Updates

France said on Monday it had held talks with Hamas, in an apparent softening of its support for the US-led policy of isolating the Palestinian Islamist group that seized control of the Gaza Strip last year. French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner confirmed a report in the French daily Le Figaro quoting a retired ambassador who it said had met senior Hamas officials about a month ago. [Dans la plus grande discrétion, une première rencontre a eu lieu, il y a un mois environ, à Gaza, entre Yves Aubin de La Messuzière, diplomate français de haut rang en retraite depuis janvier, et les principaux responsables du Hamas, révèle Le Figaro. Ancien ambassadeur en Irak et patron de la direction Afrique du Nord, Moyen-Orient au Quai d'Orsay, La Messuzière s'est notamment entretenu avec Ismaël Haniyeh et Mahmoud Zahar, avant d'informer le Quai d'Orsay de ses discussions.] [...] Der Zeitpunkt ist sehr günstig: Senior Hamas leaders are traveling to Egypt on Monday to resume talks with Egyptian mediators in hopes of hammering out the terms of a ceasefire with Israel. The Hamas delegation in includes founder Mahmoud Zahhar, Jamal Abu Hashim, and Khalil Al-Hayyah, all of whom are based in the Gaza Strip. Exlied leaders Mousa Abu Marzouq, Muhammad Nasr and Imad Al-Alami will also join the meetings. [Maan, incl. Schreibfehler "exlied" - "exiled"] Zuerst wurde eine Verschiebung auf Ende der Woche angesetzt und wie hier bereits vermutet die Falschmeldung verbreitet Suleiman würde im Gazastreifen am Sonntag weilen. Nun verbleibt die Terminologie wie ursprünglich geplant, wobei ich kaum Erfolgschancen erkennen kann. Zwar wäre ein gegenseitiger Waffenstillstand technisch machbar [Israel plans to accept the Egyptian-mediated cease-fire proposal with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, but does not intend to officially declare a commitment to it. Instead, Israel will treat the deal struck indirectly with Hamas as a series of steps beginning with a lull in hostilities, followed by gradual relaxation of the financial blockade of Gaza. Ehud Barak, who will discuss the cease-fire with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Sharm el-Sheikh Monday, is skeptical about the chances of achieving long-term quiet with Hamas, and his feelings are shared by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.], aber ohne Aufhebung der Blockade wenig von Nutzen. Andererseits kann eine wohlinszenierte extralegale Tötung eines Islmic-Jihad-Führers in der Westbank jederzeit die ruhigere Lage platzen lassen. Der aktuelle Waffenstillstand kann mit Beginn Samstag 00:00 terminiert werden, womit die zentralen player Hamas und Islamic Jihad gemeint sind. Für die gezeigte Disziplin auf täglicher Basis eine gewisse Menge an Treibstoff und Gas, allerdings nur ein Bruchteil des benötigten Stoffs. Andere Gruppen verüben kleinere Attacken auf den Sufa-Crossing und angebliche israelische Ziele im Gazastreifen in der Nähe des ehemaligen Flughafens. Zu notieren ist das nach den Bush-Infektion mit Kriegslüsternheit auch die Presse wieder bereinigt ist und peacenik-Artikel veröffentlichen darf: Say yes to a lull - Major op in Gaza would not solve rocket issue, put Shalit’s life in danger. Auffällig ist jedoch das das Wörtchen Iran häufiger erwähnt wird: The Shin Bet announced Monday that it arrested last month a Palestinian terrorist who had undergone training in Iran. ... State officials said that his arrest proves that Iran is directly involved in Palestinian terrorism. [Den lieben state officials sei an dieser Stelle gesagt das Geständnisse die unter Folter zu Stande gekommen sind in Rechtsstaaten keinerlei Bedeutung haben.] [...] Helena Cobban glänzt mit einem historischen Abriß. [...] Israeli worries about gunrunner tunnels from the Egyptian Sinai to the Hamas-run Gaza Strip are overblown as the greater smuggling threat is from the Mediterranean sea, a senior Israeli lawmaker said on Monday. ... But Grad and Katyusha-style rockets favoured by Hamas and other factions for hitting targets deep in Israel are too big to be dragged through the underground passages, the sources said. [1. Nein, nicht zu "groß". Zu viel Personal wird benötigt. In den letzten Verschüttungen wurden jeweils über ein halbes Dutzend Menschen verschüttet. 2. Die Kanister-Theorie ist aufgrund der Seeüberwachung eher schwer zu glauben.]

