Saturday, June 17, 2006
This is just a quick link to follow -- an "aside." These are links to interesting things that, for one reason or another, I didn't place into a full posting. Click the link to visit the full article. Go to the blog index for a regular listing of posts.
Nancy Salvato: A Brief History of the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict - '...Wanting Hamas to recognize Israel and honor all previously signed peace agreements, the Bush administration is refusing to negotiate with any member of the new Hamas-led Palestinian government. The US-sponsored ''road map" to peace, calls on Palestinians to crack down on militant groups and calls on Israelis to stop expanding settlements as first steps toward reopening negotiations. In response, Ismail Haniyeh maintains that he is waiting for Israel to recognize a Palestinian state along the 1967 borders, release Palestinian prisoners and recognize the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to Israel. Hamas speaks of a ''long-term truce" if Israel pulls back to the pre-1967 lines, while Kadima speaks of pulling out of most of the West Bank and swapping Israeli land for some of the larger Jewish settlements there. Because Hamas is Muslim, and those who practice Islam believe that there are only two groups of people in the world, followers of Mohammed and infidels, how long can a truce actually last?'
