OBAMA NEEDS TO DO MUCH MORE THAN URGE RESTRAINT BETWEEN ISRAEL AND PALESTINIANS

I condemn those Palestinians who set off a bomb on an Israeli bus and I equally condemn the government of Israel for authorizing the Israeli army to fire tank mortar shells and kill a Palestinian playing football with his two grandchildren. Both are war crimes and should be punished. Obama and Clinton merely recite uselessly that, "Both sides should use restraint."

PREPOSTEROUS: BUSH CLAIMS HE MADE PROGRESS IN MIDDLE EAST

George Bush today tried to defend his "legacy" in the Middle East. He claims there has been progress.

The BBC reports:

"President George W Bush has defended his Middle East policies, but said his successor Barack Obama would inherit problems in the region.

He said his administration had been "ambitious in vision, bold in action and firm in purpose"."

Will this Bush spinning never stop? I prefer to say Bush has been blind in vision, reckless in action and stubborn in policy.

One of the most egregious of Bush's statements today has been on the Palestinians. Reports the BBC:

""On the most vexing problem in the region - the Israeli-Palestinian conflict - there is now greater international consensus than at any point in recent memory," he said.

"While the Israelis and Palestinians have not yet produced an agreement, they have made important progress," he said. "They have laid a new foundation of trust for the future.""

Please someone tell me evidence for "greater international consensus than at any point in recent memory." There has been no consensus. Surely Saudi Arabia disagrees with Bush's favoring of the Israelis and his ostracization of Hamas and all the Palestinians living in Gaza. And Russia and China cannot possibly go along with Bush's treatment of Hamas and Hezbollah as "terrorist organizations." If it were not for Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, there would be mass starvation and humanitarian catastrophes in those areas.

Furthermore, how and when did the Israelis and Palestinians make "important progress"? Oh, Bush must mean with Abu Mazen in the West Bank and his Fatah party, certainly not with Hamas and the million plus desperate Palestinians in Gaza.

But about the worst and most baseless claims are Bush's words trying to justify his immoral and reckless invasion of Iraq:

"Mr Bush admitted that the Iraq war had been "longer and more costly than expected," but said that his decision to invade had been justified.

""America had to decide whether we could tolerate a sworn enemy that acted belligerently, that supported terror and that intelligence agencies around the world believed had weapons of mass destruction," he said."

Saddam Hussein was a "sworn enemy"? He acted "belligerently"? He supported "terror"? Surely Bush must give some evidence to back up these far out claims. But there is no evidence, just Bush trying to gild his legacy in his last 45 days in office.

Funny how Bush tries to make himself the righteous hero in this disastrous story about Iraq. Also isn't strange how war mongers always try to demonize the "enemy," as if to say, "but we only attacked because he started it, it was all his fault, we started firing and bombing only because he provoked us."

But has Bush ever mentioned the 600,000 Iraqis killed since 2003? How about the 4,000 lives of American soldiers? How about all the Iraqi wives made widows by the invasion and their subsequent descent into abject poverty? How about Iraqi children maimed, killed or blinded by American cluster bombs left on the ground after American shock and awe bombing runs?

Iraq, as well as Bush's destructive policy towards the rest of the Middle East, has stained Bush and this lethal fiasco will never wash off his "legacy."

OLMERT SPEAKS TO AIPAC, IRAN IS "ENEMY"

Israel's prime minister was in Washington, D.C., last night talking to that neo-con Israeli-American lobby, AIPAC. Condi Rice was also there with her own talk.

Both of them agreed Iran was the enemy. So they proceeded to demonize Iran, calling it a grave threat to peace and security.

Where have we heard this before?

Back in 2001-2002, Condi Rice was among the most vocal, calling Iraq a grave and imminent danger, saying that the U.S. could not allow "the smoking gun" to turn into a "mushroom cloud." That Saddam Hussein had WMD, that he was intent on acquiring nuclear weapons, that he had a stockpile of germ agents. All of which proved to be so much hot air and disproved speculation.

Now the focus is on Iran. "We must not allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapon!"

Consider that there is no evidence that Iran has a nuclear weapon or is trying to make one. Although, if it did, I could understand completely as a nuclear weapon might be the only deterrent to Bush's war machine attacking and invading Iran in the same way as it did to Iraq. Consider how Bush treads softly around North Korea which does indeed have nuclear weapons.

