I was down in Tampa, Florida visiting my brothers and sister for the Eid and while there I always look forward to having deep and provocative discussions with my nephew Jamal, who is a reporter/journalist with a major and national newspaper.
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Though preparations are underway in Annapolis, Maryland for the hosting of a Middle-East peace conference, the one called for by President George Bush, it is very unlikely that this conference will take place and if it does, the pressure is building up on the Ramallah leadership (but not the Palestinian leadership) to give up in advance many of its previously announce positions. Read the rest of this entry »
Dr. Haider Abdel-Shafi the Palestinian icon, the statement, the leader, the physician, the philanthropists, the negotiator died in Gaza on September 25, 2007 at the age of 88 years after suffering from terminal illness.
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Last week major Arabic newspapers such as Asharqalwsat and Alquds Alarabi carried front line news that Mahmoud Abbas, the President of the Palestinian Authority under Israeli Occupation have dispatch his long time friend and confidant, the smart, brilliant and specially gifted Ahmed Qurai (Abu Ala) to negotiate yet another secret deal with Israel.
When it comes to Lebanon, it invokes in me many mixed feelings. The first time I visited Beirut was as a graduate assistant in the department of political science at Indiana University. I traveled to Lebanon during the summer of 72 with my professor and some 25 undergraduate students part of a 50 days tour of the Middle East.
If the past as an indication of the future, then George Bush’s call for an international peace conference will totally fail. It will fail because the key and main sponsor; the US, is partner in the occupation and a party to the conflict. As such with a policy that has consistently and materially supported the continued Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories, the US is hardly a partial party that can move forward toward peace. Read the rest of this entry »
