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Busy Two Weeks? Or More of the Same?

© lawhawk

Well, it has been two weeks since my last article and what has changed? We still have Israel and the Palestinian Authority haggling over how much land ought to be transferred to the Palestinian control in the West Bank. Israel refuses to deal more than 10 percent while the Palestinian Authority stands by the 13 percent that it and the US had suggests.

Meanwhile, the UN General Assembly voted and passed by a huge margin upgrading the PLO status in the UN General Assembly to that of super-observer. The US, Israel, and the Marshall Islands were the only countries that voted against this action and Israel downplayed this as the PLO didn't necessarily gain any new powers to determine outcomes. The PLO meanwhile claimed a great victory saying that the PLO has been given greater legitimacy and ability to shape outcomes through the UN.

The US saw the vote as subverting its own peace initiatives in the region, but then again, the US has not been able to move the process in the last several months because of first terrorist actions, then increasingly hardline approaches by both the Netenyahu government and by Arafat's PLO.

Palestinian Authority spokespersons are being heard more frequently saying that the PA will unilaterally declare independence regardless of UN or Israeli action and this is disconcerting as it affects the ability to peacefully resolve issues. It also goes to the heart of the Israeli contentions that the PLO and PA aren't doing enough to prevent violence and terrorism and this further hardens the viewpoints of the hardliners in the Netenyahu government.

New Links To Check Out

True Peace is a site that seeks to show the way to achieve a full and true peaceful resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. It has links to copies of the PLO Charter, views of people in Israel as well as the teachings of the Jewish Orthodox Lubavitch sect.

If you've come across an interesting web site that you think deserves to be put on my list or should be reviewed, please let us know either via e-mail or by posting to this discussion area.

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