Welcome to Team Shalom Fry'd Daze. Fry'd Daze is a long running series dedicated to dialogue in the Middle East. Currently we are in our second year. These diaries are not intended to be a flame forum, but rather something where community members can meet and exchange ideas about I/P and/or issues that concern the Middle East.
Generally, these diaries take the form of four to five news articles and short commentary selected by the diarist. These stories however, are just a platform to get discussion going. The diaries from now on will publish under the banner of the Team Shalom
What is Team Shalom:
"Team Shalom is Team Peace. We are a group of Kossacks supporting a fair, pragmatic, and realistic resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through the two-state solution. We support Israel's continued existence as a Jewish and democratic state, with it existing alongside Palestine, a Palestinian and democratic state, as friends and neighbors. We believe this is the only way forward and the only way to achieve an enduring peace. This is the view endorsed by the overwhelming majority of the world's nations, including the Quartet, which consists of the United States, Russia, the European Union, and the United Nations."
So please participate. The only thing we ask is that you keep comments respectful, reality based and please no use of Anti-Semetic or Anti-Arab memes. Enjoy!
This week you may notice a different name. I added this just for Celtic Merlin who called our Fry'd Daze diaries "vb's Friday Fuckup". Of course he never explained how presenting articles from all over the political spectrum and sourcing different sides is a "Fuckup" but then again, mindless accusations are always more fun.
Anyhow... On with this weeks version of "Team Shalom's: Fooked up Fry'd Daze" we start off with Ma'an News' report on Palestinian reconcilliation.
RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- Hamas chief Khaled Masha'al will meet President and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas in Cairo on Thursday to sign a unity deal, said representative of independent politicians Yaser Wadeiyah.
Wadeiyah said Palestinian factions would hold meetings in Cairo on Tuesday and Wednesday. Abbas and Masha'al would arrive in the Egyptian capital on Wednesday evening ahead of an official signing ceremony on Thursday.
It will be the first time the two men have met since the Islamist movement Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip in June 2007, ousting Fatah from the coastal territory after a week of bloody street battles.
It should be noted that in the case of the Peace Talks, President Abbas and the PLO would be the ones to continue the talks, not the interim government. This would be done leading up to general elections scheduled within a year.
In the meanwhile Islamic Jihad has rejected participation in this government as it is based around the Palestinian Authority but it seems that the PPP (Palestine People's Party) and the DFLP (Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine) will be participating.
In the U.S. J Street released this position letter (this came as an email today) on their opinion of Palestinian reconcilliation:
.....Overcoming the split between Fatah and Hamas, and between the West Bank and Gaza, has always been a precondition for final resolution of the conflict. In fact, many who oppose a two-state deal have, in recent years, done so by arguing that divisions among the Palestinians make peace impossible. Obviously, reconciliation reduces that obstacle – but now skeptics of a two-state agreement have immediately stepped forward to say that a deal is impossible with a Palestinian unity government that includes Hamas.
We are well aware that there are those in Hamas who are not interested in a two-state solution but who seek the long-term destruction of the state of Israel as a Jewish national home. No one should have any illusions about the dangers and risks ahead.
We also know, however, that the majority of the Palestinian people are willing to accept a two-state deal and all the compromises it entails in order to end the generations-old conflict. So we also believe that no one should doubt that there are still very real opportunities available that should be explored, particularly since the dangers and risks of the status quo are so significant.....
Personally, I believe that once reconcilliation is signed, Israel should get down to business negotiating with the unity government using the PPI as their base. However as Ynet reports that might not be possible. According to them, Hamas to PLO: Rescind recognition of Israel
Hamas Prime Minister in Gaza Ismail Haniyeh urged the PLO Friday to rescind its recognition of Israel in response to the Jewish state's objection to the Palestinian unity agreement.
Haniyeh said that there was no justification for recognizing the "Israeli entity" in wake of Israel's objection to Palestinian rights and unity.
