Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has helped Israel and Palestine finalize the Rafah crossing agreement that would allow Palestinians to go back and forth freely to Egypt. The Palestinian people will thus have, for the first time, full control of one of their borders with a neighbouring country, a laudatory achievement.

by George S. Hishmeh

by George S. Hishmeh

WASHINGTON - The Israeli settlers who are being evacuated from the Gaza Strip's 21 settlements in fulfilment of the Israeli government's unilateral "disengagement" plan, a process that is due to end in three weeks time, are receiving an unbelievably sympathetic but myopic coverage in the media.

Here is how one writer in The New York Times put it last Sunday: "(The evacuation) is an admission not of error but of failure. Their (supporters') cherished goal - the resettlement of the full biblical land of Israel by contemporary Jews - is not to be. The reason: Not enough of them came."

Ethan Bronner gave two reasons for that, one offered by the Israeli consul general in New York, Arye Mekel, who said: "Ideologically, we are disappointed because Zionism meant the Jews of the world would take their baggage and move to Israel. Most did not." Of the world's 13 million or so Jews, Bronner reported, "a minority - 5.26 million - make their home in Israel, and immigration has largely dried up." In fact, he continued, "last year, a record low 21,000 Jews immigrated to Israel."

by George S. Hishmeh

All eyes nowadays are focused on the beginning of next week's much-anticipated Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, where some 1.4 million Palestinians, mostly refugees, and 8,000 Israeli settlers have been living separately since Israeli troops occupied this narrow coastal area 38 years ago.

But it was the bloody racist attack last week by a young Israeli fundamentalist - an illegal settler and member of the extremist Jewish group Kach - on a bus carrying Arab Israelis to their hometown in northern Israel that recalled the recent deplorable bombings in London and similarly horrific events elsewhere. But in this case international reaction to the killing of the four Arab passengers, including two sisters, was disappointingly muted when compared to the outcry, deservedly, that followed the shocking events in the British capital.

The Israeli reaction was glaringly subdued compared to the hue and cry that is routinely voiced (equally by others, particularly in the US) following similar actions by so-called Islamic jihadists. Some exceptions were noteworthy, however. The Israeli daily Haaretz lashed out at the rabbis in control at the settlements where these extremists live, accusing them of leading "the incited masses to a violent clash." The paper said: "The murder in Shafaram (Shafa Amer, in Arabic) made clear, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that the final line has been crossed," and it called on the Israeli government to deal with "a strong hand" against these extremist groups "and their rabbis, and the outer circles that nourish them."

by George S. Hishmeh

President George W. Bush just took another swipe at the US Senate, though controlled by his Republican Party, when he installed this week a controversial nominee, John Bolton, as ambassador to the United Nations. The short-tempered senior State Department official has been accused of abusing subordinates and twisting intelligence to fit his conservative ideology.

Bush used an avenue that is available to US presidents whenever the 100-member upper house of US legislators is in recess, that is, he can appoint his nominee without congressional approval as is the law. Although several presidents have taken this step in the past, it has rarely been used to name an official as high-ranking as Bolton and certainly not during critical times as is the case nowadays for US foreign policy. The only disadvantage in taking this route is that the official, Bolton in this case, will only serve until the end of this congressional term, or December 2006.

by George S. Hishmeh

Actions speak louder than words, we are always reminded, and this week this could not be truer than in the case of two persons, thousands of miles apart: one, the cinematographer daughter of a prominent Israeli leftist writer who moved out of Israel and the other, an Iraqi who was named to the new Iraqi Cabinet last Sunday. In brief, their actions rekindle hope that there is a chance for an equitable and democratic future in Middle East.

The Iraqi is Hisham Abdul Rahman Al Shibli, member of the National Democratic Party and justice minister under the US-supported Iraqi Governing Council. When Iraq's Prime Minister Ibrahim Al Jaafari announced his Shiite-dominated Cabinet earlier this month, he needed to fill six additional positions, primarily Sunnis', to occupy the important Cabinet posts of oil, defence and human rights, among others. He had 17 Shiites, eight Kurds and a Christian.

But his choice of Shibli, a Sunni, to run the ministry of human rights, a key position, fell through. For a start, the minister-designate was apparently startled when he saw his "name on the ticker, and all the (TV) channels". He disclaimed any knowledge about the choice: "Nobody asked me."

by George S. Hishmeh

Day in, day out, John R. Bolton, seen as a bull in a china closet, appears to be losing ground quickly in his pursuit of becoming the next American ambassador to the United Nations, an organisations he detests. His lacklustre personality and performance have reflected badly on his ardent supporter, President George W. Bush who, together with his senior aides, appears to fight a last-ditch battle to win the confirmation for the controversial undersecretary of state for arms control when the Senate Foreign Relations Committee convenes on May 12. In fact, some Republican members of the committee seemed to be having second thoughts about Bolton's suitability for this all-important position. A single Republican defection, which now seems more likely than earlier in April, could deny him the position.

Such an outcome could be very damaging to Bush, whose approval rating stands now at 44 per cent, primarily because of the poor state of the American economy and the high gasoline prices which have record a 43 per cent increase in a year.

In short, the president can ill-afford such a drastic outcome, thereby raising once again concern about his stacking up the international deck with unpopular hawks from his administration. First, there was Paul Wolfowitz, the deputy secretary of defence considered the mastermind of the unpopular Iraq invasion, who was named president of the World Bank. Whether he can do it again with Bolton appears more doubtful as the nomination process drags on.

by George S. Hishmeh

There is no doubt that President George W. Bush meant what he said and he deserves praise for his unexpected forthrightness after his meeting last Monday with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon at his ranch in Crawford, Texas.

"I told the prime minister," the president said with Sharon standing at his side at a press briefing following their talks, "of my concern that Israel not undertake any activity that contravenes roadmap obligations, or prejudice final status negotiations. Therefore, Israel should remove unauthorised outposts and meet its roadmap obligations regarding settlements in the West Bank."

And during the question-and-answer session that followed he elaborated when a reporter thought there was some contradiction there. Bush emphasised: "If he listens to what I say, he won't hear anything contradictory. I've been very clear that Israel has an obligation under the roadmap. That's no expansion of settlements."

Americans for Peace Now, a sister organisation of the Israeli Peace Now movement, "applauded" the American leader for "raising concerns about (Israeli) settlement expansion and settlement outposts", and the American Task Force on Palestine, a leading Palestinian-American organisation, "welcomed" the new American position.