Category Archives: palestinian politics

Call it POSHA

One of my biggest complaints about Palestinian demands for a state, is that they’ve never set up the institutions of government. Well now, in Gaza, Hamas has taken the first step. Call it P-OSHA. (h/t Daily Alert) Gaza’s smugglers are … Continue reading

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Abbas at the abyss

Secretary Rice is apparently planning to celebrate the first anniversary of the Annapolis summit with – another summit. Shmuel Rosner describes this proposed summit as maintenance as opposed to a desperate, ill fated and misguided attempt (like Taba in 2001) … Continue reading

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Peace on earth and a rocket launcher

I remember some cartoon – maybe from Mad Magazine, maybe from Calvin and Hobbes – showing a little boy on Santa Claus’s lap asking for all sorts of weaponry and – peace on earth. This picture reminded me of the … Continue reading

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Ehud Olmert and the disregarded doctrines

Some background first. From the The Winograd Commission report: a. The Prime Minister bears supreme and comprehensive responsibility for the decisions of ‘his’ government and the operations of the army. His responsibility for the failures in the initial decisions concerning … Continue reading

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Olmert joins the Surrender Party

Ehud Olmert, not content with leaving Israel in a near-shambles, manages to make things even worse on his way out by declaring that Israel needs to surrender entirely to the Palestinians, or there will be no peace. In the farewell … Continue reading

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Fair Diehl

I’m not a big fan of Jackson Diehl. Earlier in his career he was the Israel correspondent for the Washington Post. More recently, he’s been a foreign affairs columnist for the paper. As columnist he has consistently favored Arab “reformers,” … Continue reading

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Nothing succeeds like Abbas

Daled Amos focuses on one aspect of Dennis Ross’s latest, A Mideast Crisis to avert. In a nutshell, Daled Amos points out that Ross’s argument that the West ought to bolster Abbas because he’s better than the alternatives, is a … Continue reading

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A piece of peace

One thing that reporters in the Middle East enjoy is irony. So that’s the angle Ethan Bronner takes about Jenin in A West Bank Ruin, Reborn as a Peace Beacon. But a quiet revolution is stirring here in this city, … Continue reading

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The Palestinian catch 22

Time after time the Palestinians try to evade responsibility for terrorism. Now they’ve been nailed in court and they’re still trying to evade justice: A federal judge awarded the family a default judgment of $192.7 million in damages after the … Continue reading

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Zero-sum vs. win-win

Reflecting on the Palestinian state which would be approaching its twentieth year of existence had Arafat and the Palestinians been interested in living peacefully next to Israel Barry Rubin writes. Today, two decades later, there is no such state. But … Continue reading

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Oh so casual

The approach to threats against Israel is one of those things that is taken casually. Here’s Secretary Rice on the regular but (relatively) infrequent Qassams that still get fired into Israel despite the ceasefire with Hamas: QUESTION: How does the … Continue reading

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Palestinian quote of the day

“I don’t care who will stamp my passport, a minister in Gaza or the president in Ramallah,” he said. “Both are using us as tools in their internal conflicts … I wish that an earthquake would come and take both … Continue reading

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Unchanging Fatah

According to the Oslo Accords the following prisoners are subject to release in the guise of confidence building measures. 2. The following categories of detainees and/or prisoners will be included in the abovementioned releases: a. all female detainees and prisoners … Continue reading

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Dependent independence

As co-blogger, Daled Amos notes in his excellent critique of the Times editorial The Peril of an Israeli Transition, the Times holds everyone responsible for a Palestinian state other than the Palestinians themselves. I’d like to add a few observations. … Continue reading

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Worse than occupation

An Associated Press story about how Hamas and Fatah are both clamping down on dissent in the territories that each controls observes: The U.S. and Europe have said little about violations in the West Bank, even as they’re spending millions … Continue reading

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