Hamas gets Ripped by Human Rights Watch... Activists Somehow Remain Silent

Human Rights Watch (HRW) while being critical of Israel has also strongly criticized the Hamas Government for it's many violations of human rights. Their latest condemnation came earlier today when there was this:

The New York-based Human Rights Watch said Gaza's prime minister Ismail Haniyeh promised an investigation after masked Hamas gunmen killed the suspects and dragged their bodies through the streets four months ago.

"Hamas's inability or unwillingness to investigate the brazen murders of seven men makes a mockery of its claims that it's upholding the rule of law in Gaza," said Sarah Leah Whitson of HRW

Of course Hamas took issue with this in their own fashion:

Hamas government spokesman Ihab Ghussein said a committee had investigated the incident and submitted recommendations to the government, which he said were implemented. He would not say what those recommendations were. He said Human Rights Watch had not acted professionally in condemning Hamas without seeking further clarifications.

Gaza's interior ministry spokesman Islam Shahwan said Hamas security forces would conduct large-scale arrests of suspected collaborators as soon as the weekslong amnesty period ended on Thursday evening. 

According to YNET, Hamas has arrested and executed Six people for the "crime" of collaboration, but thirty two other individuals have been executed by Hamas Gunmen without a trial.

Picture from Times of Israel - Hamas Thugs drag a body through the streets after killing of "Collaborators"

 According to the Times of Israel:

According to a report on Hamas’s al-Aqsa radio in November, the alleged collaborators with Israel “were caught red-handed” in possession of “hi-tech equipment and filming equipment to take footage of positions.” The men were summarily executed before a mob, and one man’s body was dragged through the streets from the back of a motorcycle.

The HRW report noted that Hamas leaders, including Gazan Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and deputy politburo chief Musa Abu Marzouq condemned the killings and said “an independent committee to investigate the killings” was established in the wake of the November war. Despite those statements, no one has been brought to trial for the seven killings....

...Last week, Hamas internal security official Mohammad Lafi accused Western spy organizations of operating in the Palestinian enclave, and claimed he had a list of names of collaborators. Among the countries mentioned by Lafi as operating agents in the Gaza Strip were the US, UK, France, Germany and unspecified Arab states.

The Hamas Interior Ministry warned last month that collaborators have until April 11 to turn themselves in, after which they “will be pursued without mercy.”

Interestingly enough, nary a word on this is heard from Palestinian advocates. Even though Hamas won the last election in the Palestinian territories and that they still poll second to Fatah. One latest poll of Palestinian Public Opinion show the following:

If new presidential elections are held today and only two were nominated, Abbas would receive the vote of 52% and Haniyeh 41% of the vote of those participating. The rate of participation in such elections would reach 62%. Three months ago, Abbas received the support of 45% and Haniyeh 48%. In this poll, in the Gaza Strip, Abbas receives 53% and Haniyeh 44% and in the West Bank Abbas receives 52% and Haniyeh 39%.

If new legislative elections are held today with the participation of all factions, 71% say they would participate in such elections. Of those who would participate, 29% say they would vote for Hamas and 41% say they would vote for Fatah, 11% would vote for all other third parties combined, and 20% are undecided. Vote for Hamas in the Gaza Strip stands in this poll at 33% and in the West Bank at 27%. Vote for Fatah in the Gaza Strip stands in this poll at 42% and in the West Bank at 40%. These results indicate an increase in Fatah’s popularity compared to our December results when it stood at 36% (38% in the Gaza Strip and 34% in the West Bank). By contrast, Hamas’ popularity dropped six percentage points in the combined West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

So, good news on that front, Hamas is dropping in popularity. Still, at 41%  and close to 30% this is a far shot more than say a party like HaBayit HaYehudi got in Israel (which was something like 9.5% of the vote.

This silence on the part of  activists is telling particularly in light of these findings:

When asked about the long term goal of the PLO and the PA, 64% said that it is to  recover all or some of the Palestinian territories occupied in 1967, 15% said it is to defeat Israel and recover the 1948 territories, and 11% said it is to defeat Israel and destroy its Jewish population. 

 and that:

55% support the Saudi (Arab) Peace Initiative but only 42% support and 56% oppose mutual recognition of Israel as the state for the Jewish people and Palestine as the state for the Palestinian people.

A full 26% of Palestinians believe that the PLO and P.A. believe that these groups want to destroy Israel (I guess if they asked about the goal of Hamas that answer would be close to 100%).  While that is only a minority, it is still a significant number.

At the same time the poll shows (and backs up my assertion that the Palestinians do not necessarily really want an honest Two State Solution due to the fact that a majority of the Palestinian populace supports the Arab Peace Initiative (which posits a Two State Solution) but also demands that Israel give into the Palestinian "Right of Return" which would in effect render the Jewish character of Israel impossible.

Anyway, this silence is what gives lie to the supposed "human rights" aspect of the Pro-Palestinian movement. Nowhere do they seem to care about Human Rights violations or the make up of the Palestinian polity to come. To them the only thing that matters is/are Israeli actions or politics. Some settler raving about end times becomes representative to them of the entire Israeli polity, yet polls that show that the majority of the Palestinian population supports the end of the State of Israel (and the legitimate rights to self determination of the Jewish people) completely escapes them. I wonder why that is?

Well no... actually I don't.

The Hamas Collaborators List

RE-PRINTED WITH PERMISSION FROM Hey 338Too AT DAILY KOS

According to a variety of news sources, Hamas (the governing entity of the Gaza Strip) has compiled a list of people who are "collaborators" with the Israeli government.  True to their "progressive" nature, Hamas has given people on the list have until April 11 to turn themselves in, or they will be pursued without mercy.
To "sweeten" the deal:

anyone on this list of collaborators who hands themselves in to the authorities by 11 April will not be interrogated or imprisoned. (Author's note: Press TV reports that these cases will be "settled quietly").  It also offered a monthly salary to the informer's families.
...
and we will provide them with information to make sure they can make right their mistakes and thus protect resistance fighters.

So what happens if you don't turn yourself in?

During the fighting in November, Hamas executed seven people in the streets of Gaza, some of them summarily, for collaboration, even though some of them still had appeals of their convictions and death sentences pending in court. Fourteen other people have been convicted of collaboration and executed over the past three years.

