The goal of the Annapolis process, launched by President George W. Bush in November 2007, was to reach an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement by the end of 2008. Until now, U.S.-led diplomacy has failed to provide PLO chairman Mahmoud Abbas with any meaningful achievements on the two indivisible issues--settlements and borders--that will define the territory of the Palestinian state intended to be established by mutual agreement. The beleaguered Abbas has heard nothing from the Bush administration to buoy lingering hope for a deal by year’s end. more >>

Haifa, Palestine - May 19, 2008

Standing on the beach of Haifa, on the coast of the Mediterranean sea in
northern Israel, I had a very strange phone conversation.
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The Palestinian investment conference that will start today (Wednesday) at Bethlehem is being held at a time when the West Bank is more ghettoized than ever before, while Jerusalem is separated from the rest of Palestinian territories by a segregation wall and various other tools of the Israeli occupation, while Israel continues to confiscate land and build illegal settlements in violation of previously signed agreements and international law, and while the Gaza Strip is on the verge of a humanitarian catastrophe due to an Israeli-imposed siege. more >>

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There is no doubt for anyone following the US media in general, and policy in particular, that the present American administration intends to foment public American opinion to be in favor of the coming war. Iran is the target, along with anything else in its way. This is in accordance with US interests, particularly with the beginning of the countdown of the end to the current US President’s reign. Bush will soon be out of the White House. With the current chatter about the timing, the countdown may begin after the “Israeli celebrations� of the Palestinian Nakba. more >>

I wonder when we will get our freedom? While we are passing the 3rd of May of each year, World Press Freedom Day, but which freedom we are obtaining? While our words are no longer audible even in Palestine! And who wants to hear us while Palestine is divided, which freedom are we looking for, while the stick became the response to those who seek to express themselves freely! more >>

If four Israeli children, ranging from one year old to six years old, were killed by a Palestinian bombing, it would likely make the front page of most major US newspapers. But four Palestinian children, killed in their home by an Israeli tank shell on April 28th, will probably not even make the back pages of the paper, let alone the front. more >>

The military operations in Gaza and Bethlehem last May signalled once more that the Israeli security establishment (the military-industrial complex encompassing also the private security sector) has no interest in the so called “peace process.� In Israel it is not only the non-Zionist left that does not believe in Annapolis; neither does the army, though for very different reasons. more >>

Since we are still under the Israeli occupation, Israel has a certain level of control over the Palestinian Investment Conference. It is expected that 100 Palestinian businessmen from the Gaza Strip to join the conference which will be held in Bethlehem in the third week of May. However, their participation, and the participation of a number of foreign businessmen and entrepreneurs is pending Israel’s permit. more >>

The ruling Hamas party in Gaza will give on Thursday its response to an Egyptian-mediated truce with Israel, the London-based aL-Hayat Arabic newspaper reported.

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[To read the full report, along with the accompanying photos, visit
http://aaron.resist.ca/node/176] more >>

Oh well… Gaza residents will apparently be able to collect the bodies of their loved ones, and maybe gather their body parts and bury them peacefully without being afraid of a new Israeli air strike or ground offensives. more >>