Why on Earth Did they Exhume Yasser Arafat?

The Telegraph:

At first glance, the exhumation of the remains of Yasser Arafat, the former Palestinian leader, seems a bit bizarre. Conspiracy theories about his demise swirl on Twitter, particularly those that ascribe his death to Israeli poison or HIV, but neither of these seem to have much in the way of serious traction. Meanwhile, a tentative ceasefire is holding in Gaza, and a vote on enhancing the status of Palestine is coming up on Thursday; it seems that there would be more important things to think about than submitting an eight-year-old corpse to the autopsy that Arafat‘s widow would not allow at the time.

On a deeper level, however, this points to the lack of confidence that Palestinians of the West Bank have in their current leadership. Many believe that Mahmoud Abbas’ rejection of violence, acceptance of the 1967 borders, and even – in a recent interview with Israeli television – his suggestion that he is willing to abandon his desire to return permanently to his birthplace of Safed, in northern Israel, has left him emasculated. This has been highlighted by what is seen as the success of Hamas’ recent operations in attracting the attention of Israel and forcing it to the negotiating table.

Perhaps the contrast between Abbas’ impotency and Hamas’ dynamism is best illustrated by the kidnap of Gilad Schalit. Abbas frequently issues demands for prisoners to be released, and these have consistently fallen on deaf ears. Hamas kidnaps a soldier, and is rewarded with the release of more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners.

Palestinians on the West Bank may be uncomfortable with the hardline religious stance of Hamas, but the Islamist group’s ability to get results through violence makes the more circumspect leadership of Abbas appear almost absurd. If his upcoming bid for enhanced status at the UN falls flat, he will be left with almost no currency whatsoever with his people.

Giving this backdrop, the exhumation of Arafat makes more sense. When Arafat was alive, there was no split between Hamas and Fatah; he was an undisputed hero to the vast majority of Palestinians, and commanded an immense, unifying authority. He spoke to the UN wearing a holster, and made his famous statement that “I have come bearing an olive branch and a freedom fighter’s gun. Do not let the olive branch fall from my hand.” Mahmoud Abbas pales in comparison. This renewed attempt to establish the cause of Arafat’s death indicates a nostalgia for strong Palestinian leadership more than anything else.

 

Palestine Exploration Quarterly: Free

Bible Places Blog:

You can read or download the last three years of Palestine Exploration Quarterly for free with a simple registration, for a limited time. You can see the table of contents here. The issues from 2009-2011 appear to be free without registration from the table of contents.

This is a must if you, like me, are into Biblical archaeological matters!

Enjoy.

 

The Palestinian Wall of Lies

The Wall is here.

Give it a read. And to think that many well-meaning Christians believe theses lies!

HT

Israel in Peril

National Review Online from earlier in the week:

Several years ago, Charles Krauthammer pointed out that small nations can disappear, and they know it. Like Czechoslovakia in the late 1930s, Israel is a small nation and it has never been in more danger of disappearing. Today, Israel is surrounded by an armed alliance of Jihadist fundamentalists and nationalists, from North to South to East. Its West is the Mediterranean ocean, where Israel’s enemies would like to push her Jewish population. And Pres. Barack Obama has just put Israel’s very existence in more peril…

Read on here.

Israel and Palestine: Who Owns What – Archaeologically

While officials squabble over heritage sites, non-government experts are working behind the scenes to propose solutions.

The Art Newspaper:

In anticipation of a Palestinian bid for statehood recognition at the UN in September, Israelis and Palestinians are racing to claim cultural heritage sites in the West Bank. Both are channeling money into excavating, developing and branding sites as their own, underscoring connections bound to history and identity. Yet as each side puts facts on the ground, the rules for the contested playing field have not been agreed upon: who owns cultural property? Who can make changes to or profit from heritage sites? What legal questions are relevant? If a Palestinian state is recognised, negotiators will have to be ready to address these questions. But as the issues have never been negotiated, non-governmental experts have filled in behind the scenes, to have cultural property policy recommendations and documentation ready, in the event of a peace deal…

Framing such ongoing and explosive disputes are long unresolved questions of borders and who owns cultural heritage. In principle, archaeology and cultural heritage, like other issues, were to be worked out in Israeli-Palestinian final status negotiations. Every round of peace talks failed though, before archaeology was ever seriously discussed. The heritage committee mandated by the Oslo Accords is non-existent; the void has helped maintain intractable Israeli and Palestinian positions and discouraged co-operation.

Israeli officials have argued that heritage sites with Jewish historical connection must remain under Israeli sovereignty. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated that position last year, after Unesco ruled that, despite being venerated by Jews, Christians and Muslims, heritage sites in Bethlehem and Hebron are Palestinian (The Art Newspaper, December 2010, p25). He denounced the decision as “absurd”, calling it “an attempt to disconnect the nation of Israel from its heritage.”

Palestinians counter that location, not religious identification, determines sovereignty of a site…

There’s a lot more here.