STOP LAGGING says the US

Greetings! I hope everyone is having a good semester so far :) With the craziness of the budget cuts its a miracle that we have made it this far!

I read 2 seperate articles on the same topic. Both were concerning peace negotiatons between the Israeli's and the Palestinians. The first one was from the point of view of the Palestinian coeditor of "bitterlemons" andthe director of the Government media centre. The entire article is obviously his own personal views. He proceeds to discuss the "diplomatic activity" of the region. Israeli officials are eager to convince the media that a speedy settlement will be made between Israel and the US on the construction freeze. A settlement concerning the construction freeze, in Israeli eyes, will thus allow Palestinian and Israeli negotiation talks to continue. The author of the article Ghassan Khatib says it is too soon for Israeli officials to really validate their claims of a quick negotioation process. The US middle east envoy, George Mitchell, clearly and publically states there is no official agreement over the settlement construction freeze. The Israeli public is sensitive to US-Israel relations and US President Barack Obama and Mitchell are well aware of this

When Mitchell met with the Israeli Prime Minister, both made it clear that no formal agreement had been reached. The media is being used to sway public opinion in Israeli so tensions will not rise. An agreement over the issue between Israel and the United States has sparked talks of US initiative. This is primarily an Israeli view hoever, as anything that has been leaked about it only concerns borders and leaves the refugee issue and of Jerusalem for later.

The authors believes it is dangerous to enter premature talks of a negotiation between Israel and the US because it could potentially backfire and damnage any "renewed credibility for the Palestinian leadership." The author seems to have a lot of faith in the Palentinian government. This is evident through his views concerning the current Palestinian President and Prime Minister.

Ghassan Khatib is a reliable source, but it shoul be understood that his Palentinian point of view is his own personal opinion and may not necessarily reflect the views of other local Palestinian citizens. I DO feel like the author paid close attention to detail, especially when he reported a conference between Mitchell and the Israeli Prime Minister. The writer stayed objective, but seems far more critical of Israeli motives than anything else.

The other article I read was more about US involvement with peace negotiations. It was titled "Obama growing weary with Israel, PA leadership". From the point of view of the articles and a high percentage of Americans, Obama is trying to make moves. When I say make moves, i mean taking action in a quick, and efficient manner. Apparently, Obama called for immediate final-status talks at the beginning of Tuesday's meeting stating "permanent-status negotiations must begin, and begin soon." Mitchell said the mechanisms of the negotiations were definitely still being worked out. A US offcial said that both sides were holding out on different things before they would let peace negotiation talks resume. However, the first article i read did not speak on the fact that a peace settlement concerning the freeze's is not the only obstacle in the way of permanent-status peace agreements.

I trust that both articles are objective and both used enough details to support all their claims. In the second article there were even pictures! :)

I am impressed with President Obama's sense of urgency for peace and I feel like his priorities are in the correct order. With domestic issues being debated and questioned in the United States on a daily basis, it is comforting to know he is directing his attention across the board and really giving his administration a good head start.

I will probably have something more to add to this tomorrow morning :) I always feel especially opinionated in the early hours of the morning. Theres also a possibility that I won't add to more to this post which, I think, is also acceptable because the information and analysis I have provided thus far as sufficient to complete the assignment .