But nevertheless there is no proof Iran has or wants nuclear weapons. Iran's supreme religious leader came out just yesterday with a denial, saying that any intelligent nation has no need or want for nuclear bombs.

Yet the drumbeat towards attacking Iran continues, and the "coalition of the willing" consists of those reactionary Israeli government leaders like Ehud Olmert and his co-patriots who continue to build Israeli settlements on land taken from the Palestinians during the 1967 War and the neo-cons and reactionaries here in the U.S. like Bill Kristol, Elliot Abrams and the other AIPAC members, as well as key members of the Bush cabinet such as Rice and VP Dick Cheney.

Imagine what a war with Iran would do to Middle East peace and stability. There would be fallout for the next 500 years. There would be enmity between Americans and Iranians for at least that long. Consider what the Fall of Constantinople did to the relations between Greeks and Turks. After more 600 years, they still hate one another for what happened. We could expect the same between the East and West over Iran, maybe lasting even longer.

We need to talk with Iran, not demonize it and its people. We need to get rid of Cheney and Rice and Bush and their militaristic hegemony and imperialism. Instead of starting a war with Iran, we need to sit down with the Iranians and treat them with respect and dignity. That is the way to beginning to solve the so far intractable problems for the U.S. and Israel in the Middle East.

KRISTOL IN NYT MAKES ISRAEL BLAMELESS IN PALESTINE

The arch-conservative and Bush supporter Bill Kristol has a column in today's The New York Times on statements by Obama, Clinton and McCain commemorating this year's Passover. Apparently only McCain passes Kristol's muster because neither Obama nor Clinton apply the Passover of old to today's Israel fighting against Palestinian insurgents.

Writes Kristol:

"McCain’s statement is also the only one to mention current assaults on Jews. He asks us to reflect on three young Israelis — Gilad Shalit, Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser — who were kidnapped in the summer of 2006 by Hamas and Hezbollah, and “who will celebrate this occasion, once again, in captivity.” McCain recalls his meetings with the families of two of these men in December 2006, reiterates his commitment to seek their swift release, and urges others to do the same.


"So if Clinton’s Passover message is liberal, and Obama’s is multicultural, one might call McCain’s Zionist. There’s a clear choice of worldviews here — and not just for Jews, but for all Americans."


The reader is left to pick the right choice, meaning the one favored by Kristol. But wait! We know that the families of the three Israeli soldiers kidnapped are going through agony, and everyone wants them to be released.

But how about the Palestinians? Specifically, how about the families of those two dead boys harmlessly riding their bicycle last week when they were cruelly killed by steel darts from an exploding tank shell fired by Israeli soldiers? How about that Palestinian photographer killed in the same attack. Why does Kristol omit the atrocities suffered on the other side?



Palestinians have done horrible things to Israelis, such as firing missiles indiscriminately into neighboring Israeli towns. But the Israelis have responded in kind. Shelling Palestinian homes, killing Palestinian children, shooting innocent civilians.

If Kristol is going to apply the lessons of Exodus, he should take into account that in today's world, Israel is not without Palestinian blood on its hands. It is not fair to quote Exodus and apply it to today's Israeli government in a way that makes today's conflict a story about Israel's righteousness versus Palestinians' darkness.

But this is what Kristol seems to do:

"Sacrifices for the sake of freedom, the triumph of good over evil — if John McCain was at a Seder this past weekend, he surely would have liked this passage: “In all ages they rise up against us to destroy us; and the Holy One, blessed be He, rescues us from their hands.”"

The Palestinians could, if they wished, take the same passage and use it to justify their own insurgency.

JIMMY CARTER TALKS TO HAMAS - ONLY SOLUTION TO MID-EAST TURMOIL

Is Jimmy Carter the only sane world leader when it comes to talking with Hamas? Both the Israeli government and Bush refuse to meet or talk to Hamas which they call a "terrorist organization." The result is as yesterday, three Israeli soldiers are killed and scores of Palestinians including women and children dead or injured.

AP's Ian Deitch reports in today's The Washington Post:

"Carter, who was scheduled to fly to Egypt after wrapping up the first leg of a weeklong Mideast peace mission, has drawn criticism from the U.S. and Israel for meeting Hamas officials. . . .

