Middle East Reality

– How come Netanyahu was too busy chatting to the Colombian President to listen to Obama’s speech? He only glanced through the Palestinian bit of the text when he was live-time, face to face with the American President. This wasn’t ”chutzpah”. This was insult, pure and simple.

And Obama deserved it. After praising the Arab Spring/Summer/ Autumn, whatever – yet again running through the individual acts of courage of Arab Tunisians and Egyptians as if he had been behind the Arab Awakening all along, the man dared to give the Palestinians 10 minutes of his time, slapping them in the face for daring to demand statehood from the UN. Obama even – and this was the funniest part of his preposterous address to the UN – suggested that the Palestinians and Israelis were two equal ”parties” to the conflict

A Martian listening to this speech would think, as Ms Ashrawi suggested, that the Palestinians were occupying Israel rather than the other way round… [Robert Fisk, The Independent]

Political Tsunami

Had a stranger stumbled into the General Assembly on Friday, they might have thought Lady Gaga – or at least Madonna – was about to perform, and not the somber Abbas. Dozens of people who couldn’t find a seat stood along the walls of the hall, while others sat down on the stairs. When Abbas’ name was announced, the crowd rose to its feet and received him with applause befitting nothing less than a rock star…

When Netanyahu got up on stage there were already empty pockets in the hall. Many representatives, especially those from Arab countries, left after Abbas’ speech. The silence in the hall was also noticeable. The applause that interrupted Abbas’ speech several times was not extended to Netanyahu; the only applause he received was from his advisers and a small group of Jewish activists. [Barak Ravid, Haaretz]

Cast Lead

This was not the Beginning
This was where it all ended

This time you went too far!