Labor Chairman and Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Sunday that he believes the Knesset elections will be moved up and held by the end of the year or the beginning of 2009. [Wirklich erstaunlich der Mann. Bereits die Zweite Verschiebung in kurzer Zeit. "There is no reason to rush and that we should keep cool." Die Umfragewerte sind im Keller und cool bleiben kann allerhöchstens Livni. Während der Skandal um Olmert der Kadima aufgrund personeller Alternativen kaum schadet, schadet Barak dem Ansehen der Avoda mächtig.] Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's lawyer, attorney Eli Zohar, said Monday that the decision to accept early testimony from American millionaire Morris Talansky is a blatant disruption of the balance between the right to fair trial and public interest. ... On the other side, State Prosecutor Moshe Lador stood before the court, in what had already been described as an unusual legal maneuver, and explained why the preliminary testimony was crucial. Talansky himself, the State said in response to the petition, is a suspect and his promise to return to Israel and testify cannot be counted on. "The investigation into the conduct of the two suspects in question (Olmert and Zaken) pertains to the years in which Olmert was industry, trade and labor minister, his two tenures as mayor of Jerusalem, and his tenure as the health minister prior to that. "His duties required him to travel extensively and meet with certain elements as a public persona," continued Lador. "The allegations being investigated today go to his long involvement with Mr. Talansky, who is a known fundraiser and is affiliated with many Jewish organizations in the United States. "Official contacts aside, the State believes that during that time Olmert received cash payments from Talansky, both in Israel – via his bureau chief and in the US, via sporadic encounters between them… The State will offer evidence as to the nature of the payments, including specific amount, which were provided in cash, in the form of dollars-filled envelopes." [...] The state has thus far spent over NIS 6 billion on settlers evacuated from the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank in August 2005, according to the Disengagement Administration, known as Sela. This cost, which averages out to NIS 3 million per family, includes direct compensation payments, investment in infrastructure for the evacuees' new communities and social assistance aimed at helping to ease the trauma of the evacuation. In addition, the Knesset recently approved an increase in compensation payments that will total some NIS 640 million. [no comment]

Less than a week after a speech by US President George W. Bush spurred condemnation from Palestinian Authority officials - who accused the American leader of being one-sided in peace negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis - PA President Mahmoud Abbas has come to the conclusion that peace talks have failed, the London-based newspaper Al-Quds al-Arabi reported on Monday. Citing PA sources, the article said that prior to his departure from Sharm e-Sheikh Abbas was informed that the United States intended to backtrack on efforts to achieve progress in the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians. According to the paper, the report was given to Abbas from a European source, who claimed that the Americans were not interested in exerting pressure or confronting Israel, and that the US was "allowing Israel full freedom to take a stance which would serve its policies, its security, and its interests alone." ... die Abbas-Sprecherschaft kommt kaum mit dem dementieren nach: Palestinian Presidential spokesperson Nabil Abu Rdeineh denied reports on Monday that President Mahmoud Abbas plans to resign if a final agreement is not reached in negotiations with Israel within six months. Der obige Bericht wurde noch nicht dementiert. In der Westbank gehen die recht sinnlos vorgetragenen Unternehmungen weiter: Palestinian forces loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas have arrested two Islamic Jihad leaders, a Palestinian security official said on Monday, in a U.S.-backed law-and-order campaign in the occupied West Bank. Abdel Fatah Khuzaimiah, who was detained on Sunday, was the most senior militant taken into custody in the northern West Bank since hundreds of pro-Abbas security men deployed in the city of Jenin two weeks ago. [In the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, Hamas security forces questioned Osama al-Fara, an Abbas loyalist and the governor of the southern town of Khan Younis, for four hours, sources in Abbas's Fatah movement said.] Über das Wochenende werden weit über 40 Personen von marodierenden IDF-Einheiten verhaftet, Häuser gelootet, Menschen an Checkpoints mißhandelt und in Hebron gar ein Checkpoint kompensationslos abgebaut. Und noch eine andere "Praktik" wird endlich mal öffentlich gemacht: Israeli authorities have been holding a major shipment of electronics ordered by Palestinian firms at the Israeli port of Ashdod for eight months, the Palestinian minister of Telecommunications Kamal Hassuna said on Sunday. Israel has been detaining at Ashdod Port electronic equipment which the Palestinian ministry of telecommunications has imported since 8 months, Palestinian Minister of Telecommunications Kamal Hassuna said on Sunday. Hassuna was speaking to the press in Cairo after he participated in the Telecom Africa conference and exhibition. He said that Israel deliberately held the equipment because it was imported directly while the Israelis wanted the imports go through Israeli companies. He explained that importing directly is less costly than using Israeli agents. He appealed to the international community and the concerned organizations to pressure on Israel to get the electronic equipment released. [Maan] Tja, wie bereits erwähnt sollen die internationalen Hilfsgelder doch auch den eigentlichen Herrschern des Landes die Taschen füllen.

This Palestinian Life is a film about the Palestinian nonviolent struggle in the face of Israel’s occupation and annexation of their land. Israel maintains control over a majority of Palestinian land. Surrounding the valleys of many Palestinian villages lie Israeli communities, called settlements, a majority of which according to international law are illegally built on Palestinian village land. The Israeli army protects Jewish settlers as they violently attack school children, prevent Palestinian shepherds from tending to their flocks of sheep, or raze ancient trees. This system threatens the very way of life of Israel’s Palestinian neighbors. [Trailer mit der hübschen Jeanette. Ich werde die Projektfortschritte genau beobachten. Natürlich nur aus politischen Gründen. :-)] Ähm. Ja: Phillip Rizk, im Übrigen auch Deutscher ist auf diesem blog kein Unbekannter und wurde schon verlinkt. Genau weiß ich es nicht, aber ich glaube er hat mit diesen Leuten zu tun. Seeehr interessant finde ich Jeaneee... nein, dieses Projekt von der mir bislang unbekannten Julie Norman. Photo-Bereich.