The state of Israel has announced that, it will be expanding its settlement plans in Jerusalem in a sector that was captured by the Israeli Defense Forces in the year 1967. The Palestinians on the other hand have long been claiming that the Jerusalem district belongs to Palestine. This latest decision from Jerusalem, has put a deeper strain on the relations between Israel and Palestine and has also put in jeopardy the peace plan proposed by U.S President Barack Obama.

Israel’s decision to expand its settlement plans in Jerusalem has angered the United States and the U.S State Department has issued an statement expressing its disappointment and has restated that the peace talks should be of paramount importance.

The construction plans are further complicated as Palestinian government has been in intense talks with the United Nations Security Council to recognize Palestine as a sovereign country even if Israel disapproves of it. However, Israel and the United States have both opposed this move by Palestine, as the United States is ready to recognize Palestine as a country only if an agreement is  reached between the two middle eastern foes.

Furthermore, Sweden, whose foreign minister is also the President of the European Union has shown reluctance in providing support to the Palestinian initiative, stating that recognizing Palestine as a sovereign country would be “premature”.

Via New York Times.

Iran could be the ‘savior’ of the Middle East. If it wants to, that is.  The conflict between Sunni and Shia, ‘dating back to the seventh-century dispute over who was meant to be the Prophet Muhammad’s rightful successor, is the most consequential in the Middle East because it is so profound and elemental. But precisely because it is so intractable, it might hold the key to solving another seemingly eternal Middle East conflict, the one between Muslim and Jew.’ Iran just might be in the middle of all this.

The “symbiotic anxiety” shared by Israel and its Sunni Arab adversaries might not be abated as it might be too late to forge a Sunni-Jewish alliance. The reason is hate, a phenomenon that never stopped the ‘formation of pragmatic alliances in the Middle East.’ Making it worse is the new and added Arab enmity for Israel because of last December’s Israeli attacks in Gaza. It might be impossible now ‘for Arab governments to be seen entering even a tacit alliance with Israel.’

Iran has obviously shown to be a guardian of Islamic and, in particular, Palestinian interests. It is an undeniable fact that ‘half of the future state of Palestine is under the control of a Sunni fundamentalist group, Hamas, that is theologically opposed to the Shia dogma, but more than happy to take Iranian money and weapons. Iran can continue encouraging Hamas—as well as the Shia Hezbollah in Lebanon—to subvert any upcoming negotiations.’

David Makovsky, one of the most respected experts on the peace process, and co-author of a new book, Myths, Illusions, and Peace, says, “There is a convergence of interests between the Arabs and Israelis on Iran. As such, this moment is a gift that shouldn’t be wasted. The two sides need to put their differences in perspective to address the common challenge.”

‘The history of Middle East peacemaking is littered with missed opportunities, and the shared challenge of an ascendant Iran might not be enough to induce Arabs and Israelis to make common cause.’

Even if Iran may not want to save the Middle East conflict, it is in the crucial position of owning the possibility of doing so.

Via The Atlantic

The current blockade enforced by the state of Israel in the Palestinian city of Gaza has forced hundreds of Gaza residents to sought out alternative to get their hands on the basic needs for survival, such as food, water, medicines etc. This desperate situation led the Palestinians to start digging huge underground tunnels under the town of Rafah, which lies near the Israeli border.

However, the Palestinian tunnel program is not only proving to be a failed attempt at bypassing the Israeli blockade, but has also created a huge financial scandal in the already poverty stricken country. News reports suggest that, many of the contractors who took money from the residents to create smuggling tunnels are now absconding with the money, that is estimated to be around $100 million to $500 million. The military wing of the Hamas, which is the ruling party in Palestine has committed its militia in locating and retrieving the absconding contractors. As per Hamas sources, the militia have already apprehended two fugitives and are now trying to trace the money.

