i menys sectària que seus companys catalans i espanyols, va desmentir al seu blog personal que a la Franja existís una greu crisi humanitària provocada pel bloqueig israelià- com dia si i dia també s´insisteix a la nostra premsa -. A més a més, va afirmar que el problema no és tant la manca d´aliments com la manca de feina, que caldría revitalitzar l´economía palestina i que per a fer-ho és imprescindible la colaboració amb el govern israelià. Per tant, la UE hauría de pressionar al Hamas per a encaminar-lo a una moderació o aïllar-lo internacionalment enlloc de defensar la necessitat de negociar amb aquesta organització terrorista - reconeguda com a tal per la pròpia UE- com alguns europarlamentaris han i estant fent. A continuació, us deixo amb la traducció al anglès del article.

THE SITUATION IN GAZA:

THE PROBLEM IS MORE A SHORTAGE OF WORKS THAN A SHORTAGE OF FOOD.

Judging from the media, the situation in Gaza is desperate, everything is about to collapse, and the community is on the brink or at the level of a third world country.

Israel ’s closure of the border to the Gaza Strip has continued for three years, ever since the Palestinian coalition government collapsed, and Hamas, during the subsequent civil war, sent Fatah packing. The Palestinian society ' s immediate downfall has been prophesied numerous times in the media. People have nothing to eat, we sometimes know. The UN must from time to time to stop food distribution, either because their stocks are running low, or because they cannot get diesel for their trucks, and therefore cannot carry food in. And so on.

Yesterday I drove into the Gaza Strip. I don ' t do this as often as before, when it involved a quick entry by car in the morning and a quick exit by late afternoon. No it is such a slow procedure, that when I finally get down here, I end up staying for almost a week. The Israelis often also close the Gaza Strip to all foreign journalists, so that no one can get in or out (once in) for several days or weeks. That’s why there can be a long period between my visits.

This time, I had expected to see real suffering, because with all the fuss in recent days about bringing tons of humanitarian relief in - so much that people actually sacrificed their lives for it - there certainly had to really be a deep, desperate situation in the Gaza Strip. No food. Long lines in front of UN food stocks. Hungry children with food bowls.
But this was not the picture that greeted me.

When I drove through Gaza city yesterday morning, I was immediately surprised that there are almost as many traffic jams as there always have been. Isn’t there a shortage of fuel? Apparently not. No one is saving it. Gasoline is not even rationed.

Many shops were closed yesterday; Hamas has declared a general strike in protest against Israel ' s brutal and deadly attack on the Turkish flotilla with pro-Palestinian activists on board. It was thus difficult to estimate how many products were on the shelves. Therefore I went over to the Shati refugee camp, also known as Beach Camp. Here is one of Gaza ' s many vegetable markets that sell much more than just fruits and vegetables.

I will not say whether in better times there was a larger product range than yesterday, but there was certainly no shortage of vegetables, fruits or any other ordinary, basic foods. Tomatoes, cucumbers, corn, watermelons, potatoes - mountains of these items in the many stalls.

I must admit I was a little surprised. Because when I call down here to my Palestinian friends, they tell me about all the problems and deficiencies, so I expected that the crisis would be little more obvious.

And the first woman we interviewed in the market confirms this strange, contradictory, negative mindset:

"We have nothing," she said. We need everything! Food, drinks ... everything! "

It didn’t disturb her in the least that she stood between the mountains of vegetables, fruit, eggs, poultry and fish, while she spun this doomsday scenario.

Another woman, Ifka Abu Nahal, who originally comes from a rural district, is more in contact with reality. She says that the crucial problem is the overconsumption of water, which is leading to the sinking of the groundwater table. This means that the saltwater of the Mediterranean is forced in, thus polluting the groundwater, which is already too saline. This makes it unpleasant to drink, and will eventually destroy the agricultural soil.

She also says that the poor economy is the greatest problem.

“There is a great deal of unemployment. There’s no work to be got in the Gaza Strip. This means that many people do not have on income, but are instead forced to live on handouts from their relatives. So they can’t afford to buy the goods that are actually available. They can stand there and look at the meat, but are not able to buy it, “she explains.

