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Clinton Pushes to Revive Stalled Middle East Peace Talks
by Glenn Kessler
 Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, in back-to-back meetings
with Jordanian and Egyptian diplomats, sought Friday to reinvigorate
the Obama administration's push for Middle East peace by laying out the
negotiating framework and starting point for talks between Israelis and
Palestinians. In what amounted to a public road test of key phrases and terms
arduously discussed behind the scenes with the two sides, Clinton told
reporters in Washington that the United States would seek "an outcome
which ends the conflict and reconciles" two competing visions: "the
Palestinian goal of an independent and viable state based on the 1967
lines, with agreed swaps, and the Israeli goal of a Jewish state with
secure and recognized borders that reflect subsequent developments and
meet Israeli security requirements." (Washington Post)
See also Palestinians Downplay Hillary Clinton Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat has played down hopes of a resumption of peace talks with Israel. (BBC)
Israel Tests New Short-Range Missile Defense System
by Amos Harel
 Israel's new Iron Dome
short-range missile defense system passed a series of tests over the
last few days, successfully shooting down Kassam rockets, Grad rockets
(pictured) and mortar shells one after the other. It even succeeded in determining which missiles to shoot down -
those likely to land in populated areas - and which to ignore. The first operational battery is expected to be deployed in May. (Ha'aretz)
Cotler Heads Petition Drive to Stop Iran Threat
by Dan Izenberg
 Canadian human rights activist and former justice minister Irwin Cotler is spearheading a petition that calls on governments and the UN to take immediate and massive diplomatic and economic action against Iran. Cotler accused the Iranian government of violating international law regarding nuclear weapons development, incitement to genocide, state-sponsored terrorism and human rights. "For sanctions to be effective, what is needed is the will to act, and what has been absent so far has been political will with respect to each of the threats," said Cotler. The petition calls for asking the UN Security Council to file a complaint against Tehran with the International Criminal Court. "Iran has already committed the crime of incitement to genocide," said Cotler. (Jerusalem Post)
Latest Shot in Hummus War: Israel Doubles Record
by Matti Friedman
 Israel has taken the upper hand in a new kind of Mideast conflict, one in which bullets are replaced by chickpeas. Using a satellite dish on loan from a nearby broadcast station, cooks in an Arab town near Jerusalem whipped up more than nine thousand pounds of hummus, the chickpea paste that is a staple - and a near-religious obsession - for many in the Middle East. The cooks doubled the previous record for the world's biggest serving of hummus, set in October by cooks in Lebanon. That record broke an earlier Israeli record and briefly put Lebanon ahead. An adjudicator sent from London by Guinness World Records confirmed that the Israeli chefs now held the record. (AP/Washington Post)
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U.S. Mideast Envoy: Two Years or Less for Israeli-Palestinian Peace Talks
 George Mitchell, the U.S. Middle East envoy, said on Wednesday that
Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations should take no longer than two
years and could be finished sooner than that. He said an Israel-Syria
track could operate in parallel with an Israeli-Palestinian track. PA
leader Mahmoud Abbas signaled on Monday that he is considering a
proposal to relaunch stalled Middle East peace talks at a U.S.-backed
summit with Israeli and Egyptian leaders early in the new year. (Reuters)
Israel's Foreign Minister: Final Status Arrangement in Two Years Not Realistic
 A final status arrangement with the Palestinians
cannot be reached in the near future, Foreign Minister Avigdor
Lieberman said Monday during a meeting with Quartet Middle East
emissary Tony Blair. "It
will not be possible to reach an arrangement on final borders within
nine months, nor a complete final status arrangement within two years,"
said the foreign minister. "This is an unrealistic date."Lieberman suggested that the two sides "begin direct talks without committing to any target date." (Jerusalem Post
Hamas and Egypt Besiege the Gaza Freedom Marchers
by Amira Hass
 1,361 people came to Cairo from 43 countries to participate in the Gaza Freedom
March, 700 of them from the U.S. "If we can't go to Gaza, we'll bring Gaza to
Cairo," said one American peace activist. At the request of the president's wife, Suzanne Mubarak, 100 people were allowed
to enter Gaza. The next morning, the activists discovered a cordon of stern-faced Hamas
security men blocking them from leaving the hotel (which is owned by Hamas).
Security officials accompanied the activists as they visited homes and
organizations. During the march itself, when Gazans watching from the sidelines
tried to speak with the visitors, the security men blocked them. "Now I understand that the call for 'Freedom for Gaza' has another meaning," one
young man told me. (Ha'aretz)
Tennis Protest Against Israeli Player Backfires
 Israeli Shahar
Peer was the target, but it was her tennis opponent who ended up
struggling with a small but noisy protest outside the ASB Classic in
Auckland Wednesday. Slovakian Magdalena Rybarikova said, "It was tough to play during
the protest....I lost the first set because I was not concentrating. I
was thinking about that and not my tennis." The protesters, who are against Israel's policies, could be clearly
heard on the court, shouting with the help of a megaphone and
accompanied by drums. Peer described the loudness of the chanting as "really, really bad," but said it also motivated her:
"When I was hearing that, it made me play better to prove I can also play with the noise.""I also want peace in the world," she said. "But I don't think this is the place for this protest." (NZPA-New Zealand)
See also Peer Loses Semifinal Match (The Sports Network)
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