Middle East Inside Line: Palestine-Israel Dialogue?; Britain & Arrest Warrants for Israelis; China & Iran

Indirect Israel-Palestine Dialogue: On Wednesday, the leader of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, found political cover to enter into an indirect dialogue with Israel, as 14 ministers of the Arab League agreed in Cairo that the PA should engage in indirect negotiations with Israel for a preliminary four-month period. The Arab ministers also mentioned that no progress will be possible without a complete settlement freeze, indicating that the four months will be an assessment process.

"Despite the lack of conviction in the seriousness of the Israeli side, the committee sees that it would give the indirect talks the chance as a last attempt and to facilitate the US role," said Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa.

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Following the news from Cairo, a senior U.S. official said that special envoy for the Middle East George Mitchell will travel to the region over the weekend to see if Israel and the Palestinians are ready to begin indirect peace talks. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton added: "We were very pleased by the endorsement that came out of Cairo today. (We) are very committed to try to bring about the two-state solution and we hope the proximity talks will be the beginning of that process."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the decision of the Arab league and said:

It seems that the conditions are ripening for the renewal of negotiations between us and the Palestinians.

In the Middle East you need two to tango, but it could be that we need three to tango and we might need to leapfrog at first but the obstacle isn't and never was Israel.

On Thursday, Haaretz learned that Mitchell will land in Israel on Saturday night and both parties will declare the beginning of indirect talks on Monday, as US Vice President Joe Biden arrives.

However, Haaretz reports that Israeli President Shimon Peres, in his private conversations with various political figures, has been saying that Netanyahu is restricted because of Israel's right wing in moving forward, so the Prime Minister should offer a good deal to the "centrist" Kadima opposition to join the coalition. In response, one of  associates said: "Even if [Avigdor] Lieberman is forced to resign, Bibi won't name a replacement as foreign minister."

Britain to Block Arrest Warrants Against Israel's Officials: On Thursday, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced plans to stop politically-motivated campaign groups from securing arrest warrants for visiting foreign officials. Brown wrote in The Daily Telegraph: 

Britain will continue to take action to prosecute or extradite suspected war criminals - regardless of their status or power... But the process by which we take action must guarantee the best results. The only question for me is whether our purpose is best served by a process where an arrest warrant for the gravest crimes can be issued on the slightest of evidence.

A statement from the office of former Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who faced a British warrant, said:

The British legal system has been abused by cynical elements in the United Kingdom. This is important news for every country in the Free World which is fighting terror.

China Reject Sanctions on Iran: Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gan said on Thursday, "We've been making diplomatic efforts and we believe they have not been exhausted, and we will continue to work with other parties to push for a settlement to this issue."

Middle East Inside Line: Netanyahu's Iran Speech, Obama's Next Middle East Message, Syrian-Israeli Peace?, and More...

Netanyahu's Iran Speech: Speaking to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on Tuesday depicted Iran as a runaway train and the international community as a rail car waiting on the edge. "There is a technological clock and a diplomatic clock. The technological clock is like a runaway train and the international community like a car that is about to decouple."

On the diplomatic clock, Netanyahu mentioned the Israeli delegation in China and described a "wide range of mutual interests" between Beijing and Israel. Netanyahu stated that he was not successful in obtaining Moscow's consent to tougher sanctions on Tehran but said he witnessed "more understanding there regarding the dangers the Iranian nuclear program poses to us, to regional peace and world stability".

Obama Administration's Next Message to be in Israel: U.S. Vice President Joe Biden is due in Israel on March 8, for a three-day visit that will also include the Palestinian Authority. An Israeli political source has told Haaretz that Biden would like "to make a speech that is important and significant for Israeli-American relations". The aims of this high-level visit to Israel are to ensure that Israel's response will be restricted with the diplomatic track and to give a strong "alliance" message to Israelis as President Obama gave in Turkey and Egypt last year.


Syrian-Israeli Agreement on Phased Withdrawal Plan?: Gabrielle Rifkind, the director of the Middle East Program at Oxford Research Group, told Haaretz via e-mail that Syria is willing to consider peace and gradual normalization with Israel. According to this plan, following an Israeli withdrawal from half the territory it holds on the Golan Heights, the two states would declare an end to the state of enmity between them as a first step.

Although Syrian officials insist on pressing ahead through Turkey's mediation, Rifkind emphasized the importance of Damascus in the region:

From a conflict resolution perspective, reaching out to Syria will involve bold steps, and experience would suggest that if Syria and Israel managed to establish an agreement on the Golan, the view from the leadership may be significantly different. There could be a potential role for Syria as a mediator between Israel, Hamas and Hezbollah which could drastically improve the chances of a long-term truce - or even a permanent resolution - between these parties.

Hamas Disowns Yousef: After it was released that Mosab Hassan Yousef, the son of one of Hamas's founder Sheikh Hassan Yousef, had worked for Israel's security service Shin Bet; Hamas Web sites published a letter saying the father disowned his son on Monday.

