Iran And Hamas Threaten Peace Process

As would-be peacemakers bask in the international limelight of the Annapolis conference, back in the Middle East two other parties are serving up notice that no deal will come to pass, if they can help it: Iran and its Palestinian ally, Hamas. "The Annapolis conference was already a failure," Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told journalists after a cabinet meeting in Tehran on Wednesday. The U.S. could sponsor a hundred such meetings, he added, and the result would be the same. In Gaza, which is effectively ruled by the fundamentalist Hamas group, anti-Annapolis protesters filled the streets. "They can go to thousands of conferences and we will say in the name of the Palestinian people that we do not accept," Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar told the demonstrators.

Here is a brief overview of Hamas and the problems they create:
HAMAS (in Arabic, an acronym for "Harakat Al-Muqawama Al-Islamia", Islamic Resistance Movement, and a word meaning zeal) is a radical Islamic fundamentalist organization which became active in the early stages of the intifada, operating primarily in the Gaza District but also in Judea and Samaria. Formed in late 1987 as an outgrowth of the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. Various HAMAS elements have used both political and violent means, including terrorism, to pursue the goal of establishing an Islamic Palestinian state in place of Israel. Loosely structured, with some elements working clandestinely and others working openly through mosques and social service institutions to recruit members, raise money, organize activities, and distribute propaganda. In a January 2006 election, Hamas won a majority of seats in the Palestinian legislature.

HAMAS activists, especially those in the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, have conducted many attacks, including large-scale suicide bombings, against Israeli civilian and military targets. In the early 1990s, they also targeted suspected Palestinian collaborators and Fatah rivals. HAMAS increased its operational activity during 2002-2003, claiming numerous attacks against Israeli interests. The group has not targeted US interests, although some US citizens have been killed in HAMAS operations, and continues to confine its attacks to Israelis inside Israel and the territories.

There are an unknown number of official members; tens of thousands of supporters and sympathizers. Hamas receives some funding from Iran but primarily relies on donations from Palestinian expatriates around the world and private benefactors in moderate Arab states. Some fundraising and propaganda activity take place in Western Europe and North America.

The second part of this duo of peace haters is being led by none other than the "little" man himself, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who is already calling the meetings a failure, and again saying Israel will not be part of the Middle East in the future, as they will not "last",and that deterioration is in the nature of this regime as it has been built on aggression, lying, crime and wrongdoing," he added. Where's King Juan Carlos, when you need him--"Shut up Mahmoud!!".


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Israel To Add Palestinian View To Textbooks

I was just listening to a story about Israel and the way that they are going to treat the issue of the founding of their nation and the impact that it had on the Palestinian people who were already living there.

The Education Ministry announced that for the first time in Israel's history a school text book will acknowledge that with the creating of the nation of Israel in 1948, came a tragic side, as it impacted the Palestinians, who had been living in this land. An updated third garde primer has been approved to be used in Arab classrooms this fall, which will tell the truth of Israel's founding and the displacement of the Palestinian's which continues today.

The Rightist's in Israel are angry about this new text, and want a traditional one sided teaching of history, which would only show the "true" side of Israel's founding as a safe haven for Jews who were being killed around the world.

The book is titled "Living Together In Israel" and describes the events of 1948 and 1949, when Israel was created by the United Nations in what had been British ruled Palestine, which then prompted an attack by Arab armies and the displacement of about 70,000 Palestine Arabs.

Previous editions of the text only pointed out the Jew's historical connection to the Holy Land and their need for a state, due to persecution in Europe. The previous edition also focused on the treachery of the Arabs and the heroism of the Israel forces and indicated that the flight of the Palestinian's was strictly voluntary.

The new text also notes that Palestinian's were forced from their homes, and soon became refugees, after the winners of the war confiscated their land and barred their return.

I find this another hopeful sign in a nation that is trying to do the right thing and be more open and truthful about their history, and whether you support them or not, you should welcome the honesty that they are trying to show.

It is the "good" countries that try and live up to their past sins and try to move forward, just as America has done with Native Americans, japanese, african americans, etc., and I applaud Israel for being more open. I hope that this will lead to more dialogue with the Palestinians and hopefully the Palestinian's will pick up the baton and make this a moment to change their hard line, "kill the Israeli's stance", and instead maybe try the path of knowledge and peace. Good Luck to the Israeli's and the Palestinian's.

