2:30AM
Links for December 4th
By 
Issandr El Amrani | Egypt Israel/Palestine abbas bloggers comics fatah hamas labor lobby settlements society
Issandr El Amrani | Egypt Israel/Palestine abbas bloggers comics fatah hamas labor lobby settlements society Automatically posted links for December 4th:
- Israel invites bids for new settlements in east Jerusalem (AFP) - That freeze on settlements sure lasted long
- Israeli rejects talks with Hamas (AP) - "Israel's defense minister said Tuesday it is time to "kill those who carry out attacks" against Israelis, but said he was holding off on a widescale invasion of the Gaza Strip for now."
- www.mnftiu.cc | get your war on - Some good recent comics on topical issues
- Charles Johnson Axed from Pajamas Media Management - Interesting details about the pro-Israel activist money behind far-right bloggers conglomerate Pajamas Media
- PA deploys hundreds of security officers in West Bank crackdown - Haaretz - Abbas, backed by Israel, goes after enemies in West Bank
- Egyptians Demand Higher Salaries - Civil service and other labor unrest continues in Egypt, with just yesterday 10,000 tax collectors protesting, ministry of health workers threatening to do the same and still more problems in Mahalla
Reader Comments (4)
The Har Homa issue is a good model for how the Israeli right has managed to keep getting what they want during a peace process which should ostensibly be bad for them. It was settled to begin with under Netanyahu, ostensibly to keep his right-wing coalition intact. Netanyahu probably intended to kill the peace process all along, but that's beside the point. Once it fell apart, the right was left with their new neighborhood, and in return only assented to implementing some Oslo-related withdrawal that has probably since been undone.
Now comes Olmert, who has coalition partners strongly against discussion of Jerusalem, and in at least one case (Shas) against compromising on Jerusalem in a final agreement. In his case, I'm starting to think he does want to see an agreement, but again, it probably doesn't matter. He makes the commitment on a WB settlement freeze, but goes ahead in Har Homa, which Israel doesn't consider part of the WB, and which everyone in Israel will understand as supporting Jerusalem's Israeli status, as it's the main Jewish block cutting J-lem off from Bethlehem. I suspect coalition politics is again in play; confirmation would come based on whether Israel moves against outposts which are considered illegal even under Israeli law.
If memory serves me right Olmert was a notoriously anti-partition mayor of Jerusalem who contributed much to that city's forced judaification. He seems to me about as likely as to endorse a real peace deal as Lieberman. Coalition politics is just the cover, an excuse: I don't believe any member of this government has any real desire for a working peace deal.
Unless he, like Sharon, has determined that the likely alternative to a peace deal in the near future is a Palestinian turn toward a one-state solution. Still, you're right that this government isn't ideal for the situation, especially with Barak leading its supposed left-wing party.
Lieberman, interestingly enough, has said he'd be willing to accept the idea of Arab neighborhoods in Jerusalem becoming part of a Palestinian state if it came down to it.
It seems like Abbas and Olmert are both leaders without much power.