Arab FMs' meeting aimed at building consensus

I have spent the past week in Gaza and just arrived in Tel Aviv. The mood here in Tel Aviv is hawkish. Yesterday my best guess was that Israel would attack Gaza Friday (tomorrow). Didn't know of course but do know that Egypt has told all journalists who came in from Rafa to leave today because Rafa will be closed from Friday - which is ominous. Ordinary people in Gaza are very frightened.

Today I am more upbeat. The Israeli negotiating team flies to Cairo this morning and it looks like disaster may have been averted and a cease-fire is about to be signed after all. Which means that the closure of Eretz is just the Egyptians getting tough alongside the Israelis and they will then offer the re-opening of Eretz as a carrot in return for Palestinian - Palestinian peace.

Inside Gaza Hamas popularity has dropped to an all time low - they are now just as unpopular as Fatah. The only group to have increased in popularity (other than the independents) is Islamic Jihad.

Meanwhile the Arab Foreign Ministers meeting in Abu Dahabi remains as ineffective as might be expected:

Kuwait News Agency - 05 February, 2009
Dubbing the meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Abu Dhabi as preplanned and not done impromptu, Egyptian foreign minister Ahmad Abulgheit on Wednesday emphasized the utter need for Arab-Arab conciliation ahead of a regular Arab summit scheduled to take place at a later date in Doha. He said it was imperative that the Palestinians get the chance to put their house in order, noting that the status of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) be kept as is and the Egyptian and Arab peace initiatives be upheld.

U.S.-allied Arab states back Abbas in Hamas row

Writing from Gaza: This business of making an issue of the PLO as the sole representative of the Palestinian people is ridiculous. First, the PLO is unreformed and does not include Hamas and can therefore never really truly represent all Palestinians. Regrdless of which Hamas has contradicted the idiot in Damascus and said it does recognise the PLO. Despite which Abu Mazin is filled with so much gross hubris that he makes an issue of this. Pathetic. And trhe Arab states back him - very pathetic.

Khaleej Times - 04 February, 2009
Foreign ministers of U.S.-allied Arab states meeting in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday said they were seeking to consolidate Arab support for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in his row with Islamist group Hamas.“Our aim is to boost Arab solidarity, to mobilise our backing for the Arab peace initiative and to bolster support for the Palestinian Authority under the leadership of President Mahmoud Abbas,” the United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahayan told Reuters.

Find a just solution to Mideast conflict

The NCF is in Gaza. Poor place. Broken. What we need now is Palestinian - Palestinian peace without which there is new future and George Mitchell might as well go home:

Arab News - 02 February, 2009
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah yesterday held talks with US Middle East envoy George Mitchell and called for intensive international efforts to find a just solution to the protracted Palestinian-Israeli conflict.King Abdullah and Mitchell discussed “new developments in the Palestinian issue and the Middle East peace process and stressed the importance of intensifying global efforts to reach a just and comprehensive solution,” the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said.