March 19, 2008
Unreality in Israeli-Arab talks
While Secretary of State Rice and her State Department and President Bush babble happily about Israeli-Arab "peace talks" according to "road maps" which will lead to "two states living side by side in peace" reality violently intrudes.
Poll Shows Most Palestinians Favor Violence Over TalksA new poll shows that an overwhelming majority of Palestinians support the attack this month on a Jewish seminary in Jerusalem that killed eight young men, most of them teenagers, an indication of the alarming level of Israeli-Palestinian tension in recent weeks.The survey also shows unprecedented support for the shooting of rockets on Israeli towns from the Gaza Strip and for the end of the peace negotiations between Palestinian and Israeli leaders.The pollster, Khalil Shikaki, said he was shocked because the survey, taken last week, showed greater support for violence than any other he had conducted over the past 15 years in the Palestinian areas. Never before, he said, had a majority favored an end to negotiations or the shooting of rockets at Israel.
And why the change in attitude? According to pollster Shikaki
His explanation for the shift, one widely reflected in the Palestinian media, is that recent actions by Israel, especially attacks on Gaza that killed nearly 130 people, an undercover operation in Bethlehem that killed four militants and the announced expansion of several West Bank settlements, have led to despair and rage among average Palestinians who thirst for revenge.
Hmmm, what about the constant rocket barrage on southern Israeli towns, the constant hate spewed in the Arab media? Not a mention from Shikaki, Arab media or the NY Times.
Meanwhile unreality continues to reign as
The United States agreed on Wednesday to transfer $150 million in budgetary support to the Palestinian Authority as part of past pledges to boost President Mahmoud Abbas' government.
and the State Department tests the waters for talking to Hamas.
And the rockets continue to fall in southern Israeli civilian areas--schools, hospitals, homes. And "peace" is no closer.