It is hard to know exactly what this visit by Iraqi Israelis to the Palestinian seat of power in Ramallah will accomplish. Instead of talking peace and brotherhood, speaking Arabic and reciting verses from the Koran, this delegation should have asked Mahmoud Abbas some tough questions. Instead they have bolstered his image as a peace-maker. The Jerusalem Post reports (with thanks: Lily)
MK Yossi Yonah meets Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah
On the bus ride over, Tamar Tzaliach, a retired businesswoman from
Jerusalem who loves Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, says she is not
sure if Abbas is ready to make the compromises necessary for peace.
“I
am skeptical; it is possible that he wants to make peace, but he needs
to overcome the pressures around him and take a courageous step,” says
Tzaliach, whose family comes from Baghdad and Basra.
Zehava
Bracha, who operates a website dedicated to preserving Iraqi Arabic
among Israeli Jews, says she has not come to make a political statement.
“I
am not political, but I believe in peace between both peoples, and that
starts with a conversation,” Bracha remarks. “I came to start that
conversation.”
As the visitors descend the bus in the Mukata’s
parking lot, the PA presidential guard forces welcome and direct them to
a medium-sized room, where a number of Abbas’s top advisers are
awaiting their arrival.
Among
the advisers is Muhammad Madani, the chairman of the Palestinian
Committee for Interaction with Israeli Society, a Palestinian government
body.
Since early 2013, Madani has frequently traveled around
Israel, meeting with Israelis from all walks of life, but Defense
Minister Avigdor Liberman withdrew Madani’s VIP entry permit in April,
making it impossible for Madani to meet Israelis on the other side of
the Green Line.
Liberman said that Madani had attempted “to
establish a political party” and wanted “to undermine Israel’s political
stability,” all claims that the latter vehemently denies.
Madani,
together with Zionist Union MK Yossi Yonah, organized Tuesday’s
meeting, which comes at a time when there is little discussion of the
peace process between the two sides.
Yonah, whose family comes
from Nehardea, an ancient Iraqi city, says he met Abbas approximately
two months ago and agreed to help arrange for a delegation of Israeli
Jews of Iraqi descent to come to Ramallah.
After everyone is seated, Abbas emerges from the doorway and individually shakes each of his guests’ hands.
One
guest on the far side of the room recites a verse of the Koran that
mentions both Jacob and Ishmael, and Abbas yells in jubilation, “God is
great.”
Yonah then takes the floor and delivers remarks in
Arabic, while Taleb al-Sana, a former Arab-Israeli member of Knesset,
translates into Hebrew.
“Our culture has deep roots and is part
and parcel of the region. We also believe that it is still possible to
achieve a peace agreement that serves both of our interests,” Yonah
says, adding that he “calls on Abbas and Netanyahu to renew talks
without preconditions.”
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From Levana Zamir:
ReplyDeleteAs Heads of Organisations of Jews from Arab Countries, we met with Mahmoud Abbas at the Moukataa in Ramallah in March 2016, with the blessing of Prime minister Netabyahu. During this visit, we urged Abbas to meet with Netanyahu for talks without any preconditions, and Abbas promised solonelmly to do so, but it did not happen.
When Abbas wanted to meet with us again, we refused, sending to him a letter saying since he did not keep his promise we are not going to meet with him again. Abbas messengers continue soliciting and bringing Israeli-Mizrahi Jews to the Moukataa, trying to persuade all of us that Abbas is Ok and Israel is not. Last month, an Israeli-Mizrahi singers and musicians group was brought to the Mokataa, in the same purpose.
Levana Zamir, Israel