The Israeli navy intercepted a ship carrying aid to the Gaza Strip today, as the activists aboard the Gaza-bound boat accused the IDF of threatening to fire upon them. The small ferry boat left Cyprus declaring that its docking port as Egypt’s Port Said. The Israeli government denied claims that it threatened the boat, however the IDF maintains strict control over goods permitted entry into the Gaza Strip due to fears that certain materials could aid Hamas. Because the boat continued to sail towards the Gaza Strip, the IDF commandeered the ship and docked it at the Israeli port city of Ashdod.

The same activists organized previous maritime efforts to deliver goods into the Gaza Strip in defiance of the Israeli blockade. Notifying media of their intentions prior to departure, and therefore also the IDF, the activists clearly use ill-fated voyages as a publicity stunt knowing full well that aid would not be permitted into the Strip. The activists included former U.S. Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney who lost reelection after attacking a Capitol police officer. McKinney subsequently left he Democratic party to run for president under the auspices of a Green party candidate, although she failed to muster any legitimate domestic support for her candidacy.

The aid aboard the ship included medical supplies and reconstruction kits for some Gaza homes. Because the IDF clearly would not permit the ship entrance to the Strip, perhaps the activists should focus more on actually supplying the materials to Gaza through proper channels as opposed to inconsequential photo opportunities.

Support for the militant terror group Hamas dropped nearly 10-percent from last year, according to a new study conducted by the Jerusalem Media and Communications Centre. In the West Bank and Gaza Strip, approval of the group dropped from 27.7-percent to 18.8-percent. The organization explains the plummet in support for the group due to the growing rift between Hamas and Fatah as well as the delays in reconstruction funding to Gaza following the Israeli strikes. The drop in approval for Hamas clearly improved Fatah’s figures, with the group obtaining 34.9-percent support in the poll compared to 26-percent last year.

However, President Barack Obama continues to receive widespread support in the Arab world, even from the Palestinians. According to the poll, 35.4-percent of the respondents to the poll think that the new U.S. approach to the peace process will succeed in resolving the conflict.

Even though U.S. policy unequivocally opposes all forms of settlement activity in the West Bank, Americans remain a staunch pillar of financial support for settlers, according to an op-ed in today’s Washington Post. The author cites multiple organizations in North America that function as non-profit organizations in support of settlements. Moreover, many Christian groups support settlement activity, partially on messianic grounds due to the belief that Jews should inhabit Jerusalem prior to the second coming.

The author notes that some acts of terror targeting Palestinians, such as Baruch Goldstein’s 1994 attack, originated in the settlements; similarly, the racist Kahan party also stems from these towns. While some of the settlers espouse similar ideologies, many also do not. To characterize all settlers as racist or terrorists remains inaccurate and akin to labeling all Palestinians as terrorist, which they are not. However, due to the controversial and hate-filled ideology of some  settlers, the author suggests potentially intervention by U.S. tax officials to attempt to limit U.S. support for settlements. The author states:

“If the courts can’t find a way to dissuade settlement expansion, perhaps the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control should intervene. The U.S. government has already designated Kahane’s movement a foreign terrorist organization for reasons unrelated to settlement financing, but in doing so, it has prohibited U.S. citizens from providing financial support to this group.”

Put the kabobs, shishlik, shwarma, and gefilta fish down for at least one day a week.

A new initiative is set to launch in Israel to encourage residents to dine vegetarian-freindly at least once a week. Because of the environmentally conscious attributes of vegetarianism, the new initiative urges restaurants to publish veggi-friendly specials on Mondays. Ilan Gur, an owner of a food magazine in Israel supported the initiative, stating:

“We don’t preach full vegetarianism, we only ask people to eat less meat… today people lead a vegetarian lifestyle for various reasons, and one of them is the concern for the environment.”

For three whole years, abducted IDF soldier Gilad Shalit remains in the hands of Hamas. Israelis have persistently protested outside the Prime Minister’s office to strive for Shalit’s release by exchanging hundreds of prisoners for the soldier. However, the government thus far has refused to release the prisoners, specifically those directly involved in terror attacks on Israelis. In a new poll, two-thirds of Israelis advocate an exchange of prisoners with “blood on their hands” for the soldiers.

Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert strove for Shalit’s release but determined that the prisoner exchange was too steep. He urgently sought Shalit’s release prior to the end of his term because Hamas captured Shalit under Olmert’s watch. Current Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu does not embody the same responsibility for the abduction as Olmert but has stated his desire seek Shalit’s release.

Some reports recently indicated that Hamas transferred Shalit to Egypt prior to a final agreement with Israel that would include a prisoner swap. However, many Israeli officials denied the claim and expressed pessimism over Shalit’s return in the near future. Some analysts contend that Hamas’ return of Shalit would strike a blow to the militant organization for succumbing to Israeli demands on negotiations. Last year, Israel secured the release of two Israeli soldiers captured by Hezbollah by exchanging prisoners, although the IDF received the two soldiers in body bags.

Shalit’s father, an outspoken advocate for the swap, urged Israelis to think about his son and observe a moment of silence. On Israeli radio he said,

“My request today, June 25, 2009, is for every person in the country, man and woman, young and old, to close their eyes for three minutes. Three minutes only, and to wait until these minutes are over, and in this time for everyone to try to think of what my son Gilad is going through.”

(Photo courtesy of Haaretz)

The mass rallies and protests held by Iranians this week greatly affects the rest of the Middle East, in particular Israel and the Palestinians as they potentially prepare to resume peace negotiations.

On a broad spectrum, the Iranian protests could inspire mass demonstrations across the Arab world, in particular within the Palestinian territories. The original Iranian revolution in 1979 sparked fear in some Arab regimes that Khomeini’s dogma could spread to the Shiite communities in their countries. For example, Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein felt the need to appease the Shiite community in Iraq throughout the Iraq-Iran war in order to ensure their continued allegiance. He attended Shiite holy sites while also encouraging the population in Iraq to understand their collective pre-Islamic history to diminish the impact of Khomeini’s rhetoric directed at the Shiite community.

The phenomenon feared by Saddam could take root in today’s Middle East and inspire anti-tyrannical protests and revolutions. If the Iranian people succeed in obtaining freedom from the clearly oppressive regime, the residents of the Gaza Strip may notice the similarities to their treatment by Hamas, which also uses murders and imprisonment to quell dissenting opinions.

The images emerging from Tehran represent the population’s insistence on obtaining universal human rights restricted by the regime. The extremist policies of Hamas mirror the same intrusion protested by the Iranian people. As Hamas continues its coup, the residents of the Gaza Strip remain largely unemployed, devoid of a proper infrastructure, and malnourished. Perhaps the people of Gaza will receive inspiration from these protests and embark on their own efforts to topple their oppressive regime.

Similarly, Yossi Alpher describes the impact of these protests on Hamas in particular due to the weakening of key Hamas ally. Seeing that Hamas obtains support, particularly munitions, from Iran, the unrest in the streets could hinder deliveries to the Gaza Strip and force the Iranian regime to refocus its efforts onto internal stability as opposed to destabilizing the peace process.

Moreover, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu repeatedly prioritizes the Iranian nuclear program above peace negotiations with the Palestinians. He even previously attempted to obtain concessions from the White House for a more aggressive posture on Tehran in order to deflect criticism that his administration may not fully support a two-state solution. The instability in Iran, with the international community hesitant to intervene in order to permit the Iranian people an opportunity to solve their internal crisis, could force a refocus onto the peace process. While the international community awaits the outcome of protests, Netanyahu could receive additional pressure to engage the Palestinians.

Israeli Minister of Finance Yuval Steinitz expects the Israeli economy to begin growing again by the end of 2010.  He spoke following the signing of an agreement between the Finance Ministry, Treasury, and Histadrut. Notably, he said:

“I cautiously estimate that we will reach an effective braking of the crisis toward the end of 2009, and we will reach effective growth toward the end of 2010… I see tremendous importance in this deal, in that in this economic crisis which was the worst we’ve seen, everyone sets aside their own personal interests and becomes more effective.”