"All of Israel's senior political leaders declined to meet Carter, and only the country's ceremonial president, Shimon Peres, made time to meet with him."

Like Bush, Israel's senior leaders think the way out of the deadly relationship with the Palestinians is through the use of tanks and missiles. This approach has never worked, anywhere. The use of force always begets more force, more killings, more hatred.

Hamas has encouraged inhumane and cruel acts on the part of its population. Firing missiles into nearby Israeli towns, killing innocent people, terrorizing whole populations. Yet the way to deal with Hamas is to talk with its leaders and to negotiate in good faith. That's what Jimmy Carter is doing. And for that, the whole world should commend him.

RICE CLAIMS SUCCESS, ISRAEL TO REMOVE 50 ROADBLOCKS OUT OF 580

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says Israel has made an important concession to the Palestinians by agreeing to remove some 55 roadblocks. Griffe Witte writes in today's The Washington Post:

"Prodded by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Israel said Sunday that it would remove about 50 roadblocks in the West Bank as it moves ahead with faltering negotiations aimed at reaching a peace deal with the Palestinians by the end of the year.

"Rice called the announcement "a very good start" to improving Palestinians' freedom of movement in the West Bank, a key criteria in the peace process."

But there are at least 580 roadblocks put up by the Israelis to harass Palestinians and impede their movement. So Rice's achievement is to persuade the Israelis to remove less than 10%.

Reports Witte:

"But Palestinian leaders reacted far more cautiously, noting that Israel has promised to take down the internal West Bank barriers in the past but failed to follow through.

""We will believe it when we see it," said Saeb Erekat, a leading Palestinian negotiator. "I hope that this time, they will deliver."

"Erekat said the Palestinian Authority had not been told which roadblocks would be removed, or when it would happen.

"The West Bank is checkered by 580 roadblocks -- including checkpoints, barbed wire, concrete barriers, dirt mounds and trenches -- that Israel says are needed to guarantee security but that the Palestinians consider devastating to their economic well-being."

If Rice were successful with the Israelis on the question of roadblocks, we would be talking about removing all of them instead of just 10%. Removing 50 roadblocks cannot be called "success."

U.S. SIGNALS THAT IT MIGHT ALLOW HAMAS TO PARTICIPATE IN TALKS

Finally, finally, someone in the U.S. State Department is coming to realize that there can be no peace between Israel and the Palestinians until Hamas is allowed in to the negotiations. Helene Cooper writes today for The New York Times:

"After ruling out talks with Hamas, the militant Islamist group, the Bush administration is using Egypt as an intermediary to open a channel between Israel and representatives of the group, in what some diplomats say could be a softening of the American stance.

"While administration officials still say they do not plan to deal directly with Hamas, the United States has given tacit support to an attempt by Egyptian officials to mediate a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, which controls Gaza.

"Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice discussed the mediation attempt with President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit in Cairo early this month, and with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel, administration officials said. Egyptian civilian intelligence officials are the go-betweens, Arab diplomats said."

Palestinians freely chose Hamas in 2006 to represent them in self-rule. Nevertheless, George W. Bush, who loudly proclaims how much freedom and democracy are gifts of God, was taken back by the voting results. He refused to accept Hamas, claiming it was a "terrorist" organization. He demanded that it first accept Israel. The result has been an increasing dangerous and volatile situation between Israel and the Palestinians, marked with frequent clashes, rocket attacks, missile assassinations and Israeli military incursions into Gaza for the purpose of killing militant Palestinians.

Hamas must be recognized and brought into any negotiations. The demand that Hamas recognize Israel de jure must be dropped in favor of the de facto recognition that Hamas would accord simply by being at the negotiation table with Israel.

Israel must stop calling Hezbollah and Hamas "terrorist organizations." That term is merely an obstacle to any discussion or negotiation between Israelis and Palestinians. We all know that a "terrorist organization" for one side is invariably a group of liberating patriots for the other. Both sides must begin working with each other on the creation of ways to coexist without shooting missiles, rockets and bombs.

