[speechlesstx]

Dude, they elected Hamas, now they have to live with it.

[paraclete]

So it is over for the moment, Hamas is still there, nothing has changed

[talaniman]

Hamas is only a part of the Palestinian government of Gaza.

Palestinian factions walk out of Cairo meeting | Maan News Agency

The reconciliation accord aims to unite the parties after Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007, a year after winning national elections.

[paraclete]

Yes we know there are a lot of factions doing their own thing

[tomder55]

Hello ? Hamas rules Gaza .

[talaniman]

What does it matter? We are probably going to sell leftover drones to Israel that already has proved they kill rascals any and everywhere. The iron dome worked too!

The guy with the gun may think he rules, but noise isn't the only thing to consider. Arab spring in Gaza?

[paraclete]

Yes, Tom, Hamas is in charge, but there are many islamist factions there. Hamas say they weren't responsible for the bus bomb in Tel Aviv but someone must have done it. What we see all the time is someone not willing to accept the umpires decission

Arab spring in Gaza Tal would suggest regime change, but Hamas is part of the Muslim Brotherhood so it could be said the Arab Spring happened years ago and was a forerunner of what happened elsewhere. Israel may need to be more discreet in the future

[tomder55]

Hamas say they weren't responsible for the bus bomb in Tel Aviv but someone must have done it. What we see all the time is someone not willing to accept the umpires decission

I agree ;that wasn't their MO . More likely it was an Israeli Arab or someone from the West Bank (Abbas ) ordered the attack to appear relevant.

Arab spring in Gaza Tal would suggest regime change, but Hamas is part of the Muslim Brotherhood so it could be said the Arab Spring happened years ago and was a forerunner of what happened elsewhere. Israel may need to be more discreet in the future

The cease fire ushers in the new tripartate in the region . The big winner besides Hamas for surviving is the Cairo-Ankara-Tehran tripartate .

[paraclete]

Just another round in the never ending story, excepting that we know how it ends

[tomder55]

For clarity let's call it the 'Axis powers ' .

[paraclete]

Yes the axis of evil

[paraclete]

How quickly we forget, it's off the front page already and forgotten. This is the point I was making at the start of this post, our attention span is small, no one is interested in middle east conflict unless someone is shooting and maybe not even then, it's a case of ho hum, not again

The statistics are interesting 1573 rockets fired at Israel, 1500 air strikes on Gaza and the more interesting statistic, less than one Gazan casuality for each Israeli air strike, which sort of proves the Israeli's were avoiding civilian targets even though the collateral damage doesn't suggest that

[tomder55]

So those stats prove the charge of disproportionate response is false. As for "collateral damage " goes ,it's tough to prevent it when the Palestinians use civilians as human shields . There was an aerial photo of a Fajr-5 launch site strategically positioned next to a playground,and a Mosque,a gas station ,and civilian factory .

[paraclete]

Yes Tom, we have no doubt they use mosques for various purposes, but if you blow up one mosque you might set off enough explosives to level Gaza. This is a mad society where explosives are more important than people, but no doubt they could have taken out the gas station and the factory. The whole of Gaza is a human shield no place more than any other.

And still they say if the Israeli want war they will give them war, totally irrational

[tomder55]

Meanwhile Morsi is using his new elevated status in the world to consolidate dictorial powers and establish himself as the next Pharaoh . No doubt Morsi and Evita will share the next Nobel Peace Prize.

News from The Associated Press

President Mohammed Morsi's decree puts himself above the judiciary and also exempts the Islamist-dominated constituent assembly writing Egypt's new constitution from judicial review... Other articles give Morsi power to take measures to protect the revolution.

[paraclete]

Undoubtedly a President, or a Presidential candidate, needs one these days, almost essential

I wouldn't be too worried about what despots do in Egypt, they have a long history of that form of government, no use giving those people democracy, they don't know what to do with it

[tomder55]

It is a fitting commentary on the whole Arab Spring thingy .

[paraclete]

Not necessarily, Tunisia is quiet, Libya hasn't caused too much trouble once the fight was over, but then perhaps they are not true arabs, and Syria, well that grinds on

[tomder55]

Tunesia is a success because it's quite ? Not only is Morsi's power grab a fitting commentary ;it is the predictable outcome. Political Islam and democracy can't coexist . When tourism and foreign investment return as it was before the Revolution in Tunesia we can begin to talk about it's successes. But a radical Islamic regime democratically voted in or not ,will not be able to manage the nation and make it proper .

[paraclete]

Tom I am unconcerned about ratbag Islamic nations. Egypt is only of interest because of its proximity to Israel. I don't expect Islamist led governments to be either reasonable, or democratic, but so long as they confine their activities to their own territory the developed countries can get back to solving their own problems. Now I know Iran might be a horse of a different colour, and certainly trouble making is their game, but they won't risk open warfare.

Tunisia is something for France to worry about, there is a long association there, and no doubt Libya will look to Italy