Word: gaza
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...hilltop known by Jews as the Temple Mount and by Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary, but Israel is determined to prevent such a symbolic reaffirmation of Palestinian nationalist claims on the holiest piece of real estate in the Holy City; instead, they'll hope to seem him buried in Gaza. Israeli security chiefs want to avoid provoking a Palestinian nation in mourning or to be seen as interfering in any succession struggle. For Israel's political echelon, however, the challenge is more complex. Israeli politicians are suddenly questioning the relevance of Ariel Sharon's plan for a unilateral withdrawal from...
...Palestinian nationalism even to the extent of undoing Arafat's diplomatic triumphs of the Oslo years, he may have won a pyrrhic victory. Sharon strategic goal, after all, has been not to revive President Bush's roadmap, but to avoid it, instead pursuing a unilateral redrawing of boundaries (the Gaza pullout) that would strengthen Israel's grip on the West Bank and remove any pressure to negotiate a permanent two-state solution with the Palestinian leadership. And the anti-Arafat consensus he reached with the Bush administration had, in every meaningful sense, taken the roadmap off the table - as Sharon...
...opportunity to move forward on the 'road map' and get to the two-state vision that the President outlined," and Arafat's departure make it considerably easier for Washington to demand that Israel resume a process with the Palestinians aimed at achieving a peace agreement that cedes not only Gaza, but also most of the West Bank, to a Palestinian state...
...Palestinian and Israeli politics have become more polarized. With Arafat potentially off the field, Hamas is in a stronger position to compete for authority with the Palestinian leader's eventual successors in Fatah. Sharon faces an internal rebellion of his own over plans to close settlements and withdraw from Gaza. All in all, the prospects of a broader Camp David?style deal seem remote. But Europe would like Bush to throw himself into the treacherous waters of peacemaking - and he just may do so. IRAN Despite Western jitters about Iran getting nukes, there's a strong consensus in Tehran...
...This is not about Gaza-this is the opening of a major debate about Israel's soul." ASHER SUSSER, director of the Tel Aviv-based Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies, responding to the vote in Israel's parliament to remove Jewish settlements from Gaza and the West Bank...