It is time that the Quartet revises its "principles" to protect the weak against the strong, and not the other way around. Only then will international law replace the reigning law of the jungle.
Paralysis of the Palestinian 'Authority': What's to be done? (tags)
Protests have erupated throughout the West Bank and Gaza as thousands of Palestinian Authority employees have not received wages for months (Rima Merriman)
Seeing the forest for the trees (tags)
The double standard will not serve any of the parties involved. It will further erode the Quartet's credibility with the Palestinians, and it will fail to save Israel from itself.
Getting the word out on NPR (tags)
Getting the word out has always been difficult for Palestinians. The major reason for this is that Israel often succeeds in framing the issues from its point of view, and the mainstream media in the West goes along with it. A favorite gambit that Israel uses to cloak its outrageous policies towards the Palestinian population is to cry "security", which then pretty much allows it to do anything. When "security" is too conspicuously untrue, it justifies itself by referring to its own policy. This can be questioned only through its own legal system, which is not exactly designed to safeguard Palestinian rights. It sets up the equation of "lawful" Israelis and "unlawful" or criminal Palestinians.
Faking Palestinian Resistance (tags)
In keeping with the idea that this particular Palestinan group does not actually exist, Hamas, Abbas and every other known Palestinan grouping denied any involvement and indeed condemned the kidnapping, with Haled Abu Hilal, Hamas interior ministry spokesman saying "this is not acceptable at all" and stating that Hamas security officials have put police across Gaza on alert and set up roadblocks to find the gunmen and free the reporters. Sadly, to no avail.