Monday, October 09, 2006

The Conundrum, Part 15

Hamas and Fatah are again talking unity government, but the actions speak louder than words as both continue to engage in acts of violence against the others. Abbas is still operating under the belief that he can somehow prevail and get Hamas to agree to a unity government. If he fails, he thinks that would force new elections, though one has to wonder if Fatah has a chance of success. Qatari mediation between the two sides hasn't been successful either.

Israel has provided UNIFIL maps to mines Israel placed in Lebanon prior to its withdrawal in 2000. One has to wonder whether Hizbullah will use this information to its advantage.

This is sure not to go down well with observant Jews: Jordan plans on building a tower over the al Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount. Now, that's a provocative action, considering that the Temple Mount is Judaism's holiest location on the planet, and the closest that Jews can now go is the Western Wall (going on the Temple Mount is frowned upon both for the security reasons - Muslims could riot - and because Jews are not ritually pure and could accidentally step on the place where the Holy of Holies once stood). Jordan also intends to donate a carpet to the mosque.

Somehow, all this will be portrayed as Israel being the one engaged in acts of provocation.

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