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GUEST: Laila El-Haddad, Palestinian freelance journalist, photographer, and blogger who lives in Gaza and the US; co-director of the short film, Tunnel Trade, and blogger for Raising Yousuf

Yesterday a one-day Middle-East summit in Annapolis, Maryland resulted in the Israeli and Palestinian heads-of-state agreeing to a joint document that commits them to work toward a peace treaty by the end of 2008. Delegates from nearly 50 nations including the Arab League and most Middle East countries, attended the conference, the first of its kind in 7 years. President Bush, criticized internationally for not doing enough about the Israeli occupation intends to mark the end of his presidential tenure with at least a symbolic end to the decades-long conflict. But a senior Hamas official remarked, “Bush has failed to deliver anything for the Palestinians during his presidency, is he now going to be able to deliver a state as he walks out of the White House?” Despite the rosy-sounding document read out by President Bush, private discussions between Ehud Olmert and Mahmoud Abbas failed to resolve key questions over the content and structure of the talks. According to LA Times reporter Paul Richter, “there were clear indications that the Israelis came away with a greater share of what they were seeking.”

Read Laila El Haddad’s blog here: www.a-mother-from-gaza.blogspot.com