The EU has lost credibility among Palestinians since its boycott of Hamas: it should re-energise its approach to democracy promotion, focusing on Palestinian civil society capacity building, and being more assertive towards Israel regarding occupation policies…

Ramallah-based lawyer and former PLO advisor Diana Buttu finds no room for optimism about the outcome of the forthcoming talks. There is no support for them on the ground in the West Bank. Mahmoud Abbas lacks all legitimacy. It is Fatah rather than Hamas that is emerging isolated…

Daniel Levy, a co-founder of J Street, gives a perceptive analysis of the forthcoming peace talks. Acutely aware of all the obstacles in the way of success, he yet finds room for some cautious optimism…
“The tantalizing thing that Obama will have to deliver here is an Israeli political yes. A solution cannot be imposed on Israel, clear choices can though be presented. If there is an Israeli yes to real de-occupation gestating somewhere in the Israeli public and body politic, then it is not going to emerge on its own, that much is clear today. If the Israeli yes is there, it is going to take a c-section to bring it out into the world, and the only available surgeon is President Barack Obama…”

Due to the bleak economic situation in Gaza, many children collect gravel near the border with Israel which they then sell to builders for US $0.80 a bucket. This is tiring and dangerous work. Israeli soldiers frequently fire above the heads of the children to scare them away from the border. Sometimes, the soldiers shoot and kill the donkeys used by the children to transport the gravel. And sometimes, the soldiers shoot the children…

The anti-liberal and anti-democratic agenda of the American right and the Israeli right are forging closer connections than ever, as Dr. Neve Gordon, a professor of politics at Ben-Gurion University, points out in the following article about threats to academic freedom in Israel…

Nathan Guttman reports in the Jewish Forward: “The New Israel Fund, the target of attacks by right-wing organizations accusing it of supporting anti-Zionist groups, is discussing the possibility of specifying in its guidelines that grants will be given only to groups that accept the idea of Israel as a Jewish homeland.” And Richard Silverstein comments on these developments in two postings on his Tikun Olam site.

The Berlin based campaign in support of Firas Maraghy continues to grow. At 4pm yesterday, a letter with 115 signatories was sent to Daniel Barenboim, the Argentinian/Israeli conductor – text below. We only had 24 hours to collect signatures but they came in from all over the world. In the meantime, the two petitions are [...]

More news from the occupied territories: a B’tselem report, a personal story and a look at the Gaza Mall; Israel appears to fear non-violent resistance more than open warfare and is doing its best to suppress it; as economic sanctions bite, the slide to the right intensifies; peace talks are about to open but with very limited chances of success; a fresh look at the Israel=apartheid analogy and a moving account of Moris Farhi’s hopes and fears for Israel today. All this and more in this week’s posting. For a detailed guide click on the heading above.

Under the heading “A Must-Read Analysis of American Policy in the Middle East” the Magnes Zionist introduces Robert Malley and Peter Harling’s article “Beyond Moderates and militants”. He writes: “How would the Obama’s administration Middle East policy look different if they had left Dennis Ross and Dan Shapiro out, and brought Rob Malley in? Part of an answer can be found in an excellent article appearing in Foreign Affairs here, which Malley has co-authored with Peter Harling. It is simply one of the best policy diagnoses and prescriptions ever. It’s a long read, but worth the time spent.”

In this long, two-part analysis Ran Greenstein casts a refreshing eye over the whole debate about Israel and apartheid. In it he argues that “The notion of apartheid may be applicable in different ways to different components of the system. While Israel clearly is different from South African historical apartheid, in crucial respects it has affinities with apartheid in its generic sense.”