And the Islamists surge

Yet another own goal kicked by the Israelis: Hamas’s popularity among Palestinians has risen sharply since Israel’s three-week offensive against the Islamist group in Gaza last month, an opinion poll released on Monday showed. If an election were held today, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh would beat Mahmoud Abbas, the Western-backed Palestinian president and leader of…

Showing the world still cares

Victory: Part of a 99-vehicle convoy bringing medicine, food, clothing and toys from the UK has reached Gaza after a 24-day journey through Europe and Africa. Organised by the Viva Palestina group and backed by UK MP George Galloway, the convoy entered Gaza from Egypt.

Some classy Zionist cynicism

From the Middle East News Service today: While the Haaretz account is interesting, the one on the Galei Tzahal [Army Radio] (Hebrew) website is more revealing. Barak and Olmert have again let the cat out of the bag. Here is my quick translation of the crucial bit: A sharp confrontation has taken place around the…

Stay home Hillary, if that’s all you got

My latest New Matilda column is about the Obama administration’s first foray into the Middle East: On Palestine it’s hard to tell the difference between Obama and Bush. But while the US and Israel block progress, there are small signs of movement, writes Antony Loewenstein The number of people who believe in the two-state solution…

Helping those in need now

Was the Gaza reconstruction conference a fraud? Sadly, it may well have been, though for very different reasons as stated by arch-conservative Daniel Pipes above. He wants the Gazan people to suffer until they realise the error of their ways and reject Hamas. The civilised world should ignore such posturing and assist a beleaguered population.

You can’t keep them silent forever

Life in the repressive lane for a reliable US dictatorship: Egyptian authorities should immediately charge or free Diaa Eddin Gad, a blogger held since February 6, 2009, Human Rights Watch said today. Gad is among a number of bloggers and activists arrested in relation to protest in Egypt since the beginning of the Gaza offensive…

Hold the champagne for a few decades

Friend John R sends a link to this bleak blog post by Jim Lobe from IPS with a comment: Jim Lobe writes that Secretary Clinton sees a settlement through a Fatah lens and will ignore Arab public opinion on Hamas. He sees the dead hand of Dennis Ross on rallying Sunnis against Iran. This is…

Behind the evil

My following review of Paul McGeough’s book, Kill Khalid: Mossad’s failed hit…and the rise of Hamas, appears in the March edition of the Australian Literary Review: At a pro-Israel rally in London in January, one Jewish participant compared fighting Hamas terrorism with treating cancer: “When you treat cancer you kill some of the innocent blood…

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