According to the family of one of the those accused of collaborating:

ALHELOU: During the eight-day war, six Palestinians who were suspected of spying for Israel were kidnapped from their prison and killed by masked gunmen, who then chained the body of one of the alleged collaborators to a motorcycle and dragged them throughout the main streets of Gaza City. Following the incident, Mousa Abu Marzouq, Hamas's deputy leader, condemned what he described [as] the unlawful killing, adding that punishing collaborators, and especially those involved in the killing of leaders of Palestinian resistance groups, must only be carried out in accordance with the law and through the legal procedures.
...
WIFE OF EXECUTED COLLABORATOR (VOICEOVER TRANSL.): My husband spent three years in prison. The manner in which he was killed and dragged was inhumane. How would his three daughters and two sons feel when they grow up and see the footage? ABU REBHI BADAWI, FATHER OF EXECUTED COLLABORATOR (VOICEOVER TRANSL.): My son was accused of being a collaborator. We were shocked when we saw the footage of our son along five others executed and dragged in the streets by motorcyclists. We are still waiting to hear the results of the committee that was formed to investigate who killed him in that way and who gave the order.

Last week, Hamas' progressive bona fides were burnished even further by forcing the cancellation of an UN Relief and Works Agency marathon.  According to a Hamas spokesman:

Gaza’s Cabinet secretary, Abdul-Salam Siam, said women running in public violated Palestinian customs. “We don’t want women and men mixing in the same race,” Siam said. “We don’t want any woman running uncovered.”
Siam said girls could join the event, just not grown women (Authors note: "Say what?"). The race, scheduled for April 10, would have been the third annual marathon in Gaza. Siam would not say why Hamas did not ban women from the two previous races in 2012 and 2011.

According to Al-Jazeera:

"Hamas claims that women have never been allowed to run, which is not true, then they decided that only local women could run. Then they decided not to let any women participate," a diplomatic source in Gaza told AFP.

The UNRWA ran the marathon:

"The marathon was an annual event to show solidarity with the Palestinian people and to raise funds for summer camps organized by UNRWA which serve at least 250,000 schoolchildren," said Adnan Abu Hasna, the agency's media adviser in Gaza.

This is not the first time that Hamas and the UNRWA have been at odds:

But Hamas has frequently squabbled with UNRWA in a rivalry for the hearts and minds of Gaza’s people. Hamas has pressed the U.N. not to organize mixed folkloric dancing for boys and girls; to keep Holocaust education out of its curriculum and it has used harsh rhetoric against previous senior U.N. officials.

Hamas progressive fun fact:

Hamas rulers of the Gaza Strip say safety concerns and social traditions, not Islamic religious values, are the main reason behind a decision to ban women from riding motorbikes and scooters.

A hat tip to Peter Beinart, An answer to Mondofront... and anti-Zionists

What more can anyone really want? Well at least if they want controversy that is.

The Progressive Zionist gives a huge hat tip to Peter Beinart who absolutely skewered anti-Zionists in his strong piece; The Pro-Palestinian Left's Hamas Blindspot over at Open Zion:

This tolerance for certain brands of thuggery is an old story on the left. At its core is the belief that anyone who battles “imperialism” can’t be that bad. Fatah, which controls the West Bank, and Hamas, which controls Gaza, are both repressive. So why does Electronic Intifada direct so much more bile toward the former than the latter? Because Hamas is unequivocally hostile to Israel, the “imperialist” power, while Abbas and Israel are—from Electronic Intifada’s perspective—in cahoots. The yardstick, in other words, is not how a Palestinian group treats its own people but how it treats Israel. If it exhibits sufficient hatred of the Jewish state, Electronic Intifada overlooks its flaws. But if a Palestinian leader cooperates with Israel, Electronic Intifada amplifies his misdeeds because it sees the ultimate author of those misdeeds as Israel itself, the one and only true enemy of Palestinian human rights between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. 

We’ve seen this before. In the 1930s, many in the old left excused Joseph Stalin because he opposed capitalism. In the 1960s, many in the New Left excused Fidel Castro and Ho Chi Minh because they battled American hegemony. Since the Cold War, some in the anti-globalization movement have excused Hugo Chavez for the same reason. In each case, the character of the people fighting Western imperialism didn’t really matter; what mattered was that they were waging the fight. Similarly, many on the global left overlook the misdeeds of Hamas, which is, after all, Palestine’s version of the religious right, not because it has the correct values but because it has the correct enemies.

Of course, being "drilled"  by Beinart did not sit well with the crew over at MondoFront (we call it MondoFront due to the fact that the articles and commentary mostly trade in anti-Semitic memes that are popular on the neo-Nazi site Stormfront, and Mondoweiss is quoted there freely), who sent Adam Horowitz and Seth Roth to write a "response". It is this response that I want to address.

The gist of the MondoFront rebuttal relies on a few things. The first is that they feel as Americans they should criticize Israel because Israel is a "client state" of the U.S. while Hamas is not. They go further to say that because they are Jews, they should be criticizing Israel and really not worry about Hamas. The problem with this argument is that it is a flat out lie.

Here Horowitz and Roth mantain:

We occasionally cover internal Palestinian politics, but it's not a focus of the site. If the U.S. government were funding Hamas we'd feel differently, and if there was a propaganda and lobbying effort in the U.S. to justify and promote oppressive Hamas practices we would cover it. But this isn't the case.

But this is not true. U.S.aid goes directly towards funding the Palestinian Authority government AND helping the Palestinian people who at this point in time (according to Polls would vote to put Hamas in charge of their government. Also, the U.S. is the single largest contributor to the United Nations and the U.N. spends a lot of money directly aiding Gaza. So while the U.S. does not directly fund Hamas, money that it donates to both the Palestinian People directly and in the form U.N. aid does fund Hamas.

The second part of that statement is a bold faced lie. There very much is a propaganda effort sustained in this nation to justify and promote Hamas' oppressive practices. Just look at any major leftist or hard rightist blog sites (when I say Hard Right I mean sites like The Daily Paul, Stormfront, davidduke.com and others). Article after article after article shows up condemning Israel for any slight infraction or supporting every outright lie about the nation. Yet when it comes to Palestinian infractions (or any Islamic country in the MENA, see Syria for example), nary a word is said. If that is not a propaganda effort then I am not sure what one is.

Another lie that the MondoFront owners and participants spread is that they and their neo-Nazi commentators (who post on "screened blog") don't just criticize with an eye towards "improving" Jewish or American policy, they comment under the guise of "human rights activists". They assume the mantle of protectors of human rights for all people. NOT just Palestinians.

But this argument is easily turned aside by the fact that not only do they not give a crap about how the Palestinians are actually treated by their own people or by neighboring Arab nations, they don't give a crap about the Jewish peoples legitimate rights to self-determination. They don't care one bit about the fact that the Hamas charter is rife with genocidal rhetoric. They don't care one bit that Hamas represents a theocratic hard right regime that would restrict the rights of women and would not tolerate the presence of minorities.

They criticize Beinart here:

We stand with and support Palestinians working to make Palestinians society more equitable, and have published pieces to this effect, but we don't see it as our place to dictate to Palestinians what their society should look like. We demand rights for the Palestinian people that they demand for themselves.

