Lunch with Mustafa Barghouti
10 June 2009 8:27 am by Taylor Marsh
“It is already an Apartheid system. … [...] Israel didn’t really withdraw from Gaza.” – Mustafa Barghouti
Another possible title for this conversation: Will Netanyahu Push Hamas to Overreact?
Whenever you are talking about Israeli-Palestinian issues with the well informed it’s always sure to be interesting. That was the case when I was invited to be part of a small lunch gathering at the New America Foundation yesterday, where Mustafa Barghouti was the invited guest. Who controls the airspace above Gaza? The water? It’s not just about the Palestinians, because Israel’s hope for calm in their own country are tied into the issues Mustafa Barghouti was talking about, too.
If I could get two minutes alone with Mr. Barghouti, I’d tell him the Palestinians desperately need a female face seen regularly here in the U.S. A Palestinian woman talking about something very basic: The plight of trying simply to get a good job. As politically engaged as females are in this country, nothing would begin to change perceptions about the Palestinians quicker. Hearing Aida Touma-Sleiman tell this very tale hit me like a brick.
This type of effort matters, because anyone who pays attention to Middle East politics in the U.S. knows Pres. Obama won’t be able to do alone what presidents before him have failed to do. Public opinion is powerful, as are the forces aligning against Obama on this, which first arose during the Charles Freeman swiftboating.
Barghouti began the conversation talking about Obama’s speech in Cairo.
“We live in different times… I think it’s refreshing. … Great value of what Obama did… is that he saw the human face of the Palestinians. … a great, great change.” – Moustafa Barghouti
He continued, saying “After years and years of dehumanization,” Pres. Obama was able to “speak about the humiliation of occupation.”
The most emphatic point Barghouti made during the lunch was his emphasis on the importance of non-violence. He reiterated this over and over again, even saying that regarding Hamas, “now they understand it.” Try selling that to conservatives in America. Who can’t script right-wing radio’s response?
Barghouti had a lot to say about outposts v. settlements. That if Netanyahu gets rid of even several outposts, that only means a handful of people because, according to Mustafa, there are only 106 outposts, with around 4,000 settlers. He also claims that 58% of settlements came after Oslo. As an aside, one gentleman, who came in late so I didn’t get his name (though he referenced his work with the World Bank), said the whole issue of settlements is, to paraphrase using my own words, an issue of marketing, if you will. Each settlement should be called an “occupation village,” as far as he was concerned. Everyone in the room got the point.
“With existing settlements there can be no (Palestinian) state.” – Mustafa Barghouti
Barghouti also proved that Obama’s speech in Cairo has raised expectations exponentially, saying quite dramatically that Obama is “the last American president who can deal with this problem.”
If there is one thing that’s been constant over the many Middle East conferences and forums I’ve attended since landing in D.C. just two months ago, it’s the finality of opportunity everyone feels is facing us, especially in the Arab world.
Barghouti challenged that while people continue to support and fund a sprawling security system still, no one is paying any attention to fundamentals like a judicial system for the Palestinians, health care, the very basics of civil life.
“We don’t just want a state, we want a good state where human rights are respected. … going to elections again.” – Mustafa Barghouti
But the entire conversation boiled down to one thing for me, something I’ve been thinking about for quite some time, but particularly after Obama, then Clinton, came out so strongly with the Administration’s settlement policy. That this policy alone is a mortal political threat to PM Netanyahu, one he likely sees as something he cannot afford to handle as an expectation he must meet, as he fears the fall of his own government. The entire settlement issue a “dangerous situation” for Pres. Obama, as Barghouti sees it.
Netanyahu is many things, but he’s not stupid. Why can’t this be his Nixon in China moment? He’s got to sense that opportunity, even as a darker possibility looms.
Here’s that scenario. Netanyahu hears Obama’s policy on settlements, then hears it reiterated by Sect. Clinton. Suddenly, the mythical back channel avenue some Israelis thought they might have through Clinton goes poof! The Israeli Prime Minister then makes his “what the hell do they want from me?” query, just prior to Obama hitting Cairo with a speech that not only ignited Arab and Muslim expectations, but once again laid bare that no settlements means no settlements. Bibi’s corner is getting tighter by the minute. What to do next? Push back at protests in Gaza enough to get an overreaction from Hamas so… you know the rest. The Middle East goes kaboom. Again.
“You can always find a way to blame the victim. … [...] There is no way we will ever give up.” – Mustafa Barghouti
Obama’s given the right signals in his speeches, what matters now are actions and follow through and whether he can get Netanyahu to sit down and make an honest deal.
According to Mustafa Barghouti, the Palestinians are ready. They certainly would be if he was in charge.
So let’s call the next chapter waiting for Obama. Hamas awaits action, too.
Thanks to Daniel Levy for the invitation to be part of yesterday’s event.
TM note: Last line was inadvertently left off when post was uploaded.