The tunnels that run under Palestine are believed to be leading to Egypt and the vendors, also known as “tunnel merchants” cross the border illegally and bring back household and electronic commodities such as, food, refrigerators, cigarettes etc. However, Israel insists that, along with these items, the tunnels are widely used to smuggle arms and ammunition. Each of these tunnels cost about $100,000 and the operators of the tunnels charge a staggering $5000 for each ton of commodities brought in by the merchants, thus making up for the construction costs on a fast track basis.

However, the Palestinians wish that Israel ends the blockade as soon as possible, so that some ounce of normalcy can return to the impoverished state. One of the tunnel merchants, Abu Ismail said,

“I want to go to the park at the end of the day, not go looking for my son inside a tunnel digging for a living and finding him dead inside the tunnel.”

Via CNN.

Israel has forcefully claimed two houses in East Jerusalem by evicting nine Palestinian families in the middle of the night. Jewish settlers have moved after Israeli police force carried out operation in the dark and evicted some 53 residents. UK government and UN have condemned the incident.

Police it seems arrived in black riot gear and carried out the operation following Supreme Court ruling recently in the favour of Jewish families. East Jerusalem has almost equal number of Palestine and Jews population; in fact number of Palestinians living there is slightly higher. Such merciless evictions can snowball into yet again increase tension in the region.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem in 1967. They also claim United Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and hence Jews can assert their right and choose to live anywhere in Jerusalem, even if it means evicting people from home in the middle of the night. Once again Israeli action goes against its own and international agenda of negotiating for peace in the region.

Meanwhile Israeli Prime Minister had already said last month, “Our sovereignty over it is unquestionable. We cannot accept the idea that Jews will not have the right to live and buy (homes) anywhere in Jerusalem.”

Via BBC

Since Israel began its operations in the Palestine against Hamas initiated rocket attacks, Hamas it seems has decided to abandon its violent struggle against Israel and has decided to opt for more meaningful non-violent acts of protests. As of now, Hamas activists have restricted themselves   to peaceful protests and are working hard to achieve international support and sympathy.

According to one of Hamas leaders, Ayman Taha,

“Armed resistance is still important and legitimate, but we have a new emphasis on cultural resistance. The current situation required a stoppage of rockets. After the war, the fighters needed a break and the people needed a break.”

Hamas has been continuously firing Qassam rockets, into Israel since the year 2002 and their rate of fire has been exponential and on a daily basis. However, for the month of June 2009, according to Israel Defense Forces (IDF), only two rockets had fallen into Israel and that it is the lowest count since Hamas initiated the rocket attacks.

Via New York Times.

In his first meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, U.S. President Barack Obama called publicly for Netanyahu to stop building new settlements in the West Bank, as well as put an end to the difficult humanitarian situation in Gaza. Netanyahu, on his part, put the emphasis on the danger posed by Iran’s nuclear program, preferring to avoid any compromise in meeting the demands of Obama towards the peace process.

Obama described the meeting as ‘extremely productive.’ Netanyahu used the descriptive word ‘friendly,’ instead.

In addition to stressing that both sides in the Arab-Israeli conflict must meet the conditions imposed by the roadmap, which includes the freezing of settlement construction in the West Bank, Obama repeatedly said that the solution to the conflict is through the co-existence of two independent states.

In addition, he said that the blockade of Gaza is causing suffering among the civilian population, adding that this blockade hinders the reopening of peace negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis.

Netanyahu, who maintains a much more radical position than that of his predecessor Ehud Olmert, has never publicly supported the creation of an independent Palestinian state as a solution to the conflict.

At the press conference of the two leaders, Netanyahu said that Israel ‘has no desire to govern the Palestinians,’ and wanted a solution to the conflict in which Palestinians and Israelis can live ‘next to each other.’ However, he did not offer the concept of the ‘two-state solution.’ The Likud leader reiterated that peace is possible only if they meet the security guarantees that Israel calls for.

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Via Reuters

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas will meet with US president Barack Obama in Washington on May 28 to discuss the resumption of peace negotiations with Israel, as well as the cessation of settlement construction.

