Al-Nakba at 53
Israelis often misunderstand the political meaning of the word Nakba which Palestinians apply to the events in 1948 that led to the dispossession and disbursement of the Palestinian people. Watching CNN on Tuesday, I was surprised to hear the interpretation by former prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu. His explanation was that, since Palestinians remember 1948 as […]
Settlement Freeze is the way out
If there was one issue that the Mitchell committee seems to have zoomed clearly on in its report has been the issue of settlement activity. In the clearest call yet from a committee made up of senior western and NATO leaders, the committee called for a clear and unambiguous freeze to settlement activity. According to […]
Cease-fire conditions
So finally we have it. A Middle East leader has finally pronounced the two-syllable word. Cease-fire. Sure, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s words were barely out of his mouth before denials and surprises came from Israel. But the fact is that after more than seven months of hell, the word has finally been introduced to the […]
‘Situation on the ground can change public opinion’
More and more Israelis and their supporters in the US are making a major issue of the fact that the peace process is dead in its tracks because of the absence of public support for it in Israel support for it in Israel. They cite negative public opinion and the absence of a credible peace […]
The dark road ahead
David Landau has been writing for Ha’aretz for some time. His path and mine have often crossed, usually when we are on different ends of a debate regarding the Middle East. More often than not, we agreed more than we disagreed. Until Tuesday. The prestigious US radio program “All things Considered†on National Public Radio […]
The Law of War
Is there a law for war? This was the way I have interrupted the various comments that friends of mine made this week. It started at around noon on Monday. Arthur and Anderson auditors who have been working at our office get a call from their office saying that all the Ramallah staff have been […]
Jerusalem’s Survivors
Mrs. Asfour, a respected Palestinian woman in her late fifties had a problem the other day getting to her home in the Jerusalem district of Dahiat Al Barid. Coming from Jordan, where she had visited her daughter and the new born granddaughter, she had no idea that in the week she was absent her house […]
Negotiations and Violence
The new Israeli government wants to create international precedent by its demands that Palestinians unilaterally end what it calls violence and terrorism as a condition for the renewal of the Israeli –Palestinian negotiations. The Israeli government’s request seems oblivious to its own violence and that of its citizens as well as the fact that people […]
Closed bridges policy
The new Jordan River Bridge that has been built with Japanese money is impressive in its structure. Towering so high the new bride along with a short stretch of a four-lane highway is scheduled to be completed by March 15th. The contractors seem on time but it is unlikely that any Japanese or Jordanian official […]
Advice to Sharon
The establishment of what seems like a stable government in Israel should once again place the focus of attention on the best means possible to expedite genuine and lasting peace between Israel and Palestinians. This government will commit a big mistake if it attempts, as previous governments have in solving its problems using force. That […]