The Good, The Bad and The Regrettable

The Good:

-- The People's Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) has decided to vote its confidence in the new Hamas government. Good news indeed(of course this is really bad news for thsoe who thought the new Hamas authority would fizzle into non-existence following internal fighting and lack of support). Not the case, fortunately.

-- Former Israeli Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a proponent of the "we will not remove any settlements froms the West Bank" view, will not win tomorrow's Israeli election. Very good.

The Bad:

-- Hamas is being targeted internationally to recognise Israel. It has also led the Palestinian territories into a huge funding crisis with Israel witholding tax revenue and many countries withdrawing support.

-- Israel's acting prime-minister and by all accounts, soon to Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert suggested today that he would consult with the United States before setting borders for Palestine. Well, gee.. thanx Mr. Olmert. Thanks for taking in the opinions of teh millions of Palestinians you rule over. Thanks for choosing a multilateral approach and thanks especially for grabbing land under false pretenses and then declaring that you will discuss border strategy with your one and only ally.

-- Israel's Kadima Party which is set to win tomorrow's election in Israel, is talking about unilatreally setting borders with Palestine. The are suggesting this border should go on route that the current Barrier is set to take. The Barrier seperating Isarel from Palestine annexes a vast section of land, land that is not Israel's, land they were never given titled to in 1967 when the land dispute was being settled in relation to borders.

-- More specifically, the barrier cuts off important resources from the Palestinians and places them in the control of Israel; farm lands, orchards, water resources, and most significant of all, the entirety of East Jersualem is cut off from the Palestinian population.

The Regrettable:

-- The Barrier has led farmers to be cut off from their fields. Those that live on the Palestinian side have lands on the Israeli side of the border. They need special working permits to go tend their own land. The traditionally time-intensive and labor intensive indisytry of farming is hampered significantly by Israeli restrictions on time spent at lands, and the number of people that can visit according to whose name is on the land title.The situation has ld many farmers to lose crops for the past few years. And above all this, Israel has threatened to annex all and any land that has not been cultivated for the past three years, without nay compensation to the title holders.

-- On Friday, Mahmoud Abbas suggested that he would be willing to hold peace talks with Israel without the need for hamas to be involved. Hmm. Why don't you shut up mr. Abbas? How about that? Who are you anyway? If you don't recognise yethe ruling part of your own country, how is anyone else expected to? Please, show yourself out. Your time is done. Next time, know who the real leader of the nation is and fall in line, please. The good part of this regrettable incident was that, Israel completely ignored Abbas and told reporters that his authority is now moot. Exactly. This must be the first time in years I have actually agreed with the Israeli government. That too is regrettable, them not having similiar thoughts as mine that is.