Well the Palestinian people support Hamas and their values. If they want to call themselves (or be taken seriously as) "Human Right's Activists" they should stand up for all human rights not just the cop out to what Beinart accurately portrays as anything that smacks of "anti-Western imperialism".

But more than this. As a Useful Idiot, Horowitz (and other apologists like David Harris Gershon) are completely blind to the fact that while "demanding the rights of the Palestinian People" they subject the Palestinian people to incredibly repressive forces. Not much "Human Rights" activism there now, is there.

BUT even more than that exactly what are the rights that the Palestinian People demand for themselves? I mean what they demanding when they actually vote for Hamas. Has Horowitz ever read the Hamas Covenant. where they demand all of the land from the Med. to the Jordan. Or where they demand the right to kill all of the Jews (which ironically would include Horowitz, Roth, and Harris Gershon)? Are those the rights they demand?

Where does that leave the rights of Jewish people? Apparently out in the cold. Of course, they don't feel they should dictate to the Palestinians how they should run their government, because they agree with the goals of the Palestinian polity (One State from the Med to the Jordan, sans Jews). But they do feel the right to demand how the Israeli people should run their government without any regard for Israeli democratic institutions.

Beinart is dead on in his Open Zion commentary in this case. I am not 100% with him on certain things (though I do respect the guy), but, his argument about anti-Zionist sites like Electronic Intifada and MondoFront  is dead on.

Hamas once again shows it's "True Colors"

As the time moves forward for the rest of the world (except in certain parts of the Republican Party in the U.S), the folks at Hamas have decided to take a huge jump backwards towards the 7th Century.

UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency) had to cancel it's marathon planned for April 10th in Gaza due to the fact that Hamas would not allow adult women to participate in the race.

According to the Times of Israel

Hamas had sent a letter to UNRWA claiming it was allowing the marathon to take place “under certain limitations relating to Palestinian customs and traditions,” the Gaza-based human rights watchdog Al-Mezan reported.

Apparently one of those limitations relating to Palestinian "customs and traditions"  (according to Hamas) is that adult women can't run in races. Of course not all Palestinians agree with this. Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad absolutely blasted Hamas for this saying:

“This move harms the status of Palestinian women, their national and social role, and their absolute right to equality under the Basic Law,” “[It also harms] our people’s customs, which always aspired to enshrine the status of women and reject all attempts to exclude and marginalize them.”

 and Fatah had this to say:

“This decision deals a death blow to the Palestinian national liberation movement,” the statement read. “Those who prevented the participation of young Palestinian women are not only violating the natural and historic rights of the Palestinian woman… but they are also falsifying our people’s cultural and liberating image, presenting their own extremist worldview.”

 True to form (at least for so-called human rights organizations), the "Gaza based Human Rights Group" Al-Mezan group urged UNRWA to continue the race as:

“since it could contribute greatly to enhancing international solidarity with the Palestinian people.”

 I guess as long as those "people" are not adult women.

Now, apologists for the Palestinian people would cite the fact that it is only Hamas and NOT all of the Palestinian people that felt that way. And that might well be true. Probably most Palestinians or at least a large amount of Palestinians wouldn't discriminate against women running. But Hamas is not just an isolated movement in the Palestinian polity. They barely won the last Palestinian elections and now they lead the P.A. in all polling for the top spots in the leadership. Columns are Total - West Bank - Gaza

Tell us how do you evaluate the performance of the dismissed government of Ismail Haniyeh in the Gaza Strip? Is it good or bad?
	1) Very Good				16.8%		15.3%	19.1%
	2) Good				39.1%		44.7%	29.9%

An interesting note here: is that Hamas' leadership has higher favorables in the West Bank than in Gaza. Interesting fact there eh?

Of course these favorables translate to an election victory for Hamas in the poll:

• Haniyeh defeats Abbas in a presidential election by 48% to 45%, but Barghouti wins against Haniyeh, 51% to 42%.
• In a three way presidential elections, Haniyeh receives 39%, Marwan Barghouti 29%, and Abbas 27%.
• In a parliamentary election, Fateh wins 36% and Hamas 35% of the voters 

Particularly since Barghouti is not running for anything and is serving a term in Israeli Prison for his role in a terrorist attack

So maybe Fatah and Fayyad are mad at Hamas but the Palestinian people... not so much.and considering that they are willing to have Hamas lead them in the next government this is very telling. We keep hearing from folks about Israel and it's problems but discussions about the Palestinians and their leadership are conspicuously absent. Imagine if this happened in Israel, what the outrage would be. BUT with Hamas... not a peep. AND considering that Hamas could very well win the next Palestinian elections, this silence is telling.

Also, disturbing in this poll is how a so-called "human rights" group Al-Mezan is willing to completely overlook the human rights of women so that people can "enhance their solidarity with the Palestinian people" (except for Palestinian women who apparently are not part of the Palestinian People). It is almost tempting to have UNRWA actually set the race up so that everyone in the world can see just what Hamas' "true colors" really are.

Winners With a Hard Right... Israel, Egypt, and Hamas (PART 1)

I have wanted to write about this subject and have been gathering my thoughts so here is what I have in Four Parts. I did not want to make this too long for one sitting so... Here goes Part 1:

Now that the dust is settling on the lasted flair up in violence in Gaza the winners and losers are becoming a bit clearer. In all three cases; Israel, Egypt, and the Palestinian Territories (including Gaza) the so far winners are The Rightists in Israel, and Egypt as well as the conservative and proto-fascist Hamas movement. Of course there are other winners as well (the IDF, Israel's Missle Defense Systems, and President Obama, but those victories are much less far reaching for the time being), but the Right in each case came out of this one ahead.

First, let's start with the news of the day...The Winners in Israel.

In Israel, the Likud shed any of it's "moderate facade" and moved Hard Right.


PM Netanyahu votes with wife, Sara in Likud Primaries

From Haaretz: 

After two days of voting, marred by technical problems and various complaints, the Likud primaries ended on Monday night with a clear win for the right-wing branch of the party.

Ministers Benny Begin, Dan Meridor and Michael Eitan were dealt a heavy blow by Likud members in the primary, with all three failing to make the top 10, which probably suggests the end of their long political careers.

Education Minister Gideon Sa'ar was the evening's big winner, together with ministers Gilad Erdan, Silvan Shalom and Yisrael Katz, who were followed by hardliner MK Danny Danon, Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin and the party's probable candidate for defense minister, ex military chief of staff Moshe Ya'alon. MKs Zeev Elkin and Yariv Levin and Minister Yuli Edelstein close out the top 10 of the party's Knesset election list.

