In a televised statement on Thursday, Hamas political director Khaled Meshaal rejected Israel’s peace proposal while hailing the US President Barack Obama’s “new language.”
With reconciliation talks with Fatah due to take place in Cairo on Sunday, Meshaal’s pragmatic speech should be interpreted as another links in a chain of moves to strengthen Washington’s hand and to put more pressure on Israel. Nevertheless, Meshaal did not bring any new ideas to the table but repeated Hamas’ rhetorical position. Read the rest of this entry »
It’s when you read the speech more closely that problems emerge. Netanyahu’s priority of economic development rather than political agreements, Israel’s pre-conditions for peace (including no pre-conditions on Israel), and its political and social securitization are out of step with dynamics in the Middle East. Read the rest of this entry »
We’re trying to guage some of the reaction in the Middle East and Iran to Obama’s address in Cairo yesterday, and a quick look at the English websites of al-Jazeera and Press TV provides two sharply differing intrepretations of the Israeli reaction. Israel issued a short statement in response to the speech, and while al-Jazeera believes that it points to a ‘welcoming’ reaction from Israel, Press TV focuses on an apparent Israel ’snub’ to Obama over settlements. One short statement, two very different responses. Both pieces are reproduced below.
“We do not sense any real change regardless of the language of the speech because violence in the region is practiced first and foremost by Israel and by the US armies of occupation, and not by the people who resist,” AFP quoted Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah as saying on Thursday.
Interestingly, a Hamas official is quoted “as saying that while the speech showed ‘tangible change’, it contained contradictions.”
OBAMA: I am honored to be in the timeless city of Cairo, and to be hosted by two remarkable institutions. For over a thousand years, Al-Azhar has stood as a beacon of Islamic learning, and for over a century, Cairo University has been a source of Egypt’s advancement. Together, you represent the harmony between tradition and progress. I am grateful for your hospitality, and the hospitality of the people of Egypt. I am also proud to carry with me the goodwill of the American people, and a greeting of peace from Muslim communities in my country: assalaamu alaykum. Read the rest of this entry »
Much has changed in US foreign policy since the Bush Administration pulled its ambassador from Damascus in 2005 to protest Syria’s suspected involvement in the assassination of the former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Since the advent of the Obama Administration, not only the hopes of change in US-Syrian relations but the quest to unblock the Palestinian-Israeli peace process has brought the prospect of dialogue.
The latest signal came on Thursday when two Democratic Congressmen, Senator Edward E. Kaufman of Delaware and Representative Tim Waltz of Minnesota visited Syrian President Assad. According to Syria’s official Arab News Agency, talks focused on “the necessity to remove obstacles that hinder relations and to promote stability in the Middle East”. Specifically, the exchange points to a visit to Damascus by President Obama’s envoy George Mitchell in June.
The Kaufman-Waltz visit is the fourth by US officials or legislators since January. Three days after the hard-line statement of the new Israeli Foreign Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, “Peace will only be in exchange for peace.”, Democratic Representative Stephen Lynch of Massachusetts and Republican Bob Inglis of South Carolina, met Assad. Read the rest of this entry »
In a televised statement on Thursday, Hamas political director Khaled Meshaal rejected Israel’s peace proposal while hailing the US President Barack Obama’s “new language.”
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Much has changed in US foreign policy since the Bush Administration pulled its ambassador from Damascus in 2005 to protest Syria’s suspected involvement in the assassination of the former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Since the advent of the Obama Administration, not only the hopes of change in US-Syrian relations but the quest to unblock the Palestinian-Israeli peace process has brought the prospect of dialogue.
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