Welcome to Fry'd Daze - What is it.... Well, it is a long running diary series that is an Open Thread on issues around the Middle East. Anyhow, this is week 2.34
I don't want this to be a flame forum, Rather something we can exchange ideas about I/P and/or issues about the Middle East.
What I really want to try to do this on Fry'd Daze as a way to get people to talk about whatever comes into their heads regarding this subject... an open forum where people can meet and talk
For Fry'd Daze I generally try to take articles from different perspectives on the Middle East situation. So for our first Story from Ma'an News (the Palestinian News Agency): Haniyeh: No negotiator can give up Jerusalem
KHAN YOUNIS (Ma'an) -- "No negotiator who would give up Jerusalem has a national mandate," Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh told guests at an iftar dinner on Thursday evening.
The fast-breaking meal was organized by the Ar-Rahma Charitable Society in Khan Younis, honoring the families of Palestinian men and women in prison, those killed by Israeli forces and families with special needs children.
Haniyeh, who shared the meal, spoke when it was finished and told those in attendance that "Palestinians across the globe will not support any movement holding absurd talks with Israel."
Haaretz, covering the same story added:
On Monday, Haniyeh said the Palestinian people will gain nothing from direct Middle East peace talks with Israel.
Speaking at a Gaza Strip mosque on Monday, Haniyeh said that the scheduled negotiations would not restore Palestinians' rights or give them control over religious sites, saying that they "should trust God, who will be an ally of the Palestinians."
According to the Ma'an report, Haniyeh also praised the steadfastness of the Palestinian people in the face of Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip, saying the Palestinians were a "model for the Arab nations and Islamic countries."
And herein lies one of the problems with these talks - the lack of a unity government on the Palestinian side. It has been mentioned here that this is the first thing that needs to happen before the talks can successfully conclude. It should be noted that this is NOT only a problem on the part of the Palestinians. The Israelis have a major part in this rivalry as well. Now, in the face of direct and potentially lasting peace one can see the folly or wisdom of this meddling.
In a related Story: Netanyahu proposes bi-weekly meetings with Abbas during direct peace talks
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu proposed to the U.S. administration
On Thursday that he hold a face-to-face meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas every two weeks to try to forge covert understandings and set principles to solve every issue.
After the principles are determined, small negotiation teams would hammer out the details and put the understandings into writing. Netanyahu said in a meeting to prepare for the Washington summit that "serious negotiations in the Middle East mean only direct, quiet and consecutive talks between the two leaders on the key issues."
Netanyahu on Thursday evening began forming Israel's negotiating team for the direct peace negotiations set to commence next week, the Prime Minister's Office announced.
Now what happens surrounding these talks - particularly with the settlement freeze (that really isn't much of a freeze) is important. The Yesha council (settlers) had this to say:
Yesha Council sources said on Thursday that the standard by which the "construction compromise" will be measured will be the number of housing units that will be built in the coming year.
"During Olmert's time, 3,000 housing units were built annually. As far as we're concerned, that's the number of units that need to be built in 2010," a source in the council said, referring to previous Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
"During the first week at the end of the building freeze, Barak will have to sign approvals for 1,500 housing units that should have been built in recent months. If he signs approvals for anything less, it will be possible to deduce that the freeze is actually still in place."
In a new development in Middle East Blogging.. A bunch of Israeli bloggers have started a new project: +972 News Magazine. This is from their "about" page:
972 is a blog-based web magazine that is jointly owned by a group of Israeli journalists and bloggers. The writers’ goal is to provide fresh, original, on-the-ground analysis and reporting of events in Israel and the Palestinian territories.
The name of the magazine is derived from the telephone area code that is shared by Israel and the Palestinian territories.
From my original reading this seems like a fairly strong Peace Camp blog. No doubt there will be many interesting stories coming from here. Amongst them I got this one:
Israeli actors: we won’t perform in the settlements
Leading Israeli theater actors, playwrights and directors signed a letter announcing they refuse to perform or have their work shown in the new Ariel Culture Hall in the West Bank.
Earlier this week it was revealed that the Culture Hall in Ariel, due to open in November, will host productions from all major Israeli theaters. This would be the first time such productions take place in the West bank.
Arab-Israeli actor Yousef Sweid immediately announced he won’t take part in shows in the occupied territories. He was later joined by actor Rami Heuberger and playwright Shmuel Hasfari. Hasfari is one of the leaders of The National Left, a Zionist movement calling for the immediate evacuation of the West Bank and the establishing of a Palestinian state.
In a letter published today on Ynet, notable Israeli theater artist declared that:
We wish to express our disgust from the intention of the Israeli theaters to perform in the new hall in Ariel. The actors among us declare here that they won’t perform in Ariel, or any other settlement. We call the managing boards of the theaters to conduct their activities inside Israel’s sovereign territory.
*******************************UPDATE*********************************
For more details on this story see Assaf's Diary from this AM / Last Night
Let the discussions begin and let's chat - shall we?