Israeli Palestinian conflict - The end?

[G-Man]

The last two days things has been going on pretty well in here.<br />- Arafat announced a cease fire<br />- Israel announced a cease fire as well<br />- both sides worned their soldiers not to retaliate unless their lifes are in danger<br />- Israeli troops withdrew from Jericho and Jenin<br />- From CNN.com: Peres added that there would "undoubtedly" now be a meeting between the two sides

Isn't it great?<br /> <img src="graemlins/spinsmile.gif" border="0" alt="[Spin Smile]" /> <img src="graemlins/spinsmile.gif" border="0" alt="[Spin Smile]" /> <img src="graemlins/spinsmile.gif" border="0" alt="[Spin Smile]" /> <img src="graemlins/spinsmile.gif" border="0" alt="[Spin Smile]" /> <img src="graemlins/spinsmile.gif" border="0" alt="[Spin Smile]" /> <img src="graemlins/spinsmile.gif" border="0" alt="[Spin Smile]" /> <img src="graemlins/spinsmile.gif" border="0" alt="[Spin Smile]" /> <img src="graemlins/spinsmile.gif" border="0" alt="[Spin Smile]" />

 

[Morten Blaabjerg]

Good news!

 

[SuperR]

I hope Palestinians and Israelis will continue to put their differences apart for the time being (and hopefully settle their problems with a happy ending for both sides). <img src="graemlins/goodwork.gif" border="0" alt="[Good Job]" /> <img src="graemlins/smokin.gif" border="0" alt="[Smoke]" /> <img src="icon27.gif" border="0"> <img src="biggrin.gif" border="0">

 

[TheDuckOfFlanders]

Great!<br />The situation in Israel could have a determinal effect on terrorist attacks.

 

[drake]

Wonderful news......

Hope the cease fire holds this time.

 

[G-Man]

Well, there was some fire in Hebron, and a small bomb exploded near a tank withdrawing from Jenin... But no kills or injuries, and the fire in Hebron appearently ended<br />So for now - We have a cease fire. Let's hope it'll continue <img src="smile.gif" border="0">

 

[Flatlander Fox]

*crosses fingers and begins waiting*

 

[G-Man]

Well, some bad news<br />Still some shootings on IDF soldiers. Also an IDF post had 30 grenades throwen at it.<br />But no injuries or kills yet, so Israeli forces are still not allowed to retaliate.<br />Also bad news - the Islamic Jihad, 2nd largest terror orgenization in the PA and supported by Bin Laden (the Egyptian president said so on CNN, so I guess Bin Laden really does support them) said they won't stop fighting.

 

[Eli]

You know how many cease fires Arafat signed with Israel already?

Btw, this one is already dead.

 

[G-Man]

This intifada? I think five or six cease fires. And this one isn't over yet, the cabinet is now deciding what to do

 

[amadeus]

Wouldn't matter if the Soviet Union dropped a nuclear bomb on Washington, D.C., Arafat would still be telling his people to throw rocks at Isreali soldiers.

 

[jiml_63]

Only time will tell...but I have my doubts it will last....

 

[G-Man]

Well, Israel decided to continue with the cease fire, but I think Arafat shouldn't feel to secure. I mean, an Israeli woman was killed infront of her 3 children. Thats not something that will make the Israeli public to happy to continue the cease fire. The only reason the cabinet decided to continue with this is because they hope international pressure will force Arafat to finnaly stop fighting.

 

[dreadhead7]

I'd heard that there are a couple of factions within the Palestinians who decided to resist the cease-fire. Do you think that it was folks from this group that killed that lady, and injured her husband? I was really hoping that the cease-fire would hold. Now, I don't know much about the Middle East situation, but do you think that Arafat really has control over his folks? Even if he is under pressure from all around to stop this, it seems to me that there are elements within the Palestinians who don't want peace. Isn't there something that Arafat can do? It seems to me that this is a lose-lose situation. Did people really expect that there would be two days of absolute calm? I don't know. I'm still keeping my fingers crossed. I still have faith in Humanity.

 

[G-Man]

Well, the good news are that Sharon and the cabinet decided to continue with the cease fire, despite the attack.
About the factions not going with the cease fire - There are 3 major factions in the PA:
- The largest, strongest faction, is Arafat's Fatah. They control the Tanzim, as well as the PA police. The PA police are used now to stop the fire of the other factions
- The largest terror orgenization is the Hamas, including the "Al-Azim El Kasam battalions" (Al-Azim El Kasam was a Palestinian that fought Israelies during the 30's and 40's, and was killed in Israel's war of independence) that commit suicide bombs in Israel. The orgenization is funded by Iraqi sources and by Bin Laden's El Qaida.
- The most fanatic group is the Islamic Jihad, a part of the world wide Islamic Jihad, that two of it's members crashed the first plane to the WTC. They're supported by El Qaida as well. They're Shi'i Islamics, so they're also supported by Iran.

Both Hamas and Islamic Jihad decided not to cease fire. The attack yesterday was probably conducted by one of them, but I can't remember which.
Anyway, even though there's still no total cease fire, the amout of attacks on Israelies and IDF soldiers has been significantly reduced, so Israel is still not retaliating. Even if it isn't the end, it can be an important step towards it. So right now I cross fingers too, hoping the Palestinians won't attack, that Israel won't retaliate, and that Peres will finaly be able to meet Arafat.