Begin was elected 20th on the slate, Meridor placed 28th and Eitan 30th, and were evidently punished by Likud members for their relatively "liberal" positions on issues such as the Supreme Court and freedom of dissent.

So what does this mean... Well, first of all, in the Likud-Betainu agreement it means that Begin, Meriador, and Eitan are O-U-T. One might ask why, since Likud is projected to win 32-38 seats (according to the polls - many found here at Jeremy's Knesset Insider Blog). The reason is due to the agreement Betainu candidates get to place one seat for every two Likud seats earned. For Meriador or Eitan to get in, that list would have to garner a boatload more votes than they are getting now.

To break down the meaning here: Well one thing it means is that there is an unlikely chance at a deal that would look anything what has been discussed in years past with the Palestinians (Olmert, Taba, Oslo, etc... ) With Moshe Ya'alon as DM, Lieberman as FM and the rise of Moshe Feiglin and Danny Danon, there is an even better liklihood of either total annexation of the West Bank OR The Netanyahu -Lieberman plan of Israel giving back 50% of the West Bank (which would not include J'slem or the Jordan River Valley). How Likud or Betainu will address the problems caused by this no one knows, but, it certainly would not be along the lines of past governments and would be harder right even then Arik Sharon's Kadima Party.
As one can see from the Poll results, the early lead goes to the Rightist parties 65-70 to 45-50 to the Center, Center-Left (not counting the Arab Parties and Hadash who would never be part of any coalition). While if one combines Avodah, Yesh Atid, Kadima (which right now is "dead in the water") and Tzipi Livni (wherever she may end up) the Center / Center Left can match Likud-Betainu BUT can not form a coalition that would get to the magic number of 61 Knesset seats.

NOW, even more disturbing than Feiglin and Danon occupying powerful positions (not too mention Sa'ar, and the Betainu crowd, is the total rise of a combined National Union, Habayit Hayehudi (Jewish Home) party, coupled with N.U. breakaway and new home to Kahanists Michael Ben-Ari and Ariyeh Eldad in the "Strong Israel" party.

Of course, the Israeli election is still three months away and a lot can happen in those three months so no one can say that the future is written in stone A lot seems to depend on what Tzipi Livni does. But if she runs as an independent (caucusing with Labor and Y.A.) the government would be forced to ally itself the hardest of the hard right (assuming that Lapid remains true to his word and wouldn't join a Netanyahu - Lierberman government.

Now as many here know I am a supporter of the Israeli Center / Center-Left (particularly Avodah). So, let's hear what they had to say regarding this; (From Ynet)

Addressing the results, Labor Chairwoman Shelly Yachimovich said, "The list chosen, accompanied by (Avigdor) Lieberman's extremists who will be part of it, makes the Likud a radical right-wing party."

Meretz Chairwoman Zahava Gal-On commented on the results of the Likud primaries, saying: "I see the Likud list and it makes me feel bad. We see how settlers have turned the Likud into a nationalistic, extremist rightwing list; how the liberal Likud has passed away today."

"Centrist parties must make a commitment not to join Netanyahu, who will form a radical rightwing government," Gal-On told Ynet.

The Yesh Atid Party, chaired by Yair Lapid, stated that "The Likud has presented a worrying list that revolves around 'old politics' deals and ideological extremism."
 
"This is no longer the Likud of Menachem Begin and national politics; whoever votes for the Likud-Beiteinu list will get a branch of the National Union Party," the Yesh Atid statement read.

I think in this case Yair Lapid makes a good point in saying that if the Center parties remain strong... The hard Right will have a hard time governing, AND, if Yesh Atid is smart about it, they may go after folks like Begin, and Meriador and become a straight up Centrist party. Again that is not my particular cup of tea but I can see it's appeal and Israelis that I talk to I think would like that group.

There is a great deal at stake here and so we shall see as the campaigns get rolling. But as Likud moves hard Right this is going to present a very interesting challenge for the "soul" of Israel.

BREAKING: CEASEFIRE!?? (MAYBE)

I just saw this on FaceBook from a friend in Modi'in (in Israel) and then got this Headline in Haaretz: Ceasefire to go into effect at Midnight

HOWEVER... I am not seeing detailed info. on it. There was this:

The head of Hamas' political bureau and Islamic Jihad secretary-general plan to meet with Egyptian intelligence chief Gen. Raafat Shehata again on Tuesday, in an attempt to finalize details of a cease-fire agreement. The talks in Cairo, which are being led by Shehata, are expected to be decisive. The Israeli delegates to the talks plan to return to Cairo today to present Israel's response to demands being made by Hamas. Senior Egyptian officials told Haaretz that the sides are very close, but that some more flexibility is needed from the Israeli side.

YNET is reporting it on their news feed but there as well... there are no details. At the same there seems to be an active trade of fire into the evening as both sides are "Getting their shots" in, while they can.

The German FM met with officials in Egypt after meeting with government officials in Israel and it is thought that the Germans are able to present Israeli amendments and concerns for the cease-fire.

YNET is also reporting that in a MENA story the Egyptian President Morsi was saying:

"President Mohamed Morsi announced that the farce of Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip will end on Tuesday," MENA said, quoting public remarks made by the country's head of state after the funeral of his sister. 

"The efforts to conclude a truce between the Palestinian and Israeli sides will produce positive results in the next few hours," he was quoted as saying.Egypt has been trying to mediate a truce to end the conflict.

There was this:

6:14 P.M. Hamas official: Gaza truce to be declared at 9 P.M., go into effect midnight, Israel time (Avi Issacharoff)

As of Right now:

7:01 P.M. Israeli official says truce deal with Gaza militants not yet finalized, 'ball still in play' (Barak Ravid)

On a personal note... I do very much hope for a cease fire, but, I more hope that the ceasefire will lead to some kind of permanent solution. Simply put, "kicking the can down the road" just doesn't and will not work. BOTH sides need to understand this. How many more people need to die, or how many more people need to have their lives wrecked by PTSD caused by this fighting?

In any case - please stay tuned and I will try to keep this updated as I see more info.

UPDATE 7:35 PM: 7:35 P.M. Palestinian and Egyptian officials are now saying that there is still no agreement on a cease-fire. (Haaretz)

10:58 AM PT: Hamas is claiming it will "Continue FIring until the Last Moment". I would expect the Israelis have the same philosophy

12:02 PM PT: CEASE FIRE IS OFF! ACCORDING TO YNET: Hamas official Izzat al-Rishq twitted that Egypt is the only one that can announce a ceasefire agreement between Israel and the factions in Gaza. Any statements made about such a deal prior to an official announcement is irresponsible, he said. (Elior Levy)

12:13 PM PT: From: http://www.ynetnews.com/...
Hamas official Izzat al-Rishq twitted that an agreement over a ceasefire between Israel and the factions in Gaza has yet to be reached, adding that such a deal won't be struck on Tuesday night. (Roi Kais)

12:23 PM PT: Haaretz Reporting: 10:09 P.M. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrives in Israel, to hold joint press conference with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at 11 P.M. (Haaretz) http://www.haaretz.com/...

