Hello, it’s Leonardo here. I’ll start with a question today.
Why so much scepticism?
Palestinians (at least the Fatah side) and Israelis are talking again. This is the first Middle East summit since 2000.
More than 40 organisations and countries are at the Annapolis talks, in the US, including Syria.
And yet, many say this is a road to nowhere: Hamas is not represented, President Bush and Israel do not want peace, Iran is the priority now, construction goes on in the West Bank’s Jewish settlements.
Is there reason for optimism? Do you think Annapolis will lead to serious negotiations and peace or is it just a bubble, ready to burst? Send us your views, post here on the blog.
SETTLEMENTS
The bubble quote is not mine. I got it from an Israeli settler in the West Bank, quoted on a report today on Jewish settlementes.
This Annapolis is just a bubble… It will burst and we will build our new community here.
Eilat Cohen-Zada
Eilat is a mother of seven, living in a caravan while she waits for a new house or flat to be built in land occupied by Israel during the 67 war.
The Jewish settlements are just one of thorny issues in the way of peace in the Middle East.
Security for Israel, the future of Gaza, Hamas, the “right of return” for millions of Palestinian refugees, the Israeli wall, checkpoints, all that.
No wonder President Bush has warned that “difficult compromises” will need to be reached. It might be a matter of managing expectations.
Serious follow-through after Annapolis could produce progress and even limited agreements; belief in peacemaking’s ability to actually bring peace may be restored after a too long hiatus. And while not exactly historic, that would certainly be a welcome contribution to the next administration.
Dennis Ross, former US envoy to the Middle East.
Will Annapolis succeed? We want to hear from people in Gaza, in the West Bank, in Israel, in the US and round the world? Post your comments here on the blog.
IS PARIS BURNING?
Another night of riots in the suburbs of Paris. Banlieue, Martin would correct me.
It’s two years now since the nights of violence and burning cars and clashings between the police and disaffected young people.
In October 2005, it started with the deaths of two boys chasing the police in Clichy-sous-Bois.
This time, a very similar incident in nearby Villiers-le-Bell. Two teenagers were killed, again, running away from the police, on a motorbike.
ANGER
Young people, many of them immigrants and the children of immigrants in the outskirts of the otherwise charming French capital hasve clashed with the police for the second night running.
More than 60 police officers have been injured.
The question for me is: what has changed in the last two years? Are relations between the police and those communities any better? Why so much anger?
Is this about integration in France or just an overeaction to an normal motorbike accident?
Let’s hear from people in France, from some of the people we spoke to two years ago.
TEDDY BEAR
A British teacher is under arrest in Sudan for letting her pupils name a teddy bear Muhammad.
Gillian Gibbons is in a cell in Khartoum, accused of blasphemy against the Prophet.
Under Sharia law, she can be punished with 40 lashes.
In her defense, Ms Gibbons said it was the children — not her — who named the teddy bear. And they did so by asking them to vote.
Twenty out of the 23 pupils decided to go for Muhammad, the name of a popular boy in the class.
SHARIA GONE TOO FAR?
But that’s beyond the point. Is there any justification for punishing a teacher with 40 lashes? And for naming a teddy bear Muhammad?
Is this what Islamic law really says? Is this what Sharia law is about?
Or has the religion of the Prophet been distorted beyond recognition here?
Help us understand this one. Post your comments here on the blog.
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