A couple years back, a comment that was making the rounds among Israeli policy-makers was that "Palestinians need to have their own Altalena."
Many signs point to Hezbollah’s increasing presence in the Palestinian territories, a sharp departure to Arafat’s model of Palestinian nationalism being the realm of Palestinian groups only. This is among the most serious (and least addressed) developments over the last few years.
Taken from this article about the Gaza-Egypt border debacle, this picture struck me as a sad allegory not just to the challenges of the Palestinian-Israeli peace process and of building of a Palestinian State, but further to so many of the challenges faced today in the Middle East, from the peace process, to the struggle between tradition and modernity, to the many divides harming the region, to the threats of nuclear proliferation, etc.
For those that can read Spanish, below is an excerpt from an article by Leo Zuckerman, an excellent Mexican columnist (who happens to be married to the smart cousin in the family 
.
For those that can’t read Spanish, just a quick synopsis: The Iranian regime is not content with suppressing their own people, or blowing up embassies and community centers in Argentina or trying to procure nuclear weapons, or trying to be a spoiler to efforts by the Palestinian and Israeli Heads of State to achieve a peace agreement.
Now they are also trying to impose their censure on artists exhibiting art in Mexican Museums. They began bullying an artist and museum threatening to issue fatwas against them if they do not bring down a display. The art at stake by a Moroccan artist is a homage to French painter Gustave Coubert and is based on photographs of human vaginas covered by a contour that resembles a temple. The Iranian Ambassador was incensed at this and began threatening everyone he could.
At issue is not whether you or I like the art at sake – I have never seen it. But whether a retrograde regime that imposes censure on its own people, persecuting homosexuals and lashing out against women who don’t wear a hijab or banning all sorts of open behavior or jailing people that disagree with their views – should have the gull to seek to impose their views on the citizens of Mexico also!!!
I think there is great validity to the view that artists should exercise their judgment and be sensitive to certain core tenets of religions. The Danish cartoons that infringed on the Islamic ban of portraying the Great Prophet Muhammad (let alone doing so in an offensive fashion) in my opinion were exceedingly insensitive to a noble religion and it is very regrettable that such bad judgment was displayed by those who organized a "contest" about this.
But the answer is not to use or threaten violence, and it is also certainly not to censure all forms of expression that may offend precisely because artists some times need to be able to express themselves against the injustice or inhumanity of a status quo condition, government or religion and, while it is very sad when people feel they need to offend others, it is far more harmful to prevent all forms of expression that offend those in power.
Now to add insult to injury the Iranian Ambassador seeks to impose his censure in a peace-loving and modest country thousands of miles away from his.
Excélsior / Juegos de Poder
Aquí no, señor embajador
Leo Zuckermann / Martes 27 de noviembre del 2007
Gracias a una oportuna y completa nota de Juan Pablo Proal en Proceso me enteré de que el embajador de Irán en México está exigiendo el retiro de una exposición artística en Puebla. La historia es la siguiente. En la capital poblana se está exhibiendo la obra El origen del mundo del artista marroquí Fouad Bellamine. En ella hay una serie de fotografías de vaginas humanas cubiertas por un contorno que asemeja una mezquita. De acuerdo al autor, la obra es un homenaje al pintor francés Gustave Coubert que en el siglo XIX mostró una vagina desnuda que fue censurada: “Con ese antecedente, el marroquí intentó también hacer una deferencia estética a la vagina por ser una fuente de vida, explica la curadora”.
El embajador Mohammad Hassan Chadiri Abyahen fue invitado a la inauguración del Festival Internacional de Puebla y visitó la exhibición. En cuanto la vio, se indignó, consideró las obras como “superpornográficas” y exigió que fueran inmediatamente retiradas. El artista le explicó que el símbolo de la mezquita al frente de las vaginas “era meramente espiritual y podría interpretarse como una Iglesia católica o judía”. Pero el iraní se enojó más y le reclamó que no tenía derecho a ofender a ninguna religión. Al parecer, la Secretaría de Cultura de Puebla, con la anuencia del artista, decidió desmontar la exhibición de inmediato, lo cual, por fortuna, no ocurrió. Fue entonces que el embajador iraní mandó una carta que vale la pena citar:
“Mientras el mundo musulmán está lleno de auténticos artistas representantes de su propia cultura, invitar a un maniático, vulgar e ignorante y a pesar de todo llamarlo artista a presentar la cultura y arte del mundo musulmán, resulta muy extraño.