12:46 PM PT: From Haaretz: 10:25 P.M. Hamas postpones planned Cairo press conference on cease-fire with Israel (Avi issacharoff)

Why is it so Difficult?

Here is what I don't get... What is difficult about ending the Gaza altercation? In Israel and in America the Hard Left keeps talking in terms of a cease fire or a truce. The Lunatic Right, both here and there, keep talking about blowing Gaza into little bits and "levelling" the place. Neither one of course, (and as usual) is right. They simply aren't. It's not hard to see an answer yet despite the ease of that answer no one wants to address it. Why? Because it takes away an easy crisis that both sides need to feed their power base.

Hamas NEEDS to see their children and civilians die. It's in their interest. They can't maintain any sort of power if they are not seen as the "Heroes of Resistance". They will fight to the very last civilian (as long as their money and influence are not harmed), just to prove that they and no one else is who should rule in the land that is now Israel and Palestine. They certainly don't care who they have to kill to get there and the more their own people suffer, the more they can take those people's minds off of their own failures and corruption.

The Israeli and American Right, need to have an enemy to fight in order to continue to scare people into supporting their nihilistic Randian vision of the world coupled with building towards some fictional Spartan state that they can all feel very tough about while sending other peoples kids to do their fighting for them.

ANYWAY... In all of the analysis and hand wringing about what Israel is doing everyone keeps talking about cease fires and Ten Year Truces and how if Israel just ended it's embargo on the Gaza Strip everything would be peace and light. The Useful Idiots and their supporters all talk about the culpability of Israel without addressing the prime issue, that of the responsibility of Hamas and the Palestinians to simply accept that Israel exists as the National Homeland and State of the Jewish people. IF they did this simple thing... this conflict would be over within ten seconds.

Imagine if a Palestinian leader would go to the Israelis and say "Listen, we are sick of war and sick of what is happening so here's the deal. Give us the land in the Olmert deal for a nation, including at least half of the Old City of East Jerusalem. We will de-militarize for ten years however, YOU are responsible for our protection as well as training of our military so that when we get through our growing pains we can have a professional and responsible military. ALSO, we will need aid. You and the U.S. need to build up our infra-structure and provide a market for our goods until we can develop our markets. That means access to roads, water, and the like. In return... We will give you a complete and total peace. We recognize that Israel is and will be the National Homeland and State of the Jewish people . We will open cultural and trading exchanges and allow for our children to learn with yours in mixed education programs."

That's it. That would end it right then and there. The War, this exchange, the conflict. Done. It would be completely over. No one, but no one asks this of the Palestinians. To be fair, no one on the Israeli Right would lay this out as an opportunity either.  But you have to give something to get something. The Palestinians have to retain some pride to make this a lasting deal. So... This is a fair deal. The Palestinians get control of Islam's third holiest site (the Haram al-Sharif), Christianity's holiest site (Bethlehem) and they get a secure and viable state. They can even negotiate for recompense for those driven from their homes in past wars. Israel would be foolish not to accept these terms.

Until then though, why should Israel cede one inch of anything to people that talk in terms of destroying them? They shouldn't. They need to keep the pressure on Hamas' leadership until they are either dead, removed, or at some point they realize that they will not be dislodging the Israelis and that it is time to do something for their own people rather than continuing to play politics.

What I am curious about is why isn't anyone insisting that Hamas formally recognize Israel? That never, ever gets discussed. There are a million and one other things discussed but no one ever addresses this. YET, this is the simplest thing in the world IF one really wants to end this horrible conflict. Israel will recognize the Palestinians... why won't they simply recognize Israel as the nation it was created to be?

Sadly, this is just a "pipe dream". Hamas has too much money to make and too much power to gain for them to do anything like that. The Israeli Right, I fear, would never accept this as it goes against the concept of Eretz Yisrael HaShlema. BUT, I do think there are some on the Israeli Right that might go along whereas I think there is no one in Hamas or in it's support base that would consider this.

But as an American, I sit here and wonder.... How is this so difficult? And WHY is this not even discussed?

BREAKING: ISRAELI FORCES STRIKE GAZA - OPERATION PILLAR OF DEFENSE (WIth Updates)

The Israeli Defense Forces have struck Gaza with over 20 air strikes. One of those strikes killed Ahmed Al-Jabari, commander of the the Izz al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades.
YNET is reporting

As part of the operation, Israeli aircraft struck at least 20 rocket-launching pads belonging to Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Dozens of long-range rockets were destroyed, including Fajr-5 missiles. The destroyed rockets and missiles had a range of more than 40 kilometers. 

The aerial strikes were accompanied by IDF tank fire at terror sites in Gaza. AFP reported that at least six Palestinians were killed in no less than 20 Israeli strikes in Gaza.

According to reports in Gaza, Israel also tried to kill Ra'ad al-Atar, another senior Izz al-Din al-Qassam commander. He apparently survived. The Palestinians reported that Israel attacked another top terrorist, but they did not release his name or say if he was killed in the strike.

Meanwhile, the IDF has decided to deploy additional infantry units in the south ahead of a possible ground offensive in Gaza. In addition, large IDF exercises have been halted and reserve soldiers have been called up.

Haaretz is also live blogging this here: http://www.haaretz.com/...
 
Note: It is behind a pay wall so if you can't see it, I recommend the YNET Site for updates

So what does all of this mean... Well it all started last week when Israeli tanks and Patrols were operating on the border with Gaza. The Israelis claim it was a routine operation. At that time miltants for the Popular Resistance Committee (PRC) fired an anti-tank missile into an Israeli Jeep wounding four Israeli soldiers. The Militants then fled into civilian Gaza.

Soon after the Israelis launched retaliatory air strikes which did kill some militants but also killed some civilians. In Gaza militants then started launching missiles into civilian areas of Israel. This has been going on for some time as I see pictures from a friends Kibbutz that has been getting shelled for a month.
What makes me think this is a major attack is that the Reserves have been called up and that troops in the South are on high alert.

What this means in the North and in the Sinai / Egypt - where Hamas founders the Muslim Brotherhood rule is anyone's guess. Right now the Egyptians have condemned the attack.

More to come.

10:32 AM PT: Update 1: HAMAS has stated: "No more Red Lines"...

