Annapolis 2007

In light of the upcoming Annapolis conference, NE presents you with the latest by Khaled Amayreh from this week's Al-Ahram. The piece outlines where Israeli and Palestinian politicians stand on issues related to the American roadmap for peace in the middle east, which both sides have agreed will form the basis for the Annapolis discussions, pointing out once again the divergence in Israeli and Palestinian opinion as to what the roadmap actually means (not to mention whether Bush's audacious pledge more than two years ago that Israel could retain major settlements in the West Bank counts as part of the plan). Amayreh also considers Israel's racist demand that Palestine recognize Israel as a Jewish state (the pre-condition, Olmert claims, to Israel's involvement in any negotiations, let alone its recognition of Palestine), outlining what such a concession would mean for Palestinian citizens in Israel as well as the Palestinian right of return.

All of this, of course, sounds eerily familiar, and if you haven't read it yet, NE recommends you take a look at the late Tanya Reinhardt's Israel/Palestine: How to end the War of 1948 (2002, Seven Stories Press) and The Road Map to Nowhere: Israel/Palestine Since 2003 (2003, Verso Books).

Also from Al-Ahram: it would appear that Israeli rhetoric toward Egypt has outflanked even that of the US regarding Iran. Journalist Saleh al-Naami writes that " The Israeli security establishment appears determined to deal with Egypt as if the two countries were at war," most recently appealing to the US Senators for passing of a resolution that would freeze $200 million dollars of American aid to Egypt, the purported motivation behind which is punishment for Egypt's "failure" to curtail the smuggling of arms into Gaza. Even Israel, possessing a large and undeclared nuclear arsenal, is putting pressure on the "international community" to shut down Egypt's publicly-known nuclear energy program.