Al-Jazeera Center for Research

The Obama administration has made the re-launch of the stalled ‘peace process’ between the Palestinians and the Israelis a top priority in the region with the aim of attaining the two-state solution. For this purpose Obama appointed former senator   George Mitchell to be his special envoy for peace in the Middle East.

Mitchell made, as Obama himself did, strenuous efforts to try to achieve a significant breakthrough in this direction, albeit through the mere resumption of talks. They announced a project that is summed up as follows:
 
1. A total halt to settlement growth
2. The launching of US-sponsored bilateral negotiations
3. Initiating steps by Arab countries to normalise relations with Israel, especially by the kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Dispatches: The Children of Gaza
Putting a human face to the tragedy – Re-igniting the call for accountability

On Monday 15th March Channel 4 aired an episode of Dispatches entitled "The Children of Gaza". It focused on the lives of a few of the children living in that small strip of Palestinian land whose lives were devastated when, 15 months ago, Israel launched its military attack on their homes, killing many of their parents and relatives, and shattering their already fragile existences. It showed how they have bravely tried to deal with their losses and bereavements and have tried to move on with their lives, and simultaneously how Israel has ensured that this is well near impossible as a result of the children’s literal incarceration in Gaza due to Israel’s illegal and ongoing siege. The documentary focused on how they have been struggling to deal with the fallout of their physical injuries as well as their psychological scars which, in all probability, they will never fully recover from. For once, this documentary was an opportunity for the children of Gaza themselves to speak out and to tell their own stories instead of it being told on their behalf by propagandists with a vested interest in how these children are portrayed.

Has American policy towards Israel failed?
American and British newspapers have addressed the recent dispute between the US and Israel from a variety of angles ranging from commentaries on the failure of US policy and anger within the White House to the pressure Israel is currently experiencing and threats to US interests in the region, especially as regards the Iranian issue.

Failed US policy

In its editorial, the Washington Post reported that US President Barack Obama's efforts at diplomacy in the Middle East had failed because he'd entered into an unnecessary and insurmountable public confrontation with Israel over its settlement construction in the West Bank and Jerusalem.

On the absurdity of a "Palestinian incitement index"
A common blueprint of Israeli hasbara, or official propaganda, is to deflect criticism of its actions in the Occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip by stressing that within the 1948 boundaries, it is a model of democracy incomparable to other societies in the Middle East. The reality however is far from this. In fact, Israel is in the grip of a wave of unchecked racism and incitement, both from a societal and an institutional point of view. It therefore does not come as a surprise that last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee that Israel is going to officially monitor "incitement" within the Palestinian Authority (PA), and periodically issue reports on it.