governmentality

FM Lieberman: Abbas Wanted Israel to Topple Hamas

Just as I thought Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman must be running out of the ways in which he can cause trouble, he brings us a new one.

This time around, he's telling anybody who will listen that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas implored Israel to defeat Hamas in the Gaza war last year, according to a Reuters report filed last night. 

"Over the past year, I witnessed (Abbas) at his best. In Operation Cast Lead, (he) called us personally, applied pressure and demanded that we topple Hamas and remove it from power," he told Israel's Maariv daily.

"A month after the operation ended, he filed a complaint against us with the International Court of Justice at The Hague for war crimes. Is that a partner?"

It's worth pointing out that Lieberman has held on to this "knowledge" and only decided to reveal it when there's talk about peace negotiations.

The Reuters report did include this important bit, though:

Lieberman was not in government during the Gaza war. A spokesman declined to say on what the foreign minister had based his allegations. But a senior Israeli official serving Olmert at the time said Lieberman's account was "essentially accurate".

Read the full Reuters report here.

Four Palestinians Killed, Ban Ki-Moon Visits Gaza

Israel Closes Off West Bank for 48 Hours

Israel Defense Minister Ehud Barak has imposed a closure on the West Bank for the next 48 hours.

The action was taken "for security reasons" including a risk of attacks, the spokesman said Friday. The area was sealed off at midnight on Thursday.

Since the outbreak of the second Palestinian uprising in September 2000, Israel has usually sealed off the West Bank ahead of major holidays, saying the move is necessary to prevent attacks.

This was the first time such a measure was taken outside of a major Jewish occasion.

Barak's decision certainly has nothing to do with Biden's visit since he's already left for Jordan and soon after will  return to the U.S.

Other reports are hinting that the decision has to do with the clashes that have occurred over the last two weeks after Friday prayers, but there's no confirmation of that yet.

Read the full AFP report here.

Amos Oz's Book Supposed to Help Palestinians

So, Amos Oz's highly celebrated book, A Tale of Love and Darkness, was translated into Arabic with the help of Elias Khoury, a famous Palestinian lawyer from the notable Khoury Palestinian family.

The book's acclaim comes from its autobiographical portrayal of a Jewish family in the decades leading up to the 1948 creation of Israel.

"The Arab world should read this work, which can help forge links between people," the 70-year-old author told Israeli army radio.

"The book recounts the birth of Israel in circumstances that are not heroic. The country appears as a (Jewish) refugee camp," added Oz, a co-founder of Israel's anti-settlement Peace Now movement.

I've appreciated some of the work Oz has done over the years. I've also been disappointed in his backtracking over the years--a subject for another post.

Now? Now, I think he's just lost his mind if he's under the impression that if Arabs (Palestinians, in particular) just read his book, all will be forgiven or at least understood.

I can't tell if he's just trying to sell books or if he is so far removed from reality that he's under the impression that if Palestinians ascribe to his recollection of the creation of Israel, they will understand the conditions that were necessary to throw Palestinians out of their homes (never mind slaughter). 

Read the full report at al-Arabiya.

FMs Support Indirect Israeli-Palestinian Negotiations

In Cairo today, Arab foreign ministers emerged from meetings saying they supported indirect Israeli-Palestinians negotiations for four months.

Chief Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat:

"The Arab foreign ministers meeting at the Follow-Up Committee have agreed to aid the holding of indirect talks between Palestinians and Israelis," Erekat said.

"This is so that American efforts to revive the peace process will succeed."

Israel is reportedly on board with this, as well. But is that because it favors Israel? Indirect negotiations means more hands on board and it's commonly understood that Israel has more negotiators than Israel many, many times over.

Read the full report at al-Arabiya.

Alleged Israeli Hit Squad in Hamas Assassination

An 11-person team, disguises and fake European passports were used to kill Hamas' top military commander. According to this video and intelligence officials, all indicators are that it's an Israeli hit squad.

The story is a little confusing without the full story, so go check out what Brian Ross and his investigative team at ABC have put together here.

Gaza Children Return to War-Torn Schools With Trauma

The nearly half a million students in Gaza went back to school this week. Most, you would think, would be happy to get back to some semblance of a regular life. But the siege on Gaza has left children too traumatized with essentially no resources to get through a school day in the war-blasted buildings. 

"Schoolchildren, thousands of whom lost family members and/or their homes, are still suffering from trauma and anxiety and are in need of psycho-social support and recreational play activities," said the OCHA report.

Here's the experience of one teacher:

"Most of them don't understand the lessons; they don't concentrate at all... They forget everything explained in the class. When I give them exams, 80 percent fail. Before the war, just 3 percent failed," he said. "When they hear Israeli jet planes, the children scream and cry loudly out of fear."

Read the full report at al-Arabiya.

Israeli Air Raids on Gaza Tunnels

Three Palestinians were injured today when Israel launched an air raid on Gaza.

Witnesses said five missiles were fired by Israeli air force fighter jets at an airport that is not operational and on tunnels Israel says are used to smuggle weapons into the coastal territory.

An Israeli army spokesman confirmed the attacks took place saying the air strikes targeted two sites where tunnels were dug to help gunmen infiltrate from Islamist Hamas-ruled Gaza into Israel and to smuggle in weapons from Egypt.

Read the full report at al-Arabiya.

Israeli Defense Mininster: No Peace with Palestinians Worse Than Iranian Bomb

Israeli Defense Minister and former Prime Minister Ehud Barak said that no peace agreement with the Palestinians is a larger threat to Israel than any Iranian bomb.

From al-Arabiya:

Barak, head of the left-of-center Labor party, the most moderate faction in Israel's rightist-dominated government, made his remarks in a lecture at a university, broadcast by Israeli television stations on Tuesday.

"In the absence of a solution" involving an Israeli and a Palestinian state, "any other situation -- and not an Iranian bomb or any other external threat -- is the most serious threat to Israel's future," Barak said in his lecture.

Think that through Netanyahu.

Read the full report at al-Arabiya.

Netanyahu: Israel Will Keep Parts of West Bank Forever

Yesterday, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did more to damage the hope of peace with Palestinians. The newest installment was to inform Palestinians and the Obama administration that tens of thousands of Israeli settlers would never be removed.

"This is an inseparable part of the State of Israel. The vast majority of Israel's citizens accept this, and it is gradually being instilled in the international psyche," said the prime minister.

This was part of his West Bank settlement tour, which included planting trees along the way.

And in case there was any confusion:

"The message is clear – we are here and will remain here. We are planting and building; this is an inseparable part of the State of Israel," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday during a tree-planting tour of the West Bank settlement blocs.

Read the full report at YNet.