Rawabi

The West Bank has long been one of the poorest regions of the world, with high unemployment, lack of modern amenities and housing, and one of the worst standards of living.

That might change for some 40,000 Palestinians if the Palestinian development firm Massar, with money from a Qatari investment company, has its way in Rawabi. A Western-style planned settlement is being built there with parks, quality residential buildings and a commercial center.

The only remaining issues are the lack of Israeli support, in the form of the necessary permits to build the access roads, and the quite unaffordable house prices.

While supposedly “affordable mortgages” will be made available, the average Palestinian who earns about 20 dollars a day can hardly buy a house that costs $50,000. For true progress, it would make a little more sense for Qatar, or any of the super wealthy Muslim Arab states, to subsidize the housing project. A five thousand home would be within the reach for more Palestinians.

More developments like Rawabi, even with its problems, will help ameliorate the conditions in the West Bank, and move us further along the road to peace.

The end of the Cold War also brought about the sad end of interesting assassinations. No more would we hear about the murder of high profile politicians, businessmen and other individuals on a regular basis. Over the past 20 years, only a few such covert attempts have been made and only a very few of those  have been as interesting as this latest one.

Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh, the founder of Hamas’ military wing was recently assassinated in Dubai, purportedly by Mossad agents. Almost a month after the murder, the gory details are finally coming out, including CCTV footage (below) of the events leading upto and after the killing.

Although it seems that Israel was probably involved in the killing, Al-Mabhouh should have been dispatched off to hell a long time back.

Offensive Ayalon

Danny Ayalon, Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister, found a very easy to way to humiliate the ambassador of Turkey, which is Israel’s only ally in the Middle East, by:

… [making] clear that the ambassador was seated on a low sofa, while the Israeli officials were in much higher chairs … “there is only one flag here” and “we are not smiling”.

And over what issue? A “television series” that “depicts Israeli intelligence agents as baby-snatchers.”

Ayalon claims:

In terms of the diplomatic tactics available, this was the minimum that was warranted given the repeated provocation by political and other players in Turkey

Is this really good diplomacy towards your ally? Turkey was the first Muslim country to recognize Israel way back in 1949. The two have been close strategic allies over the past 60 years and have conducted joint military exercises, counter-terrorism missions and much more.

Israel has apologized to Turkey for its behavior. But, you can’t expect to kill your friend and then apologize for using a real knife.

That is the reality on the ground in the Palestinian Territories. You cannot negotiate a peace agreement if you continue occupying more and more land.

The Israeli PM has stubbornly rejected Obama’s request to halt a construction project in Arab East Jerusalem, saying:

We cannot accept the idea that Jews will not have the right to live and buy (homes) anywhere in Jerusalem

Unified Jerusalem is the capital of the Jewish people and the state of Israel. Our sovereignty over it is unquestionable.

This kind of an attitude will never, ever bring peace to the Middle East. Talk about Arab stubborness and stupidity, Israeli versions of the same are not much less objectionable.

And, try to cook up some world record.

Israeli soldiers are finally speaking out and telling us another story on the Gaza campaigns. Among the allegations:

…widespread abuses were committed against civilians under “permissive” rules of engagement

…they had been urged to fire on any building or person that seemed suspicious and said Palestinians were sometimes used as human shields.

“the massive and unprecedented blow to the infrastructure and civilians” was a result of Israeli military policy, articulated by the rules of engagement, and encouraged by a belief “the reality of war requires them to shoot and not to ask questions” Read on »

The Palestinian administration in the West Bank, run by the Fatah faction of the PLO, has shut down the local office of Al-Jazeera, an independent Arab news network, because it:

promoted a negative view of its work and that the coverage is biased

Americans, Europeans and the Israelis have been harping about how Mahmoud Abbas’ administration, along with Fatah, can be a partner in peace. In fact, we’ve refused to negotiate with anyone else.

So, do we want partners in the crucial peace process who cannot tolerate dissent? What does this say about the PLO’s mindset when it’s negotiating with the Israelis and Western diplomats?

Al-Jazeera has its faults. But Fatah had no right to shut it down merely for criticizing it. It’s simply doing what Hamas does in the Gaza, albeit by slightly different means.

Western governments should condemn such undemocratic moves, but will it happen?

While Israeli politicians and military leaders may not always be fair or honest, the judiciary almost always is…

Israel’s highest court has ordered stronger charges against two military personnel over the shooting of a bound Palestinian in the West Bank last year.

The sergeant and his commanding officer were originally charged with improper conduct, which would have carried a maximum penalty of one year in prison.

The court called for charges reflecting the gravity of the offence, which was filmed by human rights activists.

…”It is a cruel act that deserves a punishment which reflects this,” the judges said in a statement.”The moral gap between the nature of the act described in the indictment and the manner of evaluation in the indictment – as the offence of ‘improper conduct’ – is so deep that it cannot stand,” they wrote.

Cynthia In Happier Times

Former Georgia Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney (D-GA), alongwith 1977 Nobel Peace Prize recipient Mairead Maguire, is being held by Israel forces at Ashrod after being arrested off the Gaza coast. The supplies were seized by the Israeli Navy.

They were merely trying to deliver aid to the Palestinians. According to McKinney:

Our mission was a peaceful mission, to deliver medical supplies. And our mission was thwarted by the Israelis, the aggressiveness of the Israeli military…

Our boat was not in Israeli waters, and we were on a human rights mission to the Gaza Strip.

Read on »