No peace deal in Annapolis but ...

Today begins the much hipped Annapolis Middle East conference meeting, widely attended but also widely expected to yield nothing but smiles and handshakes. The level of attendance is impressive; the Isrealis, Palestinians, Syrians and a host of other Arab and European diplomats will all be there. However the three main leaders who can really effect the outcome of this meeting, namely presidents Bush and Abbas and PM Olmert, are sitting ducks unable to take any giant steps towards peace (or anything else for that matter). By their admission, the Israelis and Palestinians haven't made any progress in the last few months towards resolving the major hurdles of settlements, right of return, borders and security. Therefore, there's nothing of substance to be expected from this meeting in terms of resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, except a committment to discuss these issues (as always).

There are however two important issues the meeting could help in resolving. The meeting can help is calming down the rising Syrian-Israeli tensions after Israel bombed sites in Syria few months ago. The Syrians have proved resilient in the face of American and Arab efforts to isolate them and they've played their cards right in Iraq and Lebanon. But Syria remains venerable. Syria has time and again reached out to the United states but their efforts weren't well received. Syria didn't want to be seen as desperate, so they demanded Golan heights to be included in the agenda as a condition to attend the meeting, and it was added. US, Israel (and Saudi) are keen on separating Syria from Iran, will they use this summit to do so? I doubt it but they just might.

The other major issue is the current crisis in Lebanon. America tried in the past few years to create a New Middle East and used Lebanon as an experiment. US supported the Sunni government against the pro-Syria camp but this move has backfired after the Shia pulled out of the government. US also supported Isreal's bombing of Lebanon last year which didn't sit well with most Lebanese. Now, America wants a pro-US president but it isn't going to get that, so the only way out of this crisis is to reach some type of comprise with Syria. Will this American administration finally change it's ways, of bullying, and reach a comprise with Syria?

The making of a terrorist, from American point of view

In an article titled What Makes a Terrorist? Alan Krueger, prof at Princeton, argues - using surveys from different sources - that terrorists aren't necessarily the have-nots, he uses the Palestinian suicide bombers as an example. He concludes that:

The evidence suggests that terrorists care about influencing political outcomes. They are often motivated by geopolitical grievances

Well, holding strong political views or wanting to influence political outcomes is merely a symptom but doesn't explain why? Some of the causes might be occupation and oppression or what Krueger calls "geopolitical grievances". You must take into account what the Palestinian people have suffered and continue to suffer. These Palestinian suicide bombers were mostly from families in refugee camps since 1948 and their land, houses and farms taken over by Jews from Europe, America and elsewhere. They're harassed, jailed or even killed on a daily bases. Their entire existence is controlled by the very people who took their land, the Israelis. Could this be part of the cause? Krueger's article doesn't dwell into this, of course.

The article doesn't also go into the issue of defining who's a terrorist. To me, the American soldiers who tortured and killed prisoners in Abu Guraib were terrorists, and so are those of Al-Qaeda who're bombing civilians in Iraq. In the same token, what Israel does to the Palestinian people - and have been doing for the past 50+ years - is terrorism.

US spent millions on Dahlan to bring down Hamas, where did the money go?

Dahlan, the man who was paid by Israel and US to bring down Hamas, resigned from his official post as national security adviser to Abbas. Apart from his official title, he was the man Israeli, US and many Arab countries were counting on to remove the Hamas victory nightmare, but Hamas's takeover of Gaza turned these plans upside down.

Fatah seems more than ever as a bunch of privileged sellouts trying to hang on to what they've. A committee setup by Abbas concluded that many of the security services, of Fatah, should be fired because they weren't able to hold their own against Hamas forces. But they said nothing of Dahlan's criminal behavior. Hamas says they've recovered damning tapes from Dahlan's house, they say some of these show how Dahlan blackmailed even Fatah ministers. To me this puts to rest the argument that Abbas and others in the PLO didn't know what Dahlan was up to, they were part of the plan.