Hamas is vowing to avenge the death of commander Ahmed Al-Jabari, who was killed in an airstrike earlier on Wednesday. Hamas official Ismail al-Ashqar said that the “resistance’s possibilities” are now open and include suicide bombings and high profile attacks inside Israeli cities. 

“The resistance can cause Israel great misery,” he said. Shortly after the hit, a Color Red siren sounded in Hof Ashkelon and two rockets exploded in an open area. No injuries were reported.

http://www.ynetnews.com/...

12:08 PM PT: Egypt's Government is predictably condemning this:

"Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr condemned the series of air strikes that Israel is currently conducting against Gaza Strip and which led to the killing of Ahmed Jabari," the statement released by Egypt's foreign ministry said.

"He called on Israel to stop its strikes on Gaza Strip immediately," the statement added.
Also:

On Tuesday, Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood sharply criticized Israeli leaders over airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, accusing them of heating up the conflict to score political points ahead of elections.
In its statement, the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party referred to Israel as a "Zionist occupier" and a "racist state," placing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on the "fringes" of the "far right."

"In the framework of elections that Israel is witnessing is a recent military escalation against occupied Gaza and the occupied Golan Heights," the statement said. Israel has set parliamentary elections for January 22.

Militants in Gaza have fired more than 110 rockets towards southern Israel since Saturday, when four soldiers were wounded in an anti-tank missile attack on an IDF jeep, and six Palestinians have been killed in the ensuing IDF strikes on the Gaza Strip in response.

http://www.haaretz.com/...

And why look - our "Radical Islam Loving" President (/snark) showed just why he was the right choice for the Jewish people and for Israel despite the fevered lying of the Deranged Right Wing:

4:13 PM PT: Egypt has recalled it's ambassador to Israel and Israel has recalled it's ambassador to Egypt.
And this from the U.S.: http://www.ynetnews.com/...

We support Israel's right to defend itself, and we encourage Israel to continue to take every effort to avoid civilian casualties," US State Department spokesman Mark Toner said in a statement on Wednesday.

"We strongly condemn the barrage of rocket fire from Gaza into southern Israel, and we regret the death and injury of innocent Israeli and Palestinian civilians caused by the ensuing violence," he added.

Shells in the North, Shells in the South - An Israeli Dilemna

As we have all been seeing of late, Palestinian Militants in Gaza have once again begun raining shells on Southern Israel. Additionally, now shells from the Syrian Civil War have begun to fall on the Golan. As of yesterday, Gunners from the FSA (The Free Syrian Army - an odd collection of Social revolutionaries and, and Al-Qaeda operatives funded by the reactionary Gulf States) missed their mark and dropped mortars into the Golan. After numerous warnings the IDF reacted with Tanks stationed on the border and scored a direct hit on the mortar position. From YNET:

Twenty-four hours after the IDF first retaliated against a mortar that was fired from Syria and hit Israeli territory, another shell struck the Israeli side of the Golan Heights, just north of Tel Hazeka. No injuries or damage were reported.

Shortly thereafter, the IDF returned fire, using tanks deployed along the border to target two D-3 mortar launchers belonging to the Syrian army. A direct hit was identified.

This return of fire drew criticism from the FSA, a claim of partisanship by the Israelis on the side of the Butcher Assad. 

At the same time civilian communities in the South face heavy rocket fire from Militant groups in Gaza. According to Ma'an News, A group of Israeli tanks and Bulldozers were operating on the Gaza border around the security fence when gunmen from the Popular Resistance Committees opened fire on the Israelis.

Israeli military vehicles briefly penetrated the southern Gaza Strip earlier Thursday morning, leading to clashes with Palestinian militants.

The Popular Resistance Committees said its gunmen had confronted an Israeli force of four tanks and a bulldozer involved in a short-range incursion beyond Israel's border fence with the Gaza Strip.

"Terrorists opened fire at IDF (Israeli army) soldiers while they were performing routine activity adjacent to the security fence," an Israeli military spokeswoman said in Jerusalem. She said reports of Palestinians injuries were being checked.

A military official said the soldiers responded by firing at "suspicious locations" and said an Israeli soldier was lightly injured by mortar fire.

Palestinian fighters said they detonated an explosive device by an Israeli military vehicle near Khuzaa, east of Khan Younis.

In this case the Israelis struck back and since then the shells have been falling in the South. Of course, in recent months, militants from the South have been launching rockets into Israel on a regular basis and while no one has been killed there has been damage and fear in these civilian areas. On a personal note, having a friend at a kibbutz in the area - he tells me that the fire has been incessant and has caused damage.

Of course (and rightly so), the Israeli government has vowed to take steps to defend both borders and has done so. I don't think anyone in their right mind can argue with that. SO... where do they face any dilemma's?

Well... in the South, another Cast Lead Operation style runs the risk of bringing the Egyptians into the conflict OR if not actually into the conflict brings a potential abrogation of the Peace Treaty with Israel and return to the "Cold War" days of Nasser (and in the beginning Sadat). Currently the Egyptians are working with both the Israelis and Hamas to broker a cease fire deal and to be honest it is in the Egyptian regimes interest to get that cease fire. They can ill-afford a potential conflict with Israel as they continue to deal with an economy that has been shattered by greed and abuse.

However, the Muslim Brotherhood (the Parent organization of the ruling Freedom and Justice Party) has been out in the streets whipping up opposition to the Peace treaty in order to distract the Public from the economic woes of the nation AND to push an introduction of strict Sharia into the Egyptian Legal system.

SO, Egypt of course is in a dilemma in which should the Israelis respond in "Cast Lead" Fashion - the Egyptians in order to avoid a full scale internal political crises need to respond with gestures of their own. If they don't, they will face open revolt (a revolt that they are really to blame for by stoking crowds), and if they do they respond - they will face all the problems that come from the SCAF (the armed forces) losing commercial deals not too mention a conflict with their main benefactor; the U.S. Government.

At the same time the Israelis, heading into an election face issues of their own. PM Netanyahu HAS to do something regarding the Rocket Fire in the South. Today, Amos Harel and Avi Isaacheroff in Haaretz talked about the possibility that while there would not be a Cast Lead response - there might be a retaliation based around targeted assassination.

I suggest reading Harel and Isaacherof here as there is great insight into this dilemna where right now the only political winner is looking Hamas (who simply doesn't care what happens to Gaza or the local population as long as they can remain in the vanguard of "resistance"):

Gaza, however, remains the main problem for Netanyahu. The more intensely the southern residents protest what they see as the government's abandonment of their security, the more seriously he will have to consider taking tougher measures, with a resumption of targeted killings the most likely possibility. 

