I must be dreaming

Arik Sharon has just made a speech to the UN calling for Palestinian statehood. Arik Sharon? Incredible! Arik Sharon has just called for tolerance and reconciliation in the Middle East. Arik Sharon? Astonishing! The BBC News web site has given a favourable report of Arik Sharon's speech. Now that really is unbelievable!

Yep, Arik Sharon. After years of being the darling of the Israeli Right, this macho general-turned-politician is using words and phrases that some on the Israeli left hesitate to use. For the first time in a great many years, world leaders and the world media are actually expressing their satisfaction with Israeli actions, and their expectations of decisive actions by the Palestinians to restore order within Gaza, and to respond favourably to Sharon's speech.

This state of affairs is extremely rare, and we all know it isn't going to last. Not once people realise that Sharon's ulterior motive for relinquishing Gaza is an attempt to keep much of the West Bank. So let's just enjoy it while it lasts.

How we see people - a word about the aftermath of the hurricane

The disaster of Hurricane Katrina, compounded by the disastrous way in which local, state, and federal agencies failed to respond to the crisis, has devastated many lives. It has also affected those of us who are far away from the tragedy, because it has changed the way we see other people. If the first image we have of a person is seeing them shocked, injured, and bedraggled, waiting, who knows for what, in a makeshift rescue centre with thousands of others, then we are liable to completely unjustified conclusions about their lives.

This is what a friend of mine in the US whose family have been badly affected by Hurricane Katrina wrote:

It's funny, I've never thought of my family 
as anything other than good people 
who are rich in love and have huge 
giving hearts. I learned the true meaning 
of family from them. Now, the world sees
them as poor, black folks. 
That makes me so sad.

38 wasted years

Israel's military occupation of the Gaza strip has finally ended. For 38 years, Israel devoted valuable resources to administering a territory for whose residents it failed to take responsibility. All of its efforts were a total waste of time, money, and lives. Now even Shimon Peres admits that that occupying Gaza was a historic error. How tragic it is for both Palestinians and Israelis that it has taken 38 years to reach this conclusion.
People who have the best interests of Israel at heart, as well as those who want to see progress and prosperity for the Palestinians, should now breathe a sigh of relief.