Another question that US lawmakers and those who invented in Dahlan should be asking themselves where did all the money go?

With Khalid Mashal, Hamas Leader

Interview with Khalid Mashal, in Arabic.



Aljazeera interviewed Khalid Mashal, the charismatic Hamas leader based in Syria. There was an off-record session with were he discussed the current situation in Palestine after Hamas's Gaza take over. Hamas was elected by the Palestinian people in a fair and transparent elections but Fatah, supported by Israel and US, wouldn't let Hamas govern and went even further to destabilize Gaza and the West Bank. It was inevitable for Hamas to take over Gaza as it did. Hamas is known for being capable and incorruptible.

President Bush's speech was expected to be empty and misleading, and it was. He reiterated his support for Palestinian president Abbas and tried, as hard as he could, to sell the West Bank as green, beautiful and wealthy and Gaza as insecure and poor. He completely ignored the election Hamas won. The fact remains that Fatah is the one that couldn't accept the results of the elected and resorted to all sorts of criminal tactics to bring down Hamas. They've also campainged against the release of funds to Hamas and the Palestinian public.

BREAKING NEWS: Israeli troops shoot Palestinian journalists

Just a day after Hamas succeeded in releasing Alan Johnston, Israeli troops were caught on camera shooting Palestinian journalists in Gaza. The soldiers continue shooting even though the journalists are down. One of the journalists lost both his legs and is in a critical stage. This is not the first time the Israelis target journalists.

This is not the first time the Israelis do it and certainly not a mistake. Welcome to the daily lives of the Palestinian people in Gaza.

Finally, Alan Johnston released!

I was ecstatic this morning when I heard the news that Alan Johnston was finally released. For four long months, he was held by a group calling themselves "The Army of Islam", actually a violent family called the Dogmush. During his ordeal he was once rumored to have been killed and later shown in video recording wearing an explosive belt.

When Hamas took control of Gaza they made it clear that the release of Alan Johnston is at the top of their agenda, and they've delivered. You can find a detailed account on how Hamas did it on BBC:

Fortunately for Alan, when Hamas took control in Gaza the rules of the game changed.

Hamas's priority is to restore law and order to the Gaza Strip, and one the first items on that agenda was to get Alan Johnston freed.

The group's Executive Forces, a kind of irregular police force in Gaza, and its military wing, the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, deployed in the Dogmush neighbourhood.

Up to five members of the clan were detained in the last few days. There are reports that water and electricity were cut off in some streets.

Calls also came from senior members of the family from different branches to free Alan.

It is a relief all round that the pro-Hamas forces did not resort to a military solution, which could have endangered the lives of Alan Johnston, as well as captors, rescuers and bystanders.

The captors were clearly afraid of such a possibility. At one point they dressed Alan in what appeared to be an explosives belt, of the type used by suicide bombers, which they said would be detonated if they were attacked.

It took Hamas to take full control of Gaza for Alan to be released, Fatah is much weaker and was unable to pressure the kidnappers (besides Fatah was busy trying to bring down the elected Hamas government, using American money).

This also sends a strong message to the Israelis, if you want the Israeli soldier in captivity to be released you must release some of the thousands of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

I use to listen to Alan's reports on BBC, his prospectives and observations about the living conditions in Gaza were much need and his sympathy to the blight of the Palestinian people was heartwarming. Alan talked about his ordeal and thanked Hamas and everyone who took part in his release.

Israeli troops shoot Hebron family

Settling scores

Palestinian infighting continues despite Mecca agreement, the reason? the powerful families in Gaza - some Fatah, some Hamas - are settling scores and revenging for their dead sons prior to the agreement. Both parties, Fatah and Hamas, have little control over these families and it isn't threatening - so far - the peace agreement but it shows how fragile the Palestinian society has become. Some even suggest that these families are revenging the killing of family members during the first Intifada, where more a thousand Palestinian were accused of collaborating with the Israel and executed.