A Two-State Solution Requires Palestinian Politics

The Israeli raid on the flotilla of humanitarian aid headed for Gaza dealt a blow to chances for a breakthrough in the peace process. As the U.S. administration struggles to keep indirect talks alive, Michele Dunne prescribes a different approach in a special paper for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

She writes that it is clear that a two-state solution requires reconciliation between Palestinian factions and reunification of the West Bank and Gaza. Dunne recommends that the United States should support Palestinian institution building and be open to political competition, including elections.

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IPS Launches Congressional Monitor Database

The Institute for Palestine Studies has just launched a Congressional Monitor Database. It is a powerful new research tool that contains every Palestine-related legislative initiative introduced in the U.S. Congress during the George W. Bush administration (2001 through 2008).

The database is web-based and completely open access.

Through the legislation it passes, the U.S. Congress plays an important role in U.S. policy toward the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The database provides a highly focused collection of legislation from the immense volume of the Congressional record, and at the same time allows easy access to the raw data the record contains.

Using the database will give users an important view into how Congress helps determine the range and magnitude of U.S. involvement in the conflict. It can also reveal the prevailing attitudes among lawmakers, especially among the initiators of legislation, toward the conflict and regional actors.

Key features of the Congressional Monitor Database include:

• A quick summary of every piece of legislation and access to its entire text.

• A Topic search function that allows users to quickly view legislation on key issues such as refugees, Jerusalem, and military or economic aid. It also has a search function for bill sponsors.
  

• An extensive set of Frequently Asked Questions that provide a detailed guide to the database, how to use it, the U.S. Congress, and the legislative process.

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UN Report on Environmental Problems in Gaza

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) released a report today: Environmental assessment of the Gaza strip following the escalation of hostilities in December 2008 - January 2009.

The report documented significant destruction in Gaza as a result of Israel's military attacks.

However, "the environmental situation in the Gaza Strip was already serious prior to these events, due to underinvestment in environmental systems, lack of progress on priority environmental projects and the collapse of governance mechanisms."

It found that "Operation Cast Lead" caused further degradation of Gaza's environmental conditions and infrastructure. It cited as two of the most striking examples, "the significant volume of demolition debris that was generated and the serious damage done to the sewage system." It goes on:

Other adverse environmental impacts include the widespread destruction of agricultural areas, damage to smaller industrial enterprises and an increase in pollution discharged into the Mediterranean and into the groundwater.

It shares a United Nations (UN) damage assessment that was carried out using satellite imagery. They estimated that 2,692 buildings and 180 greenhouses were destroyed or severely damaged during the hostilities and 167 kilometres of roads were damaged.

The satellite images showed 220 impact craters on roads and bridges and more than 700 craters on open or agricultural land. Utilities infrastructure in energy (fuel and electricity), transportation and telecommunications also sustained severe damage during the crisis. Water supplies were affected by damage to water wells and drinking water pipes, as were wastewater systems, leaving the quality of water in Gaza a "critical" concern.

It estimated the costs of environmental damage directly linked to the escalation of
hostilities in December 2008 and January 2009 to be $44 billion. Costs include the removal and safe disposal of rubble and asbestos, restoring the solid waste management system, and restoring the water systems.

There is little sign of improvement since the cessation of Israel's invasion: "In addition to the environmental impacts of the recent escalation of violence, the population of the Gaza Strip suffers from environmental pollution and natural resource depletion related to the ongoing political situation and associated problems."

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US Launch of The Lancet Series on Palestinian Health at the Center

Today, The Lancet, one of the world's best-known and most respected general medical journals released its latest edition. It focused entirely on "Health in the Occupied Palestinian Territory."

The launch took place in London and was broadcast via videolink at Palestine Center in Washington DC on March 4th. Journalists, government officials, academics and members of the general public gathered at the Center to hear several of the papers' authors present.

Richard Horton, the editor-in-chief of The Lancet, said the issue was created "to make the invisible visible." By documenting scientifically the health consequences of the Israeli occupation of Palestinians, the issue suggests that Palestinian "human security" is essential to peace, as former President Jimmy Carter suggests in his Comment.

The Lancet became well-known among political observers when in 2004 it published estimates of the Iraq war's civilian death toll. At the time, many were not discussing it publicly, and that study forced it into the open.

This edition of The Lancet brought together the best researchers and epidemiologists from the occupied Palestinian territory, UN agencies, and international scientists, to examine in depth the long term health issues for all groups living in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

The United States launch was made possible by the work of the Vineeta Foundation, in collaboration with The Lancet, Birzeit University, Medical Aid for Palestinians, and The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health.

Want more information about this issue?

Listen to the Editor-in-Chief Richard Horton discuss this issue.

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Full text: UN Resolution 1860 on Israeli Invasion of Gaza

Security Council calls for immediate "durable and fully respected" ceasefire, Israeli withdrawal, humanitarian supplies and aid to Gaza, and Palestinian factional reconciliation. It also condemned all violence against civilians.

The nine clauses of Resolution 1860:

1. The Security Council stresses the urgency of and calls for an immediate, durable and fully respected ceasefire, leading to the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.

2. The Security Council calls for the unimpeded provision and distribution throughout Gaza of humanitarian assistance, including of food, fuel and medical treatment.

3. The Security Council welcomes the initiatives aimed at creating and opening humanitarian corridors and other mechanisms for the sustained delivery of humanitarian aid.

4. The Security Council calls on member states to support international efforts to alleviate the humanitarian and economic situation in Gaza, including through urgently needed additional contributions to UNWRA and through the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee.

5. The Security Council condemns all violence and hostilities directed against civilians and all acts of terrorist.

6. The Security Council calls upon member states to intensify efforts to provide arrangements and guarantees in Gaza in order to sustain a durable ceasefire and calm, including to prevent illicit trafficking in arms and ammunition and to ensure the sustained reopening of crossing points on the basis of the 2005 Agreement on Movement and Access between the Palestinian Authority; and in this regard, welcomes the Egyptian initiative, and other regional and international efforts that are underway.

7. The Security Council encourages tangible steps towards intra-Palestinian reconciliation including in support of mediation efforts of Egypt and the League of Arab States as expressed in the 26 November 2008 resolution, and consistent with Security Council Resolution 1850 (2008) and other relevant resolutions.

8. The Security Council calls for renewed and urgent efforts by the parties and the international community to achieve a comprehensive peace based on the vision of a region where two democratic states, Israel and Palestine, live side by side in peace with secure and recognized borders, as envisaged in Security Council Resolution 1850 (2008), and recalls also the important of the Arab Peace Initiative.

9. The Security Council welcomes the Quartet's consideration, in consultation with the parties, of an international meeting in Moscow in 2009.

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