Conflict Blotter

Yesterday and again today the Israeli press is awash with reports that Ehud Olmert and Mahmoud Abbas have been secretly toiling away at final status talks in recent months.
Yediot Aharanot reported yesterday that the two planned to present a joint document on the core issues at a US sponsored peace conference in November.
The two [Olmert […]

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A few thoughts on the controversey involving the two Israeli journalists who reported from Lebanon under false pretenses.
First, I think it is ridiculous that Israeli journalists can’t report from Lebanon, especially if they have non-Israeli passports. The Arab world’s posture on this issue in general is absurd. Syria, Lebanon, every Arab government knows that scores […]

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Lebanon is fuming after two Israeli journalists with dual nationality reported from Beirut and the Shiite south. Canadian-Israeli blogger Lisa Goldman filed TV spots for Channel 10 news from the Beirut’s Shia suburbs while Brazilian-Israeli Rinat Malkes filed stories for the Yediot Aharanot newspaper.
The Daily Star in Beirut had this to say:
When two Israeli re-porters […]

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In an interview with NPR yesterday evening Colin Powell had some pretty tough words for the Bush administration. Here’s Powell calling for engagement with Hamas:
I think you’d have to find some way to talk to Hamas. I don’t want to insert myself into what Secretary [of State Condoleezza] Rice is doing or what the president […]

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Iraq Slogger has this photo essay, “The Signs of Baghdad”, by Getty’s Chris Hondros.

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At last, a US-sponsored peace conference for Israelis and Palestinians. At last, the Bush administration is heeding pleas that it get vigorously involved in Mideast peacemaking. Of course, it won’t work. The time in which a sit down with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas could have proved fruitful has long passed. Abbas rules over just two […]

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Talal Okal, a political science professor at the Fatah-dominated Al Azhar University in Gaza City, wrote this column titled “Important Messages from Hamas” in the Palestinian daily Al Ayyam. It echoes much of what I’ve been arguing here:
Important messages from Hamas
The messages that Hamas has been sending to different regional entities are important […]

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The latest issue of Sada al Jihad (The Echo of Jihad) a sprodically published Jihadi magazine put out by the Global Islamic Media Front includes a five page interview with Momtaz Dagmush. I’ve done a very quick and rough translation of the most interesting parts, including Momtaz’s denial that the Dagmush family has any connection […]

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The tall guy on the right is reportedly Momtaz Dagmush. I have no idea who is on the left or whose face was photoshopped out on the right side of the picture.

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Abu Aardvark on rumors of a pro-American shakeup or “Foxification” on Al Jazeera’s board of directors. He concludes that the rumors are “more noise than substance,”  but the full post is worth a read.

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