War in Context

All power to Hamas …
By Sami Moubayed, Asia Times, February 2, 2008
During the years 2000-2006, Hamas obtained all the war medals it needed by steering what has become called the al-Aqsa Intifada. There was no higher reward for the leaders of Hamas than an esteemed reputation in the Islamic world, the ability to inflict pain […]

Olmert: His own shlemiel, or Bush’s?
By Tony Karon, Rootless Cosmopolitan, January 31, 2008
While Israel’s Winograd Commission has certainly pulled no punches in excoriating the Israeli military and political leadership for their botched war in Lebanon last summer, there appears to be a massive lacuna in its conclusions. (I’m not even going to get into the […]

Hamas accepts invite to host Hamas-Fatah talks in Cairo
Haaretz, January 26, 2008
Hamas on Friday accepted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s offer to host talks between rival Palestinian Fatah and Hamas leaders in Cairo.
Mubarak’s offer was made in an apparent effort to raise his country’s role as Mideast peace broker and ease the pressure following an influx […]

Gaza border breach shows Israel that Hamas is in charge
By Avi Issacharoff and Amos Harel, Haaretz, January 24, 2008
A few Israel Defense Forces Engineering Corps officers surely shed a tear yesterday while viewing the television reports from Rafah: The barrier built by the IDF with blood and sweat along the Philadelphi Route, on the Gaza […]

Gaza City plunged into darkness
BBC News, January 20, 2008
The only power plant in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip has shut down because of a lack of fuel, Palestinian officials say, blaming Israeli restrictions.
Gaza City was plunged into darkness after the plant’s turbines stopped.
Israel’s closure of border crossings amid continued rocket fire from Gaza has brought the […]

Meshal: No compromise on terms for Shalit deal
AP, January 4, 2008
The exiled leader of the militant Palestinian Hamas group said Friday that Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit, captured by Hamas-linked militants in a cross-border raid in June 2006, will not be released without the freedom of Palestinians held in Israeli jails.
“The matter of the […]

Palestinians ‘win $7bn aid vow’
BBC News, December 17, 2007
Foreign aid of at least $7bn (£3.5bn) has been pledged to the Palestinians at a major donors’ conference in Paris, France’s foreign minister has said.
The figure cited by Bernard Kouchner exceeded the $5.6bn over three years which Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had asked for. [complete article]
“Follow us […]

Israeli forces move into Gaza
By Steven Erlanger, New York Times, December 12, 2007
Israeli troops accompanied by about a dozen tanks moved into southern Gaza on Tuesday, a day before Israelis and Palestinians were due to hold their first talks on a comprehensive peace following the American-led conference in Annapolis, Md.
The Israelis went as far as […]

Saudis welcome Meshal in bid to broker new Hamas-Fatah talks
By Avi Issacharoff, Haaretz, December 10, 2007
Saudi Arabia and Egypt are pushing Hamas and Fatah to meet in an effort to resolve the deep rift in the Palestinian movements, as Hamas political leader Khaled Meshal visits Riyadh this week.
Hamas spokesman Ayman Taha said that Meshal, who […]

One PA - with Hamas
By Zvi Bar’el, Haaretz, December 2, 2007
As much as the Annapolis conference sought to be “in favor” of the peace process, it measured its success in its ability to be “against” - against Iran, against Hezbollah, against Syria and against Hamas. This is an ostensibly simple and convincing method of measurement. […]

The Annapolis Peace Train - destination unknown
By Paul Woodward, War in Context, November 28, 2007

For an event which right up to the last minute was scrambling in search of content (Glenn Kessler provides a useful decoding of the declaration), no effort was spared in putting together a solid stage presentation. The image behind Rice says […]

In Annapolis, conflict by other means
By Robert Blecher and Mouin Rabbani, Middle East Report, November 26, 2007
Both Abbas and Hamas are betting, in opposite directions, on the Annapolis meeting and the process it may spawn. Abbas hopes to show that bilateral negotiations can achieve what resistance cannot, both in terms of diplomatic process and improvements […]

Abbas calls for Hamas overthrow in Gaza
AP, November 15, 2007
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday called for the overthrow of Gaza’s Islamic Hamas rulers, his first explicit call that they be removed.
“We have to bring down this bunch that took over Gaza with armed force, and is abusing the sufferings and pains of our people,” […]

Hamas and Fatah are betraying Arafat’s legacy
Editorial, Daily Star, November , 2007
Yasser Arafat has been dead for three years, harried to an early death by the Israeli siege of his battered presidential compound in Ramallah. Two camps - his own secular Fatah faction and the Islamist group Hamas - that claim to carry on his […]

Erekat: Palestinians will not accept Israel as ‘Jewish state’
By Barak Ravid, Haaretz, November 12, 2007
Saeb Erekat, chief negotiator for the Palestine Liberation Organization, rejected on Monday the government’s demand that the Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state.
In an interview with Israel Radio, Erekat said that “no state in the world connects its national identity […]