May 9, 2012 - News & Politics - 
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Peace can only come between two democracies. The Palestinian Authority has to get its house in order or else everyday Israelis simply won’t trust them. They’ve made great advancements since the Arafat years, but it’s still a long way to go.
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February 21, 2012 - News & Politics - 0
A month ago it seems that Bibi’s peace envoy presented the Palestinians with an actual proposal on borders. The proposal isn’t exactly the ideal one, and the Palestinians would (and should) never accept what was put in front of them. But it is a good first start. I don’t expect Bibi — or Abbas, for that matter — to show all his cards in the first round. This is a starting point, presumably. It takes strong leadership, a la President Clinton, to bring the sides closer together. A number of issues, including Jerusalem, were never discussed, it seems. But I still think this is a step in the right direction. The Quartet just needs to bring everyone back together now and continue to nut everything out.
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December 30, 2011 - News & Politics - 0
Ha’aretz reports that Hamas has moderated, has ordered its forces in Gaza not to fire rockets, and is ready to accept a two-state solution based on the 1967 borders. Seems that the fruits of the reconciliation talks with Fatah have gone to plan, then, despite what the predictions of the naysayers. Surely soon we say, “these guys are serious,” and we start negotiating with them.
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November 28, 2011 - News & Politics - 1
A poll of 1,200 Palestinians has results that bode well for peace — a population that trusts in the peace process, prefers its moderate leadership and a majority of whom reject terrorism against Israel.
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September 17, 2011 - News & Politics - 0
How does Hamas respond to the unilateral declaration at the UN? AP: “[Hamas] can’t publicly oppose the idea of statehood, but they are wary of giving a boost to their West Bank rival, internationally backed President Mahmoud Abbas. They also don’t want to appear to recognize Israel, as the move implicitly does by calling for a state only on territories captured in 1967.” This could be an opportunity to wedge Hamas and drain them of their support in Gaza.
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September 9, 2011 - News & Politics - 0
No pun intended: There is literally a one-hour time difference between Gaza and Ramallah. How bizarre.
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July 8, 2011 - News & Politics - 0
What a wonderful bunch of people they are in Gaza. The Hamas government in Gaza has begun enforcing a law introduced last year banning men from cutting women’s hair. Until now, the law had not been enforced, but this week at least one male hairdresser in Gaza was arrested. Male hairdressers for women are regarded by many Muslims as against Islamic tradition. The move is seen as an attempt to [...]
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May 5, 2011 - News & Politics - 1
The AFP reports on Khaled Meshal, certainly one of more hawkish Hamas members, at the signing of the Hamas-Fatah treaty in Cairo: Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal said on Wednesday that his Islamist movement would work to achieve the “Palestinian national goal” of a sovereign state on the Gaza Strip and West Bank. Meshaal said Hamas sought “the establishment of an independent sovereign Palestinian state on the West Bank and the [...]
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May 4, 2011 - News & Politics - 1
Bibi and Lieberman on a war path with their own policy wonks: An internal, confidential Foreign Ministry report advises that the creation of a Fatah-Hamas unity government in the Palestinian Authority would offer Israel a strategic opportunity. The views expressed in the paper are clearly counter to those expressed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu since the reconciliation reached last week by the Palestinian factions. The reconciliation document is expected to [...]
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April 2, 2011 - News & Politics - 1
Joe Klein at Time Magazine went to the West Bank to meet some young, educated Palestinians who are going to be asking the Israelis exactly that. Israel (and Western Jews) are excellent at mis-casting Israelis as David, something possible when suicide bombers are terrorising Jerusalem commuters. But it’s difficult to put down a peaceful protest with military uniforms, something that Israel will no doubt try to do if something like [...]
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