The Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, who spoke with Sec State Hillary Clinton on Thursday about developments in Palestine, has called on Israel to take the opportunity of Palestinian reconciliation to renew the peace process, as they now no longer have the excuse of not having a counterpart to negotiate with on the Palestinian side. The signs are not good from Israel though with Lieberman continuing with the 'Hamas are terrorists' mantra. The international community should not repeat yet another mistake by not lending sufficient support to an agreement reached on Wednesday by rival Palestinian groups on reuniting their governments in the West Bank and Gaza after years of bitter infighting, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu warned on Friday, while calling the agreement “a key window of opportunity” for the entire region, which has been experiencing “an earthquake.” “I contacted both sides yesterday [Thursday],” Davutoğlu noted, referring to his talks with leade...

Hillary Clinton is addressing AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) today to reassure the pro-Israel crowd that US support, no matter how many people the IDF kills, will be 'rock solid' (see text of her speech here ), apart from the odd cynical criticism to try and play to an Arab audience in the pretence that the US is neutral when in fact it is the main military and political backer of the settler state. Israel's Netanyahu will also be addressing the policy conference. Last year there were protests inside the conference centre organised by women's peace group CodePink . AIPAC, or the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, describes itself as the most important organization affecting the U.S. relationship with Israel. With a budget of $65 million, and membership now standing at over 100,000, it is no wonder that congressional staffers consider it one of the most powerful and effective lobbies on Capitol Hill. Once a year, AIPAC holds its annual conferenc...

The United States has stepped up pressure on Israel regarding the Gaza Strip: Three weeks ago it sent Jerusalem a diplomatic note officially protesting Gaza policy and demanding a more liberal opening of the border crossings to facilitate reconstruction. U.S. and Israeli sources say the note was followed by a verbal communication clarifying that the Obama administration thinks Israel's linkage of the case of abducted soldier Gilad Shalit and the opening of the crossings was not constructive. The note was delivered to Israel after a decision by senior U.S. officials including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and special Mideast envoy George Mitchell. The latter discussed the contents of the note during his visit to Israel last week. U.S. demands on Israel's Gaza policy were also raised Wednesday during talks between Clinton and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who is on an official visit to Washington. more

Obama and Abbas are meeting in Washington DC today to talk about the weather...and perhaps even the Middle East. I put it this way because you can't help thinking Abbas and Obama's conversation is about as relevant to the lives of ordinary Palestinians as musing about the weather. And to make it clear to anyone who wants to know, Israel will not be taking a blind bit of notice of the ritual pronouncements about the 'peace process' that will surely follow the end of the talks. They have made it known that the illegal settlement building and ethnic cleansing in East Jerusalem will continue whatever the Hillary Clinton says in public. And the US is likely not saying anything too threatening to their Israeli buddies in private either.

So Clinton on her visit to occupied Palestine says the planned demolition of a further 55 homes (they've already demolished 88) Palestinian homes in Jerusalem, more accurately described as ethnic cleansing, is of 'deep concern'. Sure it is, but will the US do anything about it? Of course not. She claims the US is committed to a two-state solution. In fact she is more committed to being two-faced - sweet words to the Israelis and the next day the same for Abbas and his misnamed Palestinian Authority that has no authority - than she is to justice for the Palestinian people. The New York Times said Clinton told Abbas today that she had 'pressed' the Israelis on the issue of the opening of the Gaza border, but we have no way of knowing whether that is actually true. From the BBC US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says Israeli demolitions of Palestinian homes in Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem are of "deep concern". For the latest news on the Apartheid W...

Clinton, in between exchanging kisses with Olmert, has been showing off her pro-Israel credentials in Jerusalem, as the zionists move forward with more ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from that city - they plan to demolish 88 homes and make over 1,000 Palestinians homeless with the aim of making Jerusalem 'more Jewish'. She of course went out of her way to support the continued shelling of Gaza. Hamas has accused Clinton of enciting violence: From the Palestine Information Center GAZA, (PIC)-- Hamas on Tuesday accused US secretary of state Hillary Clinton with impartiality and of encouraging violence through her provocative statements. Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman in Gaza, said that by saying she understands Israel's need to retaliate to resistance homemade missiles by shelling Gaza, Clinton was bluntly calling for continuation of violence against the Palestinian people. He added that the statement, furthermore, constituted a direct provocation against Hamas and the pe...

Clinton backs the slaughter. No surprise there then. Since the 'truce' Israel has continued to shell Gaza from land and sea. Airstrikes tonight. At least 10 Israeli tanks plus bulldozers have moved over the border. All the crossings are naturally still shut - Hamas gave Israel a week to open them - with no heavy lifting equipment available to the Palestinians to dig out the dead from the ruins. http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1059209.html