Israeli and Palestinian negotiators will meet this week after more than a year of deadlock in peacemaking, officials said Sunday, but both sides played down prospects of any imminent resumption of talks.
This time there are maps — not that they necessarily help. After the collapse of the Camp David talks in 2000, the Israeli and Palestinian sides bickered about who had offered what, and the competing historical narratives were adopted by either side and around the world. This time, the proposed territorial concessions that former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian negotiators discussed are visible in living color — in a set of leaked Palestinian Authority documents published by Al Jazeera.
When the fat lady sings on Sept. 26, it may only be an intermission.
Tony Blair called for \”face-to-face,\” direct negotiations between the leaders of Israel and the Palestinian Authority as soon as possible.\n
In the course of his campaign, Obama turned to the Jewish community to declare his support for Israel, saying that Israel\’s security is \”paramount.\”\nBut if he really believes this to be true, he will have to understand that words of support are not enough. He will have to work to achieve the one thing that can bring the Jewish state true security: true peace.
Why should any supporter of an embattled Israel want to risk the future of the Jewish State on a president known for the temperamental, quixotic and unpredictable whims that guide his decision making?
Although the Palestinians say wide gaps remain, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Olmert reportedly agreed in talks Sunday to make every effort to wrap up a full-fledged peace agreement by the end of the year. But both sides are skeptical.
Even for the complex Middle East it was a moment of exceptional irony. Some 180 Fatah loyalists fleeing a series of shootouts and summary executions by Hamas\non the streets of Gaza ran for the border — banking on the mercies of the enemy they usually target
Ehud Olmert\’s departure opens up the possibility of radical new directions in Israeli policy vis-a-vis the Palestinians, Syria and Iran
All this is about living POWs. But what about dead ones? How far should a government go in order to bring a dead soldier to burial?
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