In politics one’s brother could easily and quickly turn into enemy while yesterday’s enemy could, as easily and as quickly, turn into a beloved brother. Case in point is the case of Gaza Palestinians.  They used to be the brothers of previous Egyptian ruling regimes, and the Egyptian frontal defense line against its enemy; Israel. But now, Palestinians have been made, by the present Mubarak’s Egyptian regime, an enemy, while Israel, who was Egypt’s (and all Arab’s) enemy had been turned, by this same Egyptian regime, into a beloved brother. 

A Stink Bomb

THIS WEEK the Netanyahu government let off a stink bomb under the chair of Mahmoud Abbas.

Alan Dershowitz on Judge Goldstone: “But now I see him as a traitor… It’s as if they would have taken a Jew to edit the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. He uses his Jewish last name to kosher his slander of the Jewish People.”

It seems that most Americans will continue to support whatever war du jour is served up by their government. As long as most Americans remain silent as to what American media chooses to cover, we will continue to see coverage of media celebrities and coverage of weather events as “news”. We can see that the coverage of Haiti’s situation has already faded into the background as we watch the snowstorms that hit the Mid-Atlantic States take center stage.

Joe Biden, the US vice-president has rejected claims by Dick Cheney, the former vice-president that the Obama administration has been soft on security issues.

Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, has urged Russia to supports calls for new sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme.

Pope Benedict XVI has met Ireland's 24 Roman Catholic bishops to discuss a scandal over the sexual abuse of children by members of the country's clergy.

Spain has said it is willing to take five inmates from the Guantanamo Bay detention centre in Cuba, which the US administration has pledged to close.

A clash between rival Palestinian groups in the Ain al-Helweh refugee camp in southern Lebanon has left at least one person dead, officials said.

Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, has said Iran has left the international community little choice but to impose harsh penalties against it over its controversial nuclear programme.

Turkey's prime minister has said his country is willing to serve as the venue for an exchange of Iranian nuclear fuel, in a bid to ease tension between the West and Iran over its nuclear programme.

A secular Iraqi political coalition has suspended its election campaign over a ban on some of its candidates, as blasts hit political offices across Baghdad.

Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president has suspended his chief of staff amid allegations of financial impropriety, Palestinian media have reported.

Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, has said that Iran is heading towards a "military dictatorship" and warned it poses an international threat.

Two Palestinians have been arrested over the murder of a senior Hamas figure in the United Arab Emirates last month, police have said.

Yemen's Houthi rebels have handed over one of five captured Saudi Arabian soldiers to committee overseeing the group's ceasefire with the government.