"Their presence on our land is illegal and cannot be recognized," the Hamas leader said.
Earlier, Haniyeh stressed that the temporary Palestinian government to be established following the unity deal will not embark on negotiations with Israel. He also made it clear that his group had no intention of recognizing the Jewish state (vb1 emphasis).
Speaking on Friday, Haniyeh downplayed Israeli threats to thwart Palestinian reconciliation efforts.
"We move forward on what serves the interest of the Palestinian people, and the Israeli positions are of no interest to us," he said.
"the Israeli entity"... Beautiful.. just beautiful....(/snark). Hamas is wasting no time here trying to prove the rejectionists in the Israeli government correct about this deal. Hopefully, this is or will not be position of the new Palestinian government.
Jimmy Carter on the other hand heartily endorsed the deal saying:
Former President Carter said in the statement that "this agreement, and the promise of elections in the next twelve months, has the potential to arrest the spiral of intra-Palestinian human rights violations and preserve Palestinian democracy."
The former U.S. president was hopeful that the deal could bring about a leadership that represents all Palestinians, and that is open to negotiations with Israel. He cited his own experiences in contact with both Hamas and Fatah, saying that he is confident that "if handled creatively and flexibly by the international community, Hamas’ return to unified Palestinian governance can increase the likelihood of a two-state solution and a peaceful outcome."
In other news... apparently Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejhad has overstepped his boundries which drew a severe warning from a senior cleric:
According to the Iranian constitution, Khamenei has the final say on all state matters and can even veto decisions by the president on certain cabinet matters.
"The president should know that the majority vote for him was not absolute but conditional on his obedience towards the orders by the supreme leadership," the influential Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami said at the Friday prayer ceremony.
"The top of the system is the constitution, which has clarified the power structure," said Khatami, who is deputy head of the Experts Assembly, a clergy body.
The controversy started earlier this month after Ahmadinejad dismissed his intelligence chief Heydar Moslehi but faced a veto by Khamenei, who insisted that Moslehi should stay in his post.
Ahmadinejad has not yet reacted to the issue and for more than week has avoided any public appearance and reportedly has not attended the weekly cabinet session.
President Ahmadinejhad has not responded to any of this and apparently there are rumors in Iran that he intends to resign (at least according to the Haaretz article). According to the article as well, he is planning to make a speech on State TV in the next few days.
Finally, the largest story of the week is the continued violent suppression of protestors in Syria.
Today Reports out of Syria are saying that 48 more demonstrators were killed today;
At least 48 civilians were killed in pro-democracy demonstrations in Syria on Friday, including 13 in the town of Rastan north of Homs, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
A resident of Rastan told Reuters by telephone that military security, secret police and gunmen loyal to President Bashar Assad attacked a large crowd of demonstrators in the town calling for the "downfall of the regime" and fired at them, killing 13 people and injuring 45.
Earlier Friday, a hospital source reported that Syrian security forces killed fifteen villagers at the entrance to the south-Syrian city of Daraa on Friday, saying they received the bodies of the villagers that were riddled with bullets.
The UN Human Rights Council in response to the violence in Syria has passed a U.S. resolution condemning Syria for it's use of force against civilian protestors.
The United Nations Human Rights Council condemned Syria on Friday for using deadly force against peaceful protesters and launched an investigation into killings and other alleged crimes.
The 47-member forum, which held an emergency session at U.S. request, endorsed a U.S.-sponsored resolution by 26 votes to 9 with 7 abstentions.
"Member states came together to condemn the brutal tactics used by the Assad regime to silence peaceful dissent," U.S. human rights ambassador Eileen Donahoe said in a statement.
China, Russia, and Pakistan voted against it because well..... (editorializing here) for a variety of fucked up reasons like that it is meddling in a countries domestic policy. ...
Anyway, Shabbat Shalom to everyone and please... talk, participate and have fun!