Israeli Foreign Minister Lieberman said Sunday that peace with the Palestinians would not be possible this year, or even next generation.

There are many speaking out in Israeli mainstream media saying the same thing: that the peace talks are a chimera with no possibility of succeeding.

Iran agrees. From the heads of the Iranian government, to the bloggers and commentators on official news sites, they call the peace talks a fraud and a sham. Many articles today in mainstream US news highlight their continuing nuclear program.
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Dateline Lebanon

Noon local time Sunday. The Israeli Airforce is currently practicing ‘mock air raids’ while flying at medium altitudes over the Lebanese cities of Nabatiyeh, Iqlim Tuffah, Khiam, Marjayoun and Arqoub, according to Lebanese mainstream news.
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The curious Neptune Thunder joint artillery drill conducted by UNFIL forces and the Lebanese Regular Army was reported in the previous post with speculation about what it meant.

I did mention that the big guns fired their live rounds seaward.

I did not mention that Lebanese mainstream news said, “The targets were located at sea in order to limit noise to any inhabited area,” because that was so obviously not the real reason.

I also did not mention that Lebanese Navy ships and the UNIFIL Maritime Task Force were around the target site, ostensibly to keep other boats from being hit by the long-range shells. I did not mention this because I simply did not get the real significance of it

Now there is surprising new information that may shed some light. (more…)

Everyone is wondering.

First, you must know that Quds, or al-Quds, is the Muslim name for Jerusalem.

World Quds Day is an invention of the late founder of the Islamic Revolution of Iran, Imam Khomeini. It’s purpose is to show ’solidarity with the Palestinian nation’ and ‘express hate for Israel’.

This year the Iranians are putting a great deal of effort into publicizing the date, which is always the last Friday of Ramadan. Which happens to be tomorrow, September 3, Iran local time. A couple of hours from the time this post will appear.
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The meeting in Washington between Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and Palestinian President (or Acting Chief, as some call him) Abbas is over.

They agreed to meet again.

That’s about it.

It’s being spun by participants as a diplomatic success because neither side walked out.

Or one might say it was a total failure, because they left the meeting with absolutely nothing changed. (more…)

From one corner of his mouth, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu today told Palestinian Authority President Abbas that he was at the peace talks “to find an historic compromise that will enable both peoples to live in peace, security and dignity.” and called Abbas, “my partner in peace.”

From the other, he told Secretary of Defense Clinton last night that there was absolutely “no change to the cabinet decision to end the (partial construction freeze) at the end of September 2010. It is impossible to take the issue of settlements in the West Bank, which is an issue for the permanent agreement, and deal with it separately at the beginning of the direct talks.”

When Abbas spoke, he repeated his unmovable position that continuing the freeze was essential for the talks to begin.

When Hamas spoke, it was not in Washington, but on the streets of the West Bank, where there was gun violence for the second night in a row. (more…)

The promises of Hamas to disrupt the direct Israel-Palestine Authority peace talks to begin in Washington Thursday have been translated into tragic reality.

Two couples were gunned down as they drove through Kiryat Arba in Hebron, at 7:30 pm Wednesday night, local time. Hebron is a West Bank community where Israelis have built settlements. To the west is central Israel, and further west is the Gaza strip. One couple was about 35 years old, the other 45 years old. They were pronounced dead at the scene by Israeli paramedics.

It was predicted. Everyone was alert for it. It happened anyway.

It is not expected to be an isolated incident, but rather the first of many violent deaths in protest against the peace talks.

Some in Israel are saying (more…)

The previous post mentioned that Lebanese Prime Minister Hariri was suddenly scheduled for an quick trip to Syria this week.
He lost no time in going.

Before sunrise on Sunday, the first day of the Muslim week, Hariri was being feasted by Syrian Prime Minister Assad.
Is that quick, or what?

Both men observe Ramadan, the month in which Muslims fast. But it is a very specific kind of religious fast. No eating during daylight hours. But they are allowed to have a big meal before dawn, and a big meal after sunset.

Assad hosted a predawn suhoor, which is what that meal is called, in honor of the visiting head of the Lebanese state. Then they met throughout the day and apparently a portion of Monday. Afterward Hariri returned to Lebanon for a series of meetings with his ministers and military people.

He came back with more than whatever might have been on his ‘wish list’ of weaponry from Iran through Syria.

According Lebanese news media… and echoed in Israeli and Iranian and Kuwaiti news sources, attesting to the great importance of the news… Syria and Lebanese Hizballah have created a single headquarters for all forces under their jurisdiction.

The joint command will coordinate warfare for the two nations on land, sea and in the air. This includes control of missile defense in both countries. It also includes ’strategies for attacks on Israel’, and ‘defense of Lebanon in the event of an Israeli aggression’. Note the order of the last two items.
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Lebanon has been in constant internal conversation about the crisis spawned by the violence in the streets of Beirut last week. Leaders of all Lebanese factions are terribly concerned that conflict between groups will tear Lebanon apart… soon.

Lebanon is extremely fractured and factionated, even for a Middle East country. It has been in shards for quite some time. But now things seem to be getting out of hand to the point that some Lebanese leaders are calling for the total band of weapons in the hands of ‘citizen groups’. But that is now part of current Lebanese culture. That dog won’t hunt.

So leaders are asking how to make Lebanon coalesce. The answer seems to lie in the direction of Syria and Iran.
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Reliability of the following information being featured in mainstream Israeli news sources is not high. But is interesting. The more so if there is truth behind it. Sources include IDF Army radio.

All are reporting Saturday morning Israel local time that Syria is on ‘high alert’ for an attack by Israel on weapons marshaled for Lebanese Hizballah within Syrian borders.
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