http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=17&article_id=20312
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was all smiles Friday at the sight of his passport being stamped at the newly opened Rafah crossing from Gaza into Egypt. With rows of blue and orange chairs filling the border terminal and European help on monitoring activities, there was joy in the air as Gazans were granted the first opportunity since 1967 to leave their homes for a foreign country without first seeking Israeli permission. Perhaps the festive mood would have been dampened somewhat if the assembled company had been paying attention to a report prepared for European Union foreign ministers by the local EU representatives into Israeli activities in East Jerusalem. The report accused the Israelis of stepping up illegal settlements in that part of the holy city the Palestinians still eye as the capital of their state-to-be. Coupled with the separation wall that amounts to a de facto annexation of Palestinian land, the motivation was put down in the report to a desire by the Israelis to increase the proportion of Jews living in East Jerusalem and squeeze out the Palestinians. The whole effect of this, added the report, would be to radicalise the “hitherto relatively acquiescent Palestinian population of East Jerusalem,” especially given that it is becoming increasingly difficult for them to travel to hospitals, schools and holy places in the West Bank. In short, “prospects for a two-state solution with East Jerusalem as capital of Palestine are receding.” The report is dynamite but what is even more explosive is what happened to it. Later described by the Europeans as only an interim document anyway, the document is not to be published by the EU foreign ministers because the timing is inconvenient. An anonymous Israeli Foreign Ministry official opined: “Our assessment is that with the Israeli election campaign starting this week and the good momentum of European involvement in Rafah, the Europeans decided that this is not the right moment to open up Jerusalem as an issue.” How very convenient for the Europeans. How even more convenient for the Israelis. As long as the Palestinians are treated as third rate children to be fobbed off with colorful plastic toys, there is no wonder that there remains a danger of their being “radicalized.” What else do the Israelis and Europeans expect? That Abbas should set up a Parliament on the blue and orange plastic chairs in Rafah?