As with everything, the American reader is just not that interested in what is now happening in the Gaza Strip…..the hits on the reports have dwindled down to about one a day….for that reason this will be my last daily report on the “War”….I will report on anything major that comes out of the area.
Diplomats said Wednesday they were closer to bringing about a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, but fighting in the coastal territory persisted as the Palestinian death toll in the 19-day war passed 1,000.
Delegates from Hamas, meeting in Cairo with Egyptian mediators, said that the Islamist movement was willing to agree to a truce with Israel but that obstacles remained. Points of contention included whether a cease-fire would be temporary, when Israel would reopen checkpoints and who might patrol Gaza’s border with Egypt to prevent smugglers from resupplying Hamas with weapons, officials involved in the talks said.
Details remained under wraps, but diplomats in the region said they were pushing for an immediate cease-fire, to be followed by further talks on border security and other issues.
Israel said it would send an emissary to Cairo on Thursday to hear details of a truce proposal that Egypt and Hamas have hammered out in recent days. Egyptian officials expressed optimism that a deal was near.
Perhaps you are an American reader, so you are speaking for yourself in terms of interest in this conflict. But it does seem a bit self-serving to assume that if the number of hits on your blog are way down, that some particular nationality of readers are disinterested.
Well, I’ve never seen your blog before, so you cannot count me among the masses of the apathetic, although I am an American.
Personally, I do not need your news of the conflict. It is very easy to find anywhere in electronic form. What is harder to do is to form an opinion in the midst of all the nationalist and religious rhetoric. An informed analysis of the situation would be far more useful, in my opinion.
Myself, I see points on both sides. But regardless of whose side you are on, if you support or otherwise condone the killing of civilians, you are as much a war criminal as those pulling the triggers and launching the rockets.
Only when we all stand up and say ENOUGH, will such conflicts truly be viewed with the contempt they deserve.
Well trickyguy…thanx for the visit and the comment…I thinkyou misunderstood me……Americans have a limited attention span…so the reporting on the War In Gaza is dwindling…..personally, I am always interested in what happens in the ME, but unfortunately I am not a typical American….sorry to say. I for one do not want to give you or anyone the impression that my opinion is the only one…I do try to be balanced and report and comment with a feel for both sides.
If you have read my stuff then you know that I agree with you on the civilian thing and I have said that the War to me has become an institution and neither side knows how to break the way things are done.
Sorry if it offended you about the hits thing….but watch the American news…..very limited coverage…..Americans have moved on to the upcoming inauguration ….is it sad? of course it is, but that is the American news.
I have been reading but through the RSS feeds. I guess this was posted before the news about another UN facility was bombed. Oh no, they’re not trying to tell the UN something (sarcasm intended).
But if you notice it is now the big news story it should be.
Lobotero:
You are certainly right, the war has become an institution. An entire generation of Israeli and Palestinian kids has grown up knowing nothing but pain and suffering, war and death.
That is why the cycle is so hard to break. There are no moderate voices on either side really. Each sees the other as a threat to their very existence — and that is way, way more than being simple enemies.
This cycle and that threat is why it is so easy to recruit suicide bombers. That’s why it’s so easy for Israelis to justify the horrific cost of their current offensive in terms of civilian lives.
It is a bad situation that, frankly, I think most Americans are well aware of, but feel themselves powerless to do anything about.
When one feels that way, it’s really quite easy to focus on something like the inauguration.
trickyguy:
Thanx for the re-visit, if that is a word, I have found that privately most people find the ME appalling but publicly they are staunch Israeli supporters. I worked in the ME years ago, in Jordan, Syria, Egypt and Iraq and have found that people in the area hate the fact that people fight each other over so lame ideas, but are afraid to say such in public.
You are truly correct that there are no moderate voices loud enough to be heard. That is the uphill battle that Obama will be facing, there must be a political solution to the continuing saga of war. Killing does not guarantee peace, regardless what neo-cons want us to believe.
Americans are truly aware of the situation but the bulk of their knowledge is done thru a filter of the news media…they see the destruction a rocket does to an Israeli settlement and little about the destruction that bunker busting bombs do or willie peter for that matter. This is why Israel will not allow journalist into the “war zone”, to control the reporting of the event.
“Americans are truly aware of the situation but the bulk of their knowledge is done thru a filter of the news media…they see the destruction a rocket does to an Israeli settlement and little about the destruction that bunker busting bombs do or willie peter for that matter. This is why Israel will not allow journalist into the “war zone”, to control the reporting of the event.”
Not only is there the filter of the media but also the anti-semite card. In this country, if anyone dares say anything critical of Israel (see the responses to Carter’s book), they are called anti-semitic.
As for the bans on journalists, they are hiding what they are actually doing. Why do you think that UN was not allowed to investigate the allegations of Jericho? They do not want the truth revealed. If you think what a small minority of US soldiers did to the Iraqis was bad, imagine what can happen with soldiers after growing up learning to hate their opponents.
Morning Terrant…an excellent comment and all so true…..I have read Carter’s book and most of it is good observation.
With you folks all the way, criticize Israel and you are against all Jews.
I personally am against killing. I am against it when states do it, like Israel. I am against it when organizations do it, like Hamas. I am against it when individuals do it.
And, personally, I totally believe in religious and political freedom. I just do not believe that having such freedom entitles one to kill in defense of it.
It is truly sad when people lose sight of the fact that, at the end of this conflict (OK, this installment of this conflict), thousands will have died, yet the ethnic and religious gulf that separates Israelis and Palestinians will remain.
Yes, it will be right there for both sides to use as justification for more violence.
And the institution remains…so very true…..