Another crack at Middle East peace
Newly-appointed Secretary of State Condolezza Rice is just back from the Middle East peace summit in Egypt, the first one held in about four years between the senior leaders of the Israeli and Palestinian governments.
Apparently there have been some significant developments, most noteworthy of them being a formal ceasefire between the two parties. It is interesting that this agreement should come so soon after the election of Mahmoud Abbas. I guess he doesn't even feel the need to waste time to consolidate his power. In fact, it is probably a smarter move to get the Israelis off his back before dealing with the Palestinians themselves.
Turkish press has been covering things quite well, with fairly frequent updates and summaries of events.
Overall I am very surprised at the number of compromises that were reached at this summit in Egypt. This was definitely the most productive meeting in recent memory. Israel actually agreed to withdraw from five West Bank cities and release 500 Palestinians prisoners, with another 400 to be released at a later date. Of course, Hamas still does not recognize any change in the "Israeli condition," but they're a lost cause anyway. It will be interesting to see how Abbas deals with them during his time as president (I've heard a lot about his wishy-washy position on militant activity, but he seems a lot better than Arafat so far). In addition, Egypt and Jordan made the first step in the deal to reinstate their diplomatic relations with Israel, which I was not aware of. I'd say things are looking optimistic in the Middle East right now...let's hope they stay that way.
Apparently there have been some significant developments, most noteworthy of them being a formal ceasefire between the two parties. It is interesting that this agreement should come so soon after the election of Mahmoud Abbas. I guess he doesn't even feel the need to waste time to consolidate his power. In fact, it is probably a smarter move to get the Israelis off his back before dealing with the Palestinians themselves.
Turkish press has been covering things quite well, with fairly frequent updates and summaries of events.
Overall I am very surprised at the number of compromises that were reached at this summit in Egypt. This was definitely the most productive meeting in recent memory. Israel actually agreed to withdraw from five West Bank cities and release 500 Palestinians prisoners, with another 400 to be released at a later date. Of course, Hamas still does not recognize any change in the "Israeli condition," but they're a lost cause anyway. It will be interesting to see how Abbas deals with them during his time as president (I've heard a lot about his wishy-washy position on militant activity, but he seems a lot better than Arafat so far). In addition, Egypt and Jordan made the first step in the deal to reinstate their diplomatic relations with Israel, which I was not aware of. I'd say things are looking optimistic in the Middle East right now...let's hope they stay that way.
posted by Remz Pokorny @ 11:46 AM
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