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PA president Mahmoud Abbas said yesterday that he and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak plan to present the Obama administration with a complete formula for resolving the Middle East conflict.
Meanwhile, Arab sources have told Ha’aretz that any renewed involvement in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict would be based on the 2002 Saudi peace initiative without changes, contradicting yesterday’s Al Quds Al Arabi newspaper report that the Arabs were considering concessions to Israel on the right of return of “palestinian refugees” and transfer of the Old City of Jerusalem to UN control.
Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)
9:28PM: This next disturbing video is for those of you who:
1. Do not believe anti Semitism exists in a place like Perth, Western Australia (my birthplace and where I lived until I moved to Israel in 2000)
2. Think that calling critics of Israel anti Semitic is always a knee-jerk reaction, and never justified.
The man in the video is an anti Semite by the name of Brendon O’Connell. As you’ll see when you watch the video, he at first comes across as a nut – but not necessarily a dangerous one. He then begins harassing some Jewish boys, an encounter which culminates in an assault (not itself caught on camera, but admitted to by O’Connell).
If anyone knows of him, I encourage you to contact the authorities and point them to this footage. He pretty much admits to the assault, and it would be nice to see Brendon having to convince his cell mate Bubba that it was the “Judaics” who dropped the soap in the shower.
8:18PM: Here’s a nice fisking of the latest UN report condemning Israel for its actions during Operation Cast Lead (hat tip: Backspin).
Bonus: It’s in The Guardian of all places.
8:13PM: Death by ‘special mission’? I guess it’s comforting for the world-be palestinian “martyr” to know that when they screw up and experience a premature explodation, their colleagues will be there to obfuscate what was, essentially, yet something else in life they couldn’t get right.
One fighter from Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades died Thursday during what leaders called a “special mission” in the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun.
A statement from the group identified the man as 23-year-old Tala’at Ismail Al-Afefi, who reportedly died while carrying out a resistance attack from Gaza’s “playground of death.”
6:40AM: Potentially ambiguous headline of the day: Is this one, courtesy of Ynetnews:
No, it’s not a story about Daniel Craig.
6:26PM: As Israel makes symbolic moves designed to signal the importance we place on relations with Cairo (see 8:56AM update), Egypt kicks us in the proverbial gonads.
5:35PM: Syria’s foreign minister Walid Moallem has rejected amending an Arab peace offer to Israel to make it more acceptable to us, saying there’s no justification for making another concession.
Because they’ve apparently been so reasonable up until now.
By the way, can’t the family of Ariel Sharon sue Moallem for impersonating him?
4:20PM: Now this is really cool: A number of you have pointed out to me that Israellycool is one of 10 recommended sites for Israeli feeds in Google Reader.
4:05PM: An initial IDF investigation suggests that St-Sgt. Noam Adin Richter Levy may have been killed by a bullet fired from his own weapon, but it is still unclear what caused the shooting.
9:36AM: IDF soldier St-Sgt. Noam Adin Richter Levy, 20, has been shot dead during an operation near Ramallah, in what may have been friendly fire.
8:56AM: Israeli PM Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has approved a transfer of NIS 50 million ($12.1 million) to Gaza, despite having voiced opposition to such transfers before he took office.
Meanwhile, he’s also going to be traveling to Egypt on Monday for his first trip abroad since taking office, something government officials call a symbolic move designed to signal the importance he places on relations with Cairo and “moderates” in the Arab world.
