The scion of an aristocratic Jerusalem family, Nusseibeh traces his roots back 1,300 years to one of the tribal leaders who joined Mohammad on his seventh century pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
President George W. Bush kicked off the week by reaffirming his vision of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but it was widely seen as an attempt to divert attention from his debacle in Iraq rather than a commitment to sustained diplomacy.
The only reason for including Lebanon in the conversation at all is to signal to Iran and Syria that it will be offered up for grabs to them on a silver platter as well
Who is responsible for Israel\’s settlements in the territories? Gershom Gorenberg\’s just released history, \”The Accidental Empire: Israel and the Birth of the Settlements, 1967-1977,\” explores in gripping narrative the original interweave of political ambition, religious entitlement and military strategy that led to today\’s continuing conflicts with both the settlers and the Palestinians.
Olmert\’s attention to the fine print and his less-than-mythic status in Israel have become subjects of parody at home.
But it\’s just those qualities that have made him a favorite among Jewish officials and politicians in Washington.
The honeymoon was sure to end sooner or later. Since Karen Koning AbuZayd took the reins nearly a year ago of the U.N. relief agency for Palestinian refugees, Israeli officials had praised her for steering clear of the politics of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Josef Avesar is a successful Encino lawyer who has a plan to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It may be a pipe dream, he acknowledged, but the concept was intriguing enough to keep 300 Israelis, Arabs and Americans engaged during a recent three-hour symposium at UCLA.
Shlomo Wollins begins his narration well before we reach Hebron, a city on the very fault line of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. His tour, by car and by foot, on this late January day is an entry into a worldview of The Chosen and The Other, in which Jews, God\’s Good Guys, are the victims of Arabs, but it\’s also a world in which Jews are victors over Arabs.
Hamas, which will form the next Palestinian Authority government, has an ideology that is based on the destruction of Israel through jihad, or Muslim \”holy war.\” The group\’s 1988 charter states that \”Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it.\”
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