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Curt</font></b><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><b>is<a href="books.html"><br> </a></b></font><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><b> (310) 204-8700</b></font></p> <p><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><i>Copyright Sept. 1, 2010<br>All Rights Reserved. </i></font>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </p> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <bAbout the Author</u> <p class="MsoNormal"> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<span class="style8"> I</span>sraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas find themselves in the same boat on the eve of President Barack Obama s potentially groundbreaking peace summit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Both find themselves squeezed by right wing factions, making deal-breaking demands before the summit starts Sept. 2.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Netanyahu faces the ultra-orthodox Shas Party, headed by right wing Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, insisting that the Israeli prime minister continue building in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Hamas hardliners, from Gaza leader Ismail Haniyeh to Damscus-based Khaled Mashaal demand that Abbas break off talks with Israel. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;</span>Hamas wants nothing short of the complete destruction of Israel before engaging in peace talks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Too many assassinations and too much bad blood prevent Hamas from supporting Abbas and<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>playing ball with Israel.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Slated for Sept. 2, Barack s summit hopes to get Israel and the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority back to the peace table.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Abbas makes much ado about continued Israeli building in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Abbas knows full well that any construction completed now or in the future, would benefit an eventual Palestinian state.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Abbas figured out long ago that armed struggle toward Israel only leads to more death and destruction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>His decision to engage the peace process shows his wisdom, knowing that his predecessor and founder of the Palestine Liberation Organization Yasser Arafat went to his grave Nov. 11, 2004 with his unmet dream of creating an independent Palestinian state.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Netanyahu s hard-line coalition partners threaten to break-up the government should the 60-year-old MIT-educated prime minister halt settlement construction activities.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Gaza s Hamas ruler Ismail Haniyeh, who led a coup June 14, 2007 against Abbas Fatah government, called the peace talks a complete waste.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Hamas, originally founded by the late blind quadriplegic Sheik Ahmed Yassin in 1987, has never accepted any peace deal signed between the late PLO chief Arafat and Israel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>When Israel assassinated the 68-year-old wheelchair-bound Yassin March 22, 2004 and his 56-year-old successor Abdel Azziz al-Rantisi April 17, 2004, it made a peace with Hamas next to impossible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Israel s May 31 skirmish in the open seas causing nine deaths with a Turkish-flagged relief boat bound for Gaza also made peace talks with Hamas highly unlikely.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Abbas walks a razor s edge opening up peace talks while, simultaneously, trying to placate Hamas calling for Israel s destruction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Netanyahu faces similar obstacles from right wing religious parties.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Abbas has threatened to break off the latest round of peace talks if Israel doesn t continue to freeze construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Abbas knows that any construction would be part of negotiations, making the demand to halt all construction superfluous.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>When the now comatose [due to a stroke] former Israel Prime Minister Ariel Sharon gave Gaza to Abbas Sept. 12, 2005 only three months before suffering a debilitating stroke Jan. 6, 2006, the Palestinians inherited extensive Israeli commercial and residential construction projects.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Israel seized the Gaza Strip from Egypt as a spoil during the 1967 Six-Day War.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Abbas didn t complain then when he repossessed extensive Israeli development, enabling Palestinians to have immediate infrastructure in Gaza.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Abbas demand of Israel to halt all remaining construction helps placate Hamas.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;</span><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Israeli and Palestinian hardliners need to refrain from sabotaging the latest round of peace talks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Netanyahu and Abbas have a real opportunity to finally work out a deal for a two-state solution, never realized by the late PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Recent comments by 89-year-old ultraconservative Shas Party Rabbi Ovadia Yosef reflect passions before the latest round of summitry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Hoping Palestinians  would perish from the world, Yosef displayed his urgent need to step down from the Shas Party.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Ultraconservative Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman should insist on Yosef s resignation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Calling Yosef s remarks  not only deeply offensive, but incitement such as this hurts the cause of peace, U.S. State Dept. spokesman P.J. Crowley served notice to the Netanyahu government.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Netanyahu s office immediately condemned Yosef s incendiary remarks. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Before Obama s historic summit begins Sept. 2, both Israelis and Palestinians need to show the necessary restraint to make a two-state solution possible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>While there are intolerable demands on both sides, the forgotten middle ground offers real hope.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Abbas know that continued war with Israel offers only more death and destruction to Palestinians.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Israel knows that bigger fences are no real long-term solution that must be hammered out at the peace table.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Netanyahu knows that his predecessors, including now comatose Ariel Sharon, never lived in peace, making the latest round of summitry under Barack even more momentous.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Both sides know the endless dead-end of armed struggle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>No one knows what it will take to negotiate a lasting peace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Both know too well the consequences of unending war.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Under Obama both sides have their best shot at finding the right solution.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <b>John M. Curtis </b>writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He&#x2019;s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of <a href="books.html">Dodging The Bullet</a> and <a href="books.html">Operation Charisma</a>.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> &nbsp;</p> </td> <td width="1" height="2576" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="1" height="2"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="2"></td> </tr> <tr height="2574"> <td height="2574" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0" class="style7"><img height="172" width="111" src="images/johninframe3.jpg"></td> <td width="1" height="2574"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="2574"></td> </tr> <tr height="1" cntrlrow> <td height="1" class="style7"><spacer type="block" width="133" height="1"></td> <td width="7" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="7" height="1"></td> <td width="182" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="182" height="1"></td> <td width="300" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="300" height="1"></td> <td width="1" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="1"></td> <td width="1" height="1"></td> </tr> </table> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="2" width="597"> <tr> <td><font size="1" face="Arial,Geneva,Helvetica"> <hr noshade size="1"> </font><a href="index.html"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> Homecobolos> p><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">©1999-2005 <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"> Discobolos Consulting Services, Inc.</a><br> (310) 204-8300<br> All Rights Reserved. </font></td> </tr> </table> </center> </body> </html>