Netanyahu, who is preparing for January's election, is already being attacked in the political arena for not responding more forcefully. But he knows that his range of options against Hamas is limited. Israel is at this stage trying to avoid a ground operation a la Cast Lead. One reason is that the diplomatic reality now is far different than it was when that offensive was launched in 2008: Israel fears a direct confrontation with the new regime in Egypt and it knows that neither the United States nor Europe will be as tolerant of a large-scale military operation this time around.

There was no evidence Sunday along the Gaza border that the IDF was making any special preparations for an operation. Assassinations don't require very much preparation, though. All that's needed is a decision, but that, too, is a gamble, because it's hard to know how Hamas would react to such an initiative. Right now Hamas is looking pretty sure of itself. Its leaders didn't hesitate to take responsibility for some of the attacks over this past week, in a way that Israel saw as particularly provocative

Now, as for the North... Well, getting drawn into a civil war with a country that no matter who wins, will be hostile to Israel is yet another issue. If the FSA wins and ends the cruelty and barbarism of the Assad regime towards it's own people, chances are that an Islamist government (funded by the Saudi Wahabi regime and conservative Gulf States) would take control and in the chaos that would ensue, Israelis would face a Syrian regime with ties to Al-Qaeda on it's Southern Border.

On the other hand should Assad and his Iranian allies win in Syria, Israel would then face a solid Iranian alliance in the form of the Government of Syria AND the quasi Hizbollah State (formerly known as Lebanon </snark>) on their Northern border. A situation that can lead to nothing but no good.

If the Israelis intervene here (and as Harel and Isaacheroff report that they have no desire to do), they will immediately give a boost to whomever they intervene against. If they intervene against FSA and Al-Qaeda militants they give the militants the mantle of being the folks who are resisting not only Assad but also the "hated Israelis", and that would go a long ways to keeping the money and equipment flowing to the Rebels. At the same time should they intervene against Assad and the military, they make the rebels look like "Israeli tools" and hand the Assad regime an invaluable political point to justify it's continued war against it's own population.

SO.... we are left with this: "What is the answer?". Personally, I see no good responses here but I do see some opportunities. NOW, is a time when Israel can completely deflate Hamas by dealing with the Palestinians in the West Bank and working for a comprehensive Peace deal. This is a chance to open negotiations and for the Israelis to illustrate just WHY their security concerns need to be paramount. It can be a diplomatic win for them and if progress is achieved in negotiations in the West Bank can serve to show just how ineffective violent resistance is.

As for Syria, Israel needs to simply defend it's borders but should avoid anything further the more they simply respond yet not engage unless engaged the better it is. The Syrian situation is just one that can spin completely out control and cause massive havoc for the Israelis.

Finally as for Gaza, Personally I favor the Harel and Isaacheroff response (targeted assassinations) towards a Cast Lead style incursion. It may come to that in the end but, I think once the Hamas and Militant leaders get the message that if they show their heads in public they might just lose those heads.... they will be at the table with the Egyptian Leadership (and SCAF) telling them to make a deal. Because if the Israelis can isolate Hamas and separate them from the Palestinian polity. The Rocket fire just might possibly end.

As IF there still was any doubt......

In the conflict in the Middle East, much has been made of the use of anti-Semitic meme's to attack Israel and it's supporters under the guise of being merely anti-Zionist and not bigoted. HOWEVER, most people reject that (using obvious evidence) and counter that many of meme's touted by the anti-Zionist movement ARE indeed anti-Semitic. The founder of the Free Gaza Movement, Greta Berlin, has now exposed this and made it abundantly clear with her embrace of some of the worst, and most offensive, anti-Semitic conspiracy theory.

Several days back, the Free Gaza Movement tweeted a video that claimed Zionists were allied with the National Socialists (better known as Nazis) and that it was that alliance that was the origin of the term Nazi. The speaker also claimed that Zionists ran the concentration camps and were responsible for the Holocaust. That tweet was deleted. However, rather than apologize for spreading this anti-Semitic conspiracy theory, Berlin instead only apologized for tweeting it from her organization's twitter account.

What Berlin fully embraced, however, was the conspiracy theory. She made clear that she intended to post it to her private Facebook account. Yes, she actually admitted that. She was only sorry because she made her post public for the world to see her anti-Semitism on full display.

“I posted it from Facebook, not realizing that my private account was connected to the FG account. I apologise,” Berlin tweeted.

Think about that for a second. She's not sorry she engaged in anti-Semitism. She's not sorry she has blamed Jews for the Holocaust. She's only sorry that she's let the world see. She's only sorry that she has brought further discredit upon the anti-Semites that cloak their anti-Semitism in "opposition" to Israel and "opposition" to Zionism.

Understand that this accusation - aside from being complete fiction is amazingly painful and vicious. Ranking up there with the nonsense found in the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. The question I have is, will those of good conscience, who think they are trying to do something right, denounce this person and/or openly acknowledge the hatred and anti-Semitism within their movement?

In any case, for many of us, the dots were already connected. Hopefully this will connect the dots for a few more.

Sign The Petition to Desmond Tutu Against Holocaust Revisionism

Desmond Tutu was a famous anti-apartheid and is a Nobel Peace Prize laureate.  Whatever one thinks of his subsequent positions in regard to the Israeli-Arab conflict, he is still a figure that commands respect throughout the world.

That is why it is extremely important that Archbishop Tutu stand up to Holocaust denial and Holocaust revisionism within movements he allies with.

Recently, the group Free Gaza tweeted their endorsement of a virulently antisemitic video that accuses Jews themselves of being responsible for the genocide perpetrated by Nazi Germany.  This is absolutely revolting Holocaust revisionism that would be at home ideologically among neo-Nazis, and has no place among acceptable discourse.

Unfortunately, Free Gaza has in the past been endorsed by Tutu.

Please join me in signing a change.org petition calling on Desmond Tutu to take a stand against Holocaust denial and genocide itself, and remove his endorsement of this group.

Kindegarten Hit by Palestinian Rockets: Islamic Jihad and PRC will "not accept cease-fire"

The latest round of tragedy in Southern Israel / Gaza continues unabated.

Last week, the Israelis, acting on information that the Palestinian Popular Resistance Committee was planning a major incident (re: terrorist attack) on the Egyptian / Israeli border, struck the leadership of the PRC in a targeted Air Strike and killed their Secretary General Zuhair al-Qissi. The IAF followed that up with a focused strike that killed a Rocket Team preparing to bombard Southern Israel.

This brought on an massive rain of Rocket fire directed at civilian areas of Southern Israel and had not the Iron Dome short range missle defense system been working and had not the Israeli government closed schools casualties from these rockets directed into civilian areas would have been huge.

