Nothing annoys me more about New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman than his tendency to scuttle his occasionally insightful commentary with fabricated assumptions to fit his narrative.
This makes it really hard for me to like him.
You know that irritation that grows under your skin when somebody is making a lot of sense and then suddenly — wham — they hit you with a doozy so ridiculous you feel disproportionately deflated?
Well, that is my Friedman experience time and time again. Not always though — sometimes I am irritated from the get-go.
On Thursday, Israel’s Deputy Ambassador to Britain, Talya Lador-Fresher, “Challenges and Hopes in the Middle East” to an University of Birmingham audience.
For her first challenge, Lador-Fresher chose the 2008/9 Gaza War. This had been “successful” since life in southern Israel is becoming normal and Egypt’s eyes have been opened so it no longer allows smuggling through almost 150 tunnels.
Challenge #2 is that the Fatah Party of Mahmoud Abbas and Salam Fayad do not represent the majority of Palestinians since Hamas is controlling the Gaza Strip. Hamas poses Challenge #3 is that Hamas is killing and hiding among the civilian population and then crying as if they have done nothing. (Lador-Fresher stated that both the Goldstone Report and the Human Rights Commission of the United Nations are biased against Israel on the Gaza issue.)
John Holmes, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, spoke to Haaretz before returning to Britain after 3 1/2 years in office.
Question: In a previous interview with you more than a year ago, you suggested that Israel shake off the delusion that pressure on the Gaza Strip would lead to Hamas’ downfall. In your visit to Gaza this week, did you have the impression that the blockade was weakening Hamas?
Holmes: I don’t think my voice alone would have changed Israeli policy. It is hard to be sure what exactly the objective of this policy is. Of the blockade, the siege, the collective punishment. It is hard to see that it has been achieved, because Hamas is still there, firmly in control. Meanwhile, the condition of the people there [in Gaza] remains grim.
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.
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.
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.
On Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to discuss Hamas, the kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, sanctions on Iran, and Russian’s pending delivery of S-300 missiles to Tehran.
At the end of the day, both leaders got what they sought. Medvedev did not put himself under any commitment to punish Iran severely but maintained a “threatening” position vis-a-vis Tehran. He told Netanyahu that Russia will hold off on delivering the S-300s to Iran. A spokewoman added: “The position of Russia regarding sanctions remains unchanged. [But] if Iran remains uncooperative, no one can exclude the use of sanctions.”
Netanyahu was satisfied to return home with the “success” of the deferred delivery of the S-300s, and he ticked another box in his “efforts to exhaust every possible chance to achieve peace” before “the necessity of applying a pre-emptive strike” against Iran in the future.
A new operation against Hamas is being discussed by Israeli officials, media institutions and citizens. There are two very different options: 1) hitting Hamas in a military operation even bigger than last year’s Operation Cast Lead to give a “better” lesson and open the border or 2) trying to have a dialogue, fostering economic development in Gaza.
Following “hawkish” statements by the Israeli military, The Jerusalem Post claimed that the Israeli Defense Forces are prepared to take control of the Philadelphi Corridor in the southern Gaza Strip and deploy military forces in it, a plan which was shelved ahead of the offensive in December 2008 by the Olmert Government. It is alleged that Hamas has dug several hundred tunnels under this 14-kilometer strip of land to smuggle weapons and explosives.
In contrast, an editorial in Haaretz, contends, “Israel needs to re-think of its Gaza strategy before it is too late.” Instead of an additional economic embargo and military force, which have failed to ensure Israel’s security and ease Gazans’ poor living conditions, crossings between Israel and the Gaza Strip should be opened and an economic initiative should be pursued. Here is the full article:
Sharmine Narwani writes in The Huffingon Post:
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