From an email I received from DG:
1) Where have I heard this one before?
TUNISIA: Once-banned Islamist party returns; will possibly join government
A Tunisian Islamist party that had been banned for more than 20 years has been legalized and could join the government as the country embarks on a fragile transition to democracy after the recent ouster of its long-time autocratic leader, according to Reuters news agency, the Associated Press and other news sources.
The Ennahdha Party, branded an Islamic terrorist group by Tunisia's ousted leader, Zine el Abidine ben Ali, but considered moderate by some scholars, is ready to step back into the political arena, Reuters said.
And there's this:
Ennahdha would compete in the parliamentary election in July on a platform of social and economic justice, Ghannouchi said in his interview with Reuters. But an aide told the news service that the veteran leader would relinquish his party’s leadership later this year after a party congress.
That's the Turkish camouflage model.
Meanwhile, Qaddafi is having difficulty getting clerical support.
2) Trophy
A number of bloggers have posted about Israel's successful "test" of the Trophy system, in combat conditions
The Washington Post's coverage seems limited to an AP report:
Trophy is thought to be the only active defense system of its kind in the world. Up till now, tanks have relied on heavier and thicker armor plating to protect against more powerful anti-tank weapons.
Experts say the active defense concept, if it works consistently, could allow the construction of smaller, lighter and more efficient tanks.
The Israeli military did not make pictures or video of the Tuesday encounter available to the media, instead issuing a short statement. It said a tank came under fire while on routine patrol, and "for the first time during operational activity, the Trophy system, ... designed to actively protect against anti-tank missiles, identified, alerted and intercepted the (anti-tank rocket)."
Israel began developing the Trophy after its 34-day war against Hezbollah in Lebanon in 2006, when guerrillas with simple rocket-propelled grenades hid in alleys and buildings and took potshots at Israeli tanks, hitting dozens and killing at least 19 Israeli tank crewmen.
Yaakov Lozowick discusses the success and provides some context
It's also worth noting that there are forces in Gaza trying to destroy IDF tanks on the Israeli side of the border. And that this isn't being reported in the general media. And that someday, when the next large showdown happens, the ability of Israel's enemies to destroy IDF armor is even more limited now than before, and the ratio of casualties between the sides may demonstrate this - a fact that will be universally cited to prove Israeli cruelty.
3) New peace plan?
Israelis Float an Interim Peace Plan
There were signs on Wednesday of a new effort to restart the Israeli-Palestinian peace process after months of stagnation, but chances of a resumption of talks looked slim, and Israel
Instead of a final accord on Palestinian statehood by fall, Israel is now floating the idea of an interim arrangement as a step toward a two-state solution, even without Palestinian agreement. appeared to be stepping back from the stated goal of reaching a framework agreement resolving the core issues of the conflict by September.
I would rewrite this paragraph:
Direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations resumed briefly in September but stalled later that month after a 10-month partial Israeli moratorium on construction in West Bank settlements expired. The Palestinians have declined to resume talks unless settlement activity is halted.
to something like
Palestinians returned to negotiations in September a few weeks before an Israeli moratorium on construction in West Bank settlements expired and then walked out of negotiations when the moratorium ended.
And there's this:
With the Middle East in turmoil and the West eager to encourage moderate forces in the region, Israel is under pressure to show some movement on the Palestinian issue.
Israel is "under pressure" from whom? And would a peace deal necessarily "encourage moderate forces in the region?" Note that this is written as a given.
Yet the Palestinians would most likely refuse an interim arrangement involving temporary borders. They have consistently rejected such proposals since a 2003 American-backed, three-phase plan for Palestinian statehood, known as the road map, never got past the first phase.
If Israel would reject any part of the road map you know that this would be written differently. Certainly the Palestinians haven't been really good with meeting their road map obligations.
New York Sun: Rice's Road Map
New York Sun: Defining Down The Road Map
To most of the MSM the Road Map consists of obligations for Israel and easily dismissed annoyances for the Palestinians. Actually, that's the way the Oslo Accords were portrayed too.
4) Advice
I think that Martin Kramer is very worth following on Twitter.
Also, I've pointed out in the past if you need old news articles, even those you would normally have to pay for over the internet, you can often (this applies to articles going back 30 years, sometimes more or less) access articles via library databases. Most library systems have paid for research databases that include archives of the New York Times, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal. If you have an American library card, you can access these databases even from home. I've also recently discovered through an assignment my daughter had, that academic institutions likely have access to these databases too. I have no idea if this applies to Israeli institutions.
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Middle East.
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