Abbas Versus Hamas

In an extremely late but necessary move, Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas has shown that he may have found his "cajounes", as he harshly criticized Hamas for taking over Gaza last week and even going so far as to call the group, murderous terrorists. He also accused Hamas of trying to assassinate him last month, with an under the road bomb which was to go off as his auto passed over it.

Hamas denied that they tried to kill him, but it sure looked as though they would have assisted him off the top of a building if he had not left for the West Bank, before they could get ahold of him.

President Abbas has appealed for international help in convening a peace conference and has asked Israel to resume the peace talks directly. Wow, quite a turnabout in just one week, maybe the fear of Hamas is enough to keep him moving forward with a peace process that in the end would benefit his people as well as the Israeli's, who are already feeling the rocket attacks by Hamas again.

Israel is making some border raids into Gaza with tanks and have killed 4 Palestinian's so far, and have also fired missiles at Hamas strongholds. The majority of Israeli tanks are at the border, waiting, at the Ready, in case of further Hamas attacks. They also have helicopter's which they use with precision and deadliness, but as of this writing they have not yet been deployed.

Even though I have been very critical of President Abbas in the past, I hope that finding his "cajounes" will finally give him the courage to fight Hamas for control of all Palestinian territories down the road. I hope that for this current situation it will keep him strong enough to follow through on commitments it makes to acquire independence for his fellow Palestinian brother's and sister's.

There was time in the past for a brief couple of minutes when Yassar Arafat had the opportunity to give his people an independent homeland, but he was such a worm that he threw it away, by pretending to be for peace and then sanctioning the terrorist's who killed innocent Israeli's at random. Hopefully, Arafat is burning in Hell for the misuse of his authority and keeping his people in chains.

I wish for President Abbas the best and now use your anger and contempt for Hamas to move the peace process to a successful conclusion, and start by getting your people an independent West Bank, which could set the example for Gaza to follow suit!!
May God assist these men to do the right thing this time! Peace now and always, as this whole area needs a long deserved Rest!

Bush's "day late and a dollar short" Approach To Palestinian's

Sorry for the long title for this post......but..it tells the tale best!
As is typical with the Bush adminsitration they are going to make moves that if taken months ago could have made the last week in Gaza less likely too have happened.
I have just been listening to a webcast report about the rumor that the Bush administration being poised to lift economic and diplomatic sanctions against the Palestinian government in the West Bank, now that a United States backed moderate government has evicted Islamic radicals from governance.
The U.S. move essentially would reset U.S. policy to the days before the Islamic militant group Hamas swept legislative elections in early 2006 and upended U.S. and international peacemaking. The United States, Israel and the European Union regard Hamas as a terrorist organization.
Hamas’ violent takeover of the Gaza Strip last week, however, essentially split the Palestinian government. Hamas, which does not recognize Israel’s right to exist, now runs Gaza, home to an estimated 1.5 million Palestinians. Abbas and his secular Fatah Party now run the West Bank. The West Bank, although much larger, also is home to estimated 1.5 million Palestinians.
That move cleared the way for the United States to resume direct aid payments to the Palestinian government, something it has refused to do so long as Hamas was a part of the government and could benefit from U.S. aid.
It has been five years since President Bush called for a separate, independent Palestine alongside Israel. He was the first U.S. president to back that notion so fully and publicly. But his administration has taken heavy criticism for letting the peace process drift while conditions worsened for the impoverished Palestinians.
Gaza was long the seat of power for Hamas while the West Bank is a stronghold for Fatah, the party of former Palestinian Leader Yasser Arafat.
Some in the United States and in Europe have advocated a policy dubbed the “West Bank first” in which the West Bank would stand as an example of what a future Palestinian state could be. Critics on the other side say that leaves Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip without international aid. Europeans oppose this idea, and others worry it would leave the Gaza Strip open to funding and influence from Iran and Syria.
After losing Gaza in a swift, five-day Hamas assault on his forces, Abbas moved quickly to cement his rule in the West Bank. He replaced the prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas, with Finance Minister Salam Fayyad, a U.S.-educated, internationally respected economist.
Fayyad then moved forward with plans to form an emergency government , a move that Hamas has deemed illegal. The new government was sworn in by Sunday.
If these moves had been made months ago when Hamas won seats in the government there is the possibility that the "civil" war that we saw last week may not have occurred, but as is usual the Bush administration is a "day late and a dollar short".
How sad for all those who have and who will die as this rip in the Palestinian people widens.
I pray for the day that these people find peace, figuratively and literally!!