Why the PA is like the NFLPA

This past summer NFL owners locked out the players in pursuit of a more favorable revenue sharing arrangement. The players responded by decertifying their union. It turns out that the players union actually protects the owners in some way. As long as the union is around, the owners are safe from antitrust lawsuits.

I believe there is similar logic at work as Fatah considers disbanding the Palestinian Authority. Israeli defense officials want the PA around, because the PA channels political energy into nonviolence. Obviously the PA is not always successful in this, and whether it even tried under Arafat is debatable. But these days I think its fair to say that the PA has this effect.

To clarify, in my analogy Israelis are the owners, Palestinians are the players, and the PA is the NFLPA.

gilad shalit part 2

Some support for my previous blog post. Haaretz:

Top Hamas official Mahmoud Zahar told Army Radio on Sunday that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas "negotiated with Israel for a million years and hasn't achieved a deal like this one."

Former Netanyahu bureau chief Ari Harow writes in the Jerusalem Post:

The complex deal that has ended Gilad Schalit’s nightmare raises many difficult questions, not least its strategic wisdom. However, the agreement to bring Schalit home has brought clarity on one topic. It has answered the vehement critics of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu who increasingly portray him as an obstacle to peace.

The New York Times editorial board doesn't buy that argument:

As for Mr. Netanyahu, we saw on Tuesday that the problem is not that he can’t compromise and make tough choices. It’s that he won’t.

Furthermore:

Both Mr. Netanyahu and Hamas were looking for a political win after Mr. Abbas grabbed the international spotlight — and saw his popularity soar — when he asked the United Nations last month to grant his undefined country full membership.

You heard it here first.

gilad shalit

Gilad Shalit will be released "within a week". This is good news. It sounds different than the other times.

But why is it happening now? Negotiations have faltered for more than five years. Why the sudden breakthrough?

Because the Palestinian Authority is making progress with its statehood bid at the United Nations. Hamas and Netanyahu oppose the progress at the UN. Consummating the Gilad Shalit deal is a way for them to distract attention from the statehood bid. The deal gives Hamas an opportunity to argue that its tactics--and not Fatah's--are successful. The deal gives Netanyahu an opportunity to argue that he has proved his willingness to negotiate--see, he just made a deal with Hamas!--and therefore that the PA is to blame, and not him, for lack of progress on final status negotiations.

Until September 2011, there was no room for an agreement. Hamas was happier defying Israel than turning over Shalit without getting high value Palestinian prisoners in return. Netanyahu was happier letting Shalit remain in captivity than turning over the high value Palestinian prisoners. By going to the UN, Abbas changed the political environment such that Hamas and Netanyahu were both willing to budge a little.

I hope Gilad Shalit will be released soon. I also hope that Hamas is unsuccessful in its attempt to siphon support from Fatah. I also hope that Netanyahu spends less time on hasbara and more time on statesmanship.

Jewish terror

I'm having trouble figuring out how to preface General Avi Mizrachi's comments on the Israeli Meet the Press. The Haaretz story leads with his call to shut down the yeshiva led by the author of Torat Hamelech (see previous post).

He also said something I've been thinking for a while -- that settler attacks on Palestinian residents of the West Bank are "Jewish terror". I was reluctant to articulate this because I was afraid of the harsh reactions some people might have. But Mizrachi has emboldened me.

Apparently there is some dispute over the definition of terrorism. It's a toxic word, so people try to stick it to anything they don't like. The only definition that makes sense to me is violence for political ends by non-state groups or individuals against non-state groups or individuals. Lots of horrible crimes do not fit this definition. I'm not saying those crimes aren't horrible, I'm just saying they deserve their own distinct labels, like war crimes or human rights violations.

I fear that the word terrorism is more frequently used simply to mean violence by people who have a different skin color or nationality. But if terrorism still has any meaningful definition, then we ought to be using it for the settler attacks on Palestinians. The euphemism "price tag" is more common and more comfortable. "Terrorist attack" is more accurate.

profiles in delusion

There's been some activity recently with Torat Hamelech, which I blogged about previously here and here.

The police wanted to question Rabbi Dov Lior, the head rabbi of Kiryat Arba who endorsed Torat Hamelech. He refused to cooperate. In February, the police issued an arrest warrant. Now, at the end of June, the police finally executed the warrant. In response to news of his arrest, protesters tried to block the entrance to Jerusalem. Check out the photo gallery on that last article.

I'm posting now because I want to continue to follow the Torat Hamelech story and also because I want to point out a person who showed up in one of these stories. Gershon Mesika, the head of the Shomron / Northern West Bank Regional Council, has grabbed my attention several times now.

Haaretz:

Police said they stopped Lior's car near the tunnel at the southern entrance to Jerusalem. A policeman replaced Lior's driver and drove the rabbi to the offices of the Serious and International Crimes Division in Lod, where he was questioned for about an hour in an amicable atmosphere.

I'm not sure because the article in Arutz Sheva only has one quotation mark, but I think most of what follows is a direct quote:

Samaria local authority head Gershon Mesika said Rav Lior’s abduction was an attempt by Soviet Russia to make a comeback and take over the only democracy in the Middle East.

That was exhibit A.

Here's exhibit B: After an incident in which settlers obstructed the demolition of an illegal house, Haaretz quoted Mesika as saying that Israeli police had used "rubber bullets tipped with glass". That would indeed be a cruel weapon, but I'm pretty sure it doesn't exist. Police said they fired paint cartridges.

capitol hill

The culmination of the J Street conference was a day of lobbying. We were asking our representatives to sign the Schakowsky-Eshoo letter. One of my nine meetings was canceled, and only one was with an elected official. The rest were with staff, which I am told is not unusual.

The congressman I met in person was John Dingell, the representative of Michigan's 15th district, which includes Ann Arbor, where I currently reside. I am unsure about the propriety of publicizing anything that happened in the meeting, so I'll just say that I am proud that John Dingell is my representative in Congress.

The meetings with staff were pretty good. I would guess that three to six of the eight will probably sign the letter. Staffers were all very polite. Some were totally unacquainted with the issues, others knew what we were going to say before we said it.

bds

I'm psyched for a marathon of nine meetings with Michigan Congressmen or staff today on the Hill.

Highlights from yesterday:

Dennis Ross addressed a plenary session, followed by a panel discussion, and I attended a breakout session about Hamas, but I don't have much to say about either one of those.

I caught a glimpse of Haaretz reporter Natasha Mozgovaya interviewing the MKs in attendance.

The panel discussion on BDS was interesting. I thought Ken Bob and Bernard Avishai were convincing. They argued that BDS is an inappropriate tool for ending the occupation and advancing two states. Rebecca Vilkomerson, representing Jewish Voice for Peace, argued in favor of BDS on the grounds that it is nonviolent and Palestinian led. The student on the panel, whose name I forget, spoke about the unproductive tone of the debate on BDS.

A few sessions were devoted to preparing for lobby day.