Saturday October 16, 2010

I've Been Thinking:

The United States has expressed disappointment over construction and building in the Israeli West Bank. The Palestinians have called the building an affront to the United States' diplomatic objective. The Egyptians are saying that the Israelis are not honoring the 30 day extension given to the US in order to come to an agreement about the building freeze.

Say what you want, none of it makes any sense.

There is no freeze because the time limit of the agreement expired. Did the US, Egypt and the Palestinians expect that the grace period about the freeze would also constitute a freeze?

The US now wants a continuation and has asked the Arab League to grant what would constitute another 30 day extension. Once again, the Arab League is deciding whether to advise the Palestinians to stay or to walk away from these direct talks with Israel.

What does everyone expect? How can this period be considered a non-building period when the freeze expired and now the topic under consideration is a new freeze?

This period falls under the old status quo - the status quo which permits building.

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