News Digestion

There's a lot in the news today, and I better let the experts say it. Today's thumbs-up list includes Ben-Eliezer, Arafat, and even Sharon, all of whom are being conciliatory. On the thumbs-down list is Hillary "I'm a Jew Just Like I'm a New Yorker" Clinton. I guess I could give Saudi Crown Prince (and acting regent) Abdullah a thumbs down for refusing to meet with Israelis, but it's hard to be critical when he just made this major peace proposal yesterday.

TEL-AVIV - Ben-Eliezer said in a statement that the plan ``contains positive elements and should be encouraged.'' He also said that ``it must not be rejected,'' a comment apparently aimed at hard-line Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
Associate Press, via nytimes.com

JERUSALEM - Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton drank coffee today at a pizzeria destroyed by the blast of a suicide bomber and rebuilt weeks later, and she blamed Yasir Arafat, the Palestinian leader, for violence in the region.
New York Times

RIYADH - No official Saudi-Israeli visits will be held to discuss a recently floated land-for-peace proposal until an Arab-Israeli settlement is reached, according to a Saudi newspaper editorial Tuesday.
Ha'aretz English Edition

UNITED NATIONS - The Palestinians have circulated a resolution dropping the demand for sending international monitors to the Middle East in hopes of avoiding a U.S. veto, according to a Security Council diplomat. The move comes as the Security Council is to begin debating the situation in the Middle East on Tuesday.
Ha'aretz English Edition

JERUSALEM - The United States must express its firm support for a new Saudi peace plan if it is to succeed, a senior Palestinian official said Tuesday as three Palestinians, including a 15-month-old baby and her mother, were wounded by Israeli tank fire in the Gaza Strip.
AP, via Yahoo News

WEST BANK - The Israeli army this week effectively suffered its heaviest losses yet since the outbreak of the in late September 2000, losing eight soldiers, including a high-ranking officer known among Palestinians as the commander of covert missions to assassinate Palestinian activists in the West Bank.
Al-Ahram Weekly

JERUSALEM - Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat endorsed Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud's peace plan yesterday, said Henry Siegman, a senior fellow and director of the US/Middle East Project at the Council on Foreign Relations, who met with Arafat yesterday...When Siegman asked Arafat whether his statement implies he accepts Jewish sovereignty over the Western Wall, he answered affirmatively..."The Saudis see themselves as the guardians of Moslem interests, which include Jerusalem," Siegman said. "They knew exactly what they were doing. This is not something some PR firm said they should do to improve their image."
Jerusalem Post