Future Peace.

One foot in front of the other. I am changing the name of this blog in order to highlight President Obama's speech in Cairo. It was an epic speech and definitely gave me hope. From now on I will speak about the peace to come and not the conflict that ensued in the past. President Obama set a new standard, Peace not war.

Obama's Cairo Speech.

Hopes are high as U.S. President Barak Obama heads to the Middle East. He will be delivering a well awaited speech in Cairo, Egypt, addressing the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis. Many thought he would be humming the same ole tune, one that went, we are pro-Israeli. I'm not sure that this is going to be the case.

Obama has recently asked the Israeli government to stop construction on settlements in the West Bank and Israel was not pleased with this request. They believe they are only developing in a natural manner. They are not doing anything out of the ordinary. The developing is not really what I'm interested in here. I'm more interested in the change in U.S. diplomacy, it seems to me that Obama has other ideas. He is not following the old play book in which the U.S. has followed for so many years. This may become interesting.

Israel seems displeased. The Palestinians in the region are hopeful, but what is up the administration's sleeve? How is he going to calm violence in the region? Does he promote a two-state solution, or a single-state solution. I guess we will have to wait and see what type of magic he will try to perform. The speech from Cairo will be given on the 4th of June and I'm waiting in anticipation.

The Right of Return.

There are a number of contentions facing the Israelis and Palestinians. One major difficulty is what as known as the "right of return". The right of return is a principle in international law that states a group has the right to immigrate or naturalize to what is considered to be their homeland. An example of this law was when a "right to return" law passed in 1950 for Jews around the world who wanted to immigrate or move back to their original homeland.

Now here is the problem we have in the little chunk of land called, the Holy Land. On one side of the conflict, Palestinians have been claiming they have the right to return to their homeland ever since the war of 1948 and 1967.

Israel on the other hand claims the land that has been settled since their christening as a state and the 6 day war, is Israeli land, not Palestinian. Both groups are pointing their fingers, putting blame someone else. It boils down to giving in and compromising a bit. The Israelis and the Palestinians are at fault, maybe not equally, but they are both in the same boat.

In a recent news story Israel leadership stated they are not interested in ceasing development of settlements near the West Bank. Israel believes this real estate is theirs and should be treated as such. U.S. President, Barak Obama is asking Israel to stop developing in the West Bank. The U.S. sentiment concerning the region is a change of tone from years past. Obama is not anti-Israel by any means but he is letting Israel know, the world is sick of the conflict. As an answer to the displaced Palestinian families, Israel argued that Jordan should be the new "homeland" for the Palestinians.

Both sides are in for a new thinker. Obama does not seem like he is going to sit back and allow for either side to whine about why they are right. He is being active by trying to get them to engage in peace talks, meaningful peace talks. It is about time for this conflict to be put to a hault. I think there is enough real estate in that region to make everyone happy. Both sides need to approach the dilemma with humility and think about the bigger picture. Peace in the regioin would allow for all parties involved to flourish.

Give Peace a Chance.

It has been quite sometime since I have written on this blog, but I have not forgotten the importance of the issues. Since I have written last we have a new President, Mr. Barak Obama, and a new approach to dealing with other issues around the world. It is a moderate and evenhanded approach, just what the Middle East needs. Obama is equipped with pragmatic ideas about resolution and conflict management and I think he will be an asset to achieving peace in the Arab / Israeli conflict. I know...I know...easier said than done.

He has appointed a few new names to address this problem. First we have a new secretary of state, Hillary Clinton and we can be assured that her ideas are aligned with her husband's, Bill Clinton. Mrs. Clinton will be very helpful in the region.

Secondly, there is a new diplomat on the scene, George Mitchell. I do not know much about him but from what I have read he is extraordinarily diplomatic and eager to help create peace in the region. Mitchell and the Clintons share similar ideas about how peace should be negotiated in the region.

I think overall the tides have turned in the Middle East with the new additions to the team. There is still one factor that is making this difficult, yes, the hard line Israelis and the hard headed Hamas. Neither group wants negotiate.

Hamas is a very ingrained part of the societal fabric of the region. Destroying them is just not an option. Just like eradicating Israel is off the table. However, since the last conflict, Hamas has been pushed against the ropes. I believe other Arab countries are getting tired of being alienated by Hamas' radical ideologies and losing support for the organization. Egypt and Syria are definitely becoming a slightly less supportive. Everyone is just getting sick of the embarrassment from this small group. The death and destruction they are churning out is becoming a bit much for some groups to swallow.

Now I'm not saying all other countries involved are innocent. Israel has in the past taken part in murder and mayhem. The U.S. is currently conducting a war that just did not need to take place, there were other options. The region has been stirred up and put into an unattended crockpot, left to burn.

I am glad to see Obama is working on a solution but his hands are tied when it comes to the actual negotiations. The rest is up to Israel and the divided governments of what would be Palestine. A middle of the road answer, that can please both sides of the argument, must be found. People's lives and peace in the region will not be attained if each side resorts to their hard line stance.

Easter at the Holy Sepulchre

Traditional Easter ceremonies were held at the Holy Sepulchre on Sunday. Many gathered to engage in a holy experience with the hopes that there would be no violence on this holy day. Many thought that an attack was looming because of an assasination on a Hezbollah leader but festivities went off without a hitch. Friday the 15th was unique, in that three special religious events overlapped. The Christian day, Good Friday, the Jewish festival of Purim and the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha (The Festival of Sacrifice) all fell on the same day this year. This was an interesting intersection of all three religious days.

Ceasefire in the Midst?

The BBC is reporting a possible ceasefire might be in the making. Egypt is claiming they are working toward a ceasefire between the two warring groups of Palestine and Israel. Egypt seems like they truly would like to aid in establishing a ceasefire between the Palestinians and Israel. President Hosni Mubarak seems to be cooperating and actually leading the way to a ceasefire. I believe and end to violence in the region would benefit all parties involved. There is one hitch, both sides are claiming that they will not stop fighting until the other group does. This is not a very good policy. It is an escapegoat for both parties blame the other group. At the end of the day, I really hope that Egypt is sincere in their efforts of establishing a cease-fire. I also hope that both groups will come to a consensus that killing just is not solving the problems in the region.

The Calm Before the Storm??

Reuters had a story yesterday where the headlines says it all, "Israeli army and Gaza militants in uneasy lull". (Reuters). One can imagine a war scene where the soldiers duck back into the foxhole in order to reload. Is this the calm before the storm or is there real peace on the horizon? We can only wait and see.