IDF Blacklisting Israelis?: It has been reported that the details of license plates of a number of left-wing activists during demonstrations at the villages of Bil'in and Na'alin were given to IDF by Israeli police. In the document entitled "Data of vehicles used by left-wing Israeli activists and anarchists to reach demonstrations in Na'alin and Bil'in", registration numbers of 11 vehicles are listed. The IDF did not deny the report and said the organization is using information on Israelis who demonstrate against the separation fence.

Hamas Accuses Egypt & Jordan: Hamas has reportedly claimed that the security forces of an Arab state were behind the assassination of a senior group operative in Dubai. Mahmoud Nasser, a member of Hamas' political bureau, said that agents from Jordan and Egypt took part in the assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh.

Pharaohs' Football: Egypt, Sports, and Politics

Christina Baghdady writes for EA:

Egypt is still recovering from celebrations over January's Africa Nations Cup. There was the minor achievement: winning the title for the seventh time and for the fourth time in a row. Then there was the major achievement: a crushing 4-0 victory over Algeria, who had three players sent off, in the semifinals.

If you're uncertain why news and sports commentators continue to discuss Egypt’s successes, and in particular the win over Algeria, with such national pride and vigour, just think Germany and England. That’s possibly a fair resemblance to Algeria and Egypt.

But not entirely. In most issues, bilateral relations between Egypt and Algeria are stable. Even in music, there is mutual pride: the two countries share the famous female artist "Warda", born in Algeria and finding fame in Egypt. However, sports encounters, especially football, always, without fail, lead to tensions.


The bitter rivalry goes back to the 1970s when, during an All-Africa Games match between Libya and Egypt in Algeria, local police forced their way amongst the Egyptian players and fans. Clashes between fans occurred at the Olympics, and relations soured further when Egypt beat Algeria to reach the 1990 World Cup Finals. Legendary Algerian footballer Lakhdar Belloumi attacked the Egyptian team doctor with a bottle, blinding him in one eye. Egypt responded by not sending their first team to the African Nations Cup held in Algeria in 1990.

Relations soured over the years, reaching a low point at last year's World Cup qualifiers played in Cairo and Khartoum. A reporter for an Algerian radio station claimed that 200 young people appeared just as the Algerian team arrived at the Cairo hotel and began to hurl stones at the bus. Four Algerian players claimed they suffered injuries. In Khartoum, 20,000 Algerian ‘Ultra’ fans went to the game for free. There were scenes of Algerian fans wielding knives and batons pre- and post-match, threatening to harm the Egyptians.

The violence happened far beyond the football pitch. After the Cairo match, the Egyptian tycoon Naguib Saweiris' company Orascom Telecom was attacked by Algerian locals. Windows were smashed; office equipment was destroyed looted or stolen. In France, violence erupted in Marseille with rioters smashing windows, hurling stones, and setting fire to boats. A police spokesman stated that more than 500 officers were deployed to control the havoc.

North Africans are passionate when it comes to football. Passion may even be an understatement. This is a case of national pride.

Football and politics

In a developing country where government statistics say that 20 per cent of citizens live below the poverty line, 28.6 per cent are illiterate, 40 per cent go through a divorce, and unemployment is high, one would think that Egyptians have enough issues to be concerned about instead of 90 minutes with a football.

Yet I remember during every World Cup, there is always one particular advertisement: "Eat football, sleep football, drink...." When Egypt play, 80 million supporters do just that.

Cars have Egyptian flags lining the car seats or the back windows. Radio and TV channels played patriotic songs. Nostalgic memories of the 1973 war come to mind.

When Egypt lost to Algeria in Sudan, thus failing to qualify for the World Cup, there was a national mobilisation.TV channels, media outlets and newspapers were more concerned with the attitude of the Algerian fans towards the Egyptian team than the result of the game. All Egyptians, from the President to the peasant, united in pride over their motherland.

The President's son Alaa Mubarak, who attended the game in Sudan with his younger brother Gamal, called the television show El-Beit Beitak (My home is Your Home). Emotional and claiming to "speak as a regular Egyptian citizen" and not as the President's son, he described the Algerian supporters as "militias who exercised terrorism" against their Egyptian counterparts. "These are not fans, these are terrorists," Mubarak said. "Thank God we've lost the game. Otherwise, it would have been a massacre."

Mubarak added that he and his brother saw Algerian "military airplanes" in the airport. The planes had carried armed supporters into Sudan, he said, boasting that he and his brother refused to fly out of Sudan first and leave the national team behind. He also called for a boycott of Algeria in the cultural, artistic and sports arenas. President Hosni Mubarak only broke his silence a few days after the game when he assured the People's assembly that the "dignity of Egyptians will be restored."

Dignity, nationalism, pride, and football: in Egypt, there is no degree of separation between the terms.