“Usar este tipo de fotografías pornográficas, no tiene nada que ver con la cultura y el arte del mundo islámico, fotografías que pueden representar una parte vulgar de algunos ambientes, muy corruptos de algún país del mundo occidental. Una exposición que no es posible exhibirlo en ningún país islámico.
“El autor debería explicar al Mundo del Islam la razón de su acto ofensivo. Es natural que el mundo islámico no existe tolerancia, acerca de insultar a los asuntos Sagrados, por esto es mejor que no se repita esta situación, y es lógico y humano respetar el credo religioso de otros”.
La misiva, además de mal redactada, amenazó con “boletinar” a Bellamine como “enemigo del Islam”. Y ya se sabe qué significa esto como lo ha atestiguado el escritor Salman Rushdie quien ha tenido que vivir prácticamente en la clandestinidad.
La embajada iraní sigue presionando para que se retire la exhibición. Dice estar dispuesta a una crisis diplomática con México. Sería un grave error que el gobierno de Mario Marín e incluso el federal de Felipe Calderón accedieran a las demandas de Chadiri Abyahen. México es un país occidental donde constitucionalmente está protegido el derecho a la libertad de expresión. Si a los religiosos les disgusta este tipo de exhibiciones, pues que no vayan a verla.
Eso es muy diferente a ordenar la censura como efectivamente sucede en los países islámicos. En este sentido, el embajador iraní es un buen representante de su nación donde se piensa que el Estado, dominado por los ayatolás, debe ser intolerante con los “asuntos Sagrados” y decidir qué sí y qué no puede ver la gente. Pero aquí, señor embajador, las cosas son diferentes. En México los artistas tienen el derecho de exhibir sus obras, aunque sean una basura, lo cual lo decide cada quien de acuerdo a su criterio personal.
Irán es un país fundamentalista que, como este caso demuestra, pretende exportar sus creencias. Qué peligroso que estos religiosos intolerantes estén a punto de tener armas nucleares.
It is instructive to take a look at the groups opposing the efforts to negotiate an end to the conflict through negotiations among Israelis and Palestinians….
These primarily include:
Ayatollah in Iran: Says Annapolis "Doomed To Failure"
Hamas in Gaza: Sponsors Anti-Annapolis Meeting and Slams Arab Countries for Participating, Condemns Abbas and Arab Leaders
An Unholy alliance?
You may not see this on TV, but something huge happened in Gaza over the last couple days.
Hundreds of thousands of people rallied across the center of Gaza City to commemorate Yasser Arafat’s passing.
The rally was organized by the "National Committee", a group of Palestinian civic leaders, primarily from Fatah but also spreading across other parties and unaffiliated Palestinian luminaries tasked with representing the people.
The few media reports that I’ve seen on this are reporting that 5/7/10 people were killed and many others wounded as the Hamas-led police force opened fire at the crowds that were condemning their coup d’etat.
But the bigger story is that this is the biggest demonstration since Hamas took over Gaza by force, and arguably the biggest demonstration in Gaza ever.
THE PEOPLE ON THE GROUND were shouting "Shiia, Shiaa" against the Hamas forces, openly associating them as peons of the Iranian government.
For days, Hamas had been trying to prevent this mobilization from happening, going to the lengths of blocking out all the bus companies so they could not be rented by organizers to bring in people from the outskirts.
But people drove in their cars, and walked long distances, to make their voices heard.
Checkpoints across Gaza set up by Hamas forces were not able to stop this mobilization.
We had a setback last month when we had to postpone the OneVoice Summit in Jericho intended to send a message of support to President Abbas.
But this time the people of Gaza, hundreds of thousands of them, risked their lives to vote with their feet against militant extremism.
Here are a couple of stories that provide more context on this important development:
AFP: Hamas Kills Six at Arafat Rally in Gaza
IHT: Former Gaza strongman Dahlan says Hamas breakup of rally sign of group’s growing difficulties
{I requested and got permission to share excerpts of this letter on my blog}
Dear Daniel,
It is my great pleasure to write to you and reach out to you on a cause that we both stand for and work for: Peace in the Middle East and in the World. A cause that is worthy of devoting ones life to. I was introduced to your team in a conference held by University of California Irvine, through the Center for Citizen Peace Building. I can not begin to tell you how touched and moved I was by the courage of the young students from both Palestinian and Israeli side. It was truly inspiring to see something so extraordinary and so pure.
