Opinion
Gaza turmoil
 James M. Wall, Christian Century, discusses White House Middle East policy chief Elliott Abrams'alleged plan, contained within a leaked 16-page document, to "arm and train Fatah loyalists" so that they might "topple the Hamas government" (tonykaron.com).He concludes that "The realities of U.S. military funding of Fatah and U.S. training of Fatah troops leave little doubt that the U.S. is once again choosing sides in another country's internal conflict, and once again displaying the arrogance that led to disasters in Vietnam, El Salvador, Guatemala and Iraq." |
Accept the Saudi Initiative
JERUSALEM - Four years after it was first presented, the Arab Peace Initiative is finally coming to centre stage. Rumours of behind the scenes meetings and negotiations on the Initiative between Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Saudi national security advisor Prince Bandar bin Sultan have been strengthened by reports that the Saudi prince is trying to modify the Initiative so that it will be more acceptable to Israel.
by Gershon Baskin
Bush won't get much help in Iraq unless he earns it in Palestine
 Daily Star Editorial | date: 2007-01-25BEIRUT - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's emphasis on the "road map" as a route to Middle East peace and the Quartet as a vehicle to get there betray a fundamental misunderstanding of how Palestinian-Israeli negotiations broke down and why they have remained in stasis. The "road map" envisions a series of preparatory steps and delays a final status agreement until the final stage. But all of the foundations for a workable peace pact have already been laid through decades of negotiations, including those that took place during the administration of her boss's predecessor, Bill Clinton, who sought a deal until the very last weeks of his presidency. While Clinton's effort established that an American president could summon the stamina for an exhaustive peace process, he too fell short of securing ironclad commitments from the Israelis and Palestinians. |
Palestine's leaders have become their own worst enemies
Daily Star Editorial date: 2007-01-11
BEIRUT - Ever since Hamas came to power in democratic elections last January, the spectre of internecine violence has haunted the Palestinian territories. Attempts over the past year to negotiate an agreement that would allow Hamas and Fatah to share power were interrupted by armed clashes, but many still held out hope that the two factions would eventually recognize the futility of their ways and arrive at some form of compromise.
However, this past week has seen a rapid degeneration from bad to worse: a series of gun battles, abductions and raids-occurrences which have become alarmingly common in the territories-culminated with officials from Hamas and Fatah issuing public threats to kill one another's leaders. The chasm between the two factions has never been wider, and the leaders of both parties are to blame for dragging their population to the brink of civil war.
Ellison and the Qur'an: "a great American story"
 James J. Zogby, founder and president of the Arab American Institute (AAI), describes the debate over Keith Ellison, the first Muslim American elected to Congress, swearing his oath of office on the Qur'an. Explaining the open process by which all elected Congressmen are sworn in, he argues that this act, and indirectly the surrounding debate, in fact demonstrate the beauty of the United States and should be celebrated. |
Palestinians as partners
 Ziad Asali writes, "A historic negotiated compromise that results in a viable state of Palestine on land occupied in 1967, with mutually agreed borders and with Arab Jerusalem as its capital, is an Israeli imperative as it is a Palestinian need. It is Israel's best guarantee to survive the new existential strategic threats and the ultimate guarantee for security and peace for both nations. And for Palestinians to achieve their freedom and viable state, they must repudiate Hamas' regression to the olden days of rejection of Israel's pre-1967 borders." |
Bush's last chance
 Commenting on the Baker-Hamilton Report, Shlomo Ben-Ami writes, "The report's recommendation for an international conference in the style of the Madrid peace conference is not only a timely indication of the linkage between the Israeli-Arab conflict and the region's other troubles; it is also a long overdue reminder that bilateral negotiations between the parties cannot produce an agreement. That realisation prompted the all-Arab Peace Initiative of 2002, which established the conditions for an Israeli-Arab comprehensive settlement." |
