With all the pressure seeming to be on Israel to continue the so-called settlement freeze, we are now reportedly considering a number of gestures towards the palestinians, including the release of prisoners, transferring certain areas in the Judea and Samaria to full palestinian control and continuing the construction freeze in areas outside the main settlement blocs.
Meanwhile, the only gesture I have seen from the palestinians during these talks is this.
But what would I know? I’m just filth after all.
Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)
3:44PM: Following 24 hours of more palestinian “goodwill gestures” (in the form of at least 12 rockets and mortars), the IAF has reportedly struck smuggling tunnels in Gaza, killing one person and wounding four.
I wonder if these incessant rocket attacks on Israel are included in the “core issues” per Hillary Clinton’s statement today.
12:50PM: An Arab woman was arrested last night after a rifle was found in her car after she returned from a PA area.
A resident of Bu’eine Nujeidat in the Lower Galilee was detained Tuesday evening when a makeshift rifle was found in her car upon her return from the Palestinian Authority.
The woman’s 16-year-old son was detained later.
The woman was detained at a checkpoint located in the northern Jordan Valley, between Mechola and Beit She’an. Security guards manning the checkpoint suspected the woman because she was travelling alone and was not carrying a driver’s license or an identification card.
While searching the vehicle, security guards found the rifle and a number of magazines inside a plastic bag concealed near the engine.
The woman claimed the rifle and magazines were placed in the car without her knowledge. A short while after her arrest, the woman’s teenage son arrived at the checkpoint and was detained as well.
Well, I guess if a palestinian holding an RPG just happened to pick it up and look at it, then this woman just happened to have a rifle in her car without knowing about it.
9:04AM: Bad photoshop of the day: Has to be this by al-Ahram, who could not bear to show Egyptian President Mubarak trailing other leaders at the recent Washington Middle East peace meeting (hat tip: The Arabist, via Elliot)
Original Photo
Photoshopped Photo
Added bonus: Netanyahu gets to be the leader behind all the others in the “enhanced” version.
8:48AM: In this article in the Christian Science Monitor, P. Edward Haley tries to perform a sleight of hand (hat tip: Lenny).
The first and greatest advantage of peace talks is to slow the killing. Those who argue that Israel’s assaults have stopped Palestinian attacks forget the balance sheet of the past decade. A conservative estimate is that since the second intifada began in 2000, more than 700 Israelis have died as a result of Palestinian attacks, and more than 6,300 Palestinians have been killed by Israel.
5:52AM: The director and producer of the film depicting the “liberation” of Tel Aviv says he has no affiliation with Hamas, despite the Israeli media’s coverage of it as a “Hamas studios” production.
He’s just a regular guy with dreams of Israel’s destruction.
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