Thomas Friedman wrote an interesting article on the Cold War between the US and Iran. He writes:
When you have leverage, talk. When you don’t have leverage, get some — by creating economic, diplomatic or military incentives and pressures that the other side finds too tempting or frightening to ignore. That is where the Bush team has been so incompetent vis-à-vis Iran.
Al-Akhbar in Lebanon (which favors the Hezbollah opposition coalition) reports that the weakness of the Hariri Movement will create a void that will be filled by Salafi groups intent on waging Jihad to defend Sunni Islam against Shiia infidels. While the source is suspect, it evinces a real trend towards further destabilization and tribalism, which will doom Lebanon and impact the region.
I saw this at a cash register in a local deli…
Wouldn’t it be great if ordinary citizens all joined together and said, "I have had enough – and I am going to do something about it!" and then pushed their Heads of State to once and for all deliver a two-state-agreement?!
They could draw inspiration from this:
"I am mad as hell, and I am not going to take this anymore!"
- From NETWORK, the movie (let’s just hope that the civic action wouldn’t be hijacked by corporate networks, though it could turn into something like this):
Related to an issue I had blogged about 6 weeks ago, Daniel Henninger writes in the WSJ that Obama’s real vulnerability is not his past connection to the Reverend Wright but his simplistic formulas on Iran:
Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, collector of centrifuges, makes
Malaka Samara and Shani Gershon just completed a OneVoice Tour to Southern California – one of six regional tours with young Israeli and Palestinian OneVoice activists completed over this last year by Laurel Rapp, International Education Program Coordinator.
Neither of them had ever met someone from the "other side" before, so they did not just impact the hundreds of people they spoke to but also
Nisreen Shaheen, the General Director of OneVoice Palestine, emailed us this update about work on the ground in Nablus:
Yesterday[ed: email was mid-April] we were in Nablus, we met with the Governor and briefed him about OV work, we took 3 youth leaders from Nablus with us so that if they will need any help in the
Hezbollah is training Iraqi militias in Iran, while we stand by.
I just got this very cool invitation from Laurel Rapp, who runs our International Education Program…
You’re Invited: Global Town Hall Meeting
(webcast live to your classroom!)
Ever wonder what young Israelis and Palestinians growing up in conflict zones hope for, dream about, and are working to change?
Ever wonder what both groups are doing to end the conflict between their two peoples?
Ever wonder what our role as citizens of the world should and can be?
If you’ve ever wondered and would like to know more, please join Empower Peace and OneVoice on Monday, May 19, for a Global Town Hall Meeting webcast from East Jerusalem linking Israeli and Palestinian youth leaders with students and young people from around the world.
In a very serious development, Hamas has passed an edict that any gathering of more than 20 citizens anywhere in Gaza must receive official written pre-approval. This includes any gathering, even if non-political. This will of course intimidate ordinary citizens and civic groups.
The media has not yet reported on this worrisome impingement on the freedom of Palestinian citizens. Iran’s regime created a repressive totalitarian state by ferreting out any and all freedoms to congregate or express oneself. If Hamas gets away with this measure, it will start imposing other measures until it destroys any possibility of a democratic process to reunite Gaza and the West Bank, let alone for Palestinians in Gaza to vote on a possible two-state-solution referendum.