Picture of the Gaza Wall

According to a story, smugglers aren't even worried about the wall because the tunnels can go below them.

After Israel defeated Egypt in the 1967 War, Gamal Abdel-Nassar resigned from the presidency. Millions of Egyptians poured into the streets asking him to remain in power. I wonder what would happen if Mubarak did the same thing.

Can You Imagine?

What if there was an Egyptian leader who was honestly engaged in perpetuating a peace process for Israel-Palestine? What if Egypt emerged as a leader of the ME and a center of Arab nationalism like Nasser dreamed of? What if there was a democratic revolution in Egypt and a reformist wing beat the conservative elements of the Brotherhood? What if American fantasies came true and a bastion of democracy actually emerged and flourished in the ME and became a symbol for other Arab states to look towards? Can you imagine?

"Contiguous State"?

This map is an excellent reminder of just how unworkable/impossible a Palestinian state may be because of land already lost to settlements. Just think about the kind of drawback and return of land would be necessary to make a "contiguous" state, as they say. Do you honestly think any Israeli administration would do anything close to what is necessary? And can you imagine the reaction of the settlers themselves?

The Egypt Gaza Wall

The Egyptian independent media is criticizing the building of the wall between Gaza and Egypt that will presumably end the smuggling in the tunnels. Egypt isn't really addressing the situation in Gaza, they're invoking their "sovereignty." Since the independent media in Egypt is criticizing the new wall, and it perpetuates the image of Mubrak and his regime as Israeli collaborationists, it would be smarter if they said it would be used to pressure Hamas into reconciliation talks with Fath and the PLO, which would facilitate Palestinian elections. But can you imagine what this will mean for the people of Gaza who depend on those tunnels? I mean, they've already been swindled over them, (in which 40,000 Gazans lost their life savings). This will be devastating for Gaza. While I'm no fan of the Mubarak government, it's time for Hamas to quit acting like assholes.

Abbas: Palestinian President, for as Long as He Likes.

This isn't exactly a surprise. If Hamas was smart, they would let the elections proceed so the PLO can move on to the larger and more immediate issues, like restarting negotiations with Israel. And I don't expect the Palestinians to get a lot from Netanyahu if there were new negotiations, but the fact is that the longer the PLO and Hamas keep the political situation in Palestine so fragmented (and the rule of Hamas and Fath/Abbas illegitimate) the more they allow settlements to expand in the West Bank and threaten any possibility of a future state. I don't know who would win if elections were held soon. Last I saw, Fayyad's approval rating was up to around 15% (and he does have the advantage of US support.)
It's just a discouraging thing to watch. I've said this to a few people lately, and so I'll say it here: I think the time where there was a possibility for a Palestinian state may have already passed. The settlers can create a big enough political backlash against any Israeli administration, or they will continue "retaliating" against neighboring Palestinians when the Israeli government limits the settlements. (And the settlers calling their attacks on Palestinians a "price tag" for the limiting of settlements is remarkably hateful) I won't totally lose faith though. I just think anything short of '67 borders won't satisfy the Palestinians, and I don't think Israel would ever be open to such a thing. Who knows. I would love to be proven wrong.

Oops

I took about a 2-week break from blogging. I had to take care of some personal matters i.e. getting engaged, end-of-semester work, etc. But I'm determined to keep on it now. Expect new and regular updates on events in the ME and intermittent thoughts and excerpts on modern Christian Zionism, as that's the current research paper I'm working on.

Score 1 For Me

So who was the first blogger/twitterer to pick up on the BBC story about Iraqi insurgents hacking into US drone video feeds? That's right. WBMostafa. Just saying.