Israel, Palestinians to Declare Cease-Fire

settlements?

Not holding my breath, but beats nothing, I guess.

But it was amazing that dubya dropped the ball for 4+ years and now he's gonna get right on it.

Could we accept it or will we have to fight it?

in the right place at the right time

bush*Co knows nothing of peace (don't seem to know much about war either)

Purely a matter of circumstances where neither side is in a position to continue the violence as it is bleeding both dry.

But if you had to pick someone from the outside, I would pick Mubarak who is astute enough to know that if left uncheck, it would signal an increased rise in religious extremism in his own country.

L-

President Mubarak's influence in this matter must be seen as crucial. Certainly a good deal of Egyptian co-operation will be needed if the retirement from Israeli settlements in Gaza is to prove a peaceful step.

Judgement must always be reserved on reports of good news concerning this conflict, of course, but this is most encouraging on its face. And it would certainly be helpful, as someone has at least suggested above, if accompanying this cease-fire there was a cessation to new expansion of Israeli settlements in the Jordan valley.

the little shit will claim credit for it
:puke:

Are you serious? I don't think anyone here is a Democrat just to join some kind of fan club and root on our favorite team.

I personally am a Democrat because for as long as I have been aware of the world around me I've seen serious problems. Poverty, starvation, disease, hunger, bigotry, racism, unequal and unfair distributions of wealth, and so on. It became clear very early in my life that the Democrats were the only party who had the desire and the ability to even address those problems.

The situation between the Palestinians and Israel has been simmering at best and boiling all over the stovetop at worst my whole life. Innocent people have been brutally killed in such numbers as to leave any thinking human being numb.

I don't care why they find peace, so long as they do. I can't think of one DU'er who would feel otherwise, though none of us can know them all. I do believe that if Bush were to get credit it wouldn't be deserved but I don't care about that.

I am a Democrat because I desire peace, not because I hate Bush. That's what it comes down to.

and wish good luck to both the people of Israel and Palestine. SO much rests on this.

We certainly share the same hope in this matter.

it strikes me as the ultimate irony if the people of Palestine end up emancipated through Arafat's death... though this is no doubt a blasphemous thought.

reality.

Arafat was and always had been an obstacle to peace, IMO. And I wouldn't say that your opinion is blasphemy; it's just wrong ;) .

I'd say we have a few months to see what happens. It will be curious to see how Arafat is remembered if a viable Palestinian state is created after his death (or dare I say because of his death...)

1. Both sides have exhausted their economies (Saudi Arabia and the UN are not bottomless pockets for the Palestinians, neither is the US government or the Jewish Community for Israel)

2. Both sides are mutually scaring away the future jobs and investment that they need to create a viable middle class (if you live in Silicon Valley you know what I mean -- the canceled projects in Israel and the "confrontation states" and the movement of "potential" Palestinian investment to such places as Qatar)

3. Both sides are mutually driving out the "best and brightest" younger generation that they need to (re)build their economies. My endocrinologist is a Palestinian expat. Take a look at the new Ford "Escape" hybrid to see a masterpiece of Islamic (mainly Iraqi and Palestinian) engineering. (if you live in Silicon Valley or LA or Detroit you know what I mean).

4. A real fear on both sides, and the US, and especially Saudi Arabia -- that without some kind of break through Palestinian militias and war lords will call the shots on one side -- and NeoCons on the other side.

The situation was spinning out of control - and was only getting worse.

And there had be a realization on both sides:

1. The Israelis were not going to "go away" or be "pushed into the sea"

2. Israel was not going to - and could not - keep Gaza and the West Bank in perpetuity.

3. Neither side could sustain the "brain drain" and the "jobs drain."

4. The respective "backers" do not have infinitely deep pockets.

5. A NeoCon state facing a land of war lords and militias would be even worse then either the present situation or peace.

whatever one chooses to call it. It has unquestionably reduced the bargaining power of hardcore rejectionists in Hamas (not everybody in Hamas, of course) and Islamic Jihad. There may be a temptation to get while the getting is good as much of the wall has yet to be built and the stuff that is built becomes a kind of defacto dark green line, squeezing in and out of Palestinian territory for the sake of various settlements.

AND then there's the unprecedented (correct me if I'm wrong) union between Labour and Likud that has greatly reduced the current political power of the right-wing Israeli extremists.

it sounds like Oslo....still have to agree on Jerusalem and the settlements. This is only a 'restart' of the process.

Heard a rep of Hamas, raising lots of questions. One guest analyst said that a lot of the little "bits" were being ironed out and would be revealed later.

Heard one very cynical analyst; one cautiously optimistc analyst; and a former official from the Clinton years who said it was good that Egypt and Jordan were involved and that it was good for Rice not to go to their summit, because any breakthroughs usually come without US involvement.