Thursday, June 26, 2003

Fatah is one of the groups that supposedly announced a 3 month ceasefire of sorts (report). Fatah also claimed responsibility for today's fatal shooting of a Bezeq technician who entered the Israeli Arab town of Baka Al-Gharbiya to repair a phone line (report)

Monday, June 23, 2003

The Israeli media pretty consistently describes the topic of the current Hamas-PA discussions using the same Arabic word as Hamas itself: hudna. Using the term hudna maintains the allusion to Muhammed's tactical truce with the Quraish tribe that he eventually violated.

On Army Radio this AM a PA "coordination committee" official named Soufiyan Abuzaida was asked whether the PA would take actions against terrorist activity by Hamas etc. Abuzaida's response (paraphrased) was "once there's a ceasefire [he didn't say hudna], why would there be any need for action against Hamas". And what exactly does the PA want in the context of an IDF withdrawal from Gaza? Not just withdrawal from the Arab areas: "If the IDF is maintain its checkpoints around the settlements what kind of withdrawal is that?"

Given a podium to appeal to an Israeli audience, the PA responds to what Israelis see as the basic questions with derision and sarcasm.

Sunday, June 22, 2003

Moledet or Gush Shalom? Received a wacko postcard in the mailbox today. Ostensibly from an organization called "Lions of Jerusalem" that seeks to maintain Jerusalem's Jewish majority, it calls on people to report on Arab residences available for sale, Arabs living in Jewish neighborhoods, and for other ideas to get Jews in and Arabs out. A PO. Box is provided.

The card is made out to look like it's from a far-right wing group like Herut or Moledet, but it praises the Likud gov't (which the far right would never do) and uses leftist rhetoric about zoning and "home demolitions". So it's more likely from some left-wing group (like Gush Shalom) who want to collect some extremist remarks for a smear campaign.