COMMENTS OF BARACK OBAMA'S PASTOR NOT OFF BASE

White America apparently is shocked, shocked I say, by comments of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, former pastor of Barack Obama's church in Illinois. But what has Wright said that is off base? Here are some of his quotes as provided in an AP story in The Washington Post:

" In a 2003 sermon, he said blacks should condemn the United States:

""The government gives them the drugs, builds bigger prisons, passes a three-strike law and then wants us to sing 'God Bless America.' No, no, no, God damn America, that's in the Bible for killing innocent people. God damn America for treating our citizens as less than human. God damn America for as long as she acts like she is God and she is supreme.""

So what is wrong with Wright's assertion. Has America killed innocent people? Go no further than Harry Truman ordering the Enola Gay to drop a nuclear device on Hiroshima. More than 100,000 women, children and innocent civilians were incinerated that day.

Here is another quote from the AP story:

"In a sermon after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001:

""We bombed Hiroshima, we bombed Nagasaki, and we nuked far more than the thousands in New York and the Pentagon, and we never batted an eye," Wright said. "We have supported state terrorism against the Palestinians and black South Africans, and now we are indignant because the stuff we have done overseas is now brought right back to our own front yards. America's chickens are coming home to roost."

Wright does not minimize the terrible loss of life in the Trade Centers on September 11th. But what he does do is to draw attention to the militaristic policy of the United States in fighting a war almost every 10 years. Wright also points out the de facto discrimination against Palestinians by Israel and the injustice against blacks in South Africa.

Here is the last quote from the AP:

"Promoting Obama's candidacy in a sermon last December:
"Barack knows what it means to be a black man to be living in a country and a culture that is controlled by rich white people. Hillary can never know that. Hillary ain't never been called a nigger." "

Please tell me what Wright says here that is so objectionable. Americans adopted slavery in the 17th Century or earlier and slavery has been part and parcel of life in many areas of the United States long after it was abolished by the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865. It is a central dominating fact for descendants of slaves. Those of us not in this category can hardly grasp the emotional, social and economic effects that still linger.

CONDI RICE PLAYS THE FOOL, HOPES TO RE-START PEACE TALKS BETWEEN ISRAEL & PALESTINIANS

To think than Condoleeza Rice is going to convince the Palestinians to reconvene peace talks with Israel and prime minister Olmert is beyond comprehension, in view of the fact that the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have just killed over 100 Palestinians in Gaza, including some 30 children.

Imagine how you would feel if your child ended up with a bullet fired by the IDF? Would you feel kindly disposed towards Israel? Or would you forever remember that Israel caused the death of your son or daughter?

I realize that Israel wants to stop Palestinians shooting missiles into neighboring Israeli towns. However, that does not justify Olmert sending in the IDF to use disproportional force and to kill Palestinians indiscriminately. Has Israel and Olmert ever heard of the laws of War or the Geneva Convention? Or do all rules go out the window when it comes to the Palestinians?

CHANGE U.S. FOREIGN POLICY AWAY FROM MILITARY AID TO HUMANITARIAN GOALS

While most European nations are reducing their standing armies and their defense budgets, the United States is increasing the billions of dollars it spends every year for war planes, missiles ad bombs. This is the result of the militaristic policy of people like Bush and Cheney who think that the world's problems can be solved with soldiers and bullets. Furthermore, with a Republican administration for the last seven years, the U.S. has been giving more money for military weapons to countries like Israel and Colombia. We can see the results.

Israel invades Gaza and over the last few days more than 100 Palestinians have been killed, of whom at least one third are civilians including women and children. The bullets and bombs used by the Israeli Defense Forces are those provided by U.S. aid. If Israel's actions violate international law and are a form of state-sponsored terrorism inflicted on civilian populations in Gaza, then the United States has provided aid and military hardware to terrorist organizations.

Similarly, the U.S. has given Colombia hundreds of millions of dollars to beef up its military to fight FARC, the group that violently opposes Colombia's social and class system. Now FARC is not to be lionized because it engages in kidnappings, murders and other human rights abuses. But neither is Colombia or its administration led by Colombian president Alvaro Uribe. But the dispute between FARC and the Colombian government can never be solved by bullets and military operations, and the use of these tactics just makes the resolution between these two groups that much more intractable.

