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Archive for conflict

Grossman and Gaza

Israeli author, David Grossman has a reasoned piece in the NYT today about the current Israeli campaign to crush Hamas. He argues for a 48 hour unilateral ceasefire on Israel’s part. Grossman, whose eldest son was killed in the 2006 Lebanon War, maintains that such an approach taken early in that conflict, would have put [...]

Pro-Palestinian Movement Extricates Students from Gaza

The Free Gaza Movement claims to have smuggled at least 11 university students out of Gaza, reaching Cyprus on Friday, according to reports by Al Jazeera. Israel’s blockade has previously not permitted students studying in Gaza to leave. The move is intended to allow the students to study at universities elsewhere in Europe and Canada, [...]

Palestinians Reject Israeli Land Exchange Proposal

Ahmed Qurei, the chief Palestinian negotiator, stated on Saturday that the Palestinians have rejected an Israeli proposition to annex a portion of the West Bank in exchange for some of its own territory. Qurei went on to explain that the Israeli land was “…not an equal trade in size and quality.” The rejected offer comes [...]

Hamas Anniversary Draws Both Celebration and Discomfort

Supporters of Hamas gathered in Gaza City on Sunday to mark the 21st anniversary of the Sunni organization’s founding. Presumably in recognition of the occasion, a meeting involving Israeli and Egyptian officials took place in Cairo in an attempt to seek renewal of the current ceasefire agreement between Hamas’ military apparatus and opposition forces in [...]

Banking Troubles in Gaza - $25 Million Delivered

Public sector employees in the Gaza Strip have recently encountered difficulties collecting their salaries due to the severe cash shortage faced by area banks. The shortage is in part a result of the Israeli blockade that has prevented many from traveling freely to and from Gaza – a detrimental effect on business, especially with regard [...]

Former President Carter Meets with Exiled Hamas Leader

Late into the hours on Sunday, former President Jimmy Carter met with Khaled Meshaal, the militant leader of Hamas who lives in exile in Damascus, Syria. We know that the major issues discussed in that meeting include the fate of Gilad Shalit who was kidnapped by Hamas back in the summer of 2006 and has [...]

Israel Released Fewer Palestinian Prisoners

Twenty Palestinian prisoners were removed from the list of prisoners to be released from Israeli custody, Tuesday, December 9. In what they described as a gesture to the Palestinian Authority, the Israeli government had stated that it would release 250 Palestinian prisoners – the list is now down to 230. The move to release these [...]

1 Killed, 22 Arrested during Israeli Raids in West Bank

Undercover Israeli troops suspected that Jihah Nwada, a fighter involved with the Islamic Jihad group, was planning to carry out an attack in the West Bank town of Jenin. Nwada fled when troops attempted to arrest him outside of a café, causing them to open fire and kill him. Overnight, a total of 22 Palestinian [...]

Lebanon and Syria, Another Viewpoint

Walid Jumblatt, Lebanon’s Progressive Socialist Party leader had harsh criticism for Aoun’s visit to Syria last week. It seems as if Lebanon is not only at odds with Syria personally, but also at odds with Syria’s reconciliation with the world. He heavily berated the hypocrisy of Aoun’s visit and proclaimed that he would never reconcile [...]

Gaza Ceasefire Thoughts

The Palestinian-Israeli Crossfire site, bitterlemons, has four perspectives on the ceasefire and domestic politics. This is a very useful site with regular commentary from multiple viewpoints on important dimensions of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
David Hulme