I'm back from a long break from blogging. I wanted to congratulate everyone on the new year but that would inappropriate when Israel, in only five days, murdered four hundred Palestinians, and injured close to two thousand, in Gaza while the world watches.

The tragedy is that nobody will stop Israel, and Arabs in particular. How could they when their governments are part of the plot, and specially Egypt which had approved of bombing Gaza in the hope of getting rid of Hamas.

The suffering of the people of Gaza didn't start five days ago. For more than a year, they had to endure a merceless seige both from Israel and from Egypt. Basic food and drugs were not allowed in, let alone the loss of jobs and the complete destruction of the local economy. As the Arabic saying goes "the aggression from your brother is more painful than that of the enemy", and for Gazans, it's the Egyptian government that had refused to open the Rafah crossing to let in food and medicine, and it hurts more.

The people in the Arab world have expressed their anger at their governments, but they know better than to expect much from them or the Arab League. Some of the Arab governments, just as it was with the Lebanon war in 2006, are counting on Israel to take out Hamas. At the end, Arab leaders will have a summit and meet when it's all over, and conguratulate themselves that they still have their seats.

And After Israel feels it has killed enough Palestinians and pulls out, the people of Gaza will still be under seige and as the Egyptian president confirmed Rafah crossing will not be opened.

Why Israel is talking to Syria now?

Syria and Israel revealed they're holding peace talks through Turkey. It isn't the first time the two parties talked, in fact most of the major points have been agreed in earlier talks and the issue isn't as complicated as Palestine for example. The big question is why is Israel is talking to Syria now when it had stopped negotiations before and at a time when the US administration is still talking about isolating Syria?

My guess is that this might be related to Israel wanting to 'confront Iran'. Israel has been talking about the need to 'stop Iran' from developing nuclear technology by force. The US is unlikely to go into any adventures so close to the time of the election. But in Israel there is almost no opposition to an attack on Iran, and if Iran retaliates US will have to 'defend Israel' and that's politically less risky for American politicians. So it make sense for Israel to take Syria out of the equation by agreeing on a deal that will drive the Syrian and Iranian interests apart.

It's an interesting theory but it all depends on whether Israel is serious about reaching an agreement, and it doesn't seem like it. Israeli foreign minister demanded that Syria should stop "supporting terror - Hezbollah, Hamas" and distance itself completely" from "problematic ties" with Iran.

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?

Quotable: Israel's creation was divinely inspired by God

Lieberman to Christians United for Israel:

In a literal sense, Christians United for Israel was founded a little more than a year ago, in February 2006. But in a larger sense, it began more than 4,000 years ago with the first words God spoke to Abraham in Genesis 12:1: "Now get thee unto the land that I will show thee, and I will make thee a great nation."

And he continues:

I believe that Israel's rebirth in 1948 was divinely inspired by God, but I know that it was realized by the men and women here on earth who worked so hard to make it happen. Israel will be sustained by the work of men and women like you here on Earth. And I know you know how truly American is your support of Israel.

Shocked? don't be, it's just the tip of the iceberg.

US plans to sell sophisticated weapons to Arab states

This is a big development, US is planning to sell billions of dollars worth of sophisticated weapons to Arab countries to defend themselves against Iran, or so the argument goes. To assure Israel, US will give a $30 billion military aid for the next 10 years and 13 billion for Egypt.

This isn't about sending signals to Iran, it seems US administration has decided to attack Iran. If Iran is attacked they're likely to retaliate against US bases in Saudi, Qatar and elsewhere in the region. So arming these countries with sophisticated weaponry such as satellite guided missiles makes sense.

Condi and Gates will fly to Saudi next week to pressure Saudi to support the Iraqi government but also discussing other issues in the region; suppressing Hamas and the upcoming Lebanese presidential battle. Iraq war might have been only the begining.

Christians for Israel, the extreme

Watching this video you can see how disturbed these people are. They're gathered to support Israel but think Jews won't go to heaven (take a guess, there's only one other alternative). And they're waiting for the second coming.

Hezbollah can strike anywhere in Israel

In an interesting interview with Aljazeera, Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah revealed that Syria offered to get into last summer's war alongside Hezbollah but he says he declined. On whether Hezbollah was weakened by the war, Nasrallah insists that Hezbollah is stronger than ever and can strike anywhere in Israel ... Here's the full interview:

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.

Israeli troops shoot Hebron family

The Destruction in Beirut

Some telling photos of the destruction in Beirut – in the latest crisis. The UN envoy described what he saw in Beirut as "horrific" and "violation of humanitarian law".

Powerful images reveal the devastating destruction in Beirut amid the ongoing crisis. UN envoy Jan Egeland, described the scene as 'horrific' and a 'violation of humanitarian law.'"