"King Abdullah II has been calling for talks to solve the Israeli-Palestinian problem in the face of the Islamist challenge. But he also appears to believe that Israel has no reason to withdraw from the West Bank, let alone make peace, unless the Palestinians put their house in order." (NYTimes)

Jordanian involvement, or "stewardship" in the West Bank is not the answer. I mean, the Jordanians aren't doing much right themselves.

'US university shelves UAE campus plan'

"The University of Connecticut confirmed to Gulf News that it has halted plans to open a campus in Dubai following concerns raised by pro-Israel politicians and interest groups who oppose the UAE;s policy of not permitting entry to Israelis...

"If they're so concerned about human rights why don't we see them protesting Israel's human rights violations against the Palestinians?" she said...

Fleischmann argued that "many" Israeli students and faculty members at UConn would be unable to benefit from such a programme if the UAE continued to deny them entry. Nichols agreed that it was "extremely important" that Israeli students had access to the Dubai campus of UConn, a public-funded university...

Asked if Cuban nationals would be allowed easy access into the United States, Fleischmann admitted that it would be hard "but possible", saying the comparison was not fair...

Nichols said the University has discussed the matter with various interest groups including the Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish pressure group which, at the time of the Dubai Ports World controversy last year, ran an active media and political campaign to "torpedo the deal" in protest of the UAE's economic boycott of Israel.Despite that, argued Dr Ebtisam, Arab states continue to "send money to the United States"."

"Speaking to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Mizrahi added that it is difficult to determine whether Syria is interested in peace, or just a peace process." (Ha'aretz)

It always rests on the Arabs, doesn't it?

"The governments of Saudi Arabia and the United States are working with other states in the Middle East region to sponsor covert action against Iran, according to a report in this month's edition of The Atlantic. The report also suggests that covert attacks may occur against Iran's oil sector." (The Raw Story)

"Eye witnesses report abuse by IDF troops in West Bank, including randomly breaking into homes with stun grenades, tearing down Palestinian flag and destroying property in local schools." (Ynet)

"Kalb claims the media gave Hezbollah, which he calls "a closed sect" (that doesn't sound too good) "total control of the daily message of journalism and propaganda" and this fact "victimized Israel" because the latter is 'an open society" whereas Hezbollah is " a closed society, that engages in " undemocratic control of the media", is militant, secretive, a religiously fundamentalist sect, a state within a state, subnational(not good)'Party of God", , resisting 'the infidel' and seeking 'divine victory' and supported by Iran and Syria (!) )and, if that is not enough, is similar to the Madhi army. Kalb never mentions that Israel is supported by the US to the tune of 15.1 million dollars a day or 300 times more than the CIA claims Hezbollah gets in foreign aid each year and receives 83% of its weapons from the US." (Counterpunch)

'Olmert Comes Undone'

"Why is Israel After Me?" by Azmi Bishara

"The long story of Hasan Sa'id Karmi, BBC Arabic Service broadcaster, lexicographer and man of letters, who has died aged 101, is that of every Palestinian Arab: one of exile, dispossession, oppression and separation - and an enduring sense of loss. But there are few other Palestinians who were approaching adulthood at the time of the Balfour Declaration in 1917 and whose lives stretched well into the first decade of the 21st century." (The Guardian)

"The Canadian embassy in Saudi Arabia yesterday protested a decision to shut down its booth at an education fair because it was staffed by women. "Such unprofessional incidents are very damaging to Saudi Arabia's international reputation," the embassy said in a statement following the closure at the 12th Middle East education fair in the Red Sea city of Jeddah. "Prior to the event, we specifically inquired whether women staff would be permitted at the exhibition and we were told by the organisers, the Al Harithy Company, that they would," it added. The booth was closed because there were two women amongst the staff, an embassy official said, requesting anonymity." (The Peninsula)

"Of the 1085 Times news articles since December 1, 2004, 37% mentioned Palestinian “attack(s)”, 36% mentioned “terrorism”, 28% mentioned “terrorist(s)”, 21% mentioned Palestinian “violence”,[6] 18% mentioned “suicide bombing(s)”, 16% mentioned Palestinian “weapon(s)”, and 14% mentioned Palestinian “radicals”. In contrast to this strong Israeli narrative, only two words reflecting a Palestinian narrative appeared in a comparable percentage of Times’ news articles. Israeli “settlement(s)” were noted in 32% of articles,[7] and Israeli “occupation” was mentioned in 16% of articles. This imbalance is even more striking because the emphasis on Palestinian terrorism and violence corresponded with a two year and five month period during which Israelis killed 965 Palestinians, more than half civilians, while Palestinians killed 85 Israelis.[8] Nonetheless, Israeli “attacks(s)” are mentioned in 13% of Times articles, and Israeli “violence” in only 4%." (ZNet)

Finals suck!