In addition to the strikes that have threatened the lives and caused injuries to civilians in Southern Israel a number of Palestinians (23) have been killed and many more wounded (80) during the course of 23 IAF air missions. Of course, it should be noted that the militant groups firing on Israel are firing from crowded areas and using civilians as human shields. NOT too mention that all of their fire is directed solely at random CIVILIAN targets in Southern Israel.

With all the damage that is occuring though, so far Hamas has been staying out of the fighting, and at least part of it is talking with the Egyptians in an attempt to rein in Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the PRC that continue to fire. while the PRC and Islamic Jihad are saying "No" to cease fire talks.

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Islamic Jihad held a press conference on Monday warning that it would not agree to a truce with Israel while airstrikes continue to kill Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

"We will not agree on a ceasefire stipulated by Israel, neither do we accept a ceasefire while the lives of our people are taken without restraint," Jihad officials told reporters in Gaza City.
Senior Hamas official Mahmoud Al-Zahhar told Reuters in Cairo he expected a ceasefire to be reached, but the timing depended on Israel.

"I expect matters will calm down," Zahhar said. "The statements coming from them (Israel) either in public or via mediators, especially Egypt, say that they do not want escalation."

But even Hamas admits that the Israelis DO NOT want an escalation.

And Haaretz is reporting today:

Egypt negotiating between Israel and Gaza factions for ceasefire, diplomats say

"We hope that we will succeed to reach quiet tonight," said one Egyptian diplomat. Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe Yaalon said that Hamas approached Egyptian intelligence and asked to pass a message to Israel regarding the renewal of calm.

"We do not carry out negotiations with Hamas," Yaalon said.

"Our response through the Egyptians was very simple, this is basically our policy since the beginning of the current administration: if you are quiet, we will be quiet, if you shoot, or plot attacks, we will hit you, and so the ball is certainly in their court."

The Egyptian diplomat who is involved in the efforts to bring about the ceasefire said that Egyptian intelligence has been talking with Amos Gilad, head of the Defense Ministry's diplomatic-security bureau since Sunday, as well as with different Palestinian factions, with an emphasis on Hamas.

It is coming down to a matter of "who will blink first" in the fight between Israel and the Palestinian factions. The Israelis have vowed to strike continue to strike as long as the militants continue to fire into Israel or plan Terror strikes into Israel. Even the Israeli politicians outside of Likud are supporting this current round of strikes.

Labor faction chairman Isaac Herzog on Monday also expressed support for the decision to assassinate Zuhir al-Qaisi, the Popular Resistance Committee leader, on Friday, which ignited the current flare-up. "We hope that the current round of violence will end soon," he added.

Netanyahu expressed similar sentiments on Sunday at a meeting with the heads of local authorities in Ashdod. "I came to identify with the residents and with you, and to express my deep appreciation for the IDF and the Shin Bet," Netanyahu said.

Both the U.S. and the U.N. have expressed concern regarding the state of fighting in Gaza:

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also condemned rocket fire from the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip into southern Israel and called on all sides to try to restore calm (vb1 emphasis).

"Let me also condemn in the strongest terms the rocket fire from Gaza into southern Israel, which continued over the weekend," Clinton said during an appearance on Monday before the UN Security Council. "We call on those responsible to take immediate action to stop these attacks. We call on both sides - all sides - to make every effort to restore calm," Clinton said.

Let us all hope that cooler heads will prevail and the Rocket Fire and Air Strikes can come to a screeching halt.

Hamas continues it's quest to shut down Freedom

Yesterday it was Hamas beating up on Shiite worshippers and then denying their existence. Today, it is them wiping out the Palestinian version of "American Idol" or "The X Factor". Maan News is reporting: Hamas Bans 'New Star' singing contest:

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- The Hamas government in the Gaza Strip has banned residents of the coastal enclave from participating in the national reality singing show "New Star."....

....Hasan Abu Hashish, who heads the media office in the Hamas-run government, told Ma'an's public relations director Ala al-Abed that the program was "indecent."

The contest contradicts the customs and traditions of the Gaza community, Abu Hashish said, adding that singing was the passion of a few and not in the interests of the majority of the community.

Interestingly the talkbacks in the Maan piece seem to be providing an interesting arguments between some Palestinians and other Islamic partisans from other parts of the world. Usually I don't deal or care about talkbacks but these have a slightly different tone. What I notice is that the secular Palestinians are calling for a State for Palestinians and are seeing this purely on a national level. At the same time those from outside of Palestine AND religious supporters of Hamas are seeing this in global terms. Read through the talkbacks, they are interesting for the most part.

However, with all of this, Hamas represents a far greater % of the Palestinian Polity than does the PFLP activist posting in the talkbalks in favor of a more Western Style of Government.

Correspondingly, though Hamas is getting a lot of press a Norwegian think tank study over six years finds that Ismail Haniyeh's overall standing with Palestinian Polity is far lower than that of P.A. President Mahmoud Abbas. Interestingly, according to the survey only 25% of Palestinians feel that either Governmental organization (The Palestinian Authority or Hamas) satisfactory in advancing democracy and only 30% feel either is satisfactorally promoting Human Rights. YET... these are the bodies that are advancing the cause of Statehood and a One State solution (though the PA in theory supports a "Two State Solution).

In the meanwhile, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad have been conducting talks to "unify the Palestinian Resistance". It is important to remember that both Hamas and P.I.J. have agreed to join the PLO and as a result this deal will have direct implications on any potential Peace Talks or negotiations with Israel towards ending the Occupation (which honestly Israel does not seem to be in a hurry to do) AND establishing a modern, democratic Palestinian State. 

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- The leader of Gaza's government Ismail Haniyeh on Tuesday called for an in-depth dialogue between his Hamas party and Islamic Jihad, an official said.

Muhammad al-Hindi, an Islamic Jihad leader, said the two sides hoped to unify the Palestinian resistance forces. He said this was an Islamic and national duty.

He said bringing the two sides into closer cooperation was important due to the uprisings across the Arab world, which the factions hope to give a more "Islamic dimension."

Al-Hindi praised Haniyeh's call and said talks were already underway at home and abroad.

For proponents of a peaceful solution whether it be a One State solution or a "faux" Two State solution (Israel exists but all the Palestinian refugees and their descendents from the 1948 War of Independence get to move back to Israel - thus causing a demographic shift in favor of Palestinians and in effect creating Palestine and Palestine), this combination CANNOT be heartening. Islamic Jihad has rejected non-violence as a part of "resistance" as has Hamas.

How the PLO will reconcile this with their plans for unity is unknown and an Israeli reaction to unity with Hamas and P.I.J. joining the process (a process they both oppose) is sure to be both strong and in the opposite direction of those who think that this unification will serve the purpose of creating either Two States or Peace.

Please discuss.