Today is the day the Arab world marks the anniversary of Al Nakba, the Catastrophe, when more than 700,000 Palestinians were expelled from their homes in 1948 when the Zionists took their land by force. They occupy it to this day. Despite the Israeli withdrawal from Sinai and Gaza, and the very modest Palestinian autonomy contained in the Oslo Accords, the vicious military domination of Palestinian land has continued with little respite.
The current right wing government of Benjamin Netanyahu has been particularly harsh in its refusal to countenance any dealings with the Palestinians, and there is no reason to be optimistic just because Netanyahu has found a new coalition partner in Kadima. He is very experienced in pretending to start negotiations, while making sure that they will lead nowhere. One particular flash point with the Israelis are about 1,600 Palestinians held prisoner without charge under what Tel Aviv terms "administrative detention". The Palestinians have launched a mass hunger strike, seeking to be tried or released rather than being held indefinitely without charge on vague security grounds invented by the Israelis.
It may be that Netanyahu will offer some softening of his policy in order to avert trouble on Al Nakba Day, and it may be that Egyptian mediation may manage to get the Israelis to agree that "administrative detention" should not be renewed and that families must be allowed to visit their relatives. But this tactical give-and-take should not be confused with any substantive move on the important issues of developing the peace process. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has tried to restart the peace talks, but failed because Netanyahu has insisted on no pre-conditions, and will not stop illegally expanding the illegal Israeli colonies in the West Bank, despite being ordered to stop by the Israeli Supreme Court.