One thing that will really surprise many people is that only the vegetables here are grown in the Gaza Strip. With the exception of watermelons, all the fruit comes from nowhere else but from . . . Israel !

al-Assad Yazgy owns a fruit and vegetable outlet here in the market. All his fruit is imported from Israel .

"Not all fruit and all vegetables come from Israel . Ours do. They come from Israel . But in the Gaza Strip there is not very much fruit cultivated - mostly tomatoes, potatoes and vegetables. So here with me are the vegetables and watermelons from Gaza . All the fruit comes across the border from Israel ," he explains, but also says that there can be long periods when the border is closed, during which, therefore, fruit does not come in.
Another supply route is the smuggling tunnels down in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, under the border to Egypt . A very large part of the goods in the retail establishments here in Gaza come from Egypt and are smuggled in.

On the way out of the Shati camp we stop at a small grocery store. Not any fancy, expensive business. Just a small, humble local store. The proprietor Sun Mohammed Abu Nada says they would not be able to do business if it were not for contraband goods from Egypt .

He takes us on a brief tour of the shelves and shows everything that comes from Egypt . It turns out to be much more than half of the goods: 75-80 per cent, I would estimate. Several other products - including long-life UHT milk - come from Israel , but are also smuggled through tunnels from Egypt.

This detour via the Sinai desert and the smugglers’ tunnels naturally does not make the goods any cheaper, a fact which does not escape the notice of Muhammed Abu Nada.

The products are more expensive, he says. Many people cannot afford to buy them, or only to buy certain things sometimes. But all the while even such a small, poor-looking grocery store on the outskirts of a refugee camp still has so many relatively expensive smuggled goods on the shelves, it shows, nevertheless, that at least many of the customers must be able to afford to buy them. Otherwise, the merchant of course could not even afford to invest in unsold inventory.

I have not written this story to maintain that there are no problems in the Gaza Strip, because that would be untrue. There are problems. Many problems indeed. But it is not lack of food that primarily concerns people down here. The biggest problem is the lack of jobs and a sustainable domestic economy.

There is a shortage of construction materials, cement, and everything in the construction and public works area. However, this shortage has given rise to a whole new industry. Poor Palestinians dig through the many lots and ruins of houses and factory buildings destroyed in the war. Here they find all sorts of things that can be reused. Even many of the stones and much of the concrete can be used.

But there is a shortage of real work and actual Palestinian development, which their brothers on the West Bank are currently experiencing with help from the West, and which could do much to improve the situation in the Gaza Strip. And this economic development must come from within. There will never again be a situation where almost 150,000 workers from the Gaza Strip can travel into Israel every day, and bring money back to help the local economy (something that Israel was actually once criticized for). That was stopped by the wave of terrorism and suicide bombers in the 1990s and the beginning of the decade after 2000.

But in order to start this kind of economic development with the help of the West, Israeli cooperation is needed. And that means that the Hamas government must soften its total and inflexible rejection of negotiations with Israel , not to mention recognition of that country’s right to exist. There is a perception, even though there is still a very long way to go, that among certain circles in Hamas, there are tendencies to show greater flexibility.

In order to cultivate this tendency among the Islamists, it is probably also necessary for us in the West to soften our total rejection of the idea of having contacts with Hamas. Even though our own Danish diplomats in the region, like other EU diplomats, do not want to have contacts with Hamas, a dialog is necessary.

If no calming of the situation whatsoever starts, there is a risk that the even more militant and fanatic jihadist groups, which already are growing in the Gaza Strip, will begin to pressure Hamas from the side, and force that organization to eliminate any possibilities for political compromises, and instead protect its Islamist credentials.


Update 8:00 p.m. ( Gaza time)

The Israeli army announced here this evening, that it has loaded the emergency assistance to Gaza from the six Turkish activist ships onto 20 trucks, in order to drive it into the Gaza Strip. The cargo consists, among other things, of “various types of medicine (past their expiration date), clothing, carpets, hospital equipment and toys.”

Apparently, the Israelis have not been willing to accept that building and construction materials, including cement which was also on board, be sent along.

However, the Israelis can save themselves the trouble. Hamas has announced that they will not accept any emergency assistance from the ships, and have blocked Israel ’s attempt to deliver the emergency help.