Middle East Politics.Net » conflict

Gaza One Year On

davidhulme — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 20:56:32 +0000

The New York Review of Books reports on Gaza and the Israeli Peace Movement one year after the Gaza offensive.

David Hulme

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Palestinians Downplay Clinton’s Attempts

davidhulme — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 07:34:41 +0000

Hillary Clinton’s latest efforts to restart peace talks met with a rebuff from the veteran Palestinian negotiator over the weekend. According to Saeb Erekat “You cannot have discussions on borders while the territory you want to set up your state on is being eaten up by the settlements.”

David Hulme

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Palestinians End Torture of Hamas Prisoners

davidhulme — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 15:59:55 +0000

According to Hamas inmates of West Bank prison in Nablus, the Palestinian Authority has stopped torturing them. This is an effort according to Palestinian PM Salam Fayyad to create a solid foundation for a state.

David Hulme

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Official Figures on Gaza Offensive

davidhulme — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 19:08:48 +0000

B’Tselem, the Israeli organization that focuses on human rights in the occupied territories issued its assessment of fatalities during the Gaza offensive known as Operation Cast Lead.

David Hulme

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Israel and New Building Projects

davidhulme — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 20:46:09 +0000

The White House has issued a statement (September 5) about the Israeli government’s latest building plans. Hoping to retain settler support and then follow up with a freeze on construction to meet US demands, PM Netanyahu announced the latest permissions–Helena Cobban comments.

David Hulme

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Gaza Set Back 20 Years

davidhulme — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 05:31:16 +0000

The latest war in the region ended January 18 when Israel and Hamas each declared separate ceasefires. During 23 days of bombardment and ground fighting, 1300 Palestinians (mostly civilians) and 13 Israelis (3 civilians) died. The disproportionate death toll tells the story of military asymmetry, but not the true dimensions of the human tragedy. In addition to loss of innocent life on both sides, there are almost 5,000 Palestinians injured, 21,000 homes lost and 50,000 people displaced. More than a million citizens of Gaza are struggling in what some have described as the world’s largest prison, sealed off from help. Infrastructure and agriculture are wrecked. Schools, factories and hospitals are severely damaged or destroyed. Palestinian sources within Gaza claim 60% of agricultural land destroyed and 80% of this year’s produce obliterated. Financial loss in the agricultural sector is said to be $170 million. It may take 20 years for Gaza to get back to where it was on December 26, 2008, the day before the latest war started.

David Hulme

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Middle East Peace Through Jerusalem or Tehran?

davidhulme — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 23:00:15 +0000

Ethan Bronner is Jerusalem bureau chief for the The Times. Here he reviews a new collection of scholarly essays on how to resolve the ME’s various critical problems. The authors, who work in two ME think tanks deal in “nuance and realism, despite small lapses.” The two policy research groups also have close relations to the incoming Obama administration. The road to peace may lie not so much through Jerusalem, but through Tehran.

David Hulme

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Grossman and Gaza

davidhulme — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:44:41 +0000

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 Israel in a much better position now. During the proposed 48 hour ceasefire, he suggests that international mediators should be invited to resolve the immediate crisis. His analysis takes note that Israel has the duty to defend not only Israeli citizens subject to Hamas rockets, but also innocent Gazan Palestinians.

David Hulme

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Pro-Palestinian Movement Extricates Students from Gaza

pshapiro — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 06:42:28 +0000

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, which would not otherwise been possible since Israel has denied requests for exit visas from the area. Israel allowed the vessel Dignity into the prohibited area because it contained pro-Palestinian activists seeking to offer humanitarian supplies to Gazan residents. The Movement has stated that the mission’s purpose is to allow students located in Gaza to continue to pursue academics at other universities at which they have been accepted.

Paul Shapiro

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Palestinians Reject Israeli Land Exchange Proposal

pshapiro — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 06:40:24 +0000

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 amidst recent efforts to stimulate renewed peace talks between Israeli and Palestinian officials. Currently, the issue pertaining to the future of Jerusalem remains the single most contentious obstacle to negotiating some sort of reconciliation agreement. Israel additionally seeks to protect what it terms the “Jewish character of the state”, a position which entails little room for diplomatic resolution with regard to the millions of Palestinian refugees – unless and until each side seriously considers further steps to achieve the compromise that has thus far eluded the negotiations.

Paul Shapiro

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