I’d like to give you a brief overview of the journey that led me to that conference and why our paths have crossed. I’m an Iranian American who survived the Iran Iraq war and never really unveiled it until recently. I have been in the rubble, I have seen people killed and youth as young as 12 years old dragged to the army to fight in the name of religion and let me tell you I did not believe in Peace. As a matter of fact, it would really upset me to see people preach it, I felt like they have no idea what it’s like to have bombs come down on them, and they have no idea that it is the last thing on one’s mind when running for shelter.
So you may ask yourself "what happened, and why a person of my background started working towards causing peace?" Well, I realized that being tired, resigned or apathetic is the source of it. I realized that it is not just about me the Iranian American kid, it’s about that Palestinian kid, that Israeli kid, that American, African, Sudanese… kid it’s about all of us. I realized that our biggest pitfall is that we have forgotten that before we’re Iranian, American, Israeli, Palestinian, we are human beings. Simple really simple yet so powerful that we have missed it and had wars get the better of us.
Please know that I’m not reaching out to you as an Iranian American, Muslim, Jew, republican, democrat, Ashkenazi, Sephardi, Shiite, Sonni, catholic, protestant, but I’m reaching out to you as all of the above a fellow human being.
…
…
You know Daniel, although I don’t know you or seen you, I know that it’s people like you and me and those who truly believe if there is a will, there is a way are the ones who take actions for the better good of human kind and inspire others to make it happen with them! People ask me, "you are not even Israeli or Palestinian so why do you care so much?", and I tell them I’m a human being and it is my human duty to care.
…
Although I run two businesses and run a humanitarian organization, I will drop everything for this cause and for a chance to make an impact, so please know that whenever you or anyone from your team calls they are welcome.
Your kindred Spirit,
Sunny Zia
I’ve been getting a lot of emails lately from Iranian students and bloggers, explaining they are not in agreement with Ahmadinejad and that the vast majority of Iranian people are ordinary citizens whose aspirations for peace and harmony are similar to those we aim to advance on behalf of the Israeli and Palestinian moderates.
I know.
And I agree.
And I respect and support their efforts – and if I had the time would be eager to also be involved in highlighting this fact.
So, for all Iranian readers, please know that when I use the word "Iran" for short-hand, I am referring to the fundamentalist regime whose apocalyptic ideology is not just a burden to the world outside Iran, but even more so to the very citizens they oppress and suppress through primitive monstrosities like jailing and killing political opponents or by preventing women from having full freedoms, or uprooting people from choosing a lifestyle different to that which the Ayatollahs determine all must follow.
The sad fact is that the Iranian regime fosters terrorism to destabilize and divide the people in Iraq, Palestine, Israel, Argentina, Lebanon and elsewhere wherever they can get their hands on. And they are the enemy that must be isolated, undermined, and brought down – by the Iranian people with the support of the community of nations.
I went on CNN just an hour or so ago, just a few seconds after they aired Nasrallah’s threats against the Arab world not to participate in the November conference sponsored by the US.
Why am I not surprised that Hezbollah, created and funded by Iran, is opposed to negotiations to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? This doesn’t serve the needs of their Iranian patrons, who seeks to use Israelis and Palestinians as peons in the ideological quest for hegemonic control over the region.
It was a good opportunity to juxtapose the will of the overwhelming majority of citizens that are FED UP with EXTREMISM, vis a vis. absolutist apocalyptic visions that are keeping all of us chained to violence and hatred for far too long.
The contrast is clear and people need to once and for all understand there are only TWO options. You cannot say you are for peace but want the whole thing to yourself. You cannot say you want peace but on your own terms only. You cannot say you are representing the hopes of the Palestinian people but the Palestinian people have no right to negotiate or talk with their enemy. You cannot say you are upholding the rights of the Israeli people but the Israelis have no right to negotiate with their counterparts.
There are only two options: a two state solution recognizing the rights of both sides to freedom, dignity, respect and security – along the lines of the Clinton parameters which 76% of Israelis and Palestinians polled support – OR ETERNAL CONFLICT.
There is no third option. Let’s be clear about it.