The United States needs to recognize its own bellicose intentions towards the rest of the world. Yes, let the U.S. continue with foreign aid for food, education and standard of living, but let it cease seeding the world with bombs, guns and missiles which can solve none of the world's problems or disagreements, but only exacerbate conflicts and bloody confrontations. Israel and Colombia are prime examples.

ISRAEL TERRORIZES PALESTINIANS AND KILLS 40 INCLUDING WOMEN AND CHILDREN

Stop the killings in Gaza. Today, Israeli soldiers, tanks and warships killed over 40 Palestinians in Gaza. We have a de facto war raging between the Palestinians and Israel.

Certainly no one would not sympathize with Israel's concern over protecting its citizens from being killed or injured from rockets fired into Israel from Gaza. However, the solution cannot be in killing all the Palestinians.

Israel opens itself to the charge that its actions are state-sponsored terrorism against the civilian population of Gaza. Nothing can be accomplished by sending in tanks, soldiers and airships to kill Palestinians including Palestinian civilians.

STOP CYCLE OF VIOLENCE BETWEEN ISRAEL AND GAZA

Instead of sending down missiles upon Hamas members in response to rocket attacks from Gaza, Israel needs to rethink its strategy towards the Palestinians. Especially in the Middle East, the plan cannot be an eye for an eye. Otherwise the cycle of killing and shooting will go on ad infinitum.

The BBC reports that Israel's missiles killed nine Palestinians today.

"An Israeli army spokesman said Tuesday's air strike in Abisan, near Rafah, was in response to rocket attacks that hit the southern Israeli town of Sderot earlier.

"More rockets followed the air strike, and Hamas vowed to take further action.

""This blood will not be shed in vain; this crime will not go unanswered and the Israeli occupation will pay a heavy price," Sami Abu Zuhri said in remarks quoted by AFP."

ISRAEL SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS COLLECTIVE PUNISHMENT, A DECISION DESTINED TO STAIN ISRAEL JUDICIARY

The Israel Supreme Court has ruled that cutting off fuel and food supplies to the Palestinians in Gaza is perfectly legal. This is as notorious a ruling as that of the U.S. Supreme Court in Korematsu more than 60 years ago when the Court ruled that locking up Japanese Americans was perfectly okay and within the power of the president. We all know that Korematsu has been a stain on the U.S. justice system, and we also know that the Israeli court has now made a huge blunder, seeming to countenance and approve despicable collective punishment for the rocket attacks of a few.

KEEP BORDER OPEN BETWEEN EGYPT AND GAZA FOR HUMANITARIAN REASONS

Let's hope the border between Egypt and Gaza remains open. Otherwise, if Israel and the United States get their way, the border will be shut again, prevent Palestinians in Gaza from obtaining the basic necessities of life, such as food and medicine.

Why the U.S. wants the border closed is incomprehensible, given George Bush's insistence on freedom and democracy. Hamas won the election held by Palestinians in January 2007. Yet Bush who likes to claim that "terrorists hate democracy" could only sputter in disbelief that the Palestinians freely chose Hamas. Israel calls Hamas "terrorist organization," so Bush was put in the hypocritical position of rejecting Hamas notwithstanding the free and fair outcome of the elections.

ISRAEL AGREES TO RESUME FUEL TO GAZA AFTER BEING ACCUSED OF INFLICTING "COLLECTIVE PUNISHMENT"

Today Israel announces that it will resume fuel shipments to Gaza after a 10-day suspension. When the decision came down, the Israel Supreme Court was hearing a case against the government brought by human rights groups who argued that the fuel suspension was "collective punishment" and therefore illegal. Apparently the Israeli government decided to give up. Here is the link to the BBC report on Israel's decision.

This is the right decision. Whoever gave the order to suspend basic necessities of life to the Palestinians in Gaza should be sacked. It has caused the world to wonder in revulsion at how Israel treats the common Palestinian people. Granted that Israel has the right to protect its citizens from rocket attacks emanating from Gaza. However, it is a huge mistake both ethically and in terms of public relations for the Israeli government to punish the people as a whole for the actions of a few. Furthermore, collective punishment never succeeds.

Instead of the iron fist and collective punishment, Israel show try diplomacy and negotiation, and this should not just be extended to Fatah but also to Hamas and its leaders. Guns and bombs and military action never works and will never work.