“Our position and our vision are part of a two-state solution which includes the cessation of settlement construction and the policy on house demolitions. Our demands are also shared by the Americans as a precondition for resuming dialogue with the Israelis,” said Abbas.

The United States plays ‘a leadership role in the revival of serious negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians on a two-state solution and within a regional perspective.’ The country has undertaken initiatives towards peace in the Arab region.

However, there are preconditions to the resumption of peace talks such as cessation of settlement construction in the occupied Palestinian territories, the issue of house demolitions, deportations, the lifting of the embargo on the Gaza Strip to ensure the passage of all humanitarian assistance, and the beginning of reconstruction in territories destroyed by the Israeli offensive in January.

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Via The Wall Street Journal

The US provides in-depth involvement in the peace process for a better future for Israelis and Palestinians, says Obama. As such, he is inviting Middle East leaders to Washington for talks to resume the peace process in the coming weeks. Obama will meet separately with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas. There are no fixed dates of the three visits as of yet.

According to the White House spokesman, the US president will discuss the ways in which the United States can strengthen and deepen its partnerships with these leaders, as well as measures that all parties should take to help achieve peace between Israelis and Palestinians, and between Israel and the Arabs states.

The US supports a two-state solution which hopes for Israel existing peacefully alongside a Palestinian state. The latest US initiative for peace in the Middle East was presented in December 2007 by former President George W. Bush. Thereafter, all those involved were invited to a summit in Washington. Everyone hoped that direct peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians would lead to a two-state solution. The plan collapsed soon after, however.

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Via BBC

It is indeed welcome to see US President Barack Obama reaching out to the so called adversaries’ nations with his impressive speeches stressing on peace and meaningful dialogue. First he sent out a tape to people of Iran on the eve of Nawroz extending conditional US cooperation and attempted to open new dialogue. Next he talked about nuke free world on the day North Korea test fired missiles and now in Turkey he has spoken about need of partnership with Muslim world to fight terrorism and also declared that ‘US is not at war with Islam’. Barack Obama also spoke about Israel-Palestine issue.

Is Barack Obama really here with the solutions to the worst problems of the world? His speeches must translate in to real policy level changes or else it’ll all go down the pages of history as mere rhetoric. When Israel attacked and bombed Gaza recently, the West was a mere witness to the violence. Resolving Middle East’s age old Israel-Palestine issue is not going to be easy. US is still at war in Afghanistan and years of war in Iraq has left deep scars.

After 9/11 terrorists attack Bush had named some nations ‘axis of evil’ and thus created adversaries in the Muslim world. US has always turned blind eye towards Middle East conflicts and is perceived as ally of Israel. The world today stands divided like never before. Will it be really possible to build bridges between West and the Muslim world?

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Israeli rightwinger Benjamin Netanyahu has abandoned the idea of talking centrist Tzipi Livni into forming a coalition government. The decision was made after the second round of negotiations, and disagreement over territorial issues in the Palestinian areas. There seems to be a stand-off. Such is the name of the game with politics: protecting one’s little corner when threatened. Nothing rises above the primordial importance of power in politics.

Livni’s main contention why she refused all offers from Netanyahu for a broad-based coalition is that a right-wing government which Netanyahu clearly represents will block any hopes for a peace deal with the Palestinians. Even if Netanyahu personally wishes for a two-state principle with Palestine, he cannot afford falling from grace with his right-wing party that opposes political co-existence with Palestine.

Since none of his clout was lost after the elections, Likud party’s Netanyahu stated clearly, “I will be the new Prime Minister.” The problem is that Kadima party’s Livni thinks the same for herself. The fate of Israel hangs in the balance pending the political outcome of Israel’s elections. Netanyahu’s Likud party stands at only one seat less than Livni’s Kadima party in the Parliament. Does the radical Islamist group Hamas realize that their fate might change drastically, as well, in the next few days when all political maneuverings would have finally settled?

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Via The Daily Star