An op-ed in today’s New York Times condemns Jewish settlements in the West Bank for comparing their existence to Kibbutzim, small socialist collectives in Israel founded to help settle the countryside. Many Kibbutzim obtained funding from the government and praise for helping to expand the Jewish presence in Israel, with an added emphasis on settling the Negev desert in southern Israel. The author claims that all settlements in the West Bank, according to international law, remain illegal and should not obtain explicit or tacit U.S. support.

Notably, the author writes:

“But the settlers are no mere marginal interest group. To appreciate their significance, spread as they are over a dispersed archipelago of urban installations protected from Arab intrusion by 600 checkpoints and barriers, consider the following: taken together, East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Golan Heights constitute a homogenous demographic bloc nearly the size of the District of Columbia. It exceeds the population of Tel Aviv itself by almost one third. Some “settlement.”

If Israel is drunk on settlements, the United States has long been its enabler. Were Israel not the leading beneficiary of American foreign aid — averaging $2.8 billion a year from 2003 to 2007, and scheduled to reach $3.1 billion by 2013 — houses in West Bank settlements would not be so cheap: often less than half the price of equivalent homes in Israel proper.”

(Full disclosure: My grandparents helped found Kibbutz Gevim in the Negev desert.

The Wall Street Journal published today an op-ed from Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on the future of the peace process. Amidst false claims regarding the success of Egypt as a peace broker, Mubarak asserts the need for Israel to make a few concessions while the Palestinians must obtain a unity government.

The piece, and Egyptian stance on negotiations, boils down to one paragraph:

“Success of these negotiations will depend on firm commitments from both sides to uphold the credibility of the process. Israel’s relentless settlement expansion, which has seriously eroded the prospects for a two-state solution, must cease, together with its closure of Gaza. For their part, the Palestinians must continue to develop their institutional capacity while overcoming their division to achieve their aspirations for statehood.”

Mandating that Israel end the closure on Gaza without any security considerations will not occur and remains unrealistic. Until Egypt can successfully and effectively prevent the smuggling of weapons into the Gaza Strip, Israel has no choice but to continue its blockade on the Strip.

Moreover, Egypt sponsored reconciliation talks between Fatah and Hamas have repeatedly failed and Egypt cannot claim success on that front. Encouraging reconciliation is the first and easiest step towards achieving a Palestinian unity government. Imposing demands and penalizing the players for failing to unite remains a much more difficult task, one in which Egypt has failed. However, Mubarak is in quite a difficult position, as Hamas is the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, Mubarak’s chief domestic opposition.

Generally when we think of Israel and discrimination, we consider the treatment of Arabs, Palestinians, and immigrant communities. However, a new restaurant opening up in Tel Aviv portrays quite the opposite sentiment.

The new restaurant, founded by a group of vegan anarchist activists, aims to oppose any type of oppression, directed at human or animal. In this vain, the restaurant does not serve any products manufactured in the West Bank by settlers in order to adhere to their ideology.

However, the group takes it one step farther by forbidding soldiers in uniform and anyone harnessing a weapon to eat at the establishment. In support of this ideology, one of the bar founders said, ”We can’t hold views against discrimination and oppression, while at the same time support the infrastructure that exploits human beings and other animals.”

This ban on people based on clothing represents a form of discrimination opposed by the group itself. The founders would clearly oppose any establishment that refuses to serve people based on race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, and political views. However, the founders of this restaurant deem it acceptable to discriminate against people based on profession, ironically a career aimed at protecting the ability of these ‘restauranteurs’ to even operate the establishment.

Their refusal to sever soldiers in uniform is also directly akin to refusing to serve people based on slogans on t-shrits, such as “end the occupation.” Selling someone food does not in any way show approval or disapproval to a political opinion; it merely exemplifies the need make money.

This form of discrimination is hypocritical and no different than any other form of bigotry. Most Israelis served at one point in the military and respect the soldiers even if they oppose certain political views. We’ll see if the very small minority of Israelis in support of these anarchists’ views will support this clearly backwards establishment.