PALESTINIANS KNOCK DOWN BORDER GATE, FLEE TO EGYPT, ESCAPE ISRAEL'S HARSH COLLECTIVE PUNISHMENT

The Palestinians in Gaza have taken enough collective punishment from Israel, and so today they knocked down the wall and gate bordering Egypt. The Egyptian authorities did the right thing in not opposing the Gazans who are desperately looking to escape their dreadful prison after Israel imposed a lock down of all the other border gates and prohibited needed shipments of food, medicine and power.

Would anyone believe that countries could get away in 2007 with collective punishment on a whole people in order to stop a few from shooting missiles into and onto Israel towns? When Palestinians fire missiles at Israeli towns, this is barbaric. But over the last month Israel has cut off power for heat and lights and cooking fuel for the whole Gazan population. Israel also reduced the amount of medicines and food for Gaza. This surely qualifies as illegitimate collective punishment. How many residents of Gaza, the old, the sick, the very young, have died because of Israel's clamp down?

So congratulations to the Palestinians for knocking down the wall. At least now they have access to basic necessities of life in nearby Egyptian towns.

BUSH THREATENS IRAN YET PREACHES FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY

George Bush constantly threatens the government of Iran with military force and says it should be confronted "before it's too late." He did it again today in a speech in Abu Dhabi. The BBC reports:

"US President George W Bush has warned of the dangers he says are posed by Iran, in a speech in its Gulf neighbour, the United Arab Emirates.

"Mr Bush said Iran threatened the security of all nations and should be confronted "before it's too late".

"In a speech in Abu Dhabi on the latest leg of a Middle Eastern tour, he also urged the region to embrace democracy. "

We all know Bush is a war monger. The chances are good that Bush will attack Iran before he leaves office. Bush engages in reckless threats and charges against Iran. For example, Bush long claimed that Iran was building nuclear weapons until the National Intelligence Estimate disabused him of that baseless claim. WMD as we all remember was the faulty casus belli for the U.S. attack and invasion of Iraq.

The BBC reports on other facets of Bush's speech:

"Mr Bush said spreading freedom and democracy was the best way to defeat radicalism.
America and its democratic allies would prevail over extremists like al-Qaeda, he said, because they have "freedom and justice written into our hearts by Almighty God . . . no terrorists can take that away". "

Bush always wants to "spread freedom and democracy" except when free elections turn out in a way different from how he wants it. Take the Palestinians voting for Hamas in January 2007. That was a free and fair election, but after the results came in, Bush said he would not recognize Hamas as the governing body because it is a "terrorist" organization that fails to recognize Israel. The result is Bush accepts democracy only when it suits his purposes and aims. The same goes for Venezuela where Hugo Chavez was elected president by an overwhelming majority. Bush claims Chavez is as dictator who abuses human rights. But that is because Chavez called Bush "Satan." Furthermore, Chavez has no affinity with Bush's proclivity to solve all problems in foreign diplomacy with bombs and missiles, and has been outspoken in his criticism of Bush and Bush's foreign policy.

We still have more than a full year till Bush leaves office. With all his rhetoric about freedom and democracy, the world has still much to fear from Bush's military push to re-make the world in his small image.

GOVT. OF ISRAEL PLANS TO BUILD NEW HOUSING IN OCCUPIED TERRITORIES, REJECTS TALKS WITH HAMAS

Today we see another proposal by the Israel government to increase housing units in the Occupied Territories. Also Israeli Prime Minister Olmert turns down a proposal for talks with Hamas.

The Washington Post carries a report by Mark Lavie of the AP:

"Israel's prime minister pledged Sunday to continue attacking Gaza militants, ruling out truce negotiations with Hamas amid widespread skepticism about the Islamic group's ability to halt rocket attacks.

"An Israeli cabinet minister, meanwhile, angered moderate Palestinians with another plan for new Jewish housing in a disputed part of Jerusalem, complicating renewed peace talks.

"There have been almost daily reports of truce feelers from the embattled Islamic Hamas regime in Gaza, and Israeli defense officials have said they are examining the proposals.

"But at the weekly cabinet meeting Sunday, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert rejected negotiations with Hamas because it has rebuffed international demands that it recognize Israel, renounce violence and endorse past peace accords."

