Feb
07
2011
The on-going uprising in Egypt has left many who relied on President Mubarak’s ‘stability’ worried. But none more so than the leadership in Israel. The state of Israel has enjoyed a peace treaty with Egypt since 1979 and has the best relationship with it of all Middle East countries. David Horovitz, the editor of the Jerusalem Post has expressed the mass panic in Israel saying that the pro-democracy movement in Egypt represented a “colossal psychological blow” to Israel and that “concrete strategic assumptions were liquefied almost overnight.” The Muslim Brotherhood, which one of many active Egyptian political movements have accused Mubarak of putting the interests of Israel and the United States over those of Egyptians. But it is not clear if most of the young, largely secular, educated Egyptians have a clear agenda on Israel. However, Al Jazeera reported on Friday that a mass protest was held near Gaza, on the Egyptian side of Rafah, in solidarity with Egyptians. At least 50,000 people were reported to have marched. Gazans had also reportedly been providing Egyptian soldiers with food aid, in a bizarre reversal of roles, given the brutal Israeli blockade of Gaza. Meanwhile, over the weekend, a meeting of the so-called Quartet on Middle East peace took place in Germany. Israeli and Palestinian negotiators met with representatives from the U.S., the E.U., Russia, and the United Nations. Israel has apparently agreed to take some steps toward improving conditions for Palestinians, including development of a gas field, a power plant, and desalination plants.
GUEST: Jeff Halper, Co-founder and Director of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, leading proponent of non-violent peace actions in Israel, author of several books including An Israeli in Palestine: Resisting Dispossession, Redeeming Israel, he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by the American Friends Service Committee
Find out more about Halper’s organization at www.icahd.org.
Find out where Halper is speaking in Southern California here: http://www.kpfk.org/eventcal.html?task=
view_detail&agid=1710&year=2011&month=02&day=05
