A lot of attention is focused on Jihadist elements fighting in Syria, and the more "secular" Assad regime. The most underreported aspect of the civil war is that it's not just a civil war, it's a grand power-play by Iran to keep control of Syria as...
Mandy covered this morning the outline of the "principles" agreed upon by the U.S. and Russia for Syria to end its possession of chemical weapons. The deal, announced as we were waking this morning, is being spun a variety of ways. It holds the promise of removing...
The notion that Assad is only Syria's problem ignores the history of the Iraq insurgency, Lebanese assassinations, and the global Iranian-Hezbollah war against Israel and the United States....
Let’s assume for a moment that the critical account is correct and that the Palestinians had unequal power at Oslo. Should anyone be surprised? When Rabin and Arafat shook hands in 1993, Rabin ran a sovereign state with a recognized territory, a democratic population, and a representative government. Arafat, on the other hand, ran a muddled and murderous revolutionary movement based in Tunisia. The PLO was no nascent state; it was a loose coalition of terrorist factions, a nominal bureaucracy, and a loud-mouthed press office. It held no land, no democratic mandate, and no presence in the territories it claimed to represent.Of that last sentence, really the only thing that's changed is its presence. The PLO (of which Fatah was the largest group) was a terrorist organization that was legitimized because it accepted two principles: the rejection of violence and the acceptance of negotiations. Under Yasser Arafat, Fatah was still involved in terror. Under Mahmoud Abbas it has eschewed direct negotiations with Israel in favor of international pressure. In other words, Fatah has failed to live up to the commitments from which it derived its legitimacy. Regardless, few in the diplomatic arena seem willing to to hold Fatah to its commitments (whether its these basic ones or subsequent ones) so Fatah's not going away. Fatah's lack of legitimacy - amplified by its failure to hold elections - isn't its main weakness. Fatah's weakness derives from its posture. Here's an analysis from Robert Danin that passes for conventional wisdom.
Abbas’ main political opposition, Hamas, has denounced the talks. Palestinians fear that Israel wants open ended negotiations, and that their political standing will fall without rapid and tangible results from talks. This both constrains Abbas’ ability to be flexible while pressuring him to obtain quick results from Israel.Abbas will claim that he can't compromise because of Hamas, or because of the justice because of what the Palestinian people are owed. But the Palestinians have adopted their victimhood as their identity. It's harder to present national aspirations when you aspire to have others do for you. Whether it is a demand that Israel release prisoners or cede land; or that the international community give aid and sanction or pressure Israel. It's never about governing or providing for citizens. Victimhood may be an effective way of gaining national recognition. It is not an effective way to forge a national ethos or viable polity. Recently, Richard Behar wrote a cover story for Forbes, Peace through Profits, which documented how private efforts were helping to create a vibrant Palestinian tech sector. For anyone interested in peace and coexistence, this would seem to be good news. Now, just a few weeks later, nearly every Palestinian he interviewed is upset with his portrayal. Apparently hostility towards Israel is valued more than self-sufficiency. Behar writes about one of his subjects, Sam Husseini:
Sadly, Husseini is experiencing what he maintains are repercussions from my articles. “I got a call from a friend in Dubai this morning who reads FORBES. And he said, ‘Sam, is this real? Are you collaborating with Israelis? Is this you?’ I said, ‘No! We’re using Israeli trainers to train Palestinians so that they can get up to par — so we can do globalization.” Husseini says he endured another upsetting moment when a friend in the U.S. posted ‘Well done, Sam’ on his Facebook page. “I said within seconds, ‘Remove it.’ Because if it’s posted there, and my [other] friends see it, I’m done. The problem is, it’s FORBES. So how can you keep it a secret?”If a Palestinian tech sector develops independent of the Palestinian Authority, that would threaten the PA's political power. If Israelis and Palestinians cooperate outside of politics, how important is the political organization that doesn't share or cede power?
If you've noticed, I haven't weighed in on what to do in Syria. We're pretty much stuck to straight reporting. We're in a real mess. As pointed out before, it's a matter of bad or worse in the Syrian civil war. It's just hard to know who...
Mideast Media Sampler - 08/20/2013 - Why Hezbollah takes a shine to the shrine...
A car bomb killed at least 10 people in the southern suburb of Beirut Thursday, a stronghold of Hezbollah, security sources told The Daily Star. The sources said at least 30 people were also wounded in the blast on the main road between Rwais and Bir al-Abed, a neighborhood of the southern suburb that in July was the target of a similar car explosion. Caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel confirmed that the blast was the result of car explosion. TV footage showed scores of residents screaming while trying to flee the carnage with dozens of cars in flames and other extensive damage in the area. Emergency response teams rushed to the scene of the blast that caused thick plumes of smoke to fill the sky over the Lebanese capital. Over 50 people were wounded on July 9 after a car bomb ripped through the Bir al-Abed neighborhood of the southern suburb of Beirut, in an incident widely linked to the crisis in neighboring Syria.NOW Lebanon has live coverage.
For a day or two, the massive explosion in the Syrian city of Homs was a mystery. Another Who bombed it? Israeli attack? Or just more destruction by the Syrian government which already has left Homs a wreck? Via WaPo on August 1: What caused this enormous explosion in...
Mideast Media Sampler 7-22-2013...
Mideast Media Sampler 07/11/2013...
Many weeks ago we suggested that one outcome of Hezbollah's involvement in the Syrian civil war on behalf of Assad, particularly the conquest of Qusayr, would be car bombings in pro-Hezbollah sections of Beirut. That prediction appears to be coming true. Via The Daily Star of Lebanon: A...
1) Talkin' Turkey Claire Berlinski provides the recent background for the foment going on in Turkey: Of late, almost every sector of the electorate has felt unease about one part or another of Erdoğan’s agenda. Restrictive new alcohol legislation, rammed through parliament, as usual, with contempt for...
1) Music lives in Israel Arsen Ostrovsky interviewed Zubin Mehta about performing Israel: According to Mehta, "it's hard to find an emblem of cultural, national pride that burns as bright as Israel's success in classical music." He adds "the amount of culture going on in a small...
The head of Hezbollah has visited Syria to discuss "reforms":Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah met with Syrian President Bashar Assad in order to discuss reforms in Syria, the Lebanese daily al-Akhbar, identified with Hezbollah, reported on Monday.Nasrallah "held more than one meeting with President Assad to...
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