small talk 2.0

“It’s hard to understand, but Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas is heading full force into his own collapse, and that of his Authority, in September”, wrote a n Israeli commentator Guy Bechor a few days ago. It’s one thing to make declarations; it’s another thing to bring to their implementation. It’s one thing to use strong expressions like “Israel will face diplomatic tsunami in September”. However in reality, the vote in the UN, if it will happen (with strong emphasis on “if”), could hardly be described even as an “aftershock”. Rather it will prove to be void of any significance, like most of the communication spins promoted by Palestinian Authority and their supporters in the media. We don’t have to be prophets in order to understand why this outcome of the UN bid is almost inevitable. We just have to be good listeners. Let’s first listen to somebody who probably has better understanding than the average person, why the unilateral declaration in the UN is useless and...

When 3 weeks ago, on April 22, I wrote about unpredictable things that can happen before September 2011 and change the dynamics of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, I never thought that the change can come that fast. But on April 27 Hamas and Fatah already declared about their reconciliation deal. Fatah and Hamas symbols Let’s analyze how this event became possible, once again without slogans or emotions, and try to see what could be the consequences of such a move. First of all, why Abu Mazen should have accepted the deal? As some reporters and commentators said this “reconciliation” with the organization that is regarded as terrorist by the US and the EU could, in fact, have negative effect for his own image and  threaten his “UN recognition” project. Here are the explanations: a. Abu Mazen didn’t really have a choice – he gave his consent to this agreement already a year ago, when the Egyptians tried to bring the two Palestinian factions to table of negotiations. b...