There can be no peace in Palestine if Israel does not sit down and talk with Hamas. The fact that Hamas does not "recognize Israel" is a bogus reason on the part of Israeli authorities for rejecting talks. Hamas de facto recognizes Israel by asking for negotiations, that is all that really matters.

As to renouncing violence, both sides must renounce violence. That of course means Hamas must stop the rocket attacks into Israeli towns. Hamas must also prevent suicide bombers from doing their dirty work in Israel and against Israelis. But it also means Israel must stop its tanks making incursions into Gaza, its helicopters strafing and killing Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, and its targeted assassinations of Palestinian and Hamas leaders.

And both sides must endorse past peace accords. When Israel announces new housing settlements in the Occupied Territories, i.e., land acquired by Israel from Palestine during the 1967 War, this violates Resolution 242 (1967) and Resolution 465 (1980) of the United Nations, "emphasizing the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war . . . " and being "deeply concerned over the practices of the Israeli authorities in implemeneting [their] settlement policy in the occupied Arbab territories, including Jerusalem, and its consequences for the lcoal Atab and Palestinian polulation."

Writes AP reporter Lavie:

"At Mideast conference hosted by President Bush last month in Annapolis, Md., Israel and the Palestinians resumed peace talks for the first time in seven years.

"But disputes over Israeli construction in Jerusalem have harmed the atmosphere. Just before the talks restarted, Israel announced a plan to build 307 apartments in Har Homa in east Jerusalem, which Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war and annexed.

"The international community never recognized Israeli sovereignty over east Jerusalem, and Palestinians claim the area as the capital of the state they want to create.

"On Sunday Rafi Eitan, minister for Jerusalem affairs, confirmed that the Construction Ministry's proposed budget for 2008 includes 500 new apartments for Har Homa, as well as 240 new apartments in Maaleh Adumim, a major West Bank settlement just outside Jerusalem."

Israel must stop this illegal annexation by inhabitation of Occupied Territories. The Palestinians will never forget that Israel has seized their land and has brought in Israeli settlers and populated their territories with Israeli citizens.

We need a new administration in the U.S. to get involved and insist on the cessation of violence by both Hamas and Israel and in accordance with U.N resolutions 242 and 465 the return of Palestinian land and territories seized by Israel through its military victories.

NOT TONY BLAIR BUT JIMMY CARTER SHOULD BE SPECIAL ENVOY TO THE MIDDLE EAST

I wrote earlier today how Tony Blair is the wrong choice for special envoy of the Quartet to the Middle East. Blair is obviously George Bush's choice. Why? Because Blair is Bush's poodle. Bush dominates Blair. That is obvious from not only how Tony Blair has accepted Bush's illegal war without reservation but also from their body language at their many joint news conferences.

However, I do have one outstanding choice for the job. Jimmy Carter. Former president Carter has detailed knowledge of the history of the Palestinians in Gaza and in the West Bank. He has the historical background to know that Israel is often in the wrong, that Israel has taken advantage of its military might to continue to build settlements in Palestinian territory, to build the odious wall even encroaching on Palestinian land, and to illegally refuse to give back territory acquired during the 1967 Six Day War.

But Jimmy Carter is no poodle, no puppet of George Bush. Therefore, we are out of luck. Bush wants someone to dominate, to bully, and that person is Tony Blair, not Jimmy Carter.

TONY BLAIR IS WRONG CHOICE FOR MIDDLE EAST PEACE ENVOY

The choice of Tony Blair for special envoy to the Middle East seems like another big mistake of George Bush.

Tony Blair has none of those qualities that such an envoy needs. Sympathy for the Palestinians. Understanding that not all Arabs are Islamists or "affiliated" with Al Qaeda. Recognition that the war in Iraq has been profoundly disrupting to normal relations between the Moslem world and the West.

Tony Blair is the worst choice of all. He is the one who was quick to antagonize the whole Arab and Islamic world by allying his government and the U.K. with George Bush's disastrous misadventure in Iraq. He was the one to slavishly support George Bush in Bush's reduction of all Arab insurgencies with Al Qaeda. No wonder he is known in the U.K as "Bush's poodle."

And I think this is the reason George Bush choose Tony Blair for this job. Bush knows he can control, yes even dominate Tony Blair. You can see it in the body language from the many news conferences